Book Review: "The Retirement Plan" by Sue Hincenbergs

This book was a darkly funny and twisty caper, one I really enjoyed. I hope this gets adapted into a movie of some sort, because it’s too fun of a story to miss out on.

The four couples—Pam and Hank, Shalisa and Andre, Nancy and Larry, and Marlene and Dave—have been friends for years. But as they’ve hit their 60s, each of their marriages has deteriorated, ever since an investment scheme all four men contributed to crashed, badly.

When Dave dies in an accident, the wives discover that each of their husbands has a million-dollar life insurance policy. This discovery, coupled with their unhappiness, inspires an idea: they’ll hire a hitman to kill their husbands, and they can start new lives with the money.

Another thing they don’t know is that their husbands have found a way to amass a multimillion-dollar retirement scheme. But when Dave dies, they’re convinced that their scheme has been discovered, and they’re in danger. (And they don’t even know what their wives are up to.) Hijinks ensue.

“I shouldn’t be hiring hitmen and dodging threats. I should be scrapbooking and playing pickleball.”

There’s a lot going on in the book—there’s another whole subplot involving the casino boss—but the chemistry between the friends, as well as the hitman and his wife—really worked. Chalk this up to another amazing 2025 debut!

Book Review: "What is Wrong with You?" by Paul Rudnick

Trone Meston is a tech billionaire (think of a hybrid of Steve Jobs, Mark Zuckerberg, and Elon) who is about to get married on his private island off the coast of Maine. He’s engaged to marry Linda, a former flight attendant and the ex-wife of Sean, a fitness mogul and former TV superhero.

A motley crew of invited guests and hangers-on have gathered not only for the wedding, but for Trone’s promised unveiling of a major technological breakthrough. Sean is hoping to convince Linda not to get married and instead reconcile with him. But can he compete with a billionaire for Linda’s hand?

Sean has invited one of his personal training clients, Rob, to be his plus one at the wedding. Rob has been mourning the death of his longtime partner, Jake, and is dealing with the end of his career as a book editor at the hands of Isabelle, the publisher’s “sensitivity associate.”

Tremble, the writer that Rob was working with, is an outspoken yet talented genius whose perspectives on the world are shockingly blunt. When she learns Rob has been fired, she too heads for Maine to try and get his job back.

I enjoy the way Paul Rudnick skewers social conventions and looks at love, grief, and relationships. This book tried to shoehorn so many characters and issues together and it was almost thisclose to going off the rails completely. I liked the character development, but I just found the plot got too silly after a while.

Book Review: "The Answer is No" by Fredrik Backman

Fredrik Backman is one of my favorite authors. The Beartown series just blew me away and I’ve loved so many of his books where the curmudgeon just needs to be loved and appreciated.

That being said, I tend to like Backman’s books when they’re more emotional and dramatic. The one book of his I struggled with was Normal People, because it felt very silly to me, almost farcical.

I had the same challenges with The Answer is No, Backman’s upcoming story. I appreciate the message he was trying to convey, but it just got too wacky for me.

Lucas is one of those people who keeps to himself. He would much rather spend time alone than have to deal with others. He doesn’t seek out relationships because they would force him to compromise or not get what he wants.

And then one day, his peace is shattered when three board members come to his door. Apparently someone in his building has left a frying pan next to the recycling room. That’s against the rules. But Lucas innocuously suggests how to solve the problem—and he doesn’t realize the wheels he has set in motion.

The story quickly slides into satire. It’s cute and I’m sure it may be a home run for others, but it wasn’t my thing. It will publish 12/1.

Book Review: "Lies and Weddings" by Kevin Kwan

Kevin Kwan once again gives us a close and personal look at the lives of immensely wealthy Asian families. There’s tons of drama, scandal, secrets, romance, and utter excess to be had—it’s a world I love getting glimpses of.

Arabella Gresham (aka the Countess of Greshamsbury) is ready to show off to the world’s wealthiest people when her eldest daughter Augusta marries His Serene Highness Maximillian zu Liechtenberg. While Arabella became privy to money when she married her husband Francis, Earl of Greshamsbury, she has brought the family into the limelight, becoming a doyenne of fashion, interior design, and luxury hotels.

