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

by Kody Keplinger

An irreverent and irresistible New York Times bestselling romance between the so-called Designated Ugly Fat Friend and the Hot Jock.

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper may not be the prettiest girl in her high school, but she has a loyal group of friends, a biting wit, and a spot-on BS detector. She's also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush, who calls Bianca the Duff--the Designated Ugly Fat Friend--of her crew.

But things aren't so great at home and Bianca, desperate for a distraction, 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.

• ISBN10: 0316084247
• ISBN13: 9780316084246
• Publish Date: 7 June 2011 (first published 1 January 2010)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Little, Brown & Company
• Format: Paperback (US Trade)
• Pages: 304
• Language: English

Reviews

[paperbackjedi]

Bianca is almost a good heroine. She’s tough, she’s strong, she’s a good best friend. But when life gets a little too real for her, she finds a way to escape the shit storm one tryst at a time. Ignoring her life at home and the problems she doesn't know how to deal with, she falls into an arrangement with Wesley, the school playboy. But can he save her? Can he help her save herself?

I’m going to start this review saying that I liked this book. However, I didn't think that it was a good book, if that makes sense. Bianca would be a great heroine if a.) she didn't push away her friends (who were clearly trying to be there for her) in favor of having escape sex with a guy she didn't even like and b.) she didn't sleep with a guy who she thought (even if it turned out not to be true) didn't give a crap about her and was actually kind of an ass to her and used her in an attempt to get play from her hotter friends. Like, really? We’re going to sleep with that guy? Even though I did end up liking Wesley in the end, it was just a little tough for me to swallow. Especially because his DUFF comment about her sent her into a downward self esteem spiral and caused her to have some serious body issues.

The book is very character driven as opposed to event driven. You spend the entire novel in Bianca’s head and it’s not exactly a good place to be. Everything felt circular, we kept coming back to the same things which got boring for me after a while. The book placed most of the focus on her relationship with Wesley and skirted around her relationships with her father, mother, and friends which made the story seem juvenile and less interesting. Plus, I felt the characterization was off. Especially during the fight with her father. We weren't given any indications on how he acted as an alcoholic at all during the novel until he had the blowout fight with Bianca and then it was overkill. I would have liked to see evidence of his alcoholism affecting his personality before the big fight. It seemed like the build up was non-existent. Whereas, the relationship with Wesley was lavished upon and you could see the development as the story progressed.

Basically, this book focused on a teen romance amidst a plethora of greater storylines ripe for the telling that were ignored. And while I enjoy a good book about teen love, I don’t like a good book that doesn’t explore the whole picture outside of the love story. I liked it, but then again, I didn’t. I finished it in a few hours and it kept my attention, but I didn't really get a positive feeling from it upon finishing- just an unsettling one.

[ellieroth]

Escrito Originalmente en: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

Cuando empecé a leer el libro no sé porque quise odiarlo, las primeras páginas me hicieron sentir incómoda ¿La razón? Nadie quiere ser una Duff, quieres tener una, no serlo. Es la verdad, porque la definición de Duff es algo así como la amiga menos guapa del grupo. Esa que llevas para que sea el conductor responsable y nadie intentará cambiarlo. Fea, confiable y manejable, si nos ponemos en plan crueles.

La cosa es que en el primer capítulo te encuentras con estás amigas que parecen superficiales y solo utilizan a B, de esas chicas que en realidad odio, y sintiéndome tan conectada como me sentía con B, me llenó de mucha rabia. Sí, todo eso en el primer capítulo.

Bianca (B) me gusta, bueno si no lo hiciera tendría un cierto conflicto de intereses y tampoco estamos para eso ¿verdad? Quizá no nos parezcamos físicamente ni nada, pero tenemos muchísimas cosas en común (también tengo un novio sexy a veces... de acuerdo, eso no es tan cierto, pero en lo demás sí). Ella es única, realista como ningún otro personaje que en este momento pueda recordar, prácticamente odia todo, pero no de una manera antipática o pesada, te da un buen argumento porque piensa de la manera que lo hace y, tiene estas dos amigas maravillosas que mi lado pre-juicioso las odió al principio sin conocerlas.

Me gustó mucho la historia, no es chica-emo-llorona-conoce-chico-lindo-y-cambia-para-siempre. Es sobre una chica de verdad con problemas que todo el mundo tiene, una chica que tiene miedo como todos nosotros, y al igual que todos los esconde y se avergüenza de tenerlos.

Reseña Completa: El Extraño Gato del Cuento

[Angie]

Bianca Piper is sarcastic, cynical, and has the mouth of a sailor! Seriously, if you're offended by strong language, especially in YA, then you probably don't want to read this one. But I definitely appreciated her honesty; she tells things how it is, and doesn't hold back. She has especially strong feelings toward Wesley Rush, the man-whore of the school. He really is arrogant and pompous, but at least he knows it. When Bianca hits a rough patch, she goes to the most unlikely source for comfort: Wesley. One week she's throwing a Coke in his face, and the next she's in his bed. But there's no insta-love here, it's not even insta-lust. It's something completely different, and even Bianca doesn't fully understand it. She just knows it helps distract her from reality.

Even though it's an usual situation, it still felt like a realistic portrayal of what could happen. The author tackled some important topics in an open and honest way. We get to see Bianca's ups and downs as she tries to deal with her family problems and as well the realization of her role as the DUFF. It was amazing to me how that one word affected Bianca's outlook and set her on this entirely new path.

I loved the relationship between Bianca and Wesley. It started out completely antagonistic, turned into something extremely sex, then into something more. I actually ended up feeling bad for Wesley at one point. He's not just that guy who sleeps with any girl who comes along. He's vulnerable, and sweet, and so much more. He's exactly what Bianca needs, even if she doesn't want to admit that to herself.

This is a fabulous YA contemporary, and I think the author did an amazing job of capturing the teen voice (probably because she was one!). The characters were all great and realistic, and I found myself invested in their lives, and wanting them to succeed. This is a definitely going on my favorites list.

Read more of my reviews at Pinkindle Reads & Reviews.

[Amber]

The DUFF was one truly amazing read that I wasn’t expecting. I cannot describe my love for this book in just words, so you’re going to have to imagine me doing a happy dance slash binding ritual because I am in love.

The plot sounds fairly simple when you read the synopsis, but Kody Keplinger has thrown in many, many elements to make this story a lot more complex that it is made out to be. This book has serious depth as well as tonnes of humour mixed with serious topics. The DUFF is a relatable story and managed to grasp my interest from the first page. I cannot speak highly enough about this book.

Alcoholism, absent parents, teen sex, friendships, divorce and more all play a role in this book. I applaud Kody for creating such a fantastic novel that many, many young adults will be able to relate to. I must also add that I found it wonderfully refreshing that Kody didn’t create a main protagonist – or group of characters – who was a virgin, or afraid of sex. Too many books in the YA genre do that, and it was great to read about the other sides of the spectrum as teens are having sex, despite what Young Adult literature is leading you to believe. Not everyone is saving themselves for the perfect person, or for marriage.

I loved Bianca as a main protagonist in this story. She had huge flaws, certainly, and I loved seeing her overcome them and work them out with the help of Wesly and her friends. Bianca was a strong female lead and she wasn’t at all whiny. Two huge pluses in my book. She was interesting to read about, and had a lot going on in her life that made me feel for her, and also relate.

Then there is Wesly, who I have developed a HUGE crush on. He may be up there with Dimitri and Tod now. Wesly was charming and I completely fell head over heels in love with him as the story progressed. He started off as the school ‘man-slut’ but as we got to know him more and more, it was revealed that he also had a lot going on with his family and he wasn’t one dimensional in the slightest. I was totally rooting for Bianca and Wesly!

Kody Keplinger has a fantastic writing style that draws you in and doesn’t let you go. I will pick up anything this woman writes in the future because she’s simply out of this world.

[jeannamichel]

Designated. Ugly. Fat. Friend. Do you have hot friends that always make you look like the unattractive one in the group? Well, then according to Wesley Rush, you are the DUFF. He assumes that if he acts sensitive toward the DUFF, the DUFF's hot friends will think he is some sort of a catch and will want to sleep with him. So when Rush sets his sights on Bianca Piper, she just throws a soda in his face. But Wesley doesn't stop trying and Piper decides to kiss him (whoa?). Well, after that things start heating up. Bianca has some pretty nasty stuff going on in her life (parent's divorce and her ex-boyfriend just came into town) and she has convinced herself that she needs a "distraction." Wesley serves her purpose just fine until Bianca starts totally falling, literally, for him.

This book was GREAT. First off, the characters. I loved them. Wesley Rush was adorable, even with his "lifestyle" with so many girls. Bianca Piper was the DUFF. Sort of. When I was reading this through, I kept seeing her as a very skinny, pretty girl (who just seemed way too modest) so I really was clueless about what Rush was saying about her. I think this has been the first book ever that I actually agreed to the character's opinion of love. So Piper's character is definitely something new and fresh, especially right after Valentine's Day.

I really just recommend this book to girls- it just seems like a girly book. Boys go read I am Number Four, because the movie came out today (which I'm totally excited about).
The plot was amazing and totally surprising. I wasn't expecting a love story at all. I was expecting maybe something along the lines of a growing-up story and learning-how-to-deal-with-bullies kind of story (which now that I think about it- that would have been a really boring story if that was what I was expecting). I admit I did not read the book flap (the summary) until maybe halfway through.

The one thing that might have bothered me is that Keplinger kept making comparisons to major classic works. First, Bianca needed a distraction from her trouble just like Hester needed something to distract her that her husband wasn't around in The Scarlet Letter. That comparison was fine. I could deal with it. But then there was the Wuthering Heights comparison between Bianca's love for Toby and Wesley was like Catherine's love for Linton and Heathcliff. Please, one major work was enough. Otherwise that, it was fantastic.

I loved Keplinger's voice. And especially loving that cover- the bubble and the girl's eye shadow are the same color. It was a very cute book. Every girl who has ever thought badly about how they look needs to read this book.

Cover: 5

Characters: 5

Plot: 5

Writing Style: 5

Ending: 5

Overall: 5