Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy

At about 3:30 pm yesterday I picked this book up on a whim! The movie tie-in was not super expensive and I had been meaning to read this book since it came out. Then I got home around 6. And I read this book (with a few interruptions for dinner and friends on the phone). And I really really liked this book. 

Willowdean is an awesome main character. I love the southern sass, the confidence, the contradiction, the confusion, just all of her personality was amazing and dynamic. I really believed Willowdean was there. She was written excellently. 

A lot of this book deals with body image in various forms, mostly with Willowdean learning how to feel confident and happy with her body in new situations. Willowdean begins the book telling you she is fat and confident and gtfo if you want to be rude to her about it, but as the novel goes on Willowdean’s life brings her into situations that warp her confidence. I really loved the way Julie Murphy talked about Will’s body. We read her describing her own body at times, but the really interesting part is when Will is talking about the bodies of those around her. We learn a lot about their appearances, Will’s appearance, and the way Will currently feels about her own body by the way she thinks and talks about the bodies of those around her. This was brilliant of Julie Murphy. Everyone looks at others through the frame of their own bodies, and Murphy nails the way those thoughts can turn toxic. 

The romance in this book is all sorts of cute. It is also interesting and nuanced and I loved it. I would like three books of just banter please and thank you. Bo is an excellent romantic interest. Dreamy and (once he gets his shit together) attentive and good at communication. 

Also, I love Mitch. Mitch is like the sweetest boy ever and I really enjoyed that Murphy didn’t write him to be evil and clearly a failure of a person next to Bo. Mitch genuinely cares about the women in his life, he is smart and nice and I love that. 

The FRIENDSHIPS in this book. Ellen and Willowdean’s friendship felt so real. I have a best friend since we were children and I really felt that that dynamic was written very well.

And the new group of friends. They were so much fun. And the work friends. And drag friends. I love a strong focus on friendship. 

The family relationships were also interesting and dynamic and sweet and sad. Lucy’s relationship with her sister and to Will was such a wonderful addition to the story. Will and her mom were the exact kind of at each others throat parent-child relationship that you totally believe. 

Not it is 2 am and I must sleep. But I liked this book so much. Thanks world for pushing me to this book today.

I gave this book 4 stars on Goodreads and finished it on December 14th, 2018.