What Arabella cares about most (other than money) are appearances. She wants everything to be the most luxurious, the most extravagant, and the most envied, and she wants to ensure her family’s legacy. With Augusta marrying a prince, she wants to be sure her two other children, Rufus and Beatrice, make the right decisions for their future—and only she knows what is right.

But try as she might to cajole, guide, even strong-arm Rufus into making a royal match, he only seems to have eyes for Eden, his childhood best friend and daughter of the family doctor. This will not do, especially with the Greshams’ financial future in jeopardy. (It doesn't help that Rufus is—gasp—a surfer and—double gasp—a photographer!)

“You’ve been so focused on marrying off your children to the debilitated descendants of Victoria and Albert that you’ve forgotten where all the real action is nowadays: Asia.”

Kwan takes us on a romp to some of the most luxurious locales and feeds us incredibly sumptuous meals, unforgettable fashion, bank-breaking furnishings, and elaborate celebrations, name-dropping all the way. You’ll root for true love to win and hate the odious manipulators. There’s tons of drama and lots of sass, both from Kwan and his characters. It’s quite a ride!

Book Review: "American Mermaid" by Julia Langbein

Julia Langbein’s debut novel is unique and thought-provoking.

Penelope was a high school English teacher, barely making ends meet, and still having to rely on her parents far more than she’d like. But then inspiration strikes and she becomes the author of a feminist novel about a mermaid.

The book becomes a surprise hit, and Penelope is offered the opportunity to help write the screenplay for the film adaptation. She moves to California and quickly realizes the world of film isn’t quite what she thought it would be. Paired with two male screenwriters, they try to change the main character from a fiercely feminist eco-warrior to a sexy teenage nymphet wearing a clamshell bra. How much latitude does she have to fight back before the movie doesn’t resemble her book at all?

But the more things change in the script, the more weird things start happening. Strange additions and changes appear in the script and no one can figure out who is responsible. People are lured into dangerous situations. Is there a possibility that Penelope’s character has come to life to avenge the changes being made?

This is a quirky and really creative story within a story. We see both Penelope’s struggles in Los Angeles and get to see her book’s plot unfold. The problem for me, however, is that nothing felt fully done; in jamming the book full of two plots, neither seemed complete.

Some reviews have said that this book is really funny, but I didn’t see that. There’s a lot of the same jokes about men being sex-crazed chauvinists and after a while that gets tiring. (I don't disagree about some men, but still.)

This wasn’t a book I enjoyed, but it definitely was an interesting story. And now I’ve read two mermaid/merman books (with The Pisces). Who knew it was a genre?

Book Review: "Your Driver is Waiting" by Priya Guns

Your Driver is Waiting is a darkly satirical, thought-provoking look at our culture of protest and selfishness.

Damani is a rideshare (like Uber or Lyft) driver who lives in an unnamed city. Since her father died at his fast-food job, she’s been taking care of her mother, barely scraping by, living paycheck to paycheck. (In order to eke out a living, she has to drive constantly, despite the rules set by her employer.)

All throughout the city there are protests for every conceivable cause and issue. At the same time, the rideshare drivers are banding together to protest their pay constantly getting cut and other adverse conditions.

One day, Damani picks up Jolene, a beautiful white woman. Their attraction to one another is evident and their chemistry is palpable. Damani has never dated anyone with money before (especially a white woman), but Jolene seems to get her. They quickly fall into a relationship, which seems perfect—until Damani discovers that Jolene isn’t quite who she seems to be.

I’ve heard this book is a gender-flipped adaptation of Taxi Driver, but I didn’t feel that. It seemed to me like the book wanted to provide sharp social commentary but at the same time be a romance, and those two styles didn’t quite mesh. I’ll admit I don’t love when authors play coy with the locale of their book, so I found it difficult to completely settle into the culture.

I’ve seen some strong reviews of this, so it might just be me. Give it a shot if the description intrigues you.

Book Review: "The Trees" by Percival Everett

Wow. This one really blew me away.

