Perfect for you if you love:
- Witty characters
- Confident yet self-deprecating protagonists
- Stories with a lot of heart
- Stories that don’t shy away from exposing antiquated gender norms and beauty standards
- Drag queens
Review:
“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. I know it sounds dramatic. Especially since my family seems very okay with me and Clem. But I can’t help but think it’d be easier to love me if I was at least thin like my sister or ripped like Tucker. That might make up the deficit somehow.”
Make way for the one true queen, Waylon Brewer.
You know a book is marvellous when you can’t choose a favourite passage from it, right? I basically highlighted the entirety of Pumpkin, so you can imagine how much I loved this book. Let me introduce you to Waylon Brewer: Waylon is a fat, femme, gay guy who’s starting to dabble in drag and he’s not here to take your sh*t.
There are few novels where I say that the reading experience was a delight, but there simply isn’t another word for Pumpkin, because reading this book was nothing short of delightful. I couldn’t put Waylon’s story down for a moment because I needed to know how it ended. You’d think there’s a big mystery or something that warrants this need to know, but there isn’t. The narration and overall vibe of the book just made it unputdownable. Waylon is an incredibly relatable character and so open and vulnerable in his narration even if he shows a tough exterior to bullies who, after years, still think fat jokes are funny, or when he’s faced with a truth about his twin sister that will change the trajectory of their future.
I honestly could gush about every single page of this book but let’s limit this review to three points:
One, the implementation of drag. Oh my god. I mean, we have Waylon who doesn’t really have any aspirations but then low-key becomes a drag queen. Waylon is someone who’s always been watching the show, watching his favourite drag queens lose out on the crown because they’re fat or don’t fit the image of what a drag queen should be, suddenly taking things into his own hands and going out onstage and shining bright like the star we all know he is born to be? Sign me UP. I was enamoured with Waylon’s transformation, seeing him become more confident and more willing to take risks and doing what he loves melted my heart. Whether you’re a fan of drag or not, you will absolutely devour Waylon’s story.
Two, the realities of high school. Waylon doesn’t shy away from telling the reader outright that he wants to fit in but also stand out. it’s a conundrum I remember facing when I was in school—flying under the radar so no one would attack me for being or looking different, yet also not wanting to give the bullies exactly what they want and cowering in fear. It’s a fine line to walk and Murphy dives deep into what it means to be unique when the hierarchy of high school values falling in line. I loved how we got to see Waylon understanding that this will not be the best time of his life, but that he still tried to make it a great time, especially after having been nominated as prom queen contender instead of king. Even with Waylon’s romantic dalliances in this book, we get to see him grow and believe in himself and realise that he is worth someone wanting to stand out with him instead of hiding in back rooms and standing idly instead of speaking up.
I also want to highlight that this book expertly deals with the topic of fatshaming. There’s this really hard-hitting passage in the book that is reminiscent of what Murphy writes in her Author’s Note at the beginning of Pumpkin (check beginning of this review). Honestly, after reading that I had to put the book down to wipe away a stray tear or toe because god knows I never related so much to a character as in that moment. Beyond that, Waylon also deals with indirect fatshaming in his friend circle. Waylon and Kyle used to be great friends but ever since Kyle lost a lot of weight, he’s been pretending like being fat is the worst thing in the entire world—counting his calories, working out more if he even dares to eat a cookie, not to mention all the times he talks about before he lost the weight and how he’s ashamed for how he looked. Though these lamentations might not be directed at Waylon, it often feels that way, like he’s denouncing Waylon and his being okay with his weight and I think the way Murphy handles Waylon dealing and eventually calling Kyle out for this was fantastic.
With a fabulous, fat, gay, femme aspiring drag queen and a wholesome cast of characters, Pumpkin is a satisfying final novel in the Dumplin’ universe and will draw in long-time lovers of Murphy as well as newcomers to her magnificent writing!
Pumpkin is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers, like your local bookstore, as of May 25th 2021.
Will you be picking up Pumpkin? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | Goodreads
Waylon Russell Brewer is a fat, openly gay boy stuck in the small West Texas town of Clover City. His plan is to bide his time until he can graduate, move to Austin with his twin sister, Clementine, and finally go Full Waylon, so that he can live his Julie-the-hills-are-alive-with-the-sound-of-music-Andrews truth.
So when Clementine deviates from their master plan right after Waylon gets dumped, he throws caution to the wind and creates an audition tape for his favorite TV drag show, Fiercest of Them All. What he doesn’t count on is the tape accidentally getting shared with the entire school. . . . As a result, Waylon is nominated for prom queen as a joke. Clem’s girlfriend, Hannah Perez, also receives a joke nomination for prom king.
Waylon and Hannah decide there’s only one thing to do: run—and leave high school with a bang. A very glittery bang. Along the way, Waylon discovers that there is a lot more to running for prom court than campaign posters and plastic crowns, especially when he has to spend so much time with the very cute and infuriating prom king nominee Tucker Watson.
Waylon will need to learn that the best plan for tomorrow is living for today . . . especially with the help of some fellow queens. . . .
