Why Not YA #2 - Dumplin' by Julie Murphy

SPOILER ALERT!

I went into Dumplin’ expecting a strong narrative voice, tons of body positivity, and a quick-paced pageant revolution.

That’s not really what I got.

I do love the message it attempts to convey: One should not be expected to change themselves to be liked or accepted by other people. Willowdean (and Julie Murphy) excel at this for the first few chapters. I run into some issues when Will starts to veer away from this mindset when Bo Larson comes into her life.

Yes, Will is a teenager, and yes, teenagers are often swayed by the objects of their affection. But Will’s personality (and inner monologue) are demolished by Bo, and he doesn’t really do anything to instigate it. He touches her back, and I understand how that can be uncomfortable and formative for some people, but from that point on, Will’s whole character seems to have shifted. She is extremely inconsistent with the girl we meet in the first chapter, and not because she’s developed; she’s regressed. Because of a boy. Whatever beautiful feminist undertones this book was meant to convey are grossly mitigated by this development.

Really, none of the characters in this book are exceptionally strong. I’d say that Hannah and Ellen are probably the strongest, but they aren’t anything too extraordinary. Bo and Mitch, the two love interests, are extremely bland. Will’s mom is a caricature. Callie was extracted from most other contemporary YA. To me, it seems like each character was defined by a physical aspect, which (I’d thought) was the exact thing this book aimed to contradict.

The love triangle between Bo and Mitch was only a distraction from the purpose of the book. I get that Will is just a normal teenage girl and that boy drama happens, but this was a bit extreme. Will handled it immaturely; she leads Mitch on and leaves Bo hanging. Not to mention Will and Bo’s first kiss, which was anything but consensual. That relationship was riddled with concerns from the start. He is forceful, demanding, and, frankly, kind of creepy. I’ll admit that I’m not drawn to the tall-strong-and-silent type to begin with, but he seemed to be a train wreck. His family situation serves as no excuse, in my opinion. 

But I think the moment I decided I really didn’t like Will was when she told El she couldn’t enter the pageant. The hypocrisy of that was blatant. El was implied to be a taller girl, which can be an area of insecurity for many girls, but that wasn’t “bad” enough for Will to justify El’s entry. I kept thinking that Will would go apologize, but this point wasn’t really addressed again, even when the girls made up and became friends again (which, I might add, wasn’t a very realistic reconciliation). 

Overall, Dumplin’ was good. It had a great message, some witty one-liners, and a pretty good pace. But it was lacking in the most detrimental of areas. 



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