So far this year I’ve read some truly fantastic books, and then there have been books so unlike anything I’ve read before, or at least in a long while. The Trees definitely falls into the second category.

“If you want to know a place, you talk to its history.”

The small town of Money, Mississippi isn’t well-known. For now. Because two white men were brutally murdered, and no one can figure out how anyone could’ve gotten into to kill them. But even more perplexing is the fact that next to the body is another body, of a man who resembles Emmett Till. And that body keeps disappearing and appearing again.

Three Black investigators come to Money to try and determine what is happening. These murders seem to be revenge killings, but then this same thing keeps happening across the country. To understand the genesis of the murders requires an understanding of the history of lynching in America.

As serious as this subject is—and Percival Everett has given it and racism the attention it deserved—I never would’ve imagined a book like this would’ve been so funny at the same time. It truly kept me hooked on every word. This is the second of his books I’ve read—I loved So Much Blue a few years ago.

Absolutely genius.

Book Review: "The Arc" by Tory Henwood Hoen

Does the perfect soulmate exist for everyone? If so, can an algorithm find that person? That's the question at the center of The Arc, Tory Henwood Hoen's debut novel.

Ursula has had it with relationships. She's dated a variety of men, thought she found the right person, only to have the relationship end or end it herself. She's successful otherwise—she's the VP of Audacity at a NYC branding agency, she's smart, beautiful, and funny. And maybe a little weird?

"'The point is,' said Ursula, 'I'm not normal, and my weirdness has never properly aligned with someone else's weirdness, and I don't know if it ever will. I just can't imagine it. But I refuse to rein myself in anymore.'"

After an encounter with a mysterious woman in a steam room, she learns about The Arc. It's an exclusive, expensive service that promises to curate your soulmate for you, using a series of complicated psychological, emotional, and physical assessments. When a professional windfall helps her conquer the price point of the service, Ursula is matched with Rafael, a 42-year-old lawyer, and from the very moment they meet, they feel something special.

As they fall deeper in love with one another and begin thinking about the future, a bump in the road throws them off course. But aren't they supposed to be soulmates? Shouldn't they be able to weather any storm?

This was an interesting book which had its moments, but I think it tried too hard to be a satirical commentary on modern society. There are so many over-the-top things in the book, like when Ursula goes to lunch with a millionaire and the narration goes into an at-length description of the foams, purées, reductions, shadows, breaths, etc., they're served, or when the book mocks a client meeting Ursula attends in which the name of a toilet-paper-on-demand company is debated. So often I just rolled my eyes at these things, but they completely distracted me from the story.

Those of you who follow my reviews know I love a good romance, so I wish The Arc had stuck more to that storyline than all of the other extraneous stuff. But others have enjoyed this, so maybe I'm not the satirical type?

NetGalley and St. Martin's Press provided a complimentary advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!

The Arc publishes 2/8/22.

Book Review: "The Witch Demands a Retraction: Fairy Tale Reboots for Adults" by Melissa Balmain

Melissa Balmain's The Witch Demands a Retraction features funny reboots of fairy tales from an adult perspective.

Do you enjoy fairy tales? Ever thought about what happens after they lived happily ever after, after the foes have been vanquished? Or what the “real story” behind the fairy tales was?

Balmain has given this some thought. This fun book, accompanied by great illustrations from Ron Barrett, looks at some of our favorite fairy tales and provides short, less-starry-eyed updates.

From “Sleeping Beauty Talks to Her Therapist a Few Months after the Wedding” to “Mama Bear Sets the Record Straight,” these are no more than one page and they’re definitely good for a laugh! This was a quick read but one I definitely will share with others.

This was a fun tour to participate in. Suzy Approved Book Tours, Melissa Balmain, and Humorist Books provided a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making it available!!

Book Review: "Black Buck" by Mateo Askaripour

Wow, what a book. Black Buck, Mateo Askaripour's debut novel, is powerful, satirical, poignant, and so relevant.

Darren Vender isn’t unhappy with his life. He lives with his mother in a Bed-Stuy brownstone, works at a Starbucks in the lobby of a NYC office building, and loves spending time with his longtime girlfriend, Soraya. Maybe it’s not what one would expect from the 22-year-old former valedictorian of Bronx Science High School, but he’s fine with it, even if his mother wants more for him.

