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A review by book_concierge
Dumplin' by Julie Murphy
4.0
3.5*** (rounded up)
From the book jacket: 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.
My reactions:
I grew up in Texas and am very familiar with the small-town beauty pageant hysteria. I hadn’t read the jacket blurb, nor seen the NetFlix (?) show, but the cover captured my attention.
I really liked the story arc about Will’s efforts regarding the pageant and how she inspires other girls who don’t fit the standard “beauty-queen” stereotype to step up as well. I also really liked the exploration of the mother-daughter relationship, and the friendships … and all the hiccups that are bound to happen in any such relationships.
I was somewhat less happy with the “romance” aspect, especially in the way Will treated Mitch. Still, I think Murphy did a good job of showing consequences of one’s actions. And I guess we were all once self-centered teenagers who bought into the romance hype of fiction and movies. Heck, I still buy into that HEA stuff … who doesn’t want a feel-good ending?!
Eileen Stevens does a great job of performing the audio book. She was believable as a teenager and as an adult.
From the book jacket: 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.
My reactions:
I grew up in Texas and am very familiar with the small-town beauty pageant hysteria. I hadn’t read the jacket blurb, nor seen the NetFlix (?) show, but the cover captured my attention.
I really liked the story arc about Will’s efforts regarding the pageant and how she inspires other girls who don’t fit the standard “beauty-queen” stereotype to step up as well. I also really liked the exploration of the mother-daughter relationship, and the friendships … and all the hiccups that are bound to happen in any such relationships.
I was somewhat less happy with the “romance” aspect, especially in the way Will treated Mitch. Still, I think Murphy did a good job of showing consequences of one’s actions. And I guess we were all once self-centered teenagers who bought into the romance hype of fiction and movies. Heck, I still buy into that HEA stuff … who doesn’t want a feel-good ending?!
Eileen Stevens does a great job of performing the audio book. She was believable as a teenager and as an adult.