Pumpkin (Dumplin, #3) By Julie Murphy

Sahil Javed

julie murphy is releasing another book in the dumplin' universe and the protagonist is a fat queer boy. god is real.

Larry H

Holy hell! Pumpkin, Julie Murphy's latest book, is an absolutely amazing book about living your life as unabashedly you as you can.

Waylon Brewer is a flamboyantly gay (and fat) high school senior from a small Texas town. Being gay at his high school isn’t ideal but it’s not too traumatizing; while he has to endure some taunting, having his twin sister Clementine (who is also gay) by his side makes everything more endurable.

“There are times when I feel like I can’t be me. I can’t simply exist. I have to offer something in exchange. Something that absolves me of being fat and gay and even worse—both of those things at once.”

When the audition video he made one night for his favorite TV drag show is accidentally shared with the entire school, he gains a little more notoriety and takes a few more insults. But ultimately, he is nominated for prom queen, and Hannah, Clem’s girlfriend, is nominated for prom king.

Although they were nominated as a joke or insult (or maybe a little of both), Waylon and Hannah decide they’re going to do anything they can to win. And when Waylon is paired up with Tucker, one of his nemeses, on prom court projects, he learns that sometimes first impressions of a person don’t always reveal the truth of who they are.

Pumpkin is so funny, so sensitive, so utterly squee-worthy, I can’t find enough words to express how much I loved it. I’ve been that fat gay kid too, and I didn’t handle it with even a fraction of the flair Waylon did. Every single one of these characters is so exceptional in their own way. This is definitely a book I wish existed when I was growing up.

I hope we get a sequel someday! I love buddy reads with my friend Louis because the discussion is always so great, and this certainly was no exception!!

Check out my list of the best books I read in 2020 at
https://itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com/2021/01/the-best-books-i-read-in-2020.html.

See all of my reviews at
itseithersadnessoreuphoria.blogspot.com.

Follow me on Instagram at
https://www.instagram.com/the.bookishworld.of.yrralh/.

Lea (drumsofautumn)

giving this a pre-release 5 stars because someone gave it 1 star for no reason whatsoever and because of that the average rating is a 1 star and we absolutely hate to see it. will delete the rating as soon as actual ratings and reviews of the book come in 💜

Rachel Reads Ravenously

4.5 stars!

Waylon is a fat openly gay teen living in a small town in Texas. After getting some shocking news about his sister, Waylon makes an audition video for his favorite drag tv show. Except somehow the entire school sees the video and Waylon is nominated as a joke for Prom Queen as well as his sister’s girlfriend, Hannah who is nominated for Prom King. Waylon and Hannah decide to run with it and leave high school with a bang.

Julie Murphy is one of my favorite young adult writers of this time. Her books never fail to be relatable and clever with some feels mixed in too. I love that she writes characters who don’t look like Riverdale actors, they’re normal people. Murphy perpetuates the idea that not being typical doesn’t make you less worthy and I love that she’s writing books for young readers like this. I think there’s a lot of people who can relate to Waylon and what he’s going through in this book. And honestly this book had such a light and fluffy feel to it, I wanted to stay in this book even after I had finished reading.

Kelly (and the Book Boar)

“When the world isn’t selling what you’re looking to buy, you just have to take it upon yourself to cut your own pattern.”

Actual footage of me logging onto the library website Tuesday morning to check if I was first in line for this book . . . .

It’s not easy to be a fat gay boy in Clover City, Texas, but with the help of supporting parents, an excellent grammy and his twin sister Clementine, Waylan has managed to make it all the way to the end of his senior year. He’s counting down the days when he can shake the dust off from this one horse town and become “Full Waylan” in Austin. But then a video he makes of himself doing a fake audition for a Ru Paul’s Drag Race sort of show gets spread around the school and Waylan discovers he can no longer simply fade into the woodwork for the last few weeks of school – he’s also been nominated for the prom court . . . . in the QUEEN category. There’s only one thing he can do . . . .

If you are familiar with me you know I don’t usually read past the first book in a series. I’m so glad I made an exception to my own rule this go around. This was the perfect send off to a group of kids who I have grown to love over the past several years and fans of the series will love “seeing” all of the familiar faces from the past one last time. And of course no visit to Clover City could be complete without a trip to the Hideaway . . . .

