Review: The Duff

The Duff by Kody Keplinger
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I really enjoyed this book, it was refreshing for sure.

Writing:
There was nothing too special about the writing. It was okay, just the usual contemporary young adult writing style. It was relate-able. I had fun reading through the point of view of the female protagonist, Bianca. She was a bit bitchy, and her expressions did seem a bit limited when it came to words, but overall, I couldn't really help but enjoy the tone that she brought to the story.

Characters:
Like I said, Bianca was a really interesting character. She was cynical and judgmental. She was so flawed, and sometimes she was ridiculous. But she was also loyal, smart, and a loving (no matter how much she denied it). She was really fun to read about, and throughout the book, I felt really close to her character.

Wesley's character, I really liked. This is a proper jerk, His personality wasn't just swept under the rug by the ever so popular "love changes a man". Love does not change people's personalities, it just makes it easier for two people to stand each other. The awesome thing about Wesley is that he wasn't suddenly revealed to be this prince charming, but it was revealed that there was more to him than just being a jerk. A very real layered character, instead of the popular "washable surface" characters. I wish I would have gotten a lot more back story on him, but that is probably me just finding him way too interesting to pass up more layers revealed.

Very nice supporting characters. They were all just as exciting as the main characters. I enjoyed them so much, that if Keplinger wrote companion novels for every character, I would read them all.

Story & Plot
Very well done! The main plot and the sub-plots, had me sticking around for a single sitting. I read the book in a little under a day, and anytime I took a break, I had to pry myself away. I would even come running back as soon as I finished my task. It was a fast paced read, very light, and packed with drama. Very good!

Basically:
I had a lot of fun with this book. This book has sex and inappropriate language in it, but I really want to recommend it to High school students. High school students can handle this. Keplinger likes to work learning experiences into her books, and I think it works out well. Learning good stuff + entertaining = A+. I would also recommend this to anyone else who enjoys contemporary ya novels, it could run with the best of them.


View all my reviews