Addicted to YA discussion

What did you think of it? Favorite or least favorite characters? Favorite or least favorite part?

I loved Dumplin'. My favorite character was Willlowdean. My least favorite character was Ellen. I loved the way Bo said Willowdean. The entire book was beautifully written. And I loved the Dolly Parton-ness of it all.

I thought that Willowdean was spectacular. I read this back last year, and am normally not a fan of realistic fiction. However, Murphy did a great job keeping things interesting and moving the plot along. The Dolly Parton fandom was an added bonus!

I think my favorite part of the book is the relationship between Willowdean and Ellen. They have been friends forever, and I appreciated how Murphy showed us a friendship that evolved...(view spoiler)[and then drifted apart, before they cemented their friendship again. In my opinion, I think it's rare to see that evolution without there being catfights and "drama", per se. It's COMPLETELY normal to drift apart from friends, make new ones, and fall into place again with the ones we lost; that's because in YA the characters are finding out who they are and developing a sense of identity. I think YA needs more positive examples of that, and Murphy does a decent job. (hide spoiler)]

I hated it so much that I only managed to get a fifth of the way through it before I had to take it back to the library.

I had numerous problems with the book, though the biggest ones were the fact that the summary mislead me by claiming that Willow was "always at home in her own skin," even though this was contradicted numerous times in the first 50 pages, starting with her putting down another (even more) overweight girl on page 5. I repeat, page 5.

There was also the fact of the matter that she was overweight by choice, and clearly unhappy about this, but rather than do anything about it, she just sat around and felt sorry for herself (even though she had numerous advantages when it came to weight loss, including a mother who provided her with healthy food and witnessing first hand, via her deceased aunt, of the dangers and health complications that come with obesity).

I seriously hope that I can one day chat with the author, so that I can find out what her line of reasoning was in making such an awful protagonist.

I have been wanting to read this book for awhile. I got so excited when I saw I would get to read it this month.

My mom ordered this book for me on Amazon since she was already getting some stuff from there. I can't wait for it to come Thursday and I just can't wait to read it.

Dumplin just arrived. I can't wait to read it!

I really liked this story! This book tugs at you, like a friend that wants you to join in. The main character Willowdean is one of those glorious friends that you have that no matter what anyone thinks they will fight to be themselves. I think the part were she almost gives in to the pressure from everyone around her and almost quits the beauty pageant and breaks up with Bo was so hard to read.
One of the scenes that was special was when they disqualify her but she wants to wear that red dress on stage and escorts Ellen that was cool that she decided she was going to do this and just did it and yet she did it in a way that didn't get her thrown off the stage. I think if she had done a "rebel without a cause" thing and caused a ruckus that, that would have nullified everything she would have worked for. I also liked the very last scene when she takes the sparkling cider to Hardy's to see Bo.

I'm almost finished with this story and I'm really liking it! This is probably my favorite book of the year. I don't want it to end!