At this point I think it’s fairly safe to say Julie Murphy is YA royalty. She just gets it. It helps that she looks like she’s about 15 herself (ha-ha), but she’s also the bees knees when it comes to writing books about inclusivity that are just matter-of-fact and without some superbadawful things having to happen to the characters. In a year where still so many high school seniors were denied the right of passage which is prom due to ongoing Covid restrictions, she has provided the next best thing in this fictionalized version.

All the Stars.

Christy

4 stars

Pumpkin' is the third book in Julie Murphy's 'Dumplin' series and I enjoyed it so much! It was such a fun read.

Pumpkin', also known as high school senior Waylon is nominated for Prom Queen, along with his sister's girlfriend Hannah who is up for King. These two are told they can drop out, but they decide to go along with it and campaign. I loved the journey Waylon went on while doing this. He learned so much about himself and let people in, which is something he rarely did before this.

The romance was adorable, I only wish there was more of it. Julie Murphy writes amazing YA books and this world is such a fun place to be in. This was fantastic and I hope she continues with these books!

Audio book source: Libby
Story Rating: 4 stars
Narrators: Chad Burris
Narration Rating: 4 stars
Genre: Contemporary YA
Length: 7h 20m

laurel [the suspected bibliophile]

This was delightful. In a particularly horrific week, this was both a comfort and also something I wanted to avoid because I did not want to deal with something so happy, hopefully and optimistic.

Very enjoyable, although I wanted moahr.

Full RTC.

I received this ARC from NetGalley for an honest review

Jonathan

welcome to 202-Queer 🌈✨, the year where i only read queer books and finally have fun 🌈✨

50 in February: 3/50

i didn't go into this with high hopes and i was neither disappointed nor pleasantly surprised.

it's an alright book that has some fun parts but i will never think about it ever again.

Colin

TOTAL READING TIME: 3 hours, 27 minutes.

Okay, I'm not sure why this has the highest average rating for a book set in the Dumplin' universe but I was a bit underwhelmed with the plot itself. The characters and their dynamics were great and I loved them but I found the story to be lacking and a bit boring. I thought this would have a big focus on the drag side of things but I found that it mostly focused on boring prom court stuff and Waylon moping about Clem going to college in Georgia. IDK, maybe after giving Puddin' 5 stars (truly an excellent, excellent book) I had high expectations for whatever came next that sadly it didn't quite meet.

I'm a lenient rater though, so this still garnered 4 stars from me. I just didn't love it like I expected I would.

-----

THERE'S GOING TO BE A THIRD BOOK I'M HAVING HEART PALPITATIONS

Peter Monn

Omg so good! Loved it!

Katie B

Do you ever get the urge to hug a book when you finish reading it because you loved it so much? This one is such a terrific coming of age story and my favorite book in the Dumplin' book series. The main character, Waylon Brewer, aka Pumpkin, just captured my heart.

Waylon is a high school senior and lives in small town in West Texas. He's overweight and openly gay and he is no stranger to getting picked on. Waylon is looking forward to moving to Austin with his twin sister, Clementine, after they graduate in a few months. But then Waylon gets dumped and he also finds out his sister has other plans. Feeling pretty down, on a whim he decides to make an audition tape for a popular tv drag competition show. Somehow the whole school ends up seeing the tape and that leads to Waylon being nominated for prom queen as a joke. But rather than decline the nomination, Waylon is going to shake things up and try to win. He'll be teaming up with prom king nominee Tucker Watson for a few prom court service projects.

Maybe it's because I'm old enough to be the character's mother, but I felt a sense of pride with Waylon. I loved his ability to just go out there and live his best life, on his own terms. Waylon was an inspiring character and I can't help but feel sad that this type of book wasn't around when I was growing up. No matter what your age, it's always good to be reminded that we are all worthy.

This story has humor, and a lot of heart. There's some romance but to me that was more of a secondary plot. Waylon is a character worth knowing and I can't recommend this book enough. It's the third book in this YA series but can be read as a standalone novel.

