julie murphy

Author: Julie Murphy

Published: May 8th, 2018

Publisher: Balzer + Bray

Rating: ★★★★★

Find the Author: Goodreads

Disclosure: I received this ARC in exchange for an impartial review. As always, my reviews are fair and unbiased.

It is a companion novel to Dumplin’, which follows supporting characters from the first book in the months after Willowdean’s star turn in the Clover City pageant.
Millie Michalchuk has gone to fat camp every year since she was a girl. Not this year. This year she has new plans to chase her secret dream—and to kiss her crush. Callie Reyes is the pretty girl who is next in line for dance team captain and has the popular boyfriend. But when it comes to other girls, she’s more frenemy than friend. When circumstances bring the girls together over the course of a semester, they will surprise everyone (especially themselves) by realizing they might have more in common than they ever imagined.

First Thoughts…

It’s no secret that I absoultely adored Dumplin’ when I read it a staggering two years ago! It was one of my favourite reads that year and when I heard that they were making a movie about Willowdean, my heart skipped a beat! I am so glad they’re putting a Plus Size character on the big screen for a movie about her and not about the “thin best friend” trope that we get nowadays. I remember that Dumplin’ had resonated with me a lot because I’m also plus size, and I found that there was a lot of truth in those small moments we all take for granted when we don’t know that what we’re saying or doing can affect someone.

My Review…

In the sequel to Dumplin’, there’s Puddin’. (Okay, does the title remind anyone else of Harley Quinn’s line?) It’s essentially a companion novel to the first that follows some of the supporting characters from the first book. We have these two main characters – Millie and Callie – and they’re quite different from each other. Millie is a sweetheart, super positive and just one of those people who would have made the best friend when I was growing up. I never had a friend like Millie at all, or ones that understood what it was like growing up bigger than the other girls. So when I read that Millie usually goes to fat camp every year, I was ready for a story about losing weight, but then, her plans change. She isn’t going to fat camp this year. She’s going to chase her dreams and kiss her crush. The thought that Millie had this confidence that I can only dream of was exhilarating.

But then Millie meets Callie. Callie isn’t like Millie at all. She’s harder, tougher and some may say, prettier. Basically, I felt like she might have been the “mean girl” type. She’s next in line for the dance captain and her friends (or enemies) and even boyfriend, are all popular. So when she meets Millie? It’s not smooth sailing. They’re brought together during the semester, and then their layers start unveiling their own flaws, beliefs and common ground they have. (By the end, I was even starting to like Callie – a character who I never would have thought I could.)

I’m just utterly blown away each time I read something by Julie Murphy. I’m an avid collector of her novels and to this day, nothing quite makes my heart happy like feeling like I can gel with the characters in a book series that isn’t all about the fat girl losing weight. It’s about the fat girl getting her dreams. Because weight? It’s just weight. It shouldn’t define who you are. And Dumplin’ and now Puddin’, have both been examples of just how to write an incredible, empowering and 5-star worthy YA novel. So it goes without saying that this has been one of my favourite reads this year so far! Huge, huge love for this book (and for Julie!).

Julie Murphy is a potty-mouthed Southern belle who was born in Bridgeport, Connecticut, but found her home in Fort Worth, Texas. She’s never seen Star Wars, but has yet to meet a made for TV movie she didn’t love. When she’s not writing, Julie can be found cruising Costco for free samples, watching Sister Act 2, stalking drag queens on instagram, obsessing over the logistics of Mars One, and forever searching for the perfect slice of cheese pizza. She lives with her bearded husband, two vicious cats, and one pomeranian that can pass as a bear cub. DUMPLIN’ is her second young adult novel.

Have you read Puddin’ or Dumplin’?

Let me know in the comments or on twitter @LittleMemoirs!

happy reading!

Title: Dumplin’

Author: Julie Murphy

Published: January 28th, 2016

Publisher: Balzer & Bray

Find the Author: Goodreads

I received this book for review! As always, my reviews are fair and unbiased.

Self-proclaimed fat girl Willowdean Dickson (dubbed “Dumplin’” by her former beauty queen mom) 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 Clover City beauty 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.

With starry Texas nights, red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, and a wildly unforgettable heroine— Dumplin’ is guaranteed to steal your heart.

When I first saw Dumplin’, I knew it was book love at first sight. Willowdean was such a bold, loveable character with a prismatic personality that made reading her story feel like watching your favourite movie (Dumplin’ the movie, anyone? YES). Will has always been fearless and confident in everything she did and with her best friend; Ellen, by her side, she always felt like she could take on the world.

So when Will takes a job at Harpy’s and meets the animated and charming Bo, she falls hard. But what she doesn’t expect is that Bo likes her back and might actually feel the same as she does. Even though he calls her beautiful and pays her attention, Willowdean can’t help but feel exact opposite of how she’s felt all her life about her body and sets out to find a way to reassure herself that she is beautiful and confident and does the thing that scares her the most. She enters the Miss Clover City beauty pageant, determined to take back her pride and maybe even change the town along the way.

What I loved about Dumplin’ went far beyond the characters and setting – it was the message of the book. As a curvy girl myself, Dumplin’ showed me that beauty, pride and stature didn’t come from being thin and popular, it came from being yourself and content with who you are, inside and out. That thin and fat and all the in-betweens are beautiful, especially that we don’t need anyone else’s reassurance or permission to be comfortable in your own skin. Even though no one will ever be constantly happy with their looks or how they feel outside and in, it’s okay to feel that way. So for me, Dumplin’ went beyond being a story about Willowdean, it was much, much more in every single way. It meant that beauty and confidence weren’t things you could buy or put on, it was a feeling that came with knowing the only person’s opinion that matters is our own – and you’re beautiful, just the way you are.

Overall, Dumplin’ goes far beyond a standard story. Through the red candy suckers, Dolly Parton songs, friendships and romances, Will was an extraordinary character with a powerful message that makes this book a bold, definite five-star read.