Author: Kody Keplinger
Publisher: Little Brown/Poppy
Publication Date: September 7, 2010
Pages: 288
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.
All right, I have to be honest – I was not a huge fan of this book at all. After hearing so many great reviews about The Duff, I thought I would enjoy it as well. Turns out, that was not the case…
I consider myself to be a fairly cynical, sarcastic person at times, but Bianca was just too much for me. I couldn’t connect with her at all because she was just so negative and unlikable. Wesley was terrible, and I couldn’t stand him right from the start. And the swearing…anyone who knows me personally knows that I have a bit of a potty mouth, but it really irked me to see so many F bombs in the book.
There are two positive things I did like about this book. One was the relationship between Bianca and her two best friends, Casey and Jessica. They were there for Bianca even when she was acting terrible. The other positive was that the actual topic of being The Duff is something every girl can relate to at some point in their lives.
I was disappointed I didn’t enjoy this book more but would still recommend it to people solely on the fact that it touches on a topic girls are sadly all too familiar with. Kudos as well to the author for publishing a book at such a young age!
Thanks for the honest review, Tara! I might not be picking this one up.. maybe once I see it for half price somewhere, or once it comes out in paperback.
ReplyDeleteThank you for the honest, justified review! I love knowing these kinds of things beforehand. I think I'll wait for this one to come to my library. I do agree that the concept is great.
ReplyDeleteI was going to read this but after reading your review I think not (I'm not a fan of any bombs but specifically the f bomb!) Thanks! just hopping by.
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