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The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend

by Kody Keplinger (Goodreads Author)

3.95 of 5 stars 3.95 · rating details · 19,187 ratings · 2,316 reviews

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 Bia...more

Hardcover, 280 pages

Published September 7th 2010 by Little Brown/Poppy

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Jul 23, 2011 Lora rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: older teens and people who are more open-minded than me

Shelves: g-ya-realistic, lib-read

A note to anyone who chooses to read the following: I am critiquing this book solely based on the first 80 pages or so as I simply didn't have the will to continue any further.

There are some spoilers, but only for the first 80 pages.

Have you ever been sitting with a group of friends and one of them tells a joke and immediately everyone but you starts laughing? And then you sit there looking like the stupefied idiot who's just not getting it? That's how I felt while reading The DUFF. So many of m...more

77 likes · like · see review

Jan 23, 2012 Eunice rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: chick-lit, contemporary, damn-gorgeous-males, favourites, taught-me-lessons, realistic-fiction, ya-romance, young-adult

5 of 5 stars

"Wesley Rush doesn’t chase girls, but I’m chasing you"

Oh boy, you don't know how I just swooned at that line! *sigh*

Anyway, Gahd, I love love luuurve this book. I had this on my TBR pile for quite a long time but I keep on passing through it. Seriously, I should have read this a long time ago. But yeah, I guess it's better late than never, right? And I am really glad that I finally read this! This is just so freaking awesome. I'm surprise on how much I enjoyed this book.

I had a lot...more 5 of 5 stars

"Wesley Rush doesn’t chase girls, but I’m chasing you"

Oh boy, you don't know how I just swooned at that line! *sigh*

Anyway, Gahd, I love love luuurve this book. I had this on my TBR pile for quite a long time but I keep on passing through it. Seriously, I should have read this a long time ago. But yeah, I guess it's better late than never, right? And I am really glad that I finally read this! This is just so freaking awesome. I'm surprise on how much I enjoyed this book.

I had a lot of fun reading this book, this made me laugh, swoon, and grin a lot! And the characters, though they have their obvious flaws were still really adorable and lovable. Kody Keplinger did a very great job on developing the characters. You'll definitely notice how these characters changed and grew throughout the story, most notably Bianca.

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.

I always find it hard to understand guys who were like Wesley or to find logical reasons why they were being like that. But Keplinger was able to help me realize that maybe there were really reasons for that - like escaping - and we shouldn't be all too judgmental. I don't say that it's okay for them be like that but maybe we have to be a bit sensitive because at some point we tend to become like them too, maybe in a different way, but still there were times that we all wanted to escape too. They needed someone that would make them realize the things they should really do.

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. They're one of the sweetest and most adorable best friends in all the books I'd ever read.

Whoa! I think I wrote a really long review. Haha. But that just means I so loved this book. I really have a lot to say whenever I got so engaged over a book. Over all, this was a very wonderful and insightful read. Not just fun but you'll also get lessons from here. I highly recommend this! A must read! :))

This review is also posted at Book Overdose (less)

31 likes · like · see review

Jun 12, 2011 Janina rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: young-adult-fiction, contemporary, annoyed-me, beware-love-triangle, read-in-2011, given-away, not-for-me, romance

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. So. I finished The DUFF yesterday and I’ve calmed down a little after being majorly annoyed with its main character, Bianca. Sorry, but how can a supposedly intelligent person be so dumb and so clueless? The only explanation I can think of: Someone gave her very bad advice.

“Hey, my father is a dry alcoholic, hasn’t been drinking for almost 18 years, and now consumes huge amounts of beer and whiskey because my mom left him.” - Better not tell anyone, it is his secret and you’re not in the positio...more

40 likes · like · see review

Aug 03, 2011 Nic rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2010, young-adult, swoon-worthy-read

My take on Wesley - http://irresistiblereads.blogspot.com... (hope you like JJJ :)

My Favourite Quote: "No matter where you go or what you do to distract yourself, reality catches up with you eventually".

