caitlin_doggos's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Bullying, Fatphobia, and Body shaming
Moderate: Alcohol, Death, Grief, and Cursing
kaylaannsreads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Death, Death of parent, and Grief
chelseylb1988's review
4.5
Graphic: Bullying and Death
ishouldbereading's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
Graphic: Bullying, Fatphobia, and Body shaming
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Alcohol, Cursing, Grief, Outing, and Sexual content
greatexpectations77's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Graphic: Body shaming, Grief, Death, Fatphobia, and Bullying
Moderate: Ableism, Eating disorder, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, and Lesbophobia
Minor: Religious bigotry and Classism
hayleyvem's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Graphic: Body shaming, Bullying, Dysphoria, and Fatphobia
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Alcohol and Homophobia
peachynatalie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
bunchofbeereads's review
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Moderate: Body shaming and Death
carolinewithane's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Moderate: Bullying and Fatphobia
Minor: Death
chalkletters's review
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.25
Willowdean is a character I have a lot in common with. For a start, her fights with her mum are every fight I ever had with my mum — from the greeting the comes with an appearance-based criticism to the ‘I just want you to be happy’. Beyond that, I also related to certain ways Will thinks throughout the novel. I think that’s why I want to like Dumplin’, because I rarely see myself reflected in characters.
My main problem is that Will’s character arc left me unconvinced. She kept saying she wasn’t body conscious, that she had bags of confidence to be herself, but that never came across. Maybe I was supposed to read into it that she was lying to herself, but, in that case, the ending where she finally believes in her own worth would come from nowhere. She makes a point about being all things, the good and the bad, the highs and the lows, which is another thing that I relate to — but at no prior point did that seem to be something she was struggling with! It’s not so much a character arc as a character meander, and that might be realistic, but it’s not very satisfying.
Minor: Death