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3.87 AVERAGE
3.87 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Okay, so I finally finished a book in a while in midst of me being busy in college. I began this book thinking, oh I like this book. Maybe 4 stars, or even five if I loved it in the end. But after one thing and other, I decided this was obviously a good book, but not the best or at least one of my favorites. The first half of it was amazing.
A fat girl. A beauty princess competition. This tells a story of Willowdean ‘Dumplin’ Dickson who is a fat girl. She fell for a boy but had no confidence in herself. So what to do next? Of course, she joined the competition to prove herself and Lucy who were her aunt and someone she relate to compared to her mother. She fell for a boy named Bo.
But... halfway through the story, she had this fling thing with someone else named Mitch. He was a big guy, a kind kid who’s a little awkward sometimes. In other word, Mitch is something sort of like me. I saw myself in him. I didn’t root for Bo. He was flat out character with (oh-my-god-smile) and a red sucker in his mouth all the time. Mitch has this terrific character development that made me like him even more.
Dumplin secretly still likes Bo and wanted to be with him... But she kept this thing going on? Then all of a sudden, she told him she liked Bo and not him. Then Mitch was out of the book for the rest of the story just like that. With that, I was disappointed but the overall story was cute so I give this one a three.
In the end, I believe that Mitch deserved better.
A fat girl. A beauty princess competition. This tells a story of Willowdean ‘Dumplin’ Dickson who is a fat girl. She fell for a boy but had no confidence in herself. So what to do next? Of course, she joined the competition to prove herself and Lucy who were her aunt and someone she relate to compared to her mother. She fell for a boy named Bo.
But... halfway through the story, she had this fling thing with someone else named Mitch. He was a big guy, a kind kid who’s a little awkward sometimes. In other word, Mitch is something sort of like me. I saw myself in him. I didn’t root for Bo. He was flat out character with (oh-my-god-smile) and a red sucker in his mouth all the time. Mitch has this terrific character development that made me like him even more.
Dumplin secretly still likes Bo and wanted to be with him... But she kept this thing going on? Then all of a sudden, she told him she liked Bo and not him. Then Mitch was out of the book for the rest of the story just like that. With that, I was disappointed but the overall story was cute so I give this one a three.
In the end, I believe that Mitch deserved better.
This didn't do it for me. Don't get me wrong-- I am VERY HAPPY to see a fat heroine, someone who ultimately owns her size (the excellent quote "Do you have a body? Put a swimsuit on it" sums it up, as does the overall theme of "my body is not something for you to judge"). Also happy to see a cast of characters that includes drag queens and gay people and fat people and at least one clear person of color without these people feeling like tokens. Even if the main characters are white, the fact that they are written as part of a diverse world, even in small town Texas, feels right (I like to think that art can help make the world in its image).
Thematically, and plot-wise this is a well crafted story, and a necessary one. What I wanted from it and didn't get, however, was emotion. I recognize that this may partially be a privilege thing-- I've never felt like I couldn't travel on a plane because I might not fit, for instance, and someone who does have to think of that stuff, who does feel limited because of something as superficial as their size, may feel a lot more connected to Willowdean and her struggles to own who she is and how she's made.
But the problem is also one of craft. I just didn't feel Willowdean's grief for her Aunt Lucy, who died unexpectedly the year before, and also struggled with her weight and how it limited her. I didn't feel Willowdean's chemistry with Bo, the cute private school boy she crushes on. I didn't feel her triumph during the Miss Teen Bluebell pageant, when she sings "Jolene" by Dolly Parton, which gets her DQ'd but is also supposed to be an awesome way to honor her aunt and own her own fabulousness.
I didn't feel these things because a lot of this book makes the mistake of telling rather than showing. The most glaring omission is that we never really see Lucy. She's dead in the real-time of the story, but we never get to see who she was through Willowdean's memory. We are only told about the things she did, the songs she liked; we are told Willowdean and she had a real connection and that Lucy was like a second parent, but Willowdean doesn't show us how that loss makes her feel.
The same problem happens with the moral-of-the-story soundbytes in some of the more pivotal chapters, where other characters and sometimes Willowdean herself spout off packaged quotes like,"I guess sometimes the perfection we perceive in others is made up of a whole bunch of tiny imperfections..." This kind of too-neat revelation wraps up many of the chapters, and it just doesn't feel right or real in the way I think Willowdean and her story are meant to.
Teenagers' learning curves are messy, jagged things, and teenagers don't usually take well to people telling them these kinds of streamlined aphorisms that suggest the complicated stuff they're working through doesn't matter now just because it won't matter so much in 30 years. That's BS, and I itch at reading it, especially in a book with so much potential. I mean, seriously. Dolly Parton, grief and romance, the ridiculous traditions of deep south beauty pageants? A fat heroine with a snappy wit who stands up for herself? It should be a home run. But it read like a script: all stage directions and no emotion in the interpretation.
Thematically, and plot-wise this is a well crafted story, and a necessary one. What I wanted from it and didn't get, however, was emotion. I recognize that this may partially be a privilege thing-- I've never felt like I couldn't travel on a plane because I might not fit, for instance, and someone who does have to think of that stuff, who does feel limited because of something as superficial as their size, may feel a lot more connected to Willowdean and her struggles to own who she is and how she's made.