I have never heard of the term The Duff (The Designated Ugly Fat Friend) before I bought this book. I thought maybe it was just a term used in the States. But apparently not. It is even used here in Australia. As I was paying for the book at the counter, the owner of the bookstore said 'we used t...more

45 likes · like · see review

Feb 13, 2011 Kirsten Hubbard added it

Shelves: ya-highway

I first read THE DUFF in a Word doc, post-agent edits but pre-editor edits. I enjoyed it then. Now that I've had a chance to read the polished, expanded version in an ARC graciously sent by Kody's agent, Joanna Stampfel-Volpe, I enjoy it even more.

There's a lot to love about The Duff: the humor, Bianca's razor-sharp voice, and of course, the romance. Hot hot hot. What is it about a love-hate relationship that gets us going? Who knows, but Kody nailed it.

The character arcs are my favorite part of...more

23 likes · like · see review

Mar 21, 2012 Reynje rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: contemp-or-realistic, cover-loathing, it-s-complicated, read-2012, saw-it-coming, young-adult

While I can’t say that “DUFF” is a particularly common expression where I’m from (*see footnote), the concept is certainly familiar. Whether it’s the friend who is perceived as “lesser” in some way, used as a foil to his/her companions, or the practice of exploiting someone’s self-image in order to gain romantic footing with the actual object of desire – it’s a fact that this idea, if not the practice, is perpetuated by a culture obsessed with comparison.

For this reason, I applaud Keplinger’s c...more

24 likes · like · see review

Sep 20, 2010 Penny rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: check-your-brain-at-the-door, chick-lit, guilty-pleasures, reviewed-books, ya-fiction

Alright ladies, I've got a question: say you're at a scummy dance club that your friends all but forced you to go to. You're not having a good time. In fact, you're pretty miserable and can't wait to go home. As you sit at the bar nursing your Cherry Coke a good-looking guy comes and sits next to you.

That would be nice, right? A good way to pass the time until your friends decide they've had all the man-handling they can take (for the night).

Well, say the hot guy in question turns out to be th...more

51 likes · like · see review

Oct 05, 2010 Ariana rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorites, laugh-aloud, sweet-romance

This was such a nice book!

It was a fun read since the very begining. I loved the brief discusion between Bianca and Wesley, it was fun and entertaining. Also I loved the way both characters changed (so slowly) through the story - they started by hating each other (or at least Bianca says she did), then they found out that there is more to them than meets the eyes, and they ended so deeply in love - but the transition seemed as natural as breathing.

Bianca is the average girl with not-so-high se...more

27 likes · like · see review

Jan 26, 2011 Jen rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-own, read-in-2010

This one took me by surprise. But I guess I should've expected to enjoy it. Bianca is abrasive, snippy, and let's be honest, kind of a beotch. I can totally emphathize with Bianca. We'd be friends, for sure. I think every girl has felt like the DUFF at some point in her life before. Insecurity is a part of growing up (and even after that.) Seriously though, you guys. I'd never heard of a DUFF before, but I'd be heinous, too, if a guy ever addressed me by that term!

Bianca is an awesome, ballsy c...more This one took me by surprise. But I guess I should've expected to enjoy it. Bianca is abrasive, snippy, and let's be honest, kind of a beotch. I can totally emphathize with Bianca. We'd be friends, for sure. I think every girl has felt like the DUFF at some point in her life before. Insecurity is a part of growing up (and even after that.) Seriously though, you guys. I'd never heard of a DUFF before, but I'd be heinous, too, if a guy ever addressed me by that term!

Bianca is an awesome, ballsy character. And what an amazingly honest portrayal of a teen. I distinctly remember having a ridiculous potty mouth like her, having a bad attitude like her, and never thinking I was good enough. Sure she dropped a few hundred F bombs, but so what? That's her. That's her personality. She's got a lot to be frustrated about: problems on the homefront, a seemingly unattainable goal to date the school's cute smarty-pants valedictorian, and two drop dead gorgeous BFFs who make her completely insignificant, physically. Yeah, I can imagine you'd want to four-letter-word it up a little bit to blow off some steam.

