The DUFF – Kody
Keplinger
Pages:
341
Publisher:
Hodder
Release
Date: 4th
April 2012
Edition:
UK paperback,
purchased copy
Other
Titles by this Author: Shut Out, A Midsummer’s
Nightmare, Goldfish (TBR)
Seventeen-year-old
Bianca Piper knows she’s not the hottest girl at school, but when school jock
and resident moron Wesley casually refers to her as a Duff – Designated Ugly
Fat Friend – the gloves are off!
If
there’s a thin line between love and hate then Bianca has crossed it. She just
never thought she was capable of breaking anyone’s heart...
Kody Keplinger’s debut has had
a reaction akin to that of Marmite and I’ve wanted to get my hands on it for a
while purely to see which camp I feel into. And just like Marmite, I love it.
The idea of a DUFF – designated
ugly fat friend – is an awful and completely terrifying concept that you just
know originated in a high school somewhere. It’s also one of those things that
once you hear it, you’ll never forget it and will instantly conjure up
instances when you’ve felt exactly like the DUFF. And I’m pretty sure that’s
not just me. With this, Kody Keplinger really hammered home a message about
labelling and name-calling and just how damaging they can be to the person they’re
directed at. She managed to not make it preaching, but a natural realisation
that Bianca herself had as she accepted the reality that everybody feels like a
DUFF to somebody.
While reading The DUFF I was captivated by Kody
Keplinger’s stark and honest prose. she takes a no-holds-bar approach to
depicting the Bianca’s exploits which means that strong language and sexual
situations are rife throughout the novel, and this, I think, is what put some
people off. I loved it. It was brash, hard and so realistic, not only for
teenage life but also for Bianca’s character – it was her voice and it rang true.
I’m not quite sure why, but I wasn’t
expecting The DUFF to be such an
issues novel, but of course it was. Keplinger covered alcoholism, divorce,
absentee parents, the damaging high school caste system and teen sexuality
through Bianca and Wesley. The stress and pressure of their situations made
both of them, naturally, a little bit difficult. Bianca is hardened and refuses
to accept that she has feelings and Wesley can be a major jerk, but as I got to
know and understand them, I grew to like them both. I was a little bit
disappointed that I didn’t love them, though I did develop a slight crush on
Wesley by the end of the novel...
The
DUFF is a
brave and engaging debut and I can’t wait to read more from Kody Keplinger.
I purchased this copy myself.
Sophie
I LOVED Kody Keplinger! I read The Duff and order Shut Out and A Midsummers Nightmare straight away as I enjoyed it so much. They are both really good too, especially A Midsummers Nightmare - I think I liked that one even more than The Duff!
ReplyDeleteOh I loved this book so much! Dying to read the other books by Kody Keplinger after reading this.
ReplyDeleteI still need to read this book. Bianca sounds like quite an intriguing character!
ReplyDeleteNice review :)
Thank so much! That's so sweet! :)
ReplyDelete