Renata

yess I was stoked to get an ARC of this! I love Julie Murphy's funny, warmhearted, fat-positive books. I love that this opens with Waylon's love of a clear analogue of RuPaul's Drag Race and a clear call-out of RuPaul's ongoing fatphobia (among other issues). That show is popular with a lot of teens (LGBTQ+ and otherwise) who I think will love reading about it and relate to Waylon's feelings about it. I also love that it shows teen ambivalence toward college and acknowledges that that doesn't need to be the path for everyone. It just rang true to a lot of Big Feelings that high school seniors particularly face, but plus also cute prom romance and elder drag queens mentoring queer youth.

Just an overall delightful spot of joy in my reading week!

Matt Chisling (MattyandtheBooks)

Five big, fat, fabulous stars for the YA novel with the hero of my dreams.

Julie Murphy, author of the bestseller Dumplin’ (yes, the basis of THAT Netflix film) brings us back to Clover City, Texas for one last hurrah in PUMPKIN. It’s the story of Waylon Brewer: a fat, openly gay boy who is ready to live his truth. He’s a senior in high school, and he’s ready to leave this town behind and ride away with his twin sister. But when his plans go awry, a late-night decision inspires him to instead audition for his favorite drag TV program. And when Waylon’s audition tape ends up in the wrong hands, it results in a round of mockery punctuated by a joke nomination for Prom Queen. Only, what the bullies could never see coming is that Waylon is going to run – and he’s going to run his way. Even if it irks the frontrunner for Prom King – the infuriatingly handsome Tucker Watson.

Y’all. Get ready to fall head over glittery reinforced heels for Waylon, his friends, his kickass grandma, and his plans to rule the world. PUMPKIN had me cheering from my bed, holding back tears, and hollering along as we watch this resilient young man take on his high school bullies. It’s a Young Adult novel for the youth in all of us – and it’s told with Murphy’s signature wit and charm. Pumpkin can serve as a standalone story, but fans of the Dumplin’ series will be super grateful for this final installment (oh, hi, Willowdean!) And, with drag culture the most popular its ever been, even the most casual fans of RuPaul will enjoy what’s being served here.

Above all else, this book reminds me of the importance of representation in literature – especially at the YA level. 30-year old me would've traded many things away for the chance to read this book at a time when he was ready to shed who he was and become who he now is. Waylon is fighting back against criticism of his queerness and his fatness, and this book expertly illustrates the struggles that those two things can have when they collide together.

I absolutely goshdarn loved this one. And I really think you will too. Read books like Pumpkin. Trust me.

The biggest thank you to Balzer + Bray for my advance copy!

Anna

I'm about to be petty in this damn review because I just read through some reviews and the audacity that people have It's making me angry.

Someone else in the review literally said that there was too much diversity here. That there was too many queer identities and it was unrealistic. You know what? Fuck that bullshit. I am so exhausted of cis gay older men complaining about different labels and gender identity and having to confront racism and transphobia in aphobia within the queer community. Having fat diverse queer rep is not an injustice to you. Get off your freaking high horse and let someone else have the goddamn spotlight.

Now that I have had a moment to bitch, we can take a moment to appreciate how glorious this book is. There is not enough fat queer rep in the world. And when I say fat I mean fat. Not someone who is straight-sized or someone who can put on some shapewear and look thin. I mean someone who is fat and will always look fat no matter what they're wearing. While we are getting more fat girl rep, fat gay boy rep is less common but deserves just as much attention. Fat queer people are beautiful and wonderful and I love them all. We are magnificent. Being fat and queer is an intersection of identities that is entirely unique. I think it was handled super well in this book and I loved Waylon so much.

I also really appreciated that this is the first book in this series where the title is not based on a derogatory term. Both Dumplin and Puddin were terms that were given to the MC's that they didn't really like. Will eventually kind of embraces Dumplin but it is used as a derogatory term towards her at points in that book. As for Puddin, Millie is giving the name at fat camp of all places and that's just a lot to expect from someone. But finally in Pumpkin, we get a term that is an endearment that the MC actually likes and enjoys and embraces. Waylon is not offended by the term Pumpkin and he embraces it for his drag persona. The term Pumpkin was given to him by his grandma which is adorable and is mostly because of his hair. I didn't have anything to do with body size or food or anything fat phobic.