The connection between Wesley and Bianca was interesting. I don't know how believable the plot scheme was, but, hey! That's why they call it fiction. I frickin' loved it. Even though Wesley was a grade A jerkface, I kept rooting for them to work it out. Especially when their friends-with-benefitship started to solidify and it was obvious that these two had stronger feelings for one another than just a booty call. I'd like to believe that NO girl would hook up with a guy who affectionately called her fat and ugly on a consistant basis, though. That part really upset me. But, again, these things really do happen. Bianca was aware that what she was doing was completely twisted and scorned herself for it. She's flawed, and that's okay.

I really liked Wesley's character development. He grew from an arrogant a-hole to an arrogant a-hole who learned the repercussions of his actions and showed potential to become a future decent human being.

If you're cool with harsh female leads who are awesomely smart-mouthed, witty verbal sparring, and a hefty amount of borderline adult romance-worthy touchy-feely scenes, by all means... pick up this deliciously edgy book. I love Kody Keplinger's writing style and finished this book in less than 24 hours. Not to mention she's 19, so she knows wtf she's talking about as a teen. My little sister is 19 and hasn't yet blasted out a book of sheer badazzness like Kody has. Blows my mind everytime I think about it.

As far as stars? Four for you! You go, Glen Coco....er, Kody Keplinger!

Oh come on, you know you love the Mean Girls ref.

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30 likes · like · see review

Apr 14, 2013 Misty rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: own, contemporary, juvenile-ya, read-in-2012, review-copy-accepted

This book took me by surprise. I went into it expecting to like it - it was one of the very fewcontemporary novels of last year that I actually activelywanted, the reviews were just that good. But even though I expected to enjoy it and get something out of it, I didn't expect for it to keep me up all night. I didn't expect for it to be the type of book that I wanted to just flip back to the beginning and start again once I'd finished. I didn't expect it to make me uncomfortable and empathetic, a...more

13 likes · like · see review

Jan 30, 2011 Cory rated it 2 of 5 stars

The Duff brings back memories from two years ago. I was just beginning to get into serious writing. My characters were cynical as hell. They all needed to prove something to the world by being as snarky and sarcastic as they possibly could. I didn't know that certain phrases were grammatically incorrect such as,

"I'm tired,"John sighed.

or

"I hate him,"Lissa hissed.

And I was very annoying with my character descriptions. Yes, I described the color of my main character's eyes. Then I had her describe...more

27 likes · like · see review

Sep 15, 2010 Annalisa rated it 3 of 5 stars Recommends it for: lots of language and casual sex

Recommended to Annalisa by: author blog

Shelves: young-adult, romance, contemporary

This book depressed me. Has the world really gotten to a point where the best solution to overwhelming problems is the dive into the endorphines of meaningless sex with the town man-whore who you absolutely despise? Please don't answer that question. Maybe we should back up in health class and do more than talk about STDs and pregnancy and talk about the emotional complications of sex.

I kept waiting for Bianca's reckless behavior to catch up with her, but it never did. On the physical scale, eve...more This book depressed me. Has the world really gotten to a point where the best solution to overwhelming problems is the dive into the endorphines of meaningless sex with the town man-whore who you absolutely despise? Please don't answer that question. Maybe we should back up in health class and do more than talk about STDs and pregnancy and talk about the emotional complications of sex.

I kept waiting for Bianca's reckless behavior to catch up with her, but it never did. On the physical scale, every time she slept with Wesley I kept wondering how "clean" he could be after sleeping with hundreds of girls, sometimes hours before hooking up with Bianca. Protection or no protection, there are still risks and Bianca got lucky that nothing happened. On a social scale, nobody found out and called her out for being a hypocrite by doing the exact same thing Wesley was doing after being so vocally disgusted by him. On an emotional/mental scale, she had a second's regret at being dirty before she pushed the reaction out of her mind. It could have come back later, coupled with all the problems she was running from, and Bianca would have had to face herself and the decisions she'd made and deal with the mess she'd created. But when the emotional effects started to catch up with her, she threw herself in other distractions (making the same mistakes without consequence) until everything worked out so that her reckless behavior ended up benefiting her. She still had problems to deal with and realizations about herself to make and all that was good and well done, but this not-very-wise decision that's pivotal to the story doesn't ever really affect her the way I think it should have.

