Readers will be rooting for the underdog in the phenomenal collaboration between Tehlor Kay Mejia and Anna-Marie McLemore. Fast-paced and engaging, this book has universal YA themes of identity, friendship, and finding your place in the world that young readers will relate to. It also presents various underrepresented identities very well due to the expertise and experiences of the authors. Highly recommended.

5/5 stardusts

Thank you so so so so so so much to the publisher and Netgalley for providing this e-arc.

The rep of different kinds, the strong found family bonds and friendships, the humor. everything was just amazing.

This book needed more stardust and magic.
Yes I know that it is about a group of girls that seem incapable to winning a pageant but it teased so much with magical realism that, that is what I was now wanting to get out of this book, so no I was not impressed with this story, big tease.

Miss Meteor centers on a middle-of-nowhere town where the businesses stay open thanks to the annual tourist trap/fanfare that is the Miss Meteor Beauty Pageant (and a cornhole tournament). Lita literally crash landed into the town on a meteor and is about to return to the stars. Figuring it's her last chance before returning to the sky, Lita decides to enter the contest, even though she knows that as a chubby Latinx her chances are slim; afterall, for the last 49 years, the pageant has always crowned the perfect skinny, blonde girl.. Her childhood friend Chicky agrees to be her manager and enlists the help of her older sisters, who all placed well when they were in the pageant. They're setting out to create a legacy for all the brown girls who have always been treated as lesser.

I'll start by saying I'm often a bit wary of works with multiple authors. This collaboration was executed beautifully! I felt like Chicky's chapters and Lita's chapters blended well into each other; there was one cohesive narrative voice, rather than the disjointedness that can sometimes come from dual-author books.

Prior, I'd never read any of Tehlor Kay Mejia's solo works, but Anna-Marie McLemore has been one of my favorite YA authors for years now; their books read like poetry, and I love the fantastical elements of magical realism in their works. Unfortunately, I didn't get that from this book. It has a much more commonplace writing style, which is not bad; the book is still written well. I've just grown to have very high expectations from an Anna-Marie McLemore book! The other shortcoming for me was in the magical realism elements. For me, there wasn't enough. I know it was involved in the main plot points, but I felt like it lacked more involvement with the other characters, so that I'd like to see more of.

With that said, it was a really nice read. I was rooting for the characters all the way through, and it was a fun, light read while also addressing contemporary issues.

dnf for now. this book honestly just wasn't holding my attention. after looking at the reviews i can see that many people liked this book but i think this is just a case of this not being the right book for me. I didn't really jive with the writing style or really feel any sort of attachment to the characters of real difference between the two. if you like queer characters in beauty pageants then check it out.

This fun, fresh take on regional beauty pageants, magical realism, and friendship really hit the spot when I read it. With a dual POV alternating between two friends--Lita and Chicky--as they rediscover their lost friendship, find love, and try to win the 50th Annual Miss Meteor Pageant and Talent Showcase.

Chicky is the daughter of hard-working parents who run the local dinner, and the youngest of four sisters. But she's not the beauty queens her sisters are--she cuts her hair short, etc, and she's "weird" at school and often picked on for her perceived sexuality, even if it's not exactly what she knows about herself. Her former best friend, Lita, is dealing with her own issues. It doesn't help that she's slowly becoming more stardust than girl, returning to her natural form that brought her to this planet and this small town where she's known for being eccentric, but everything is going to get even weirder when she decides that the only way to fight the stardust is to win the Miss Meteor pageant.

Over the course of the novel, Lita and Chicky rediscover their friendship, fall for local boys, and fight discrimination, straight up bullying, the old boys club in town, and the ridiculousness of the pageant system in general. This book is super well written--the 2 authors POVs blending together well--and while the pacing in the second half is a little off from the first one, I liked it a lot! It felt like a fresh take on contemporary, the magical realism was well done, and I was compelled by all the characters! I also think there's a lot to be said about a book that ends at the right time! Plus, this book has a lot of great representation that's both well-integrated into the story but also teaches readers something along the way.

