Review: The Duff by Kody Keplinger

Title: The Duff

Author: Kody Keplinger

Publisher: Poppy

Pub. Date: September 2010

Length: 288 pages

Summary (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 had never heard the word 'duff' until I read about this book. I looked it up and found on Urban Dictionary what it meant (this was before there was a cover or description of the book, and I had only seen the first part of the title). Normally, I don't like to read books like The Duff; but once it was published and I had read so many fantastic reviews, I decided to get it from the library. After I read the first few pages, I knew I had to own the book, so I went out and bought it.

You could say The Duff is a bad book because the teens are participating in adult activities, but its not promoting that teens should have sex. However, Keplinger didn't discourage it either. She simply wrote a realistic portrayal of the topic.
I loved at lot about this book. The humor, the characters, the romance... but my favorite part is that Bianca does not magically change herself into some perfect-looking person. She accepts herself the way she is. Bianca is an easy character to relate to, I think everyone can find some part of themselves inside her. At the beginning of the novel you meet Wesley and Bianca's two best friends Casey and Jessica.Their personalities are woven in beautifully; and you know them within the first few pages.
This book is a must read for anyone who has ever felt like the duff. Many, many people have had thoughts exactly like Bianca, "No wonder I'm the duff. I'm so out of shape its depressing." In some ways, this book helped me make peace with my body and the way I see myself. The Duff helped me see myself as a better person, as well as helping me realize that we all have flaws and no one is perfect, even the people everyone else sees as perfect.
In The Duff, we are put inside the mind of a girl who is constantly putting herself down because she sees herself as "the designated ugly fat friend." Seeing her do this while we can see that she is  obviously amazing made me want to yell and tell her to stop being so stupid.

Rating:

5 Moons