One day, feeling bored at work, he challenges a customer to step outside their comfort zone and order something different. This selling job wows the man, who happens to be the CEO of a tech startup in the building above the Starbucks, and he convinces Darren to come to work for him at his up-and-coming company, Sumwun.

What Darren finds at Sumwun is an almost cult-like environment, driven by pressure to close deals and make money. He’s the only Black person in the company and he definitely feels as if he’s treated differently, especially by the company’s ruthless sales manager. They call him “Buck,” because he worked at Starbucks, and that may be the least objectionable thing that happens.

After enduring an awful “hell week” of training, he decides to throw himself into this job fully, even if he’s not sure of the person he’s becoming, and he’s still experiencing significant racism from his coworkers, although no one wants to acknowledge it. When crises occur both professionally and personally, he has to decide what road to take—and what kind of a man he wants to be.

This book really packs a punch. It’s sly and satirical at times, while at others it can be shocking and provocative. Not everything that happens is believable—which was the one thing I struggled with a tiny bit—but this is built on an all-too-realistic core of the racism and mistreatment and discrimination faced by minorities in the workplace. It also deals with the divide between the person you are becoming and the person those in your life want you to be.

I thought Black Buck was so well-written and I couldn’t put it down. There were even some twists I wasn’t predicting. This is definitely going to be a book I’ll be thinking about for a long while, and I can’t wait to see what comes next for Askaripour.

Houghton Mifflin Harcourt and Goodreads provided me with a complimentary copy of the book. Thanks for making it available!!

Book Review: "Interior Chinatown" by Charles Yu

Charles Yu's National Book Award-winning Interior Chinatown is funny, sharply satirical, thought-provoking, and uniquely told.

Willis Wu doesn’t feel like his life makes much of an impact: he tends to think of himself as “Generic Asian Man.” As an actor, he has played roles as diverse as Disgraced Son, Delivery Guy, Silent Henchman, and Guy Who Runs In and Gets Kicked in the Face. But he dreams of reaching what he sees the pinnacle of success for Asian actors—becoming Kung Fu Guy.

He and his parents live a fairly unremarkable existence in small one-room apartments in Chinatown. Their building is above the Golden Palace restaurant, the hub of the community, where a police procedural called Black and White is in constant production. Willis and his parents and most of the community tend to drift in and out of the series, playing interchangeable parts and hoping their big break might someday come.

As Willis’ star appears to be rising, his consciousness about his role in the world grows. His family history is revealed and illustrates the challenges that Asians have faced since immigrating to America and other places in the world. Suddenly he begins to wonder if what he has dreamed of for so long—becoming Kung Fu Guy—is what he really wants. Is there more?

This is a fascinating, slightly trippy book at times. It’s really funny, as it skewers pop culture and the entertainment world’s treatment of Asians, but it’s also tremendously insightful and sensitive.

At times the book is written as a screenplay, at other times it's more narrative in structure. I’ll admit that there were parts I wasn’t sure were actually happening or if they were in Willis’ mind. But I couldn’t put Interior Chinatown down, and I can totally understand why it won the National Book Award.

Truly a book I’ll remember.

Book Review: "Rachel to the Rescue" by Elinor Lipman

Well, you knew the novels about working in the Trump White House were imminent. And with Elinor Lipman's Rachel to the Rescue, the game is underway!

Rachel Klein has a job at the Trump White House, where she essentially has to scotch tape all of the letters and documents the president tears up. She's not too fond of her job. One night she sends an email to a colleague in which she complains and insults the president. But of course, instead of simply replying to his email, she hits “reply to all” instead. Oops.

It's not long before Rachel is escorted off the premises. As she is leaving, she is hit by a car. The car, it turns out, was driven by an optometrist who happens to be a “special friend” of Trump’s. While Rachel is recovering, she is approached by an attorney for the driver, who quickly wants to settle the case off the books. And although Rachel isn't really interested in causing a fuss, she knows she's worth more than what they're offering. Which, of course, makes everyone nervous.

