Dumplin’ (Dumplin’, #1) by Julie Murphy

For fans of John Green and Rainbow Rowell comes this powerful novel with the most fearless heroine—self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson—from Julie Murphy, the acclaimed author of Side Effects May Vary. 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.

OMG Y’ALL THIS BOOK! I had heard about all the hype surrounding this book so I requested it from the library and was able to get ahold of it early. First of all, this is a book I wish I had read 10 years earlier. It would have greatly boosted my self-esteem and maybe saved me some heartache along the way.

This book is about a fat Girl named Dumplin. At first, I was terrified to read it because how would she be portrayed but OMG the author showed how it was to be a fat “pretty” girl EXACTLY. I could so relate to Dumplin.  I myself am a fat girl. People are all like you are beautiful but you need to lose weight. When I was in college I got accepted into an elite sorority and felt that I HAD to slim down to fit my image. I also had a guy like Bo interested in me and I had, all the same, insecurities that Dumplin’ had. But unlike Dumplin’, I went on diets to try and slim down and because of my insecurities did things that I wish I had not done.

This is a book that shows a fat girl accepting herself and she enters a beauty pageant and refuses to slim down. Her feelings mirrored exactly what I felt when I got into my sorority. I wish I had the guts to say you know what I am FAT fuck society. I did not. I felt the need to go on crazy diets and workout two hours a day to fit into the role I was expected to play.

The way she reacted to Bo. OMG, I am shipping them so hard. I hope that she has the guts to not make the same mistakes I did. Reading the book I was reminded of the guy that was interested in me and yes people made comments.  The way she reacts to his touch I was like I DID THAT TOO!! She recoils when he touches a fat part of her and wished that she did not feel that she had to hide her fat. She is afraid of what people will say and from experience I KNOW people will make comments so I could totally relate to her. I wanted to step into the book and be like listen, fuck what other people say and just go for it.

This is a book that NEEDS to be read. It has an important message for anyone struggling with weight.