The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

Amazon | Goodreads

Title & Author:
The DUFF by Kody Keplinger
Publisher:
Poppy
Publication Date:
September 07, 2010
Pages:
288

Plot:

Characters:

Writing:

Overall:

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. - Goodreads

When The DUFF came out, I didn’t really want to buy it. I’d heard mixed reviews and every time I thought about buying it, something else had just come out. Well, I finally bought it for my Kindle, and I am absolutely kicking myself for not reading it earlier.

I loved The DUFF. It was vulgar and sometimes graphic – sex was a big focal point of the story, but that’s kind of what made it. Kody Keplinger didn’t shy away from sex like a lot of authors do. It’s a very honest, contemporary book and I enjoyed reading it very much.

I loved Bianca as a protagonist. She was snarky, mean, and sarcastic, and was a very real character. There were parts where I was reading it and thinking, “Wow, this is me in high school!” Bianca went through a lot in this book, some I could really identify with (such as the jackass boyfriend in the 9th grade) and some things that I couldn’t (such as some of her family issues). But the way she dealt with these issues, along with school and her issues with her friends, were what made her so real to me.

Wesley? He’s made his way up into my Top 10 Male Literary Figures. I don’t know who he knocked off, but he’s up there. I’ve said it time and time again in my reviews – I love the bad guys in books. And he wasn’t even a bad guy, really! He was just snarky and mean, but oh so nice. I can’t even explain my love for him – you’ll just have to read it, honestly.

There were parts of the storyline that I felt were a little rushed, such as the resolving of Bianca’s family issues. But despite all that, I read this book in one sitting. I just could not get enough of it and when it ended, I wanted more. The DUFF is a fantastic debut from Kody Keplinger and I can’t wait to see what she comes up with next.