Saturday, September 14, 2013

Book Review #19: The Duff


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 Break Down:
If your a reader looking for a short, yet entertaining novel, Well hells bells you've found it!

If we are being completely honest , I started to read this book at about 10PM, thinking I would just get through a chapter and come back to it later, but that didn't happen. I stayed up until 2AM.

I loved Bianca! Even though she could be a bit whinny and frustrating at times her character was still really lovable and understandable. I don't hate her for her actions during those times when she was trying to escape the problems she had. Even if it was kinda bitchy or slutty, the author was able to make us connect with Bianca and understand what she was trying to do. As the story progressed, Bianca was able to realize things about herself and how to finally stop running away from her problems and face it. It was really amazing how noticeable her development was. She was very different from how she was on the very first part and how she turned out on the last part. Not just the way she acts but also the way she thinks. Her experiences and her past actions did change her perspective in a lot of things in a really good way.

Wesley. All right, he's a jerk and I am very well aware of that but still I really loved this guy! I love how Keplinger wrote his character. She didn't try to gloss his character by being a total good, nice guy in the end just so that everyone would like him. In fact he was still a bit of a jerk in the end but not really in a bad way. But what the author did was to make us understand why he was doing it. And I don't deny that it was still bad and awful but I also realized that it wasn't entirely his fault why he was like that. That there were really big reasons behind it. He did changed in the end, just like Bianca, he finally stopped running away and finally faced his problems. But the witty, overly confident, a bit of an a-hole Wesley was still there - which I really did like. 

There's no makeover a la She's All That. No tropetastic turning point when Bianca lets down her hair and slaps on some eyeliner and voila! she's a supermodel! No, Bianca accepts herself for the way she is -- although she does grow emotionally, which makes the book's unlikely romance believable. Under Bianca's tough-talking exterior and Wesley's wisecracking manwhore ways, they both find the vulnerability in one another, and as a result, we fall for them both.

Now on to supporting characters: 
Casey and Jessica, Bianca's best friends were also really lovable. I love Casey for being so supportive and caring. She's the kind of best friend every girl would want to have. A best friend who will always be there when you needed them, who would immediately notice if there was something wrong and would easily lend her help and her ears even if you keep on pushing them away. I love that Jessica was the one who saw that Toby wasn't really for Bianca. That she saw pass Bianca that she wasn't at all happy and that what she really want was Wesley. I would love to have best friends like this two.

Call me a hopeless romantic but I really liked the part where Welsey is chasing B, his exact words being,

"Welsey Rush doesn't chase girls, but I'm chasing you".

It was also a story of two people wanting to be seen for who they really are without forcing themselves just for the people to see that not everything can be seen by what the eyes see
Although it was filled with clićhe drama, and typical swoon worthy boys, It was a short, yet entertaining novel that caught my attention.

2 comments:

  1. Great review; I'm definitely adding this to my TBR list :)
    Also, I've nominated you for the Liebster Award! Hope you accept! You can find my questions in this post

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    1. Zareena, THANK YOU FOR THE NOMINATION! It means the world!

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