Published: September 7th 2010 by Little Brown/Poppy
Hardcover, 288 pages
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.
I thought I'd at least like this book but I think I might just hate it. Hmm. Let's see....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.
At first the author gives the impression that Bianca Piper( The Duff) is a down to earth, smart, retro fun kinda girl. The brute honesty in the writing was funny and surprisingly, I was able to relate to The Duff from her distaste in grinding in the clubs to her love for the movie Atonement.
But the book didn't hold my interest long enough to even say it was okay.
Just as the climax appears, the books sinks like an anchor. Even from the beginning Bianca's relationship with Wesley Rush was odd and it got even more preposterous as I read on. The side characters are typical enough...not much to say about the obvious...I mean, is this really how highschoolers are. I'm nineteen and I don't remember it being like how it was in the story.
As for the writing, all that was exciting in the beginning of the book repeated itself but just in different words as it went on. I had faith in Kody Keplinger, I was hoping to be blown away by an author my age who had made headlines for her story. But if I wanted to read a story such as this I'd visit sites such as quizilla and wattpad...not that those websites aren't any fun, they have good stories written by amateurs but I think The Duff, published, could have been much much better.
Good heavens...what a disappointment. But do give it a try, you never know. I'd recommend this to someone in JHS who likes ranting teens and a big twist in his/her books.
P.S I'm out in a hunt to find a good book by a young writer because I know it's out there...
So if you know any good young writers, let me know.
Favorite Quote(s)...
""Oh, come on," I fumed, "The guy is a man-whore. I can't stand him. He sleeps with everything that moves, and his brain is located in his pants-which means it's microscopic.""
2/5