The good news is that Keplinger, a teenager herself, has written a humorous, engaging tale that although it made me feel a little dirty for liking it :), I couldn't put it down. In the beginning, I didn't quite believe Bianca throwing herself at Wesley. I mean she hates him with a passion and after he insults her she's making out with him. I think that would have worked better if he had made the first move and she got caught up in someone hitting on her. But beside that, the plot is well paced and the characters well developed and very authentic (personally, I think Lauren Oliver did a better job in Before I Fall with about a hundredth of the swear words and none of then f words, but that could just be my personal preference). Besides warnings for a lot of language and a lot of non-descript sex, I have another warning: The DUFF mentions Wuthering Heights. No! Gratefully, it's not some literary snob who is obsessed with WH at the exclusion of modern fiction (although there is a jab about Twilight and Harry Potter). But when introduced to WH, Bianca starts seeing her own life in the characters and we have yet another twisted love story comparing itself to WH. Again, it works here, but it is so overdone.

Even though Bianca often exasperated me, I felt for her and got a little sad for her at times, maybe even a little choked up. I rooted for her. And I ended up really liking Wesley too. Yeah it's a little stretch that the town womanizer who objectifies women is really a sensitive guy, but the way Keplinger writes him, it works on him. I had trouble sympathizing with him that his grandmother would be embarrassed that he was flaunting his man-whore status, but he ended up being a good guy that I could root for despite all his jerky comments and lack of morality. (On a sidenote: the guy I did sympathize with was the boyfriend. I got the impression that he didn't want to do anything but when a girl throws herself at you, it's not socially acceptable for a guy to say no. And in today's world, it's not the guys coercing girls into having sex but the other way around. Nice boys really do finish last and that's so wrong.)

The story is strong and lingering, but I'm not sure I agree with all the messages in the book. The biggest message is that everyone feels like the duff sometimes. It's a nice idea, but I doubt it. Everyone feels less than beautiful at times, but not everyone has potential to be the hot one with a change a friends and wardrobe in the spirit of She's All That. The message may be optimistically wrong, but I like where Keplinger is going with it, that we all have insecurities. I just wish the message had been more about accepting who you are regardless. Throughout the book I was reading Bianca as a heavy-set girl who wasn't ugly but wasn't that attractive (and it seemed strange that she was so comfortable with her sexuality and nudity around the very Greek god who dubbed her duff), but then at the end her friends were calling her cute and petite and I was disappointed to realize she was averagely attractive and just insecure. I think I liked it better when she was unattractive and it didn't matter.

Don't judge because we're all sluts, therefore, nobody is a slut. Okay, the don't judge thing is always a good message and it was a good wake-up call for Bianca to realize she could be that girl that everyone was talking about behind her back, but the rest of that logic is a little faulty in a two-wrongs-make-a-right sort of way. Maybe don't be so slutty would have been a better message?

I loved that Bianca kept denying that she could ever be in love. That teenagers don't have the potential for that kind of love in their relationships because it takes years to develop. But if love is too much emotional responsibility for teenagers, why isn't sex? And why is casual, meaningless, unplanned sex as escapism okay but sex with someone you might actually love something you should stop and consider and maybe be a little hesitant to jump into? I've read sex in YA that worked for me because it was about love and emotional connection and commitment. If this had been about how screwed up this kind of base, unattached sex made Bianca's and Wesley's life I would have liked it a little better.

Keplinger uses her novel to go on a rant about gay marriage rights, not really part of the plot, but that didn't bother me as much as her disdain for emo music. Sorry, but I'm a fan. If she'd made fun of country music I would have liked it so much more :).

But despite all that, I still liked it. For a debut novel by such a talented young author, overall I'd say well done. There are definitely friends I would recommend this to who would enjoy Bianca and Wesley and the story and the writing. And there are friends I would definitely not recommend this to because the twisted messages about sex detract from an otherwise fun story. (less)

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Nov 05, 2010 Kristi (The Story Siren) rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: bea-2010, own-arc, signed-arcs

I'd have to say that normally I'd hate a character like Bianca.... the girl is a hater. But I couldn't help but feel a kinship with her sarcastic and smart-ass attitude. In the end, I loved Bianca. I'm sure some readers will hate her. With Bianca, I think readers are either going to love her or hate her.... I don't think there will be too much in between.

