The Duff: (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) (Hamilton High)

by Kody Keplinger

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper starts sleeping with Wesley Rush, a notorious womanizer who disgusts her, in order to distract her from her personal problems, and to her surprise, the two of them find they have a lot in common and are able to help each other find more productive ways to deal with their difficulties.

• ISBN10: 0316084239
• ISBN13: 9780316084239
• Publish Date: 7 September 2010 (first published 1 January 2010)
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Publisher: Little, Brown & Company
• Imprint: Little, Brown Young Readers
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 288
• Language: English

Reviews

[kiracanread]

This is one of those unfortunate cases where I have to say that the film is better than the book. I didn't think that this was a bad book at all, it was just a LOT and I didn't enjoy it as much as I wanted to.

[Sarah Says]

This book impressed me. I was expecting the overused and abused trope of the ugly nobody gets the hot jerk etc. And ok it was there, but there were some truly beautiful girl power, love thy self, don't judge others moments in this book.
The main character of Bianca's was easily likable as were her two besties. Experiencing them navigate boys, high school hierarchy and family dramas was actually quite enthralling.
Keplinger's writing flowed smoothly and I could actually see myself re-reading this book again if i'm ever in need of a quick fun feel good pick me up.

[nitzan_schwarz]

JUST POSTED ON THE BLOG! 

I am so glad I gave this book a shot! It's been on my "maybe" list ever since I heard of it, my hesitation steaming from a rumored jerk of a love interest and the whole enemies with benefits plot-line. But, the movie with Robbie Amell came out and it just looked so entertaining that I had to give the book a chance.

And honestly, it's just been so much fun! 

Let's start by saying that the book explores a lot of deep themes. First of all, it explores slut shaming. It explores the idea of beauty. It explores facades. It explores friendships and family. And all the underlying messages are so positive it's heartening.

And it's pretty much all done through our main character, Bianca. A sassy, sarcastic, kind of judgmental girl whom I honestly loved. She's our DUFF - Designated Ugly Fat Friend. Or is she? She's definitely a fun character to explore, and while I didn't agree with all she did (especially toward the end with Toby...) I always loved her. 

Her love interest and the coined douche above is Wesley. Now, I'm going to apologize in advance for the upcoming section - because I absolutely adored Wesley to pieces. I'm sorry, but anyone who finds this guy to be a jerk is wrong. He acted like a douche, sure. But he was not actually a douche.

In fact, out of all the characters in the book, he never once disrespected or shamed anyone. Especially not slut shaming. Even the making of the DUFF is something he doesn't do to be insulting, and later on really regrets.

He treats all the girls with him (Bianca especially) so well it was weird. He makes them feel beautiful and never once tries to make them feel dirty, unlike many of his counterparts in other books. And you can see this by how many times he asks Bianca "are you okay?". All jokes aside, it's always the first question on his mind. He always worries over her, even after the sex is over. He's careful to ask her if it helped and trying to figure out what makes her come to him in the first place so he could help.

And underneath all his "come get a piece of this" attitude, he's just a lonely person looking for human contact, too afraid to be abandoned to create any lasting relationships. His entire "jerkness" is just a persona. A facade. Is he still going to be a cocky, sure of himself bastard without it? Probably. But he's a very likable, considerate bastard lol

And together? I really liked them. I loved how she made Wesley think and break out of his pattern. I loved that he got her to think better of herself at the end, that he showed her she doesn't have to do it all on her own. And I wanted them together so bad it hurt!

Then there is the concept of friendships - I loved the friendships in this book. I loved seeing beautiful, popular girls who do not abuse and use anyone. Who don't act all cocky and superior and are the main antagonists of the story. Who valued friendship above all else and were always there for one another--even when one of them was shutting down on them and hurt them by doing so.

Then there is the concept of family. The book deals with alcoholism, with separation, with the effects it has on the children. This is the moving force behind all of Bianca's decisions, more or less, and it was so interesting. It kept me at the edge of my seat, wondering when the bad was going to hit full force.

And finally, I love the idea of the DUFF. Is it awful, that there is an "ugly fat friend"? sure. But in the title itself, Keplinger teases the real meaning of the DUFF. We are all the DUFF. It's a designated title, much like a designated driver. One evening it's going to be you, the next it's going to be your friend. One night you're going to look the best out of the group and another one you're... not. And it's okay, and it's real, and we all feel like the DUFF next to some of our friends and they do next to theirs. #TRUTH

[stefu1]

Really funny book, way better (and different) than the movie!

[readingwithwrin]

2.75

“No matter where you go or what you do to distract yourself, reality catches up with you eventually.”

I did end up watching the movie first and while this did affect my opinion at first, after awhile I started to think of the book and the movie as two completely different things and enjoyed each of them for very different reasons.

For Bianca her finding out she was the DUFF empowered her in a way and was almost her downfall. She grabbed onto it and clung to it for a while, but she also used it as an excuse for doing certain things. While I did like that she owned up to her slut-shaming and how using Wesley for an escape wasn't the right thing to be doing. I disliked the fact that she just dropped her friends and stopped talking to them when it started to get rough in her family life. Especially when it came to things involving her dad.

Wesley was not a like-able character in the beginning. But as Bianca started liking him I did too and I realized that he had his own problems as well and used certain things as a form of escapism to plus he made a pretty good distraction for Bianca as well. He was also a lot smarter then people give him credit for.

