25 April 2015

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

(Click image to take you to Goodreads)

Format: Paperback
Publishers: Hodder Children's Books 
Published: 5th April 2012
Pages: 343
Genre: YA, Contemporary Romance, 
Main Characters: Bianca, Wesley,   
Date Read: 11th April - 16th April 2015

Rating Given:
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Synopsis:
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. And eventually, through this realization, Bianca begins to see how harmful her unhealthy way of dealing with her problems has been, and finds a way to confront them head on.

I've had this book for a while now and now with the film is out now I thought I would finally give it a try and I'm glad I did as it was an enjoyable read. 

I kind of liked this particular version of the cover as the title takes the main focus which it should with the title being what the whole book is about. I also like that the title is yellow which also makes it stand out.

I wasn't sure that I was going to like this when I first started this book as I thought it was going to be shallow and for part of the book it was but I didn't mind in the end as I felt it was a good issue to have tackled which was done very well. What I really enjoyed about this book was even though there was some very serious and dark subject matters issued it still felt like a light hearted book as it was a very funny read. For me it was the romance side of the story that I didn't quite believe in their feelings especially when more often than not Bianca would say she hates him. The other part of the book that I wasn't a fan of was the ending as it felt rushed plus with it being a stand alone book I was expecting there to be a believable happy ever after but I don't believe in this happy ever after, the one thing that I am happy about is that there will be a companion novel so maybe there will be more from them.

With this bunch of characters I had a bit of a love/hate feelings about them as they all had moments that annoyed me but they all had moments when they shined. Bianca was very cynical but I felt that this made her a more real. I did like Bianca but there was times when she was very hypocritical making her annoy me quite a few times. I never thought I would even warm to Wesley especially as it was him that was the one that told Bianca that she was the DUFF but by the end I really did like him and I felt that Bianca brought out the best in him. 

Overall a very enjoyable read that I could be able to re-read over and over again without getting bored.