Book Review of "The DUFF" by Kody Keplinger

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Title: The DUFF
Author: Kody Keplinger
Classification: YA Fiction, Contemporary Fiction
Source: Bought!

Overall Grade: 

A

Would I read it again? 

Maybe.

Would I recommend it? 

It depends...

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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.

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My Thoughts:

I came into this read with high expectations. I had been hearing about The DUFF for months, on fellow book review blogs, on Twitter, on Goodreads... this book was everywhere! Plus, it had just received a few prestigious awards for young adult fiction. I knew I had to read it for myself.

I am happy to say that The DUFF did not disappoint! I felt immediately drawn into Bianca's world. A lot of times, I am not a fan of the 1st person point of view in YA lit, because so many authors are not up to the task and end up creating whiny, shallow protagonists that are painful to read. However, Bianca is anything but whiny and shallow! Keplinger did a stellar job of writing Bianca's voice. I enjoyed her intelligence and guts, wishing that I was more like that in high school.

However, something that I had trouble dealing with in this novel is the sex. It's no secret from the description that Bianca starts an intimate relationship with a guy she barely knows... in fact, a guy she hates. To say that I was surprised to find such casual sex in a novel about high school kids would be an understatement. However, just because this was not my experience in high school, or the experience of my close friends, does not mean that this doesn't happen. I was trying to keep an open mind when it came to the sex in this book, but I can't help but say that I feel like Bianca should have been shown to treat the subject with a little more care in the novel.

(When I say that there is "sex" in this book, I don't mean graphic descriptions. I mean that there are sexual situations, relationships, and talk about sex. It is by no means pornographic or anything.)

That being said, I have to say that I loved The DUFF. I think that Keplinger took a story-line that could have been disastrous and instead crafted a well-written, memorable YA book.

I loved the characters in this book! Bianca, her best friends Casey and Jessica, Wesley, and even good-guy Toby were all three-dimensional to me. I believed these characters and I have to say that I loved Wesley. I think that writing this sexy man-slut must have been incredibly difficult, but Keplinger did a great job. His witty banter with Bianca was easy and natural, not seeming contrived like many characters in YA can.

Overall, The DUFF is an example of why I love contemporary YA as much as fantasy, dystopian and paranormals. A great read from a promising debut author!

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Overall Grade: 

A 

Would I read it again? 

Maybe.

Would I recommend it? 

It depends...

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