After a brief stint recovering at home with her meddlesome but well-meaning parents, Rachel is ready to get back to the job market. She lands a job with a journalist known for his torrid exposés—and he has a particular venom for the current president. It's not long before she's dipping her toe in the muckraking department herself, but is this what she's cut out for?

In this wacky yet outrageously believable book, Rachel has to put herself out there, and isn't sure what she'll get in return. Along the way she has to deal with matchmaking roommates and a new love interest, and wait to see what happens when all the dust settles.

I tend not to love so-called "funny" books because my sense of humor leans more toward the sarcastic than the silly. And while I don't know how ready I was to start reading about Trump when he's still the president, Rachel to the Rescue was definitely a zany story that made me laugh more than a few times.

I was fortunate to be on the blog tour for this book. Wunderkind PR provided me a complimentary copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks to them, along with Storygram Tours, Eye & Lightning Books, and Elinor Lipman for making it available!

Book Review: "The Silliest Stories Out of Bustleburg" by Jimmy Misfit

Many cities get a deservedly bad rap, but none are quite like Bustleburg, a city in rapid decline. Major chemical companies, processing plants, refineries, and waste treatment localities are poisoning the city, creating a so-called "Death Garden." The Yuckamud River has caught fire countless times, and the city's skyline has been voted ugliest skyline every year for the last 20.

But it's not just the environmental conditions in Bustleburg that make it "America's Worst City." The city implemented a caste system similar to India, "so they changed it to where four quadrants were laborers and one quadrant simply got to be top dogs no matter what." (No one who doesn't belong in Burnsvale is allowed to go there.) Libraries and trees are forbidden (well, trees are allowed as long as they stay put in the Municipal Tree Sanctuary), and caffeine, chocolate, and most music is sort of illegal. (Plus, it's very hard for a restaurant to get an oven since they're a fire hazard, but restaurants are doing wonders these days with microwaves, and cold fusion bistros are all the rage.)

Jimmy Misfit's unique, zany collection of stories about this dying metropolis are full of people who find themselves in crazy situations when they run up against Bustleburg's rules and notorious citizens. From the eager employee of the Bustleburg Environmental Lobby who finds his tour to attract new employees hijacked by the local crime family to the young girl who learns about preferential treatment when she has to capitulate to the town's corrupt mayor, from the man excited about his job at I Can't Believe It's Tofu only to be paired up with a new employee with ulterior motives to the striking firemen, Misfit's stories are full of humor, creativity, and turns of phrase sure to make you guffaw.

While these stories certainly are caricatures, Misfit imbues them with heart, as well. Not all of his characters are buffoons or villains—some are simply trying to make their way against the tide, which just happens to be the entire city of Bustleburg. This is definitely one of those books that can provide a total change of pace, the perfect antidote to too much melodrama, murder, or domestic angst. Misfit definitely gets points for creativity here, as he essentially built a whole town full of characters, foibles, and situations!!

Give this one a try when you're looking for a good chuckle.

NetGalley and JMS Books LLC provided me an advance copy of the book in exchange for an unbiased review. Thanks for making this available!

Book Review: "Noir" by Christopher Moore

Well, it's been a while since I've read a book that should have been accompanied by a drum set, in order to generate rimshots after every joke, but this definitely felt like one of those!!

"There are times in a guy's life when he finds himself floating facedown in a sea of troubles, and as hope bubbles away, he thinks, How the hell did I get here?"

It's 1947 in San Francisco. The country has just started putting all of its pieces back together following World War II. Sammy "Two Toes" Tiffin is the evening bartender at Sal's Saloon, and he spends his evenings helping the city's denizens bury their troubles with the help of cheap liquor. Sam always has his hand in some other scheme, either because he needs to make more money or he has connections that range throughout the city. (Most often both.)

Then one night, of all of the gin joints in the world, in she walks—a flirtatious blonde, "a size-eight dame in a size-six dress and every mug in the joint was rooting for the two sizes to make a break for it as they watched her wiggle in the door and shimmy onto a barstool with her back to the door." The dame, it turns out, is named Stilton (like the cheese), and she takes a shine to Sammy. And the shine is more than mutual.

