review: Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

“Perfection is nothing more than a phantom shadow we’re all chasing”

― Julie Murphy, Dumplin'

Feeling insecure about your body? Read Dumplin'.

Fat girl takes back her confidence by entering a beauty pageant? Count me in. Dumplin' is all about being confidence and self-love, which, I think, teens need these days. Dumplin' is a journey about Willowdean Dickson, our fat girl, and wow- she's a walking star.

Willowdean is a cashier for Harpy’s, Dolly Parton enthusiast and is well, a fat girl. She has a childhood friend named Ellen, who has her back at all times, and her mom (a former beauty queen). Everything is going well until Bo. Oh Bo Bo Bo. Bo is Willowdean's crush but I personally didn't have a crush on Bo. For the first 100-ish pages I was like " UGhHHh bO". In those first 100-ish pages Bo was quite creepy and mysterious. Would you make out with some creepy and mysterious dude all summer? No thanks. At some point, Willowdean doesn't feel confident anymore. Why? She's always felt good in her skin and never let negative things get in her way. The answer is Bo. She starts doubting herself over Bo. Before things get really messy with their relationship, the story fast-forwards to junior year (the story started in the summer). Now things get interesting. Willowdean and Bo "break up" and try to move on. Willowdean's life takes a new turn. Friendships, relationships, family and confidence all take a part in Willowdean's life. Dumplin' was an awesome read. Willowdean was fabulous. She was so so SO confident and never let anything stop her. Bo was a "meh" for me but Ellen was pretty awesome. Ellen's and Willowdean's friendship was powerful. The writing was good. The writing didn't really go to in details with the exciting parts of the story so eh. The plot started slow but things got exciting. Dumplin' was great but...

Willowdean was self-centered. Her problems started because of her. If you think about it, Dumplin' wouldn't be much of a story if Willowdean wasn't self-centered. I guess, in this case, it wasn't a bad thing? I don't know. What do you think?

My final thoughts are...

Dumplin' is all about learning how to love your body and I think anyone needs to learn how to love their body! I say, read it!

Hey! Thanks for reading my review!

Dumplin' was written by Julie Murphy

Dumplin' was published September 15th 2015

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.