As much as I loved Waylon, I also loved Clementine and was so thrilled to see Hannah get a little bit more of the spotlight and a character arc versus just being a secondary POC lesbian character.

This is my favorite of the series probably for the reason that it's so much more than just a romantic subplot. This book is about relationships and love but a variety of those things. It's about sibling and parental relationships, about both platonic and self-love in addition to romantic love. It's about embracing who you are in the body that you have and knowing that you deserve to take up space. But also didn't hurt that we finally see Patrick get his ass handed to him in this book. We do not stan a bully and he deserves so much worse for all of the habit that he reached throughout these books.

Anyway, it was super precious seeing Waylon try and experiment drag for the first time and especially his little impromptu drag lesson from a fellow drag queen. I thought that the way that prom was handled in this was engaging without being over the top and we'd love to see queer kids challenging stupid heteronormative gender binary expectations of high school prom.

I do wish there was a little bit more development between Waylon and Tucker, but they have their own little moments and I liked that it was not the main premise of this book. The romance was a side plot.

Truthfully I am super tired and have reached a point where I am just talking into my phone hoping that my voice to text picks up everything and all of my rambling about these last couple books I read. I probably should apologize for how long and messy these reviews are, but I'm not going to because this is what my brain is like. Deal with it. Maybe one day I will make detailed structured reviews, but today is not that day.

Rep: fat gay white MC, white lesbian secondary, afro-dominican lesbian secondary, secondary fat characters, secondary queer characters

fleshy

It’s like all of the complaints I had from the previous two books were listened to and implemented in the most heavy handed yet bland way.

I can only describe this reading experience as entering a fugue state.

I laughed once, making it necessarily better than Puddin', so it gets two stars.

One thing that made me very uncomfortable was that race (and gender and sexuality) is mentioned constantly. Waylon is always telling us, and reminding us, what race someone is. All. The. Time. Nonstop throughout this book. I like knowing, but I do not like how forced it was into the book and how forced it is onto the reader. It's not natural, at all. Nor, for that matter, is the sheer bulk of queer characters and the intense diversity of their queerness. I've lived in San Francisco my whole life and I've never been in a room as diverse as the rural Texan high school described in this book.

In addition to this hamfisted, shallow injection of diversity to cater to a 2021 audience, this book is clearly not written for teenagers. Specifically, it is not written for queer male or masc teenagers. It is written for a middle aged, ciswoman, predominantly white audience. The references may not be as dated as in the previous two books (we're up to the 2010s!), but the author still demonstrates no clear understanding of what teenagers are interested in, or act like. The characters are an indistinguishable set of paper doll caricatures. Waylon could have been swapped with any of the other characters and the story, a series of meaningless and boring events connected by Waylon's presence, would have been exactly the same.

I can't even say this adds value in growing the library of queer teen lit. It doesn't. Plenty of white, middle aged women have written boy's love (for lack of a better term). Plenty of female mangaka have written it. There are thousands of works in this genre, thousands of works done better.

If you know or are a teenager struggling with your identity, or coming out, or just living in this world period I would suggest instead

Felix Ever After

Aristotle and Dante Discover the Secrets of the Universe

If I Was Your Girl

I Wish You All the Best

These are own voices book. Elements of these stories reminded me of things that I and people I know have gone through.

Mimi

WAYLON BREWER NEEDS TO BE PROTECTED AT ALL COSTS - HE IS THE CINNAMONEST OF CINNAMON ROLLS

Daphne

I have a big fondness for Dumplin', mostly because of the Netflix movie though I also remember really liking the book. I don't really remember much of the companion book Puddin', but I also remember liking that. This book fits right in, it was a fun feel-good story with a good message. I really liked Waylon as the main character. I liked the side characters too and enjoyed it whenever characters from the previous books showed up.

The story was sweet and optimistic. I enjoyed it a lot. I really think these are good books for teens to read, as Julie Murphy tells important stories in a fun way.

VL

The Dumplin' universe is one of my absolute favorites. Reading this was like stepping into a warm hug.

