Oh god that was so perfect. I couldn't be happier. (Well maybe a few more pages would have been good.) Willowdean was amazing and inspiring and this whole book was just UGH SO GOOD. I'll try to formulate real thoughts later. 
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 Full review: 
 I have no idea why Dumplin' didn't sound that appealing to me when I first heard of it. I mean, really, it has a lot of elements I'd be interested in. I almost didn't bother requesting it through the ARC tour, but I couldn't be happier that I decided to go for it. First of all, the cover is amazing and minimalistic and absolutely perfect for the story. Second, the story was fucking amazing. 
 Dumplin' honestly blew me away. I wrote down so many powerful quotes that I don't even how to share them with you. All I know this, this book was extremely perfect for me. I feel like all girls (at some point or another) struggle with their appearance: whether it has to do with their weight, their legs, their hair... anything. I'm constantly self-conscious about how I look and my weight. I wish I was half as confident as Willowdean is in her skin. Girls of all sizes and appearances will appreciate the message of this book. 
 Willowdean, as confident as she is, even has some moments of doubt - between her relationship with Bo, her feelings about her mother, and the pageant, even some things can bring her down momentarily. I loved her right away, starting from the moment she distracted Millie from the taunting of a dickhead guy at school. I completely understood SO many of the things she was going through, from growing apart from her best friend, to being jealous of new friends, to wondering what the hot guy really saw in her. 
 The biggest and best thing about this book is the message that everyone is beautiful. It sounds corny and overdone, but its true. And much more powerful than other books with the same message! Willowdean makes friends with a bunch of girls who, like herself, aren't considered conventionally beautiful. One is overweight, one has buckteeth, and the other walks with a limp. They all decide to enter the pageant to show that they don't have to change anything about themselves to look and feel beautiful. The best part is that Willowdean completely rejects the idea that they should do anything to change themselves. So many people talk about how they're "disgusted" about overweight people and claim they're worried for their health. People constantly ask why Hannah doesn't get braces to fix her teeth. It's that simple, right? Not always. I loved when Willowdean said, "she shouldn't have to fill her mouth with metal so some shithead will leave her alone." You shouldn't have to change anything about yourself to feel good, and people shouldn't give you crap about it. It's not their business or their place. 
 As for the romance, I really loved Mitch and Bo. It was pretty obviously who she had legitimate chemistry with but I still felt bad for the other boy. (view spoiler)[It was kind of nice that Willowdean ended up with the more conventionally attractive guy, because why not? Just because Mitch was also bigger didn't mean he and Willowdean would hit it off automatically. (hide spoiler)] The ending could have been a litttttle bit longer - just a few more pages to wrap everything up better. Aside from that, I don't really have any complaints! There were some times where the pacing felt off; not enough was happening at certain times and the pageant was kind of crammed into the end. I would have spread it out a little bit more and added a bit more at the end.. but hey, that's just me! I can't even really call it a flaw, though, because I loved this book so much. Five bright shining stars, just like Willowdean. 
 This book shows how a group of girls who aren't conventionally pretty can take a beauty pageant (and entire small down) by storm. Even the most confident or pretty or skinny girls can still feel insecure about something. I just loved the whole book and message. I can't say it enough. READ THIS BOOK.