Review: The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

• Reading Level: Young Adult 
• Paperback: 288 pages
• Publisher: Poppy
• ISBN-10: 0316084239
• ISBN-13: 978-0316084239
• Received From: Rachel as an RAK (Random Acts of Kindness)

 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 “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.

My Thoughts:

I really enjoyed this book; it was a very fast and easy read. I really liked all of the characters that Kody Keplinger created. I loved Bianca’s character, of course one of my best friends has the same exact personality (she’s cynical, doesn’t tell people stuff, etc) so saying that I hated Bianca is like saying that I hate my friend. However, even if one of my best friends wasn’t like Bianca I still would’ve liked the character. I also like Jessica as well, which was surprising because usually ditzy/clueless characters get on my nerves. When I started middle school, I had a best friend who joined the cheerleading team and I got put in the GT classes (gifted and talented) we tried to remain friends but we eventually grew apart and made new friends in our separate groups. So, I really liked the fact that Casey kept Bianca as her best friend, especially since she was a cheerleader and Bianca wasn’t. Because usually in high school when your friends develop different interest than you they make more friends and you tend to grow apart. I of course liked Wesley as well. In the words of Sarah Dessen, “Sa-woon”!

I also like the plot as well. It is very realistic, especially in today’s society with shows like 16 and pregnant and Teen Mom. I don’t think that it is giving teens a bad message. Just because a character in a book is doing something doesn’t mean that your child/relative/friend is going to do that, and if they do then you need to have a talk with them. It’s like the age old quote “If your friend jumped off a bridge, would you?”

I did however feel really skeevy reading the sex parts. Especially when Wesley was going down on Bianca! That part was just a little bit too much for me. At the very end it seemed to get a little too preachy for me. The story was a good message but the way that it was worded had me doing a little bit of an eye roll. 

Overall I thought that this was a very good book and I give it 4.5 quills!

 <3 Shannon