By Kody Keplinger
Published by Little Brown
Released on September 7th, 2010
Source- The Publisher
2 stars- It was OK
Seventeen- year old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn't think she's the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She's also way too marks to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicnames her "Duffy", she throws her coke in his face.
But things aren't so great at home right now. Desperate for a distraction, Bianca ends up kissing Wesley. And likes it. Eager for escape, she throws herself into a closeted enemies with benefits relationship with Wesley.
Until it all goes awry. It turns out that Wesley isn't such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she's falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone.
How many times have we all felt like The Duff (The Designated Ugly Friend) growing up and even now in our lives? Through the course of The Duff, Kody delivers a powerful message to proud of who you are. Even the most perfect looking people have Duff like qualities.
Even though I had a few issues with the book, I still felt sympathy towards and related to Bianca on some level. Being a teen herself, I felt that Kody was able to provide a real teenage voice to Bianca, who's dealing with some tough situations, and learns a lot about herself through the course of her choices. Bianca is a straight shooting, snarky, loyal character, and I liked how much she grew by the end of the book.
My favorite characters are Bianca's best friends, as they see her and love her for who she is. I liked that Wesley was someone who helped Bianca see herself differently. Wesley and Bianca both gain a lot from each other. They both see through the walls they've built up and see each other for who they really are. I wanted to see more of them outside of just having sex. I felt that took away from really getting to know more about their characters.
While I liked that Kody doesn't sugar coat reality and what teens really deal with, in the end The Duff was not for me. I'm a pretty open minded reader and there's not many books I don't like, but I had a hard time with The Duff. I felt that too much sex and one too many uses of the F-word took too much a way from the story for me to really appreciate it.
Posts
I felt the same way about this book. I liked it in spite of the too much sex and language, but I can't recommend it to anyone. Kody is a talented writer though with a fresh voice.
ReplyDeleteThis book has some great buzz. I am definitely going to check it out. Thank you for your frank, honest review.
ReplyDeleteAww, I am sorry you didn't enjoy it. Stacey and I loved this book, but I can understand the pov about the sex and language. Definitely an older teen read.
ReplyDeleteMary- You've made me feel better knowing I'm not the only one who felt this way. I agree, she's a talented writer and I'm looking forward to reading more of her books.
ReplyDeleteKM- Thank you.
Pixie- I was excited to read it as there has been so much great buzz surrounding the book, and everyone I know who's read it has loved it. Normally I like most everything I read, but this time I just couldn't get past a few things w/ the book. I agree, it's definitely for older teens.