The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

Title: The DUFF: (Designated Ugly Fat Friend)

Author: Kody Keplinger

Publisher: Little Brown/Poppy

Pages: 288

Summary: 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.

I really loved this book. Yeah, it’s a little bit cliche…but that’s because it’s real. It’s high school. It’s kind of hard to be original sometimes.

You read the summary, right? So you don’t need me to tell you what it’s about. So, what can I tell you?

I loved it. Oh yeah, I already said that. Let me move on to say I also loved Bianca. She’s a no-nonsense girl full of snark (my favorite), and she doesn’t take shit from anyone. Especially not Wesley Rush. The relationship these two share is anything but perfect. In fact, the first time they see one another in the book, she throws soda in his face. Which he totally deserved.

Somehow, though these two end up in a relationship neither of them expected… Several of their shared moments had me laughing out loud, or trying to cover up a sniffle. Okay, and there may have been some panting (pool. table. POOL. TABLE.).

One of my favorite quotes:

“Spanish, huh?” he said, glancing down at the scattered papers as he grabbed them. “Can you say anything interesting?”

“El tono de tu voz hace que queria estrangularme.” I stood up and waited for him to hand over my papers.

“That sounds sexy,” he said, getting to his feet and handing me the stack of Spanish work he’d swept together. “What’s it mean?”

“The sound of your voice makes me want to strangle myself.”

“Kinky.”

As you can see, Bianca is a strong, tough little cookie (on the outside). And Wesley? He’s an ass (also on the outside). But damn, he’s a hot one. And he knows it, too. If you’re someone who doesn’t enjoy books/stories that feature boys who aren’t perfect, this one probably isn’t for you. But, if you like your boys with a little bad in them, then I think you’ll love this. Cassandra Clare said it best when she compared his character to the likes of Chuck Bass from Gossip Girl. (I don’t care what anybody says, Chuck Bass is hot.)

These two make an explosive pair. And when they begin to realize how much something they thought would be easy has become complicated, things will get a little rough. But if you’re anything like me, you’ll find yourself pulling for this DUFF and her happy ending with the bad boy.

You can read The DUFF now!