The Duff

Title: The Duff

Author: Kody Keplinger

Publisher: Hodder Children’s Books

Publication Date: September 7, 2010

Genre: YA, Romance, Comedy.

Length: 345 pages

Where you can get yours: Book Depository, Waterstones, Barnes and Noble.

Meet Bianca. Hamilton High’s resident duff. Apparently.

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper knows she’s not the hottest girl at school, but when school jock and man-slut Wesley casually refers to her as a DUFF- Designated Ugly Fat Friend -the gloves are off! But then before she knows it, Bianca finds herself in a secret enemies-with-benefits relationship with Wesley. If there’s a thin line between love and hate then Bianca has crossed it. She just never thought she was capable of breaking anyone’s heart.

The Duff is about Bianca, an independent sassy teen who doesn't believe in real teen love. Except maybe Toby… He’s smart, cute, and extremely polite. It’s everything one would want in a boy. But she constantly falls for Wesley, a man-slut and total idiot who calls her a designated ugly fat friend. She doesn’t understand, but she soon realizes that being with him helps her forget. Her alcoholic father, and a motivational speaker mother that wants to divorce him and keeps running away from reality (like Bianca) by traveling.

I have a lot of mixed feelings about this book. Sure the writing was great. I wanted to keep reading and find out who Bianca would end up with, but it was not one of the better YA novels out there. And, also Wesley is a pig, so why does it seem like it’s all overly dramatic and Bianca ends up kissing him in the end, even though he called her ugly and fat?! That seems like abuse, not romance… But he does change in the end to the better and it all ends well…(insert cliché comment) That, however, doesn't mean Bianca ends up with him right?;) Now you have to read it… Bianca Piper is a great main character, she’s honest and probably one of the realest YA characters well… ever. So in conclusion, guys if you really have nothing better to read this book is good. I don’t regret buying it (always a good thing), but I could buy better for the same amount of money. Loved the witty dialogues, though, worth reading if you have nothing better. (Argh hate repeating myself to make a point!)