As much as Sammy would like to do nothing more than romance "the Cheese" (as everyone refers to Stilton), he's got his hands full. His boss wants him to recruit a group of women to "entertain" a bunch of VIPs. He may have been inadvertently involved in the assault and kidnapping of a somewhat racist policeman. Oh, and he might have also brought a deadly black mamba snake into San Francisco—and the snake didn't waste time before inflicting some damage.

But is that why two dark-suited, sunglasses-wearing investigators are on his trail? Or is there something else?

When the Cheese goes missing, Sammy needs to take action. He recruits a motley group of friends and associates to help him follow her trail, and it leads them into the middle of one hell of a mess, with cross-dressing members of a secret club, government investigators bent on "taking care" of anyone that gets in their way, and, well, there may be a space alien in the mix as well.

Sammy doesn't know what to make of any of it, but he knows he wants the Cheese back, so he'll take on any enemy that comes his way—even if it may be carrying a space blaster.

Noir is a wacky, corny, somewhat disjointed novel that is simultaneously funny, odd, confusing, and downright bizarre. But all of these adjectives perfectly describe the storytelling of Christopher Moore, author of books like The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove and Island of the Sequined Love-Nun, among others. As I saw in the description of this book, "Think Raymond Chandler meets Damon Runyon with more than a dash of Bugs Bunny and the Looney Tunes All Stars," but I'd throw in a little Men in Black as well.

I was a big fan of Moore's in the late 1990s and early 2000s, but after a while I found myself rolling my eyes more than laughing when I read his books. For some reason I expected something slightly different from Noir, and while it started out that way, by the end there were so many competing storylines, not to mention occasional narration from Petey the black mamba snake, that I just wasn't sure what I was reading.

This is a book that takes on its story with great gusto. I marveled at Moore's creativity, but all in all, Noir didn't quite work for me. However, if zany, no-holds-barred books pique your interest, definitely give this one a try.

Book Review: "A Gentleman in Moscow" by Amor Towles

This really was a special book, one which at times felt almost magical.

Count Alexander Rostov was always a man who enjoyed the finer things in life. He was always nattily dressed, participating in intelligent conversation, enjoying fine food and drink, and the company of erudite and beautiful people. Rostov lived in grand fashion in Moscow's Hotel Metropol, a hotel just across the street from the Kremlin, and he thrived on being a part of the buzz that passed through its doors and around its bustling neighborhood.

In 1922, he was sentenced to a lifetime of house arrest at the Metropol, although the Bolshevik tribunal that issued the sentence wasn't simply content with allowing him to continue living in grandeur—they reduced his living quarters to one small room in the hotel belfry. But while no longer being able to step outside the hotel doors, and having to cram most of one's cherished possessions and family heirlooms into one tiny room might bring a lesser man to his knees, Rostov is (mostly) unbowed. He doesn't allow himself to miss a step of his usual routine, and it isn't long before he realizes how a life lived within one building can be just as full of excitement as one lived all over the world.

"...if a man does not master his circumstances then he is bound to be mastered by them."

While Russia and the world are experiencing events which cause major upheaval, Rostov doesn't miss out on it all. He can take the country's temperature, of sorts, by studying the behavior of the hotel guests, its managers, and its employees. While many may have written him off as a frivolous dandy, it's not long before many realize the Count's worth is far greater despite his diminished circumstances. He quickly is woven into the fabric of all of the hotel's goings-on, sometimes openly, sometimes secretly, and forms relationships that have ripples in the outside world, even as he realizes that the world he once knew and loved has changed.

"For the times do, in fact, change. They change relentlessly. Inevitably. Inventively. And as they change, they set into bright relief not only outmoded honorifics and hunting horns, but silver summoners and mother-of-pearl opera glasses and all manner of carefully crafted things that have outlived their usefulness."

Spanning several decades, A Gentleman in Moscow is rich with emotion, social commentary, humor, even Russian history. As he did in Rules Of Civility, which also was a fantastic book (see my review), Amor Towles both reveres and satirizes the world in which this book takes place, but the love he has for his characters is a beacon above it all.