Once of my favorite things about this novel beyond Bianca was her friends Casey and Jess and their friendship. It was so refreshing to see a gr...more

11 likes · like · see review

Jun 02, 2010 Shanyn (Chick Loves Lit) rated it 2 of 5 stars

Out of all of the books I got my first day at BEA, I chose The DUFF to read first. It's a medium length book (not too overwhelming) and had a contemporary topic that I was interested in.

The book started off fine enough - we are introduced to all of our key players. The descriptions allowed me to visualize them in my head easily, so each scene was pretty well laid out in my mind.

After a few pages, I realized I was going to have a problem - Bianca (The "DUFF") had a bit too much aggression for me...more

14 likes · like · see review

Jul 20, 2010 Veronica Roth added it

Shelves: badass-titles

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. What first sucked me in was Bianca's voice, which I found funny and engaging. But what really kept me going was my sudden and inexplicable love for Wesley. This book is well-paced and well-written, but its greatest strength lies in its characters. They are interesting, likable (even when they're doing things I don't approve of!), and the...more

64 likes · like · see review

Apr 30, 2013 Karla rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Karla by: Ruth Foley's review

Shelves: 1st-person-pov, bossy-jerk, emotional, enemies-to-lovers, exceeded-my-expectations, family-drama, hurtful-parents, light-steam-factor, quick-to-hop-in-the-sack, sassy-girl, stubborn-heroine, sweet-romance, teenage-drama, teenage-love, terrific-dialogue, wonderful-secondary-characters, young-adult, youthful-angst

4 Stars! I was pleasantly surprised how much this book grabbed a hold of me!

I've had my eye on this book for a while, and after reading Ruth's review and seeing how much she liked it, I went over to Amazon and browsed through the sample pages. Sassy smart-mouthed Bianca and Wesley, egotistical jerk that he is, sucked me right into the story. I never expected their relationship to take the turn that it did and while I don't condone it, it certainly made for some interesting reading. These two...more

29 likes · like · see review

Dec 01, 2011 JoJo - JJJ (Jo Anna) rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to JoJo - JJJ (Jo Anna) by: Everyone

Shelves: own, favorite, crushing-on-him, bad-boys, luv-the-covrrrrrr, loaned-out, hawt, books-everyone-should-read, read-in-2011, couldn-t-put-it-down

Unputdownable-Awesomeness-Unexpected-Funny-Serious-Realistic

I had just finished Hunger Games and needed something upbeat and light to read. I had browsed my collection of books however nothing said “READ ME NOW.” So I looked at a couple of trusted reviews for some of the books I was considering. I decided on The DUFF (Designated, Ugly, Fat, Friend), by Kody Keplinger.

I devoured this book and could have read it in one sitting had I not needed sleep for work. :=), damn job! Kody, a very young aut...more Unputdownable-Awesomeness-Unexpected-Funny-Serious-Realistic

I had just finished Hunger Games and needed something upbeat and light to read. I had browsed my collection of books however nothing said “READ ME NOW.” So I looked at a couple of trusted reviews for some of the books I was considering. I decided on The DUFF (Designated, Ugly, Fat, Friend), by Kody Keplinger.

I devoured this book and could have read it in one sitting had I not needed sleep for work. :=), damn job! Kody, a very young author, made a smash with this novel. This book was SOOOOOO MUCH MORE than I ever expected it to be. I had thought this would be a light read about a boy teasing a girl and then they live happily ever after with everything in between. Not the case with The DUFF. This book takes you through the struggles of teens at school, with friends, relationships, alcohol abuse, violence and divorce.