Mallory

This is the third book set in this universe and so far I’ve loved them all. This one was a little bit of a slower start for me, but it made up for that in the second half when I couldn’t stop turning the pages. I love this optimistic fictional town of Clover city where those who are weird find more acceptance and success than hate. This volume centers around a fabulous senior named Waylon who is a fat, gay, teen with aspirations of getting into drag. When Waylon and his twin sister’s girlfriend Hannah are nominated for prom queen and king respectively he surprises everyone including himself when he accepts the challenge and truly campaigns.

lily ✿

even though i’ve never lived in the south, there is something about julie murphy’s clover city books that feel like home. as soon as you open the cover and read a few pages, you feel as if you already know the main characters, have known them your whole life instead of merely just having been introduced to them. and with the protagonist being a fat, gay kid who dabbles in drag? what more could a reader possibly ask for?

each of the characters are bursting with life and personality. even when their desires diverge, you just want them to do what will make them happy and fulfilled. even the side characters have spark, especially because pumpkin featured cameos from some well-loved characters in the dumplin universe, including millie, willowdean (and bo!) and hannah. i also want to point out my appreciation that our lgbtq+ representation was balanced - in addition to our gay lead, we also had his sister and her lesbian relationship (!!) as well as a nonbinary character in the school’s prism club. (casually nonbinary characters are becoming a more common find in the books that i’m reading, and that sends happy thrills up my spine.) waylon and the people he interacts with also find such opportunities to learn, grow, and flourish, in a way that is natural and lasting throughout the book. how can you not leave it loving them?

a main part of the plot is waylon dipping his toe into the world of drag after his favorite contestant on fairest of them all doesn’t win the crown - because, he’s guessing, she’s fat. i have heard of drag before, both in my life experiences and in books, but never through a main character who was trying it. i left this book understanding and appreciating the art form much more than i did before. i have a feeling that, no matter what waylon does with his life, he just might end up becoming the fairest of them all himself (or should i say, miss pumpkin patch will?)

julie murphy’s books are always a joy. if you’re looking for a novel that will make you squeal with happiness, then i definitely recommend this one.

Jenni

Third time's the charm! This book is Dumplin' #3 and is the best one of all. Our story follows Waylon, a tall, bigger boy who is red-headed. And gay. He laments that it's hard enough to be the tall fat kid, but to be gay and feminine in a small Texas town is the icing on the cake, Oh, and then there's his twin sister, Clementine. Waylon's grandma calls him Pumpkin and being a big guy with orange hair just kind of fits with that nickname. When the story opens, we see Waylon getting excited for the season finale of a reality show about drag queens, Fiercest of Them All. Adorable story, and like I said, I'm pretty sure this is the best of the three books in this series (and it's a plus that we get to see Willowdean and Millie again).

Kriste II Papartis ir knyga

Skaitant šią knygą - Jausmas, kai vienoj rankoj turi pumpkin spice gėrimą, kitoj pumpkin spice bandelę , o priešais ant kelių -moliūginio jaukumo knyga.

Waylon Brewer ( kitaip tariant pumpink) - Queer veikėjas įsisuka į išleistuvių karaliaus ir karalienės rinkimus, mokyklines dramas, “drag race”,ir į naujai atrasta draugystę su populiariu mokyklos sportininku. Ech..primena “Heartstopper’ius”?

Galima pasijuokti su Pumpkinu, ir vartant puslapius vietomis reikia laikyti kumščius, kad tik pasisektu. Norėjosi ir akis pavartyti, pabumbėti, bet čia tik dėl to, kad jau dabar užaugus turiu “proto”, o knyga YA. Jauki ir jautri istorija, su nuostabiais palaikančiais tėvais, dvynę seserim (kuri taip pat yra queer), bei nerealia senele!! Kuo daugiau tokių optimistinių knygų.

Apkabinam Pumpkiną!

Shannon

I was honestly not expecting to love this one as much as I did!! I loved how Julie Murphy upends the traditional dynamic of the prom - arguably the most iconic heteronormative milestone of high school - by having two out gay teens get nominated for prom court in a role reversal as a joke. Rather than being ashamed though, Weylon, a plus-sized gay boy who was just trying to keep his head down until graduation, ends up embracing his prom queen nomination and becoming an inspiration for the other queer students. The nomination also helps give him the courage to explore his inner drag queen persona, Pumpkin, performing at parties and a local drag bar. This book is just fun and full of body positive, hopeful messaging for queer teens stuck in a small town. I really loved that Weylon wasn't just gay but fat too, and the author does a great job illustrating how much more difficult that is when so much of the gay culture prizes hot, fit, bodies. Highly recommend this one, especially for fans of The black flamingo, Jay's gay agenda or any of the other Dumplin' series books.

