I love Julie Murphy's books! All of her characters are so real and relatable. This book is set in the same town and high school as Dumplin' and Puddin' with characters overlapping. Waylon Brewer is a fat, openly gay boy with a twin sister (who is also gay) and the nickname Pumpkin. His family accepts him for who he is, but not everyone in his small town is as accepting of him. Waylon navigates his senior year of high school, old and new relationships, his future, a new drag identity, and being nominated for Prom Queen.

A fast, enjoyable read with a wonderful new character and some returning favorites. As always, the relationships shine brightest--between Waylon and his twin sister, Clem, between Clem and her girlfriend Hannah, the relationships all the teens have with their grandmothers, and the budding friendship Waylon has with Tucker after they paired together on the prom committee.

I loved going back to the Hideaway and seeing Waylon's drag queen aspirations. All the characters are figuring out what they want and it's all messy and complicated, as life usually is. Waylon's voice is strong, and he knows much of who he is, but isn't read to share that version of himself yet for most of the book. I didn't fully buy into the romance at first, but as it went on, I started liking and believing it.

It was great to see Will and Ellen and all the others from the previous books to get a snapshot of what they all planned for after high school, Though they're all together sometimes, this is Waylon's story, and his story shines. I really enjoyed his character arc and the confrontation with another character about the way weight loss was treated. The ending was perfect and completely satisfying.

Fans of other books won't be disappointed.

Practically in literal tears. Pumpkin was everything I wanted and more. This is the book that I think Julie Murphy was born to write. I just have to tell you that she delivers here 100% and created this incredibly complex and beautifully developed character. The world is going to get to read an LGBTQ coming of age story with a 300 lb femme gay male protagonist who loves doing drag. A book that is almost certainly going to hit the New York Times bestseller list instantly because on the bottom it will say “Bestselling Author of Dumplin’ Julie Murphy” - this is a story that you just don’t see published very rarely, and for Julie to lend her voice to this incredible story warmed my heart so much. So many other authors would struggle to get this in mainstream hands I believe, but Julie just executes this story to perfection.

Julie Murphy returns to her successful town of Clover City, you get a peak at where Willowdean and Bo from Dumplin’, and Millie and Callie from Puddin’ are and how they are doing before graduating high school. This book is full of funny great characters and so much heart.

Waylon’s story is going to resonate with so many people and I feel so privileged to have been one of the first readers to get to meet him. Thank you to Harper Collins’ Children’s Books and NetGalley.

Julie Murphy is a breath of fresh air, BUT there are some editing issues here. With any luck at all the weird continuity problems will be fixed by publication, yet I cannot, in good conscience, give this the 4 stars it deserves until I see that happen.

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.

This was a fun addition to the Dumplin' series, & I very much enjoyed the main character, Pumpkin AKA Waylon. It was also fun to see what happens to Willowdean from Dumplin'.

I remember reading an <a href="https://ew.com/tv/2019/06/09/dan-levys-schitts-creek-final-season-lgbtq-drag-queens-interview/">interview</a> with Dan Levy, one of the creators of "Schitt's Creek" and he was asked why he, a gay man, decided to make his character pansexual. He responded, "We made a conscious choice that his sexuality would never be in danger-that the town was going to be completely accepting of everybody. I wanted to show a project of our own world that was kinder, show how much people can grow and the capacity with which people can love when they are not fearing for their lives."
I was thinking of this interview as I was finishing up Pumpkin, not because Clover City is a haven for LGBTQ youth, but because it presents a view of a place that could be safe and where more people are accepting of differences than not. Most of the time, we view small towns as being rife with racism and prejudice, but the same is true of large cities, as well (Exhibit A: I live in Chicago, a "northern" city that is also incredibly segregated).
Because I read the ARC, I can't say if anything is going to change from now to publication, but I enjoyed Pumpkin. Ironically, knowing that the problems you have are the same problems has a way of making you feel included, rather than "othering" and that's how I feel about Waylon and his troubles. Sure, he has an extra layer of conflict due to being a fat, femme, gay teenager who has discovered a penchant for drag, but he is never in any actual danger because of that part of his identity, which is a relief. This isn't that kind of book. Instead, Pumpkin is a celebration of change and continued growth and learning who you are along the way.

Yes! Yes! Yasss! This book folks is everything and then some! You will love it! Shoutout to the author who has yet again outdone themselves! Prom. Drag Queens. Small Town. It gives me LIFE! This is a definite 5/5 on the Goodreads scale, friends. You will not want to miss this! Great characters, solid plot, lots of Pride! This is how books need to be done. No spoilers here. But yass! This is everything! Seriously one of the top three best books I’ve reviewed this year! Y’all are in for a treat! So treat yourself! And make this a priority on your TBR! And with that, that’s all I got for now. Until next time, happy reading. -Caroline

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).

Omigosh! I fell in love with this universe Julie Murphy created back in Dumplin' and she continues to give the same exciting, caring, goosebumps-inducing and happy tear crying moments in this newest addition!

This story follows Waylon (aka Ms Pumpkin Patch) as he goes through school in the small lover City town as a VERY much out fem gay boy. He does a late night drag video for fun that accidently gets leaked all over school and, as with all Murphy's stories, takes it in stride and breaks down in his bedroom like we all would have done!

These characters are so relatable (even if you do not have the life experience of being a gay boy in small town Texas) and I love how Murphy's characters don't always get the "happy ending" that Hallmark movies promise. Her stories are real, and characters get their own version of a happy ending.

I will be recommending this to all teen collections

Thanks to NetGalley and Balzer+Bray for this eARC!!

I loved the first two Clover City books, and this one gives similar Dumplin' and Puddin' feels, with just a little less Dolly. Come for the dose of positive self-talk, stay for the rockin' grandma and her golden girls posse. Also, if you are far from your teen days, you'll get to feel happy that you went to high school in the pre-promposal days.