Dumplin’ Book Review

This uplifting novel by Julie Murphy tells the story of self-proclaimed fat-girl Willowdean Dickson, “dumplin”, and the All-American hobby – beauty pageants.

Plot

Willowdean knows she isn’t like the fresh-faced beauty queens that mean everything to her former beauty queen mom, but that doesn’t stop her from feeling comfortable in her own skin. With her best friend Ellen at her side and their shared love for Dolly Parton, everything in the world seems okay. That is until Willowdean gets a job at the local fast food joint and meets prep school boy Bo Larson, who isn’t shy about his crush on Willowdean.

To make a point to her mom, Willowdean decides to participate in the local beauty pageant. This story is all about young romance, firsts, and body positivity in a world that is struggling to grasp the concept that a bikini body is just a body in a bikini. 

Review

Everything about this novel exudes positivity and good vibes. First of all, the lead female protagonist is a plus-size girl, which is not usually seen in many young adult non-fiction books. Many books paint the ideal female lead character as being beautiful and thin as a way to relate to the girls that society sees as traditionally beautiful. This book emphasizes diversity and gives many more girls a character that they can relate to.

Another thing about Willowdean is that she is extremely strong-willed, determined, and passionate. She stands up to bullies, even if they aren’t bullying her, and she doesn’t let what people say get to her. She is an extremely relatable character and we can all learn something from her.

Another reason this book is so great is that it challenges the notion that beauty pageants are only for those seen as traditionally beautiful. It gathers a group of characters that are seen as different and joins them together to create the ultimate “protest”, as they call it. They all enter the beauty pageant to prove that beauty is not selective, rather, it’s for everyone. They are challenging traditional norms and are not afraid to do it. Talk about girl power. 

The other great thing about this novel is that Willowdean not only has a crush on a prep school jock, but he also has a crush on her. This opens up so many dialogues about plus-sized people being deserving of love.

Throughout the novel, Willowdean has thoughts of insecurity about dating Bo because she believes he should be with someone who fits society’s definition of beautiful. In other words, she doesn’t think fat girls are his type, but he never once denies how beautiful he thinks she is. Willowdean has this perspective that she is less deserving through a greater portion of the book until she realizes that everyone is equally beautiful and deserving.

I would highly recommend Dumplin’ to anyone that loves girl power and body positivity. It has so many good messages and was beautifully written by Julie Murphy. I would give this book a 9/10, as I read it super fast and I loved every page. It is an easy, fast read and when you finish you can watch the Netflix Original movie that is based on the book!