Since then, it’s been Ramona and her family against the world. Standing over six feet tall with unmistakable blue hair, Ramona is sure of three things: she likes girls, she’s fiercely devoted to her family, and she knows she’s destined for something bigger than the trailer she calls home in Eulogy, Mississippi.
This was an okay book about a girl living in the deep south whose life was decimated by hurricane Katrina back in 2005.
I read Dumplin', also by Julie Murphy, a while back and really enjoyed it so I had high hopes for this book. It was okay. Well written, I guess, but it didn't thrill me or make me want to keep reading, so it took me about a week to plod through.
I did like Ramona -she was quirky and flawed and interesting, but I did want to give her a good shake and tell her not to stay in her home town all her life sorting out her sister's life. Freddie was a bit blah and I didn't get why he and Ramona were so MFEO, other than they had spent some summers together when they were kids.
This book has come under fire for being homophobic by implying that lesbians 'just haven't found the right guy yet' but actually I found this to be a really positive representation of a girl who strongly identified as gay but then starts to question her sexuality when she becomes attracted to a boy. I get why people have been incensed about this book because it does have the air of 'lesbian-turning' about it, but surely it's important for people who are questioning to have representation too?
The plot kind of centres around Ramona's discovery that she's bi/pansexual whilst at the same time trying to dig herself out of her dirt-poor roots and help her knocked-up sister who can't seem to do a damn thing for herself. For me, the plot didn't really have enough going on and the story arcs didn't really 'arc' enough. I don't know. There were times when I found the whole thing kind of a slog.
All in all I think this book had the potential to be really good but although there was nothing really wrong with it, it didn't really grab me.
3 stars