What happens when you combine two of my favorite authors into one book? Endless screaming. I knew I needed to read Miss Meteor from the moment it was announced. And my experience, and love, surpassed my wildest expectations. It’s a book about self-acceptance, love, and bravery. Keep reading this book review to hear me scream about Miss Meteor.
Summary
There hasn’t been a winner of the Miss Meteor beauty pageant who looks like Lita Perez or Chicky Quintanilla in all its history. But that’s not the only reason Lita wants to enter the contest, or why her ex-best friend Chicky wants to help her. The road to becoming Miss Meteor isn’t about being perfect; it’s about sharing who you are with the world—and loving the parts of yourself no one else understands.
So to pull off the unlikeliest underdog story in pageant history, Lita and Chicky are going to have to forget the past and imagine a future where girls like them are more than enough—they are everything.
Review
(Disclaimer: I received this book from Edelweiss. This has not impacted my review which is unbiased and honest.)
TW: homophobia, transphobia, fatphobia
Friends to lovers, stories of sisterhood, pansexual main characters, and a girl made of stardust. It’s a story about being brave enough to speak your truth into the world, to accept the love around us, and to taking a stand against the status quo. Miss Meteor takes place in a small town. One where, if you play by their roles of appearances, they will give you a begrudging and flimsy show of acceptance – which is always subject to their approval. This story becomes one of fighting against acceptance as excuses, as racism disguised by the ‘good of the town’, and the knowledge that (found) family will always have your back.
Miss Meteor is also a story about the ashes of friendship, hope found in unlikely hot glue guns, and second chances. Every moment of this book is emotional. From the racism Chicky’s family experiences to the bonds of sisterhood that unite them. Or from the thrill of first love or the quiet comfort of friendship. If you have loved any of Tehlor Kay Mejia or Anna-Marie McLemore’s books, then you will love Miss Meteor.
It has everything you might expect – queerness, glittering prose, and a story of the power of love. Of fighting against a town that uses incidents as excuses for their intolerance which was only ever thinly veiled. Of a society that is trans and homophobic, where all difference is frowned upon, and fighting against a system that wants us to fail.
Find Miss Meteor on Goodreads, Amazon, Indiebound, Bookshop.org & The Book Depository.
I’ve seen so many postive reviews for this book, which is great because I am really excited for it and now it’s definitely on my to buy list! Anna and Tehlor are amazing and their styles of writing are two of my favorites.
YES! Then I think you’ll really enjoy it because there’s so much of them in both of it
Sounds like a great collab! Looking forward to it.
OMG it was so perfect and magical!
I read it a couple weeks ago – I completely agree!