Monday, November 8, 2010

Book Review- The DUFF

Last night I finished reading The Duff by Kody Keplinger for a We Love YA! review.

From Goodreads:

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.
 
Wow.  I wasn't prepared for how in-your-face this book was.  I mean, don't get me wrong...I curse with the best of them but I guess I'm just not used to reading that in YA books or at least not with this much frequency.  And the blantat no-strings-attached sex.  Definitely not for the younger crowd.
 
That being said, after I got used to the cursing and the sex, I enjoyed this book.  It seemed to be a pretty real look into some teenagers lives.  I'm not sure if I really liked Bianca or not.  Sometimes I did, but sometimes she just seemed so standoffish.  But I did like Wesley.  Even though he was a player, he didn't deny it.  And underneath that playboy exterior, there was really a boy wanting attention underneath. 
 
There were some definite themes in the book.  That everyone feels like they're the DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) sometimes.  And everyone screws up and makes mistakes.  And towards the end, I couldn't put it down.  And I was very happy with the ending.
 
I gave this book a rating of 3.5/5.
 
This book fulfills items in the following challenges:
2010 100+ Reading Challenge: 149
2010 Young Adult Reading Challenge: 114
2010 Debut Author Challenge: 39
ARC Reading Challenge 2010: 103
 
*FTC Disclosure: I was given this book for free for an honest review as part of We Love YA! tours.

3 comments:

  1. I've read several reviews of this and I must say they are very mixed. I will admit I'm not inspired to read it yet. Great reveiw.

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  2. I enjoyed your review, however, being a Gramma I don't think I will be reading it or giving it as a gift to my YA grandchildren. I agree with Kylie, I'm not inspired to read it anytime... However, your review was great.

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  3. Hmm this was something I wanted to read, but if it has teenage sex in it, I'm probably not gonna try it. Thanks for the great review and ya saved me some $$. I'm not a prude or anything, but reading about young people having sex seems kinda creepy (at least in my mind). Not gonna pass judgment on anyone else though. :-)

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