Tough Critic Book Reviews: Review: The Duff by Kody Keplinger

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.

The plot of the story gets one star; the characters and dialogue get five, so I gave it three :-)The story is nothing more than predictable. Girl hates boy, boy antagonizes girl, boy/girl become partners on school project, boy/girl fall in love. Sound familiar??? Yes, there were parent issues, heart break issue, and teenage drama thrown into the mix, but the main plot was very generic.

All negativity aside though, I thoroughly enjoyed ALL the characters. Because of them, I read the book in one sitting. Bianca and her "tell it like it is", no nonsence dialogue was absolutely refreshing; setting the story up for some great banter between her and Wes which ultimately drives their "romance". Bianca and each of her friends had their own unique personalities which made the dynamics of their close circle of friends very real!

The author's writing mimics Bianca's tell it like it is attitude. The book contains strong language and very descriptive sexual content. For me, it made the story seem more real, but be cautious for younger readers.