Beauty Queens

As the novel opens, the contestants are on a plane to an exotic tropical location for the last national pageant, which will conclude the competition. Things don’t exactly go according to plan; the plane crashes, killing the documentary crew, pageant chaperones, and all non-beauty queens on board. This leaves the pageant contestants stranded together on a desert island. Although they are all competing for the same prize, they must learn to work together to overcome their unexpected circumstances and, ultimately, to get out alive.

When the girls first find themselves on the island and realize what has happened, they struggle to know what action to take. Adina, Miss Hampshire, takes charge, suggesting a roll call to see who is still alive. In this way, they realize that they are twelve survivors in total. They then decide to split off into two groups, one to care for the wounded and salvage what supplies they can from the wreckage, and the other to set out into the jungle to search for potential survivors. The two teams come up with names, and deem themselves the Sparkle Ponies and the Lost Girls.



The Lost Girls set off toward the jungle, exploring the island and taking in their surroundings. They enter a clearing filled with totems that freaks them out, even more so when a strange girl wanders out of the jungle. She is black, and at first, all of the girls assume that she is an island native, but she eventually communicates that she is Nicole, Miss Colorado.

The girls continue their search through the jungle with Nicole in tow. They find the body of a flight attendant and decide to burn it so as not to attract predators with the presence of human flesh. One of the girls, Petra, expresses her concern that she only has a week’s worth of her medication. The girls continue to stalk through the jungle, keeping their eyes peeled for any signs of life or the suitcase containing Petra’s medication, but come up empty-handed.

They return to the beach, reporting to the Sparkle Ponies that they haven’t found any other survivors. What the girls don’t know yet is that they are not alone on the island; Agent Jones is watching their every move. Focused on his own goals, Operation Peacock, he is worried that a rescue mission might get in the way.



The Corporation, with hidden interests on this island, is making secret deals with someone called MoMo, offering him weapons in return for allowing them to set up shop in his country. It seems no one searching for the girls or organizing any kind of rescue mission, as the Corporation wants to keep its own affairs under wraps.

Eventually, the beauty queens find their way to the secret headquarters of the Corporation that lies within the volcano. The girls are told that they should prepare themselves to compete in a pageant on the island. Some of the girls have mixed feelings considering the circumstances and are more concerned with getting off the island than the competition at this point.

Some of the girls ambush one of the guards, knocking him unconscious. Using his swipe card, they gain access to a massive weapons arsenal. The girls then start to plan their pageant routine while really plotting an escape. They choreograph a dance that will allow them to escape one by one with the goal of making it to the Corporation’s yacht. Some of the girls plan to sneak off to the control room to show the world what is happening on the island.



Agent Jones asks them to switch up the routine, inadvertently spoiling the girls’ plan and requiring them to reconsider their options. Meanwhile, some of the girls take out one of the guards and board the yacht. Back on stage, the girls are desperately trying to hide their panic. One of the girls brings out a statue as part of her routine and begins a monologue, which acts as the perfect distraction. While she is speaking, the other girls run away; as they make their escape, the statue explodes behind them.

The girls scatter and head in different directions; some of them get back to the Corporation’s headquarters where they realize that they must create a PowerPoint presentation to override the system and expose the situation. They do this but find that the public response is not what they had anticipated.