Review: The DUFF - Kody Keplinger

Where I got it: Library
Rating: 5 stars 
Cover Rating: 5 stars (Pretty freakin' fantastic) 
Genre: Young Adult 
Publication Date: September 7, 2010
Publisher: Poppy
Page Count: 277 p.

After Wesley Rush, Womanizer extraordinaire, calls Bianca a DUFF she realizes how fitting it is to her. The word starts to haunt her and she starts looking at other people a little differently, spotting the DUFF in other groups of friends. Although Wesley is the boy who labeled her as the "designated ugly fat friend" he is exactly who she turns to for distraction when her home life starts going downhill. After sleeping with him for awhile Bianca starts to realize that they have quite a few problems in common. Maybe Wesley isn't such a bad guy after all, he's just looking for a distraction too.

This book was fantastic. I can't even tell you how much I loved this book. Bianca was sassy and fierce. Everything about Bianca was just fantastic. I loved how easily the characters flowed and you could completely picture them rolling their eyes and cocking their heads to the side. Kody Keplinger shines with this debut abut how everyone sometimes feels like the ugly friend. Bianca and Wesley's relationship was hilarious. Watching how rude they were to each other and how flirty they were without entirely realizing it made me chuckle. They were very realistic characters. There was a lot of sex in this book, but I think a lot of people in high school have a lot of sex. Heck, a lot of people in middle school have a lot of sex. I think the use of sex as a distraction was portrayed nicely in this novel and the consequences of characters' actions were reflected on in a realistic and teenaged way. I think this is another one of my favorite books for the year. I just loved how bold Bianca was and how her and her friends fit together. I'm glad Kody touched on some really big issues but never once did the book feel overwhelmingly depressing. Issues were brought up, the characters handled them the only way they could think of, but they learned from it all. I checked out Kody's website and saw that she would cast Ellen Page as Bianca, and I totally have to agree. Ellen's fierce nonchalance is exactly Bianca's voice. Kody Keplinger is an author to look out for and I look forward to reading her next novel A Midsummer's Nightmare. I would recommend this book to everyone who loves YA realistic fiction, it was just too fabulous for you to pass up.

First Line:
"This was getting old."

Favorite Lines:
"I realized I'd been biting my lip a little too hard as the metallic taste of blood touched the tip of my tongue."

"I could look like a gorilla, and he still wouldn't hesitate to fuck me, but dating is a totally different situation."