Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

"All the best things in my life have started with a Dolly Parton song."

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Blurb pulled from here:

With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine—Dumplin’ is guaranteed to steal your heart.
Dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom, Willowdean 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 Teen Blue Bonnet 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.

***

I have to start by saying that I like Dolly. I grew up in a house with a mother who loved Dolly and married a man who does as well. As you can guess, there's been a lot of her music listened to in my life. Reading this book was just another occasion to roll down the street of the Country Queen's music once again. 

Although I don't think liking Dolly Parton has much sway on whether or not you'll like this book, I do think reading it while listening to her gives it something extra special. It made me remember pieces of life that I had forgotten. Stories I weaved back together. 

This made me nostalgic for something I never quite had.

There were parts of this book I didn't care for. Pieces of self-talk and depreciation that I couldn't relate to. I'm pretty open with my emotions, so when someone holds them back, I have a hard time believing anyone would actually do that. I know this is a me problem, so I move on with disbelief and forgiveness. 

Mostly, I had a very hard time imaging what the MC of this book looked like. Her weight/shape is such a predominant part of this premise and still I cannot tell you what either one is. I would think to know, then be thrown off by something that was said. It's why I only gave this book 4 stars instead of 5. It was overwhelming, the not knowing.

I loved the drag queens. I could imagine the entire scene perfectly.

Overall, if you are looking for something low-key empowering, funny, and that gives a glass raise to Dolly, you'll want to read this one. 


Purchase on Amazon

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