Title: The DuffAuthor: Kody KeplingerPublisher: PoppyPublishing Date: June 7th 2011Length: 304 pagesKeywords: YA, contemporary romance, sexSource: BoughtSeventeen-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.Summary by Goodreads
The Duff. Sounds funny at first, but if you know what's hiding behind that term it doesn't sound entertaining or nice anymore.
Designated
Fat
Ugly
Friend
And with
only these four words, one boy has the power to make a girl like Bianca our protagonist feel
like only second choice or none at all. Wesley is that very macho guy, known as the school's male
slut, who keeps bothering Bianca throughout the entire story.
Still
Wesley is just the boy a girl like Bianca needs. She uses him as he uses her. And
exactly the knowledge of him not caring about her seems to make it easy for
Bianca to start distracting her troubled thoughts with him. It’s no love at
first sight and not the sweetest romance of YA contemporary. Therefore their
relationship is rough and carnal. Very different from others, nonetheless
attractive.
I like that
Bianca and Wesley are both so different in personality and yet they’ve got a
lot in common. Although Wesley’s the school slut, I couldn’t but fall for his
extreme charm and …advantages.
Their
problems at home make these two characters, that appear shallow for only looking
for physical contact, appear more sympathetic and one starts to feel for
both of them. We meet their friends and families and see the effects their
relationship has on their individual lives.
There’s a
lot of sex. Raw, instinctive and meaningless. THE DUFF for once stands for
another kind of contemporary romance. It shows that there doesn’t need to be
that long painful struggle to get the guy you want. You can get him first and
realise your feelings later. Don’t be afraid, there is still a big chaos of all
kinds of emotions waiting for Bianca and Wesley.You'll get the full package!
It’s about
teenage life and the difficult ways of falling in love, but also about the
feeling of being a bad version of someone else, less attractive, less funny,
smart, you name it. Kody Keplinger shows all the teenage girls and boys that
there’s no need to feel like that. The message is about friendship and
accepting yourself the way you are, no need to compare yourself to others and
feel less important or clever or beautiful. You are just perfect the way you
are!
1) of a
great amount of giving in to the physical attraction
2) a funny
approach on the feel of being the Duff
3) there’s
always a chance to fall for the designated ugly fat friend
4) if
there’s nothing to do, just play Scrabble
5) we’ll
only order Cherry Coke from now on
4/5 **** THE DUFF- A snappy, witty, feel-good
novel. A sexy debut about the struggles of a teenage life and the true meaning
of being the Duff.
THE DUFF
carries a fantastic and important message and you should definitely not miss
Kody Keplinger’s awesome debut. A very different kind of love story, but one nonetheless
thrilling and engaging!
* Want to
read more? Check out SHUT OUT and A MIDSUMMER’S NIGHTMARE
* Read an
excerpt of THE DUFF here.
* Here’s
the THE DUFF soundtrack.
* For
further information about Kody Keplinger and her books visit www.kodykeplinger.com
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