One thing to be said about Beauty Queens is that it’s way over the top. As much as many have referred to the book as satire, I think it got lost in trying too hard to be funny. Some events were just so ludicrous, they were too far removed from social commentary. Maybe it’s because of that that I was hard pressed to enjoy Beauty Queens. “Give it a chance. Things will get better after a while,” I kept thinking. Things didn’t get better—at least not in my opinion.
RED by Alison Cherry
Taken at face value, I’d have rated this book 3 out of 5 stars instead of 4. The prose is alright. It conveys the story well but doesn’t bring a lot of depth to the characters. I did however find the premise brilliant and ludicrous at the same time. Such blatant discrimination fuelled by appearances…