As for Toby I never really liked him all that much. I did see the appeal of him for Bianca, but I mostly saw him as the person that she had been crushing on for so long that her feelings on him most likely wouldn't have still been the same as they were when she first started liking him.

Now I'm not going to lie I hated this book at first due to how Bianca acted in certain situations, how Wesley acted, and how they both escaped their problems. But after awhile I stopped hating it so much and realized that in some messed up way it actually worked and they did end up being better people. I'm also glad that I watched the movie first because I think without it I wouldn't have ever ended up reading this book.


Disclaimer: This book does contain sex and talk of sex but it is not graphic.


See more reviews like this on my blog

[Ashley]

Liked it a lot, but the MC got slightly annoying towards the end. I don't like that she was ignoring her feels!

[Leah]

I’ve been meaning to read The DUFF for ages. It’s been sat on my kindle, I even went out and bought the paperback to see if I could get that read quicker, especially as the film is out which I’m dying to see! And now that I have read the book, I reckon everyone should read it – now. I feel so foolish for waiting for long because it was freaking awesome.

Usually I don’t like guys who sleep around – or girls, for that matter, it just sort of ruins the pure love story, I think, if the guy’s a slut. But I bloody loved Wesley Rush. Like so much that I want my own Wesley Rush, stat. Sigh. It took a while – probably as long as Bianca, but the night he stood up to Bianca’s dad followed by the note he sent (and not the second, long one; the first one “Wesley Rush does not chase girls. But I am chasing you.) made me melt into a puddle of goo. Everyone should have a Wesley Rush. I want oneeeeee!!!!

And Bianca!!!! I love a heroine who speaks her mind and doesn’t mind being snarky or real or honest, despite the consequences. I wish I was more like that. I have the sarcasm down pat, but I’m not into confrontation at all. I need Bianca to give me lessons, please. I could totally relate to Bianca, right down to the whole concept of the DUFF. And that’s want I liked so much about this book, Bianca might not have been the prettiest of her friends (I think that’s subjective) but she and Wesley had their thing, so even if she was the DUFF, it didn’t stop Wesley, did it?!?!?

I so wish I had read this book sooner, but I’m glad I finally did because it blew my mind. I read it in one sitting, I was enjoying it that much. Kody Keplinger is a brilliant writer and I’m dead curious how she tops The DUFF with her next couple of books which I’ll be downloading to my Kindle immediately. If you haven’t read The DUFF, you need to. It’s the perfect YA novel with one of the most amazing heroines I’ve ever met, and then there’s Wesley Rush. You need to meet Wesley Rush. But keep your hands off, because he’s mine!

[vagasker]

That was a very quick and easy read. Just what I needed. I gave it three stars, because there's not a lot going on in this book, but it was fun and cute so that makes up for it.

[Sam@WLABB]

This book made me remember the first time a boy told me, that it's good to be friends with an ugly girl, because ugly girls had pretty friends. It made me feel just like Bianca. Was I the pretty friend or the ugly friend? I could totally relate to her on that topic, and this idea of the Duff. Aside from making me relive some of my moments of insecurity, I liked being part of Bianca's journey. Her journey of self acceptance and the acceptance of others. Her journey to see her parents clearly -- the good, the bad and the ugly. Her journey to see beyond the rumors and the stereotypes. Bianca is a very complicated character, but she is also smart, witty, funny and I really liked her. Now, I liked Bianca, but I loved Wesley. I don't know what to say, I just fell more and more in love with him throughout the story. Overall, a great, fun, enjoyable read.

[Rowena]

I read this book right before the movie came out in theaters because, well, that’s just something that I like to do. I finished the book and thought it was pretty good. The difference between the movie and the book was that the movie focused more on the label DUFF than I thought the book did. The book, to me, was more of a contemporary YA romance between Wes Rush and Bianca Piper and that’s fine. I enjoyed their romance.

So this book follows Bianca Piper as she tries to deal with problems at home. Mainly, her Mom being away for a long time and her Dad struggling with trying to stay sober when the love of his life (her Mom) wants a divorce. Bianca isn’t equipped to deal with her Dad’s alcohol issues and what she feels at first as her Mom’s abandonment so to escape her problems, she jumps into a f*ck buddy relationship with the school man-slut, Wesley Rush. The guy that called her, The DUFF.

I call it a f*ck buddy relationship and not a friends with benefits relationship because Bianca HATES Wes. She hates that he’s a man-whore and she hates pretty much everything about him but when she kisses him and then continues to kiss him and then sex him, it allows her to escape everything that waits for her at home. So she does him every chance that she can and in between all of the sex (there’s a lot of sex in this contemporary YA book), they get to know each other and as much as Bianca wants to fight it, she develops feelings for Wesley and that screws her all up because her real crush, the guy that she absolutely loves? Toby Tucker? Yeah, he starts showing interest in her.

For a DUFF, she sure did get a lot of action in this book. Ha.

This book was well written and it was mature (what with all of the casual sex being had throughout the book) but still a lot of fun. Bianca was a great main character with a very likable voice (even when she was getting on my nerves) and I thought that Wes was a total dick but he completely grew on me as the story wore on. It was a quick read and it was a lot of fun too. I liked it but if you watched the movie and want to read the book, don’t expect the same story because you aren’t going to get it.