The DUFF, a term I honestly have never heard. I don’t know if it is because I am in the middle of the United States or perhaps I am too old. Regardless, I have been The DUFF so many times in my life I can’t keep track on my fingers. Bianca/The DUFF, the main character, was a character I felt I could relate. I have walked in her shoes many times. I too was the girl who sat and watched while her friends danced and received all of the attention. I was the one who usually drove them around as well…. I, like Bianca, many times sat and visited with the bartender. Her struggles and feelings were quite easy for me to embrace obviously. She is a very likable and easy to relate.

I thoroughly enjoyed the other characters and felt they were superbly written. Casey and Jessica are Bianca’s two best friends. These girls are what everyone should look for in friendship. Toby is a likable crushworty studious good guy and is so kind and sweet to Bianca. Toby is the boy Bianca has had a crush on forever. Then there is Wesley Rush, just the name oozes hotness. He is the rich playboy who is sooo naughty you just want to eat him up. He is quite irresistible and definitely my new book boyfriend. Of course there are Bianca’s parents. Her dad is struggles to accept the realty of his own life; while her mother can’t deal with the reality so travels as a public speaker to escape. Lastly, although he is barely in the book there is Joe the bartender. Now come on people you have to love a good sensible bartender. I loved all of these characters and feel like they are really well done. They are relatable and likable.

My favorite element of this book has to be the steamy hot chemistry between Duffy aka Bianca and Wesley. I loved their constant banter back and forth. It was obvious they loved to hate one another. When you push aside their intense connection you see there is more there than just sex. These are two people who discover their chemistry is not only in the bedroom however in their struggles, deepest feelings and self discovery.

For me this book was a lot of fun however it was also layered with some very real situations. I would recommend anyone to read it and enjoy it as I did. Although I am not the target audience, teen, this book brought back so many feelings and memories.
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Apr 25, 2012 Nadia Karen Sinclair-Mills rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: my-beloved-books

OMG!!! Que puedo decir sobre Wesley?!

Dios, me encanto el hombre! Risos castaños ojos grises? Ese cuerpazo?! Ufff *-*
La personalidad cínica de Bianca me gusto, aunque era muy dura con Wesley, pero todo eso consiguió que se enamoraran el uno del otro.

La historia me gusto mucho, porque un descuido, una decisión que se tome para huir de algo más, puede ser mala, muy mala... Aunque a este par al final les resulto buena, muyy buena!

8 likes · like · see review

Feb 08, 2012 Anya rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: came-out, books-i-own, 2010

I absolutely love this book. It's sexy and it feels so much close to reality than most of the books and not because it lacks some fantasy storyline. There isn't the always bitchy Queen B of the high school for once and all the teens act like real teens do. And most importantly - they have SEX. Because that's what teens do, whether you like it or not and I hate how all the YA fantasy books are trying to tell you, that it's all about the ultimate love and finding the real person (especially when t...more

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Apr 25, 2011 Jessica rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 0-faves, 05-literary-crush-worthy, 16-chick-lit, 25-hawt, 01-hall-of-fame, 27-contemporary-ya

I'm fully aware of the fact that this does have its flaws but I had such a blast with this book, I can only rate it 5 stars.

Update:

Simply put: I loved this. One reason might be that I’m the biggest sucker on earth for stories like this. Bad boy falls for good/ordinary/average girl. Give me a main character I can relate to, a plot that keeps me entertained and doesn’t strike me as stupid or ridiculous, make the bad boy swoon-worthy and top it off with some hot and sizzling scenes that make my pul...more

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Dec 27, 2010 Jean Pearl rated it 3 of 5 stars

**edited with a warning tidbit below**

This book is sweet and adorable. I find myself carried away by the Designated Ugly Fat Friend, Bianca, the usual teenage problems she confronts with and I find her escape of those to be a hell of a super exciting hot and wild one. Despite the imperfections that were already imprinted on her mind ever since forever, even more so when she was introduced by the word DUFF, which was implied to be her by someone, she actually coped with it so well no matter how t...more

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Jun 02, 2010 April rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: bea-2010, ya, contemporary

The premise of The Duff by Kody Keplinger is that Bianca is the DUFF of her circle of friends according to Wesley, this guy she meets in a teen club. DUFF meaning designated ugly fat friend. Interwoven throughout the novel are issues Bianca must deal with such as self-esteem, weight, alcoholism, and expression of sexuality.
Read the rest of my review here

