Dumplin’ by Julie Murphy

Dumplin’ (Dumplin’ #1) by Julie Murphy

• Publisher: Balzer + Bray, 2015
• Genre: Young Adult
• Format: Ebook
• Page Count: 384 pages
• My Rating: ⭐⭐ (2/5)

If you go in there and you decide that this isn’t for you, then you never have to go back. But you owe yourself the chance, you hear me?

The message this book tried to convey is clear enough, but the details of the plot are not. Some of the conversations were slightly unnatural and the sense of time was a bit weird. The characters would change subjects without proper pauses and a several-minute drive would be over in a 10-sentence talk. I was left in confusion.

To put things short, this book is about a bunch of teenagers who blew relationships into pieces and toyed feelings to get back at each other. In the meantime, they were also challenging beauty standards and proving that everybody is worthy of existing.

It amused me how strikingly similar The Upside of Unrequited (Becky Albertalli, 2017) and Dumplin’ (2015) were. Both involved people treating crushes like dirt, falling out with best friends, planning for big events, and big reconciliations. Because, I guess that’s what all teens do?

The thing I love about this book was the adorable drag queen element. But that was all I loved. The romance weren’t even exciting and I felt absolutely nothing. Hello? This is supposed to be a YA romance, right? Anyway, I am glad to have read the story, even though it was just okay and I won’t be revisiting. [14 May 2018]