I picked up 'Dumplin'' on a whim and ended up adoring it. Willowdean’s voice is so sharp and funny—she feels like someone you’d actually know. The pageant plot is clever, but what really got me was how the book handles insecurity. It doesn’t pretend that loving yourself is easy, and that honesty resonated hard. Plus, the drag queen scenes are absolute gold. If you enjoy stories about underdogs with sass and heart, this is a must-read.
'Dumplin''? Oh, 100% yes. It’s one of those books that sneaks up on you—you think it’s just a fun, lighthearted story, but then it hits you right in the feels. Willowdean is such a memorable protagonist; her confidence isn’t flawless, and that’s what makes her arc so compelling. The supporting cast shines too, from her loyal best friend to the quirky group of misfits she recruits for the pageant.
I adore how Murphy normalizes plus-sized characters without reducing them to stereotypes. The romance is cute, but the real standout is the exploration of female relationships—mothers, friends, rivals. And the small-town Texas setting? Perfectly nostalgic. It’s the kind of book that makes you want to blast '9 to 5' and strut down the street like you own it.
Julie Murphy's 'Dumplin'' is such a refreshing read! It follows Willowdean, a plus-sized teen who enters a beauty pageant to challenge societal norms, and her journey is both hilarious and heartwarming. The book tackles body positivity in a way that feels genuine—no sugarcoating, just raw, relatable struggles and triumphs. Willowdean's voice is so authentic; she’s snarky but vulnerable, and her friendships (especially with Ellen) are layered and real. The romance with Bo is sweet but doesn’t overshadow her personal growth.
What really stuck with me was how the story balances humor with deeper themes like self-acceptance and grief. Willowdean’s relationship with her mom, a former pageant queen, adds emotional depth. The drag queen subplot and Dolly Parton references are pure joy. If you’re looking for a book that’s empowering without being preachy, this is it. I finished it in one sitting and immediately wanted to hug my copy.
2026-03-17 15:05:00
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Chasing Dylan
Hannah S
9.6
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Dylan Gold was only six years old when her mother died. Soon after, her father remarried a woman that despised her. At school, her step-siblings pretend not to know her.
With her father constantly away for work, Dylan is left alone with people that don't like or care about her.
Having no friends or real family around her, Dylan spends majority of her time reading and working at the local diner.
Her life is completely turned around when transfer student and alleged 'bad boy' Callum Gage blows into town. Taken by her captivating beauty and timid nature, Callum is determined to know her.
His songs were better when he had a broken heart.
That sentence would change my life after my dream job was dished to me on a shiny, silver platter.
All I had to do?
Hurt Nash Pierce enough to get him writing good music again.
The pop icon’s songs were no longer the phenomena they used to be. His team needed another breakthrough album—like the first he’d penned, using his heartbreak as fuel.
The plan was simple: I’d go on tour with him as a backup dancer…and make him fall in love with me. I was hired to inspire—to become embedded into every lyric he wrote. Then, I was to set fire to it all—to destroy every feeling we hoped he’d develop for me.
It seemed simple enough. Easy, even.
I didn’t expect to be consumed myself—to see so much in the man displayed in the tabloids. I didn’t foresee falling for him. It didn’t occur to me that, while attempting to break his heart, I might just shatter my own.
Most of all, I never thought I’d fight so hard to hold on to a relationship that had always been founded on goodbye.
Because committed a grave sin, Ji Eun have to reborn to be problematic Duke's Daughter and restore her reputation as the punishment!
And who said being Duke's Daughter is easy?
Jasper Neyve has an excellent reputation...for breaking hearts.
He has everything money could buy, the girls, the cars, and the properties. The only trouble is Jasper was in desperate need of the one thing he didn't want - a wife.
Ellie Fox is carefully holding the pieces of her shattered heart.
She had been lied to and cheated upon by the man she wanted to marry. Trying to forget the past she changes her world and her new job brings her into contact with the biggest Lothario of them all.
Her heart is broken at the altar by her lover, amidst the whispers and before the eyes of all.
Cecily can't believe this is happening. Waves of shock move through her spine as she hears her lover echo those cold words of rejection. Bruno: " I can't marry you, Cecily. My heart belongs to someone else..." Then came the murmurs, louder this time, and a heartbroken bride struggling to digest this awkward reality, or better still, disappear completely...
How could this be? We were just fine a few hours ago, promising each other forever over the phone and countless times in private. Has her lover been swapped or had a total transformation into a stranger she could barely recognize?
From my earliest memories, my entire family is cold and distant toward me.
When my parents look at my younger sister, Claire Lloyd, their eyes fill with warmth and joy. Yet, when they turn to me, only disgust remains. Claire's life is filled with applause and excessive love, while mine is filled with disdain and suffering.
When the explosion erupts at the street corner, I save the stranger beside me. Later, I learn he is Byron Whitmore, a mafia family's Don.
He begins pursuing me after I rescue him. Later, I quit my job and move to a new place, but he finds me and proposes in 100 different ways.
"Why me?" I ask countless times.
"Because it's you," he always answers.
The wedding causes a sensation throughout the city. I truly seem to have transformed from an ugly duckling into a swan.
That is, until I'm five months pregnant, when Claire needs a transfusion of rare Rh-negative blood after a car accident. The blood bank has a shortage. Because of that, my parents knock me unconscious and send me to the hospital.
In my daze, the blood extraction machine hums continuously. As two thousand milliliters of blood leave my body, I see Byron.
Tears well up in my eyes. I begin thinking he's here to save me. Instead, I hear him say, "We can't take any more. Sharon and the baby will die."
"But Claire has lost too much blood. She'll die, too..." My mother pleads.
"No one wants Claire safe more than I do." Byron's voice is thick with pain. "She's my first love. I've never forgotten her. I only married Sharon because her face looks so much like Claire's.
"But I can't trade her life for Claire's. Trust me—I'll find another way."
So, that's his reason for marrying me. The blood extraction machine continues running, but my heart has already stopped beating.
The affection I see in his eyes has never been for me. He's always looking through me at someone else. Everyone in the world loves Claire, and Byron is not the exception that I foolishly believe him to be.
That grand wedding is nothing but an ugly duckling's self-deceiving fantasy.
I stumbled upon 'Dolly' during a rainy weekend when I was craving something eerie yet beautifully written. Susan Hill’s gothic novella isn’t just a ghost story—it’s a haunting exploration of childhood nostalgia, regret, and the uncanny. The way Hill builds tension is masterful; she doesn’t rely on jump scares but on the slow unraveling of a friendship poisoned by a seemingly innocent doll. The prose is crisp, almost poetic, and the Norfolk setting feels like a character itself, all marshes and melancholy.
What stuck with me wasn’t just the supernatural element but the human pettiness at its core. The protagonist’s cousin, Leonora, is a brilliantly crafted antagonist—charming yet cruel, the kind of person who lingers in your mind long after the book ends. At under 200 pages, it’s a quick read, but it packs the emotional weight of a much longer novel. If you enjoy atmospheric horror with psychological depth (think 'The Turn of the Screw' meets 'We Have Always Lived in the Castle'), this one’s a gem. Just don’t read it alone at midnight—especially if you have antique dolls lying around.