This was definitely a five star read for me, and I hope others love it too!

I received an ARC of MISS METEOR thanks to the publisher through NetGalley.

MISS METEOR follows Lita and Chicky as they fight against small town racism in a truly unique way: trying to get Lita the first place in the Miss Meteor pageant. But Lita and Chicky are no longer friends so their goals only align because of their desire to take the bullies down a notch (or twelve). And hopefully it’s possible or else Lita will turn into stardust and vanish.

LGBTQ+ and POC novel about friendship, racism, and self-acceptance told in alternating POV. Somehow these issues are all tackled in a super light-hearted way. Really fascinating writing style. The concept and plot of this story are wonderful and the characters feel alive.

My only complaint is the magical realistic aspect: Lita and her ‘mom’ coming for a falling star. It is accepted without any questions from the characters or explanation or the readers. While I know this is what the magical realism genre is about, it felt like a throwaway thought that was included to make the ‘life or death’ stakes, which was not needed. The astronomy aspects could easily be due to a passion of Lita’s rather than a side effect of what she is. While this doesn’t take away from the story, it doesn’t add to it either.

I still highly recommend as any LGBTQ+ and POC representation is highly welcomed!!!

Over time, Chicky Quintanilla and Lita Perez fall out of friendship because the two are keeping their own secrets they're not yet ready to share. But sophomore year of high school, the girls reunite under a common goal to take down local sweetheart (and school bully) Kendra Kendell and win "The Fiftieth Annual Meteor Regional Pageant and Talent Competition Showcase" themselves. With the help of their family and friends, Lita and Chicky come to realize that becoming Miss Meteor isn't just about being beautiful - it's about learning to love every part of you, even the things that make you different and special, and sharing who you are with the world.

This book was such a delight that absolutely stole my heart. The light magical elements that made it fantastical, the characters, the representation, and the sense of belonging carried me through to the end with a smile on my face. Mejia and McLemore wove together the lives of two girls who see themselves different as their peers, for their own reasons, but find solace in each other. I loved the personalities of Lita and Chicky, and while I will admit when I saw this categorized as LGBT I believed it would be a romance between two childhood friends, I appreciate the direction each girl's romance went. Their personal connections to their respective love interests were established prior to the novel as, aided by interactions throughout the book, felt entirely believable. And I appreciate how those romances are not the focal point. At heart, this is about believing in yourself, learning to love every quirk and feature that makes you stand out, and knowing yourself well enough to share those parts of you with the ones you love.

I will be picking up my own copy of Miss Meteor when it is released in September. I can't wait to see how readers everywhere will fall in love with this quirky story full of young love, pageant hijinks, and found family just like I did.

*thank you to NetGalley and the publisher (HarperTeen) for this book, all thoughts are my own

So I had never read anything by either for the authors, but I’d heard nothing but good things about both so when I saw this was comped to Ari and Dante and Dumplin, it seemed like a good place to start.

I’m so glad I did.

This may sound spectacularly white of me, but I don’t think I’ve ever read an actual Magical Realism book, at least not for fun, so I wasn’t expecting that aspect of the story, but when I realized that’s what this was, I loved how it enhanced and added another layer to what could’ve easily been just a beauty pageant story. I love all the characters and how real they felt, these are people I’d want to be friends with, and who I’m glad I got the chance to know reading this.

Overall, it was a really fun little book and I cannot wait until it comes out official so I can recommend it to people. I’m definitely throwing it at my trans boyfriend, who I know will appreciate the rep, as soon as I have a physical copy.

4 stars

The representation in this novel is excellent, and I'll be recommending it to students - and all readers - who are interested in pansexual and trans representation. In general, this entire novel is a fantastic reflection of intersectional identity, othering, and privilege, and there are some fresh takes on all of these perspectives.

