Reviews tagging 'Homophobia'

Pumpkin by Julie Murphy

32 reviews

redheadorganist's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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amberinpieces's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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tigger89's review

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hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

There's so much packed into this little novel: body positivity, gender and sexuality, drag, identity, abandonment, religion, even the imposition of adult responsibilities onto childhood. Some of it gets a bit dark, and not in the way that's to be expected from a queer book, so check content warnings. The inclusion of supportive adults was a welcome counter to the dark patches.

I loved the process of Waylon embracing his identity and choosing to face rather than avoid people who made him uncomfortable. I especially liked the way Kyle was handled. We all know a Kyle. We're happy for you bro, but you've gotta stop putting everyone else down in the process of giving yourself a fitness pep talk! I liked that he was portrayed as more than a one-dimensional mean boy, because he really wasn't trying to put anyone down. It's not necessarily intuitive to realize the effects that cheerleading for your own accomplishments might have on others.

I was less a fan of the core romance. I'm not a huge romance fan in general, but even accounting for that, the resolution(events at prom) felt very rushed to me. It was cute, but nothing groundbreaking. I did appreciate how three-dimensional he was as a love interest. He actually had a life, motivations, and problems outside of the protagonist of the novel, which is unfortunately more rare than we'd like.

This isn't typically the kind of book I read(I picked it up for work-related reasons), but it was better than I'd expected. If I was rating just for my own tastes I'd give it a 3, but I'll bump it up to a 4 because I recognize just how Not For Me it is. Despite being #3 in a series, it can be read as a standalone. I haven't read the first two volumes, and I understood everything just fine.
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baylan's review

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adventurous funny reflective tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

0.75

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sarahallen03's review against another edition

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funny hopeful lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes

4.5

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grace_bunty's review against another edition

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3.5

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aribook's review

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funny lighthearted relaxing slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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beckyyreadss's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional funny hopeful lighthearted medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

I really enjoyed the first book in this series and only found out this book existed whilst re-reading Dumplin’ earlier last year. I really enjoyed this book and it was the perfect ending for this series.  

This book is based around Waylon Russell Brewer who is a fat, openly gay boy stuck in Clover City. We have come to know Clover City and the disadvantages of a small town with the past two novels. Waylon’s plan is to bide his time until he can graduate, move to Austin with his twin sister, Clementine and finally go Full Waylon and live as his true self. However Clementine has deviated from the master plan and it was after Waylon gets dumped – so one night he creates an audition tape for his favourite TV drag show, Fiercest of Them All. What he doesn’t count on is the tape being shared with the entire school. As a result, Waylon is nominated for prom queen as a joke. Clem’s girlfriend, Hannah Perez, also receives a joke nomination for prom king. Waylon and Hannah decide there’s only one right thing to do: Run and leave high school with a bang. A very glittery bag. Along the way, Waylon discovers that there is a lot more to running for prom court than campaign posters and plastic crowns, especially when he has to spend so much time with the very cute and infuriating prom king nominee Tucker Watson. This is a young adult LGBT book with a hint of romance.  

Okay, I love Clover City and the stories that come out of this. I loved the first book and always wanted more. This book is so queer and so brilliant and just fantastic. I love Julie Murphy as an author, she is one of those authors whose books always make me feel so fuzzy and warm once I've finished them and this was the perfect end to the trilogy. I want to protect Waylon for the rest of my life. The Queen better not get hurt in college. I loved the other characters coming back and filling us in on what they’ve been doing. I don’t have anything to hate about this book, it just wasn’t my favourite out of the series – but that’s because I relate the Willowdean a lot.  

This book left room for more out of the characters we learn over the trilogy. I would love another novella or novel to see how Bo and Willowdean did abroad. I would love to see how Millie did at school and how Waylon and Clem get on during their first year of college. 
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castielsshield's review

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emotional funny hopeful inspiring lighthearted fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

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alisonvh's review

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emotional hopeful inspiring fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book is every bit as endearing and heartwarming as the first two books in the series. Although you don’t need to have read the other two books in order to enjoy this one, I did appreciate that we got a glimpse of the couples from the two prequels and how they’re doing now.
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