Favorite quotes:
"Being fat is hard enough without adding gay guy to the equation. The only gay guys anyone fawns over online are ripped with like twelve pack abs or whatever. I know it's plenty difficult for other people too but when you're straight and big everyone is fine with you...but when you're gay if you want to be the object of anyone's desire you better have washboard abs and a phone full of thirst traps."

"Maybe prom queen doesn't have to always be the same thin, pretty and popular girl. Maybe the queen doesn't have to be a girl at all."

"Drag is more than makeup and gowns and bodysuits and tucking and sequins and wigs. Drag is about what you exude. Drag is a choice and in this moment, in front of almost the entire senior class, my choice is to fully embrace Pumpkin."

"I think one day it will be easy to look back on this time and see that I was this gay kid trapped in a small town. And yeah sometimes I feel like that. But sometimes I'm with all of you and I see that we all feel trapped and the only thing stopping us from feeling free is our fear of what others will think."

Whitney

I wanted to love this story and when I first started it I really thought that I would, but Waylon is a petty, self centered, mean spirited person. I get it, he's a teenager. He's a femme gay teenager and that makes his life hard, but goddamn, he had no room in his woe is me thoughts to care about anyone else.

He's constantly throwing his twin's decision to go somewhere without him back in her face despite having 'hashed it out', he enjoys seeing Tucker struggle with his alcoholic father because *HE* Waylon gets to experience a new side of Tucker, and he's so damn nosey about Bo/Willowdean's relationship because DRAMA.

Like, damn, dude, it really doesn't surprise me that you didn't have any real friends before this story.

And don't even get me started over his prejudice of Kyle losing weight and no longer being fat just like him. Heaven forbid Kyle did what he wanted to make himself happy. Sure, Kyle had some underlying issues he needed to address but obviously Waylon has his own insecurities to deal with if he's always demonizing Kyle for losing weight. Not everything is about you, Waylon.

The only enjoyable parts of this story was the friends/side characters and Tucker. Waylon was far too petty for me to enjoy, especially because he has no growth. He gathered the courage to openly be his true self and live his truth, but being a gay femme boy doesn't excuse your shitty judgemental, self centered behavior.

Needless to say, this is my least liked of the Dumplin' series so far.

Anniek

I did really enjoy this, and I loved Waylon. Unfortunately I didn't love this as much as I'd hoped though - this was a 5 star prediction for me - but I still really liked it.

Kate Olson

ABSOLUTELY FABULOUS

Ang

Ohhhhhh my goodness I loved the shit out of this. There's so much to love: supportive families (is Clover City the Schitt's Creek of fiction???), great friends, twins, drag queens, LURVE and of course, did I mention, LURVE?

Seriously though, the feel-good bits of this were just so wonderful, and though there is conflict, it is low-stakes and you know things will work out in the end. I loved Clem and Waylon; I loved that everyone's fave Clover City characters come back.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.

Gordon Ambos

TW: Homophobie, Body Shaming, Mobbing

So viel Liebe für dieses Buch! Nachdem ich "Dumplin'" und "Puddin'" schon geliebt habe, hat Julie Murphy mit "Pumpkin" noch einen draufgesetzt! Dieses Buch war wie für mich geschrieben: Ein fetter, schwuler Junge mit losem Mundwerk, der Abschlussballkönigin werden möchte. Großartig.
Viele der Charaktere kannte ich natürlich schon aus den vorherigen Büchern und es war einfach wie nach Hause kommen.

Alex

This book made my heart smile

Hayden (bookish.hayden)

I've loved Julie Murphy for years, and this book just reinforced how incredible of a writer she is. Her books feature fat main characters at the forefront, living their absolute best lives. And the subject matter of this book was just so sweet. There is mild homophobia within, but Waylon and Clementine are both loved and accepted by their family and friends.

