Book Review - The Duff: Designated Ugly Fat Friend by Kody Keplinger

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Publication date: September 7th 2010
Publisher:  Little Brown/Poppy 
Pages: 280


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.

Let's state it right now: this novel was all about the characters for me. 
I thought the writing was appropriate and felt honest regarding our narrator, 17 y/o Bianca whom is not afraid to say exactly what she thinks (which sometimes was quite rude especially towards her best friends) in the most direct way. I probably would have taken off a little bit of swear words which the amount wasn't necessarily needed but it wasn't anything too annoying (well, except if you absolutely can't stand bad language).
Now let's get onto my favourite aspect of the book, the characters. Bianca, the main protagonist, is cynical, snarky, quite bitter, jaded at some points, truly loyal to her friends but also reckless. The latter characteristic is explained by her family issues and even though I wouldn't say these were her finnest moments, she's human, she's flawed and she handles her problems the way she can. Besides her character development is well done since her actions/mistakes do have a significant impact on her and the reader gets to understand the reasons behind her decisions. I could definitely relate to her and sympathize with what she had to go through.
Her two best friends Casey and Jessica were really good characters. They are presented as the "popular girls cliché" but they have more to offer and both of their backstories were interesting (however Jessica's was maybe a bit unrealistic?) They are supportive, loving and understanding friends.
Wesley Rush, the high-school "womanizer" was interesting to read in the sense that he acknowledges his "douche-bag" reputation and really don't care about it, won't deny it or try to make amends. He's actually a very open-minded teenage boy.
I loved his dynamic with Bianca and how their personalities worked together.

The negatives:
My main reproach would be the ending. Not in its predictability but rather the sort of rushed feeling it had. I would have preferred a more in-depth conclusion.
Also there's a point in the novel when Bianca and her father have a serious "situation" which I thought was resolved way too easily given the gravity of the events.
Finally The reference to Wuthering Heights didn't feel relevant but more out of place considering the fact that none of the characters were anything like Catheirne/Heathcliff/Linton.

Overall I genuinely enjoyed this novel which I couldn't put down. It was a fun read with great messages to reflect upon. I gave it 4/5 stars.


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