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Review: The DUFF by Kody Keplinger
Filed in Kody Keplinger , Review , The Quirky Lover Posted on September 30, 2010 @ 6:00 am
6 comments
Format Read: Hardcover
Number of Pages: Pages: 288 pages
Release Date: September 7th 2010
Publisher: Little Brown/Poppy
Format Available: Hardcover, Ebook, Audio Book
Purchasing Info: Goodreads, Book Depository UK, Book Depository US, Amazon
Book Blurb:
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 smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames 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 horribly 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.
My Thoughts:
I borrowed The DUFF from my best friend, Mel from He Followed Me Home who was raving about how much she loved it after finishing it. Obviously, when someone says this, you’ve gotta check it out for yourself. But I was under a huge misunderstanding from the get-go…I thought this was a book by Hilary Duff. Fortunately, that error was quickly remedied.
From the first few pages, I loved The DUFF too. The writing is witty and Bianca is such a great, ‘who cares?” type character until her initial run-in with Wesley. Then she becomes what every girl (especially the teenage ones) dreads…the neurotic, “cares what everyone thinks” type, questioning every facet of herself. Wesley’s “Designated Ugly Fat Friend” acronym hits Bianca to her core. I think this made her even more relateable, for me. Nobody wants to be that person among their group of friends, right?
Bianca’s coping mechanism becomes a sexual relationship with the culprit. She’s dealing with this new “role” she’s been given but also some tough familial problems. This got a bit heavy but life isn’t all jokes and abuse of hotties. Overall, I think the seriousness of Bianca and Welsey’s situation was balanced out nicely with the more humourous side of the novel. The same can be said about the other characters in the story; Bianca’s best-friends have enough traits to make them unique but you can understand how they remain friends, despite their differences.
There’s a bit of a love triangle involved and I was disconcerted by the fact that I was rooting for the bad guy! Then again, there’s something about a bad boy, isn’t there? I was confident that his better side would come through eventually; he’s more often than not a total jackass. You’ll have to read the book to see which way the story swings though 😉
I breezed through The DUFF in a single day and totally recommend it to fans of teen fiction. I would also recommend it to those of you out there that prefer more “adult” themed novel. This has a Young Adult designation but it includes swearing and sex….. so probably not great for the under 14 crowd. It was a very enjoyable read, to say the least and this is something I rarely do, but….
I give The DUFF 5 Bookies!
***FTC Disclaimer: Most books reviewed on this site have been provided free of charge by the publisher, author or publicist. Some books we have purchased with our own money and will be noted as such. Any links to places to purchase books are provided as a convenience, and do not serve as an endorsement by this blog. All reviews are the true and honest opinion of the blogger reviewing the book. The method of acquiring the book does not have a bearing on the content of the review.
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| 5 Stars: Perfect! I Love It! | |||||||||
| 4 Stars: Awesome Book! | |||||||||
| 3 Stars: I Liked It! | |||||||||
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Wonderful review. I've heard good things about this book and have it on my TBR. 🙂
@tori – Thanks! I actually put aside some reading to do this one and couldn't put it down 🙂
Really Jackie? That's an excellent recommendation in itself.
@Bea – Somethings just can't wait 😉
Great review to match a wonderful book!
Have a great Sunday!
Brandi from Blkosiner’s Book Blog
@Brandi – Thanks! I'm looking forward to more from Keplinger 🙂