CW: homophobia, death of a parent (past, described briefly), alcoholism in a parent, alcohol consumption, body image issues, internalized fat phobia

Waylon Brewer is a fat, openly gay boy stuck in the small West Texas town of Clover City. He's patiently waiting to graduate, excited to go off to Austin and unleash a whole new version of himself. When his twin sister Clementine deviates from their plan directly following Waylon being dumped, he decides to create an audition tape for his favourite Drag Race show. What he doesn't expect is that tape getting around school, ultimately leading to him being nominated as prom queen, alongside Clem's girlfriend Hannah as prom king. Waylon and Hannah take it in stride and decide to do their absolute best. But Waylon doesn't expect to be stuck working with the infuriatingly cute, yet rude, Tucker Watson.

Waylon felt like a breath of fresh air. I feel like it's been since Puddin' that I've read such a well written and dynamic character. He's fat, ginger, and gay, and full of love and life, and so instantly likeable. Waylon isn't ashamed of his size, though he definitely is aware of it and easily compares his body to that of those around him. Comparison is such a bitch, and I feel like that, among other things, made Waylon feel so relatable. Waylon reads very much as a high school student on the cusp of life, and it was so interesting to watch him grapple with his future made him feel so real. Waylon faces some instances of homophobia, comments from other students mainly, and one specific altercation with an asshole in which Waylon had the upper hand and a body of people behind him. Waylon never questions or waffles with his sexuality, and both him and Clementine are accepted and loved fiercely by their family and friends. I love knowing that there are so many people out there who may see themselves in Waylon, and I hope that the publishing industry keeps becoming more diverse.

Clementine was a lovely character, her and her girlfriend Hannah were such integral characters and I loved them. Clem initiates the original conflict in the book by wanting a different future than the one that her and Waylon had planned on, and I think this sibling dynamic was very well done. They've relied on each other so much throughout their lives, and Clem wants her own path. I love Clem and Hannah so much, their relationship was so sweet and seemingly conflict free and just so loving. We met Hannah in Dumplin' and I loved her then just as much as I love her now.

Tucker is our crush in this book and I really liked him. He definitely has layers, and watching Waylon peel his layers back was a lot of fun. The two have had mini conflicts before, and seeing the reason behind them was so heartbreaking and made so much sense. You just can't help but want these two together, they're just so sweet.

Waylon and Clem's family rocks, this is another book with a really incredible grandma!! Grammy was my favourite, I love fancy old ladies so much.

One side character I wanted to talk about is Kyle. Kyle is the one who spreads Waylon's video around, and we find out that the two used to be friends. Kyle used to be fat, but lost a lot of weight and their friendship dwindles. The divide between Kyle and Waylon makes sense, and seeing that play out was really interesting.

This book opens with Waylon being excited to watch a show that's essentially RuPaul's Drag Race, he's cheering for the fat queen to win and this prompts him to make his audition tape. After his video gets out and he commits to running for prom queen and dabbling in drag, Waylon's life changes. There are two different sides to Waylon, and so much of this book focuses on his journey to self discovery and acceptance and it's all just so gorgeous. The entire plot of this book is incredible, focusing on the prom queen race as well as Waylon's foray into drag race, and of course his future which is currently unknown. It's very well done and incredibly interesting.

The world that Murphy built initially in Dumplin' has expanded so much, yet retained its sweetness. You don't have to read Dumplin' or Puddin' prior to this book, but getting the little character cameos in this was so special. I could read 3243 million more books set in this world and never become bored.

The writing in this is perfect, clearly well informed with Murphy herself being plus sized and part of the 2SLGBTQIA+ community. If you want a book full of gay joy, with a lovely focus on drag, check this one out! This book is definitely going to stick with me for a while, and I can imagine it will for others as well.

Title	:	Pumpkin (Dumplin, #3)
Author	:	Julie Murphy
Rating	:
ISBN	:	0062880454
ISBN-10	:	9780062880451
Language	:	English
Format Type	:	Hardcover
Number of Pages	:	336
Publication	:	First published May 25, 2021

Pumpkin (Dumplin, #3) by Julie Murphy

Pumpkin (Dumplin, #3) Reviews

Pumpkin (Dumplin, #3) Reviews

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