The Duff by Kody Keplinger
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Contemporary
Score: 3.5 Stars
Page Count: 277
Stand Alone Novel
Publisher: Little Brown/Poppy
Published: September 7, 2010
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 “the Duff,” she throws her Coke in his face. But things aren’t so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction. She ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him. Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out 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.
Review:
PROS:
1. I've been hearing about this book for months now and had no idea that this book was in fact becoming a movie and that's why pretty much every teen was reading it. I was finally able to find a copy of this book and read it just in time before seeing the movie. Here's the review!
2. I really appreciated that this book was written for teens by a teen. Kody Keplinger, at the time, was only 18 when she wrote this book and I feel like that gave the book a stronger sense of understanding among teens. I really liked that the author was able to capture realistic and relatable feelings of not fitting in, feeling insecure and being confused as to who you really are. I really connected to the story in those ways.
3. I also liked how this book was also more of a deeper contemporary. The characters in this book were far from perfect which, again, is very realistic. They all had their issues and insecurities that they were all dealing with and tried their best to do so.
4. Lastly, I really loved the message of this book. The characters, especially Bianca, had to deal with bullying and struggled to see the true beauty of themselves. I really loved how this book teaches readers that in a way, we're all "Duffs" but that it doesn't mean that we're not beautiful, it just means we're not perfect.
CONS:
1. I really liked the characters in this book but I had a hard time connecting with them the way I wanted too. I thought Bianca was sarcastic and hardheaded but I still felt she was a little flat. Same thing with Wesley, Casey, Jessica and the rest of the characters. I just thought they all had so much potential to have really great character development but didn't quite have enough for me.
2. I also didn't really care for the first half of the book. I found myself getting bored easily and had to force myself to keep reading to see if the book got better, which it did about 100 pages in. I also had to force myself to read through Bianca's irrational and infuriating decisions that I just couldn't wrap my head around. I enjoyed this book overall but it isn't something I'd pick up again.
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I hope you guys enjoyed this book review! If you have any other book requests you would like me to review, just leave a comment or send me an email! Read on bookworms! See you in the next chapter!
Lying Out Loud (The DUFF companion) by Kody Keplinger
Out April 28, 2015
SEE "THE DUFF" IN THEATERS FEBRUARY 20, 2015!