This is also a quick read, alternating between the perspectives of two main characters: Lita and Chicky. I struggled to connect with Lita's character a bit, and I suspect some of this has to do with her uniqueness and disconnection from typical folks in town (maybe also readers). I LOVE the way her otherness evolves physically. This is a talent McLemore has demonstrated expertly in other works, and fans of this element will be pleased to see another very cool take on that here. Because I felt a bit more connected to Chicky from the start, that sense of slight imbalance became a minor struggle over time; I was more invested in her chapters and story line in general. The main switch up to all of that is the best character in the novel, Cole, whose presence is a joy to behold in every scene. I truly enjoyed his approach to life and especially the way his character comes through as a whole person and not a trope (there are a lot of authors who can take notes from this).

For me, the success of this work was so much in the evolution of the characters and the representation they created. I wish I had been more invested in the plot, but maybe it's a good sign that I feel I could have liked these characters just as much in a kind of _Lifeboat_ scenario as I did with the pageant/friendship/family relationships background happening.

There's a lot of important material here, but it's demonstrated in a more than didactic manner: worth the read.

This book is so cute and is filled with such beautiful stories and messages!

So I went into this book expecting it to be one thing and upon finding out half way through that it most definitely is not that thing, it effected my reading experience a bit as I felt let down. But in an effort to make sure no one else goes in with the wrong expectations...

This is not an f/f romance between two childhood best friends.

With a cover that beautiful and with a synopsis that doesn't quite hint at a romance but paired with that cover is there any surprise that I thought Chicky Quintanilla and Lita Perez would end up together? And then once you put in that Chicky's family own a restaurant called "Selena's Diner" in dedication to Selena Quintanilla-Perez....Where Chicky's last name is Quintanilla and Lita's last name is Perez...I mean?? Why did they set it up like that?? Make it make sense!?

Nonetheless, after mourning what this book could've been I continued the book and I found that despite my disappointment, this book was still such an enjoyable read!

And while this isn't an f/f romance, it is FILLED with diversity. Including but not limited to:

-Latinx main characters
-Pansexual rep
-trans rep
-a chubby main character

Not only does it have this amazing rep but it is filled with such important conversations and topics. The way this book handled topics like transphobia, xenophobia and even homophobia was so beautiful, I honestly think that this book should be in every school library for the sensitive, thoughtful and honest way that it brings light to these topics.

This was a really charming novel to read, fun and lighthearted, although at times it does deal with more serious themes. Chicky and Lita are former best friends, reunited with the mutual goal of disrupting the 50th annual Miss Meteor pageant. Both girls have their own reasons for wanting this; Chicky is tired of being bullied by the "perfect" kids - white, blonde, upper class. The kinds of kids with seemingly perfect lives who gain their power from the destruction of others. Lita wants to find the place where she belongs, to take up the space that she deserves. As she says midway through the novel, "Because I am a girl worth the space I take up." There's more to the story, but I think not knowing the details when I started reading actually helped me to enjoy the story more and to be surprised by the reveals.

This novel deals well with some serious issues of bullying, LGBTQ+ discrimination and some transphobia, and racism/xenophobia. Although the novel is mostly happy, there is real pain and real issues that both Chicky and Lita are dealing with. Chicky especially struggles with owning who she is and understanding that who she is is her power rather than her weakness. Where the novel struggles are the places where it can't decide what to be. The character development is excellent, but some of the plot turns feel like they're a bit forced/unrealistic. There are times when the reader has questions about why or how something is happening that is never explained. It doesn't detract from the overall story, but it does mean that there are times when you're taken out of the story. The relationship between the two girls is one of the best parts of the novel, and seeing them work together to repair their relationship and grow as friends and people is heartwarming. Chicky's sisters are especially entertaining as they help Lita prepare for the pageant. Add in a meteorite, some stardust, and a New Mexico town with alien obsessions and you have the setting for a cinderella story. 3.5/5 stars, but rounded up to 4 since I do think this is a novel worth reading.