While at times the book got a little too detailed with the workings of Russian government, poetry, and Bolshevik history, it always quickly got itself back on track and brought me back into the book's heart. These characters were so special, so fascinating, and Towles' storytelling was so vivid, I almost could see the scenes playing out in front of my eyes as I read them. And honestly, Count Rostov is a character worthy of being put up on a pedestal like other unforgettable ones.

I was a little late to the party on reading this, but I'm so glad I did, and I'm glad it lived up to the praise so many others have bestowed upon it. If you like novels with social commentary, satire, history, and a huge dollop of heart, pick up A Gentleman in Moscow. You'll marvel at it, and even want more.

Book Review: "Beauty Queens" by Libba Bray

Beauty pageants are often frequent targets of satire, even if most of the aspects that are lampooned are pretty exaggerated. We love to pull out the "world peace" trope, and revisit the idea that beauty pageant contestants are dumb, even if in reality they're quite often tremendously accomplished. (And I say this as both a fan and a nearly 12-year volunteer with the Miss America Organization.)

The young women in Libba Bray's satire, Beauty Queens, a cross between Miss Congeniality and Drop Dead Gorgeous, with a little bit of the media-related commentary of Max Headroom are in a class by themselves. They're flying to the beach to compete in the Miss Teenage Dream pageant, and their every move is being captured by film crews, with the culminating event being the televised pageant itself. And then the unthinkable happens—their plane crash-lands on a deserted island, killing the majority of the contestants and all of the adults involved, and leaving a select few to fend for themselves.

From the get-go, Miss Texas, Taylor Rene Krystal Hawkins, wants the survivors to keep practicing their musical numbers, keeping up their beauty rituals (despite losing most of their cosmetics, not to mention food and water and hygiene products), because Miss Teenage Dream is always prepared. But Miss New Hampshire, Adina Greenberg, who never really cared much about competing anyway, thinks it's crazy the girls don't concentrate on surviving the elements and try to get rescued. They can't have a pageant if all the contestants have starved to death or get eaten by wild animals, can they?

But what the contestants don't realize is that the island isn't deserted—it's actually the site of a top secret compound run by "The Corporation," the conglomerate that produces the pageant as well as nearly every popular television show (like Patriot Daughters," featuring a sexy Betsy Ross, and Captains Bodacious, which features a group of telegenic young men masquerading as pirates), movie, book, and record, not to mention pharmaceuticals, fashions, and beauty products. And The Corporation is about to take part in a very shady business deal with a very shady foreign dictator.

Beauty Queens lampoons so many elements of pageants, from the pushy mothers who strong-arm their daughters into competing, to the vapid contestants who know a lot about makeup and smiling but little about the world around them. And then there's the most famous Miss Teenage Dream ever, Ladybird Hope, now an aspiring presidential candidate. Her take on why the pageant is important:

"Our country needs something to believe in, Barry. They need us to be that shining beacon on the hill, and that shining beacon will not have all these complications and tough questions about who we are, 'cause that's hard, and nobody wants to think about that when you already have to decide whether you want Original Recipe or Extra Crispy and that little box is squawkin' at ya. And let me tell you something, Barry, that shining beacon will have a talent portion and pretty girls, because if we don't come out and twirl those batons and model our evening gowns and answer questions about geography, then the terrorists have won."

Parts of this book were quite funny, and the contestants' adventures were interspersed with "commercials" from The Corporation. But after a while, as the plot got more and more outlandish, it started to lose steam, and it just wasn't as funny anymore. There were only so many times the contestants could joke about the slutty one, the lesbian, and the token minorities, or the plot entailed the contestants defending themselves with everyday beauty tools and products before the book just lost its appeal. I think if this book were shorter, it definitely would have been funnier, but instead it appears Bray tried to cram as much as she could into the plot.

If you enjoy satire and social commentary about just how silly the media is and how much control it has over us, you may enjoy Beauty Queens. It's definitely amusing, even laugh-out-loud, stupid funny in places. I just wish it didn't lose steam before it ended.