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Jul 31, 2011 Alice rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: not-enough-liquor-in-the-world, bad-lust-stories, brandishing-my-pink-gucci-chainsaw, young-adult, young-adult-fail, writing-styles-i-abhor, the-goggles-they-do-nothing, warning-love-triangle-ahead, book-stroke-in-3-2-1, waved-a-flag-in-my-face, reads-like-subpar-fanfiction, broke-every-rule-of-girldom, girl-politics, rich-white-people-problems, zero-stars-if-i-could, happily-dated-itself, owned, masochism-at-its-finest, the-dramallama-award, glutton-for-punishment, worst-friend-of-the-year-award, reads-like-a-bad-lifetime-movie, contemporary, icknast-love-interests, ugh-that-trope-again-shelf, daddy-issues-and-tissues, stale-bread-characters, message-lost-in-translation, things-authors-should-not-do

I don't think I've ever been so happy to have finished something in my entire life.

If I can ever manage to work myself out of the sputtering state of disbelief this book has managed to put me in I'll try and attempt to review it. Until then...the shelves speak for themselves.

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Aug 29, 2011 Simona rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to Simona by: Petra Sýkorová

Shelves: completely-in-love-with

Už dávno som potrebovala knihu v tomto štýle a myslím si, že som si vybrala správnu :) I LOVE IT! :)

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Apr 16, 2011 Faye rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: young-adult, read-in-2011, favorites, book-i-love-thus-the-5-stars

18th book in 2011

March 16, 2011: So, first I was interested in this book because of the term "duff" then I read that the lead character is a cynical yet smart girl so I was like, let's see what this book got. At first I was like okay, this is somewhat a so-so, and Bianca could be irritating with her being the most pessimistic girl among her 2 best friends and it also made me wonder how two very popular girls will hang out with the cynic or should I say emo girl (not that she is into wearing blac...more 18th book in 2011

March 16, 2011: So, first I was interested in this book because of the term "duff" then I read that the lead character is a cynical yet smart girl so I was like, let's see what this book got. At first I was like okay, this is somewhat a so-so, and Bianca could be irritating with her being the most pessimistic girl among her 2 best friends and it also made me wonder how two very popular girls will hang out with the cynic or should I say emo girl (not that she is into wearing blacks and thick eyeliners) but you probably know what I mean when I say that her two best friends are Casey, the popular cheerleader, and Jessica, one of the hottest girls in Hamilton.

I think the story really started when Welsey Rush (oh yeah, I did like him even if he was a jerk at first) entered the picture and introduced B to the duff word. Then B, having family problems turn herself into the womanizer-jerk for distraction and as hot as their relationship was, or the lack there of, I liked the story because it showed an evolution from a girl who saw herself as really, the Duffy (or the designated fat friend)among her friends to being the confident girl who accepts who she is and also becoming stronger in facing the reality of life; that she can't always look for something or someone just to distract herself from facing her problems in life because eventually, it or they will all come and get you.

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 not only their secret nookies (w/c is good because it's not very graphic and somehow manage to make the story even more appreciative because a lot of young adult books now have very graphic descriptions of sex scenes which I don't appreciate all the time because it seems so casual and meaningless). 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.

I think that the duff word was somehow degrading or insulting at first, but as the book progressed, I appreciate the new vocab word in my list as it means to me that no matter who you are, those that judge you are 99% strangers to you, they don't really know you and most of the time, they do so to make themselves feel better because they know that there is a part of them that is duff too. That sometimes, they are the Duff too. That even if they try so hard, they will never be perfect so they project it to others' fault so they can boost their own self-esteem. So that's one of the reasons that I find this book worthy of reading and recommending.

I recommend it to everyone who wants a short but enlightening read, to girls who want a boost to their self-esteem.

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Mar 06, 2012 Sandra Howard rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: realistic-novels, romantic-novels

DUFF, abbreviation
Designated Ugly Fat Friend

Bianca definitely didn’t see that one coming. Wesley Rush called her the DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend). She wasn’t as tall or as pretty as her best friends but she was definitely not UGLY.

Being called the DUFF was not Bianca's main problem. It affected her ego yes but then again she had a lot going on in her life too. For one, her father was on the verge of losing it because her mother filed for divorce. Things were getting crappy at home and s...more

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Feb 22, 2012 ♥Rachel♥ rated it 5 of 5 stars

Recommended to ♥Rachel♥ by: Eunice

Shelves: books-i-own, favorites

I LOVED this story!

I've had this book sitting on my shelf for ages because I was a little afraid to start it. I had good things about it in the past but the thought of reading about two people, who hate each other just randomly "hooking up" didn't sound that appealing. This book ended up being so much more.

The story begins with Bianca out with her girlfriends at a teen lounge. Suddenly, Wesley Rush, hottie, and well-known womanizer at school, sits down at the bar with Bianca to talk. She basica...more I LOVED this story!

I've had this book sitting on my shelf for ages because I was a little afraid to start it. I had good things about it in the past but the thought of reading about two people, who hate each other just randomly "hooking up" didn't sound that appealing. This book ended up being so much more.

The story begins with Bianca out with her girlfriends at a teen lounge. Suddenly, Wesley Rush, hottie, and well-known womanizer at school, sits down at the bar with Bianca to talk. She basically tells him to piss off, she's not interested, but he asks her to help him out. Wesley tells Bianca that she can help him with her hot friends, because everyone knows that when a guy talks to the DUFF of the friends, he scores points. He informs her that DUFF stands for Designated Ugly Fat Friend, and that she fits the bill. Even more insulting he tells her she's not an ogre or anything just the DUFF in comparison to her friends. Ugh!!! At this point, Bianca throws her drink in his face *APPLAUSE*!! This comment stays with and hurts Bianca, even though she doesn't like to admit it. Who wouldn't be hurt? Add to this, Bianca's home life is going down the tubes. Her mother, who's never home, has just sent divorce papers, and her father refuses to acknowledge it. Because of all this, Bianca just wants an escape so the next time Wesley starts talking to her (brave man, indeed), she does something incredibly stupid, and kisses him. This escalates into a hooking-up arrangement with no strings attached. Soon Bianca is shutting her friends out, and running to Wesley all the time, forming a connection she doesn't see coming. I mean, come on this is heartless Wesley Rush, right? Not so much.

Like I said before, this description did not appeal to me and I wouldn't have been able to get past this had there not been more depth to this story. If Wesley would've stayed the complete prick he was at the beginning of this story, I would be giving this a completely different rating. Fortunately, we get to see a change in Wesley; we see that he has problems of his own. Soon their hookups aren't just about sex but about leaning on and supporting each other. I loved seeing the changes in Wesley. In fact, he wasn't the stubborn one in this equation. It was Bianca. You can't blame her, though; she's been hurt before, so she puts her guard up. This story was full of HOT scenes, that get your blood pumping, but also some awww-so-sweet, moments too. I never thought a guy who starts out as such a jerk would have me swooning so much. He's definitely at the top of my book-boyfriend list. Eunice used this quote from him, but I just love it so much I'm going to, as well:

"Wesley Rush doesn’t chase girls, but I’m chasing you."

I also loved this one from Wesley:

“You can lie to yourself if you want, but reality is going to catch up with you. I’ll be waiting when it does… whether you like it or not.”

If all these things weren't reason enough to read this story, the secondary characters were well done too. Bianca's friends, Casey and Jessica were so loyal and sweet. They stuck it out even when Bianca was being a crappy friend. Never once did they act or feel like Bianca was the DUFF in their friendship. If anything each thought they were the DUFF. The story showed that each and every one of us, at one time or another feels like a DUFF.

I can't believe the author, Kody Keplinger, was only eighteen when she wrote this, and that this was her debut novel. Amazing! I highly recommend this story. I want to thank Eunice for giving me that extra shove to read this, why did I put it off for so long?!

(less)

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Apr 24, 2011 Katya rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011, teen-lit, the-ya-project

Enemies with benefits? Why dost this sound so familiar?

By