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.
I can't believe that I waited so long to read The DUFF, everyone has been raving about it for years and I never really thought to pick it up. That being said, I'm glad that I did wait, I don't think I would have loved this book as much as I did a few years ago. It would be so easy to say that this is just a book about a girl having lots of sex with a guy she claims to hate but it is actually much more than that....
The DUFF is a fantastic read. The writing is gripping, the dialogue is witty and the characters are all engaging in their own ways. Bianca is actually an amazing character, even though a few years ago I might have called her very shallow she was simply very real. The way she was with Wesley was annoying at times, but they were just real. It was relatable, real emotions and confusion and insecurities and it really did just get into the teenage psyche. That was the best thing about this book.
I mean, I could go on and on about how I loved the fact that this was a book about insecurities where the main character is actually popular and has friends, and how it was so nice to read and I really enjoyed it and it wasn't mind-blowingly gripping but I really cared about the characters.
I'm not going to do that.
I'm going to say that if you want to read a teenage romcom, this is the book for you. Quote me on that.
Book released 7th September 2011 by Poppy
Book received from the author in exchange for an honest review
Yay! This review makes me nostalgic because I love The DUFF and my inner middle school girl who read and gushed over this book is shouting from the rooftops in agreement.
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