Hello all my fellow readers,
Happy Good Friday :) I'm excited to have some quiet time today to reflect on what this day means to me, and I'm also looking forward to spending some quality time this weekend with my hubby, family and friends, including having one of my awesome friends color my hair for me tomorrow so it's all ready for Vegas :)
. I recently spent some time on goodreads going through the list of all the YA books being released this year, and oh my goodness there's over 800 books on that list, and so many of them sound amazing! I think 2016 is definitely going to be an amazing year for YA, and I can't wait to meet a lot of these authors at the RT Convention in April.
I'm here today to discuss a super hyped book written by one of the fabulous authors appearing at RT this year, and that is Dumplin by the lovely Julie Murphy :)
This was my first Julie Murphy novel, and it definitely won't be my last. I've been hearing about this book non stop lately, and I've been intrigued to read it ever since. I recently heard that the Disney Channel has optioned this for a Disney Channel Original Movie, and so I definitely wanted to see for myself what all the hype was about, and I can guarantee you that I was not disappointed.
For anyone unfamiliar with this novel, or what it's about, here is the synopsis from goodreads:
"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."
I went into this novel seriously hoping it wasn't going to be about an amazing girl who feels the need to change herself to be happy, and I was seriously happy that it wasn't like that at all. Instead, Julie Murphy has written a novel that will relate to people everywhere, especially those who've ever felt they didn't fit into what society expects of them. Willowdean's insecurities don't necessarily stem from her weight. She's been what society would deem "overweight" her entire life, and she's learned how to deal with it, and it's truly not that big of a deal for her. But then she falls for a popular guy, who claims to like her for who she is, but for the first time she feels embarrassed by herself, and feels that giving into her feelings for him would be putting both of them in an awkward position at school, and around town, as everyone would look at him with the "what is he doing with HER?" type of look, and she doesn't feel ready to handle it.
So to prove to her town that she doesn't care what anyone thinks, she decides to register for her town's local beauty pageant, and along the way, she's joined by three other girls who are also the type of girls that society would stereotype as beauty pageant contestants. Millie, who's also overweight, and made fun of because of it, Amanda, who's got a defect that causes her feet to not be balanced, and as such is teased for "walking like a zombie," and Hannah, who's teeth are the source of amusement for many of the other students as they claim she "looks like a horse." Together this odd group of friends will set out to prove that they have what it takes to do anything they put their mind to it, despite what anyone else may or may not believe.
My absolute favorite part of this novel is how Julie Murphy made this a relatable story to anyone who's ever felt different, and that they didn't belong. I love how Willowdean's journey of self discovery introduces her to many people she would never have thought twice about before, and shows her that everyone has insecurities, whether you would first appear to think so or not. I also loved how she wrote this novel to be about finding happiness with the way you are, and it is not a "you need a makeover to find true love and happiness" type of book. Right from the start, the reader is shown that the insecurities Willodean are facing are not from what her crush Bo thinks of her, but of what she thinks of herself because of Bo's attention. I loved how the overall message of this novel seemed to be stay true to who you are, and I would highly recommend this one. It definitely lived up to all the hype for me, and the only reason I'm rating it four stars instead of five, is I felt the ending wasn't as strong as it could have been, and it left a few things unresolved that to me we're important, but it definitely didn't take too much away from this amazing story. Read this book guys! You won't be disappointed :)
My Favorite Quote: "it’s this reminder that no matter who you are, there will always be someone prettier or smarter or thinner. Perfection is nothing more than a phantom shadow we’re all chasing"
Thanks for reading everyone. I will see you all in my next post.
This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. The photo does not belong to me. All rights to the respective owner.
Happy Good Friday :) I'm excited to have some quiet time today to reflect on what this day means to me, and I'm also looking forward to spending some quality time this weekend with my hubby, family and friends, including having one of my awesome friends color my hair for me tomorrow so it's all ready for Vegas :)
. I recently spent some time on goodreads going through the list of all the YA books being released this year, and oh my goodness there's over 800 books on that list, and so many of them sound amazing! I think 2016 is definitely going to be an amazing year for YA, and I can't wait to meet a lot of these authors at the RT Convention in April.
I'm here today to discuss a super hyped book written by one of the fabulous authors appearing at RT this year, and that is Dumplin by the lovely Julie Murphy :)
This was my first Julie Murphy novel, and it definitely won't be my last. I've been hearing about this book non stop lately, and I've been intrigued to read it ever since. I recently heard that the Disney Channel has optioned this for a Disney Channel Original Movie, and so I definitely wanted to see for myself what all the hype was about, and I can guarantee you that I was not disappointed.
For anyone unfamiliar with this novel, or what it's about, here is the synopsis from goodreads:
"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."
I went into this novel seriously hoping it wasn't going to be about an amazing girl who feels the need to change herself to be happy, and I was seriously happy that it wasn't like that at all. Instead, Julie Murphy has written a novel that will relate to people everywhere, especially those who've ever felt they didn't fit into what society expects of them. Willowdean's insecurities don't necessarily stem from her weight. She's been what society would deem "overweight" her entire life, and she's learned how to deal with it, and it's truly not that big of a deal for her. But then she falls for a popular guy, who claims to like her for who she is, but for the first time she feels embarrassed by herself, and feels that giving into her feelings for him would be putting both of them in an awkward position at school, and around town, as everyone would look at him with the "what is he doing with HER?" type of look, and she doesn't feel ready to handle it.
So to prove to her town that she doesn't care what anyone thinks, she decides to register for her town's local beauty pageant, and along the way, she's joined by three other girls who are also the type of girls that society would stereotype as beauty pageant contestants. Millie, who's also overweight, and made fun of because of it, Amanda, who's got a defect that causes her feet to not be balanced, and as such is teased for "walking like a zombie," and Hannah, who's teeth are the source of amusement for many of the other students as they claim she "looks like a horse." Together this odd group of friends will set out to prove that they have what it takes to do anything they put their mind to it, despite what anyone else may or may not believe.
My absolute favorite part of this novel is how Julie Murphy made this a relatable story to anyone who's ever felt different, and that they didn't belong. I love how Willowdean's journey of self discovery introduces her to many people she would never have thought twice about before, and shows her that everyone has insecurities, whether you would first appear to think so or not. I also loved how she wrote this novel to be about finding happiness with the way you are, and it is not a "you need a makeover to find true love and happiness" type of book. Right from the start, the reader is shown that the insecurities Willodean are facing are not from what her crush Bo thinks of her, but of what she thinks of herself because of Bo's attention. I loved how the overall message of this novel seemed to be stay true to who you are, and I would highly recommend this one. It definitely lived up to all the hype for me, and the only reason I'm rating it four stars instead of five, is I felt the ending wasn't as strong as it could have been, and it left a few things unresolved that to me we're important, but it definitely didn't take too much away from this amazing story. Read this book guys! You won't be disappointed :)
My Favorite Quote: "it’s this reminder that no matter who you are, there will always be someone prettier or smarter or thinner. Perfection is nothing more than a phantom shadow we’re all chasing"
Thanks for reading everyone. I will see you all in my next post.
This is not a sponsored post. All opinions are my own. The photo does not belong to me. All rights to the respective owner.
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