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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.
Title: Dumplin’ (Dumplin’, #1)
Author: Julie Murphy
Publication Date: September 15, 2015
Publisher: Balzer + Bray
Genre: Young Adult, Contemporary, Romance
Review
I was expecting to really love this book because of the high ratings and because I enjoyed the movie…I was wrong.
The pacing of this book was a little too slow for me. It took me a while to gain interest in it because of the slow pace. For probably the first third of the book, the only thing happening was a semi-weird romance. I thought the main plotline of the book was the beauty pageant and everything that went along with that, but that didn’t even start until almost halfway through.
The characters in this book were also all kinda quirky? Or maybe it was the writing style that was quirky. The characters kept doing or saying things that would warrant a million questions from me and then the scene would just end. There was so much scene jumping and I felt like most of the scenes were unnecessary. Whatever was happening with this book, I wasn’t really a fan.
That being said, there were some really cute moments. It also had a good message from time to time that I think everyone should hear. It’s because of those things that I gave this book more than one star.
Overall, I was not a fan of this book. There were some cute romantic moments here and there and a nice message shared at the end, but the rest wasn’t for me. Maybe I missed something (???) or maybe the writing style really just wasn’t for me.
Rating
To check out my other reviews, click here. Or to check out more books by Julie Murphy, go to her GoodReads profile or her website.
Oooh I keep hearing things about Dumplin! There are so few instances where the movie did a great job when it’s based on a book. It is a bummer that you were not a fan of the book. At least there were some good snippets of interesting relationships. Thanks for sharing your honest thoughts on this read!
Nancy ✨ exquisitely.me
I seem to be in the small minority of people that didn’t really like this book so I’d definitely give it a shot if you’re interested in its synopsis.
I actually watched the movie before reading the novel and I think the movie did a pretty good job at adapting it. The book was pretty good but for some reason I found the movie more enjoyable
I also really enjoyed the movie, but just couldn’t get into the book. I think it was mainly the pacing for me.
Yeah. My problem with the book was how the MC was such a insecure mess(and not in a good way) which made it hard for me to sympathize with her or enjoy the book. It was the same in the movie but for some reason it was more bearable lol
I know what you mean. Even though the insecurities kinda felt the same in the movie and the book, it seemed like they were shown or handled differently which made the movie a little better.