Title: Dumplin’
Author: Julie Murphy
Genre: Contemporary
Format: Paperback
Length: 371pages
Series: Dumplin’ #1
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Publication Date: 15 September 2015
My Rating: ★★★ (3 stars)
Goodreads | Storygraph
Synopsis:
Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom) has always been at home in her own skin. Her thoughts on having the ultimate bikini body? Put a bikini on your body. With her all-American beauty best friend, Ellen, by her side, things have always worked…until Will takes a job at Harpy’s, the local fast-food joint. There she meets Private School Bo, a hot former jock. Will isn’t surprised to find herself attracted to Bo. But she is surprised when he seems to like her back.
Instead of finding new heights of self-assurance in her relationship with Bo, Will starts to doubt herself. So she sets out to take back her confidence by doing the most horrifying thing she can imagine: entering the Miss Clover City beauty pageant—along with several other unlikely candidates—to show the world that she deserves to be up there as much as any twiggy girl does. Along the way, she’ll shock the hell out of Clover City—and maybe herself most of all.
With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine—Dumplin’ is guaranteed to steal your heart.
My Review:
I debated picking this book up for a while and finally did after I saw the film.
This novel follows Willowdean, a self-proclaimed fat girl as she enters her town’s beauty pageant. This novel is about Willowdean’s struggles with friendship and features a little romance.
The narration had a good charm, I did enjoy the southern atmosphere however I did at times find that it moved a little slow and I thought it dragged a little sometimes.
Willowdean is a well-rounded character so that’s a credit to the writer. She’s spunky but has her own insecurities. She’s not perfect, and there were times when I felt she was a little too critical of the people around her.
The romance – I’m a little anti-love triangle. Sometimes it works, but more often than not I don’t see the point in them. This was one of those times. I didn’t really see the chemistry between Willowdean and either of the boys so, in my opinion, the story didn’t really need the romance at all.
The book does have a good message about body positivity but I did find that the novel was a little slow at times. Without the love triangle, and a little more pacing I would’ve rated this book higher.