But the problem is also one of craft. I just didn't feel Willowdean's grief for her Aunt Lucy, who died unexpectedly the year before, and also struggled with her weight and how it limited her. I didn't feel Willowdean's chemistry with Bo, the cute private school boy she crushes on. I didn't feel her triumph during the Miss Teen Bluebell pageant, when she sings "Jolene" by Dolly Parton, which gets her DQ'd but is also supposed to be an awesome way to honor her aunt and own her own fabulousness.
I didn't feel these things because a lot of this book makes the mistake of telling rather than showing. The most glaring omission is that we never really see Lucy. She's dead in the real-time of the story, but we never get to see who she was through Willowdean's memory. We are only told about the things she did, the songs she liked; we are told Willowdean and she had a real connection and that Lucy was like a second parent, but Willowdean doesn't show us how that loss makes her feel.
The same problem happens with the moral-of-the-story soundbytes in some of the more pivotal chapters, where other characters and sometimes Willowdean herself spout off packaged quotes like,"I guess sometimes the perfection we perceive in others is made up of a whole bunch of tiny imperfections..." This kind of too-neat revelation wraps up many of the chapters, and it just doesn't feel right or real in the way I think Willowdean and her story are meant to.
Teenagers' learning curves are messy, jagged things, and teenagers don't usually take well to people telling them these kinds of streamlined aphorisms that suggest the complicated stuff they're working through doesn't matter now just because it won't matter so much in 30 years. That's BS, and I itch at reading it, especially in a book with so much potential. I mean, seriously. Dolly Parton, grief and romance, the ridiculous traditions of deep south beauty pageants? A fat heroine with a snappy wit who stands up for herself? It should be a home run. But it read like a script: all stage directions and no emotion in the interpretation.
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It’s weeks later and I am still smiling about this sweet book. It is everything I want my YA romance to be- fun to read, lots of heart, and about so much more than boys. I was really impressed by the nuance and depth of the characters in this. I felt like it touched on so many good topics, big and small, and gave the reader lots of opportunities to form their own opinions and reflect (rather than telling the reader what to think and feel.) I’m new to audiobooks so it was a little funny to hear the narrator change their voice for different characters, but this narrator did a lovely job. I’m excited to see the movie version- I hope it does the book justice!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Fatphobia
Moderate: Homophobia
Minor: Ableism
I gobbled this one up in a few sittings. I loved Willodean, and the cast of characters that join her on the pageant journey. I loved that each of these quirky characters also take a journey to confront their own difficulties, use their talents and find the confidence to refuse to be invisible just like Willodean. I hope Murphy writes another book for each of these characters because they each have so much more to say. Especially Hannah, boy did I love her spunk and rough edges. This would be a great pick for a a YA reader who leans toward romance, but there is so much more here. The overall message about finding confidence and loving yourself first was for me the best part. There are no guarantees in life and you don't always know what is going to happen when you take a risk. Taking a stand is definitely not easy, but Willodean chooses to be kind and that is what makes this book a ten out of ten for me.
I can't even put into words how some the lines of this book spoke to me. I listened to it wishing I had a pen and paper so I could write and remember all the gems.
I am giddy with excitement upon coming to this Goodreads page and learning that this is "Dumplin' #1"... meaning we have MORE Dumplin' coming!!
I loved that Dumplin' is kind of a major brat. Too many reviews on here are projecting adult self-actualization and "wokeness" onto a very authentic, realistic middle-of-Texas high school girl. Dumplin' has a lot of internalized misogyny and is super judgmental. I enjoyed following her on her journey, getting called out for her judgments (against her best friend El, against Bo/Mitch, etc) and learning from those call outs. Dumplin' wasn't a perfect, flawless narrator who believes all the "right" things and bestows her knowledge onto her troubled peers. That book would be sooooo boring.
*ALSO* so many people accusing this book of "skinny shaming". L O L. Skinny shaming is the "reverse racism" of body image. I am skinny and wasn't offended a single time in this book. Dumplin's comments on size comes mostly from a lack of understanding and, at some points, jealousy. Kind of a, "don't hate the player, hate the game" situation. Don't hate skinny women, hate the culture that makes us hyper focused on our appearances and pushes the idea that our physical appearance somehow relates to our worth as a person. I'm 28 years old and still learning this; why do readers expect a 16-year-old (especially one with a mother who regularly insults her size) to know it?
I loved that Dumplin' is kind of a major brat. Too many reviews on here are projecting adult self-actualization and "wokeness" onto a very authentic, realistic middle-of-Texas high school girl. Dumplin' has a lot of internalized misogyny and is super judgmental. I enjoyed following her on her journey, getting called out for her judgments (against her best friend El, against Bo/Mitch, etc) and learning from those call outs. Dumplin' wasn't a perfect, flawless narrator who believes all the "right" things and bestows her knowledge onto her troubled peers. That book would be sooooo boring.
*ALSO* so many people accusing this book of "skinny shaming". L O L. Skinny shaming is the "reverse racism" of body image. I am skinny and wasn't offended a single time in this book. Dumplin's comments on size comes mostly from a lack of understanding and, at some points, jealousy. Kind of a, "don't hate the player, hate the game" situation. Don't hate skinny women, hate the culture that makes us hyper focused on our appearances and pushes the idea that our physical appearance somehow relates to our worth as a person. I'm 28 years old and still learning this; why do readers expect a 16-year-old (especially one with a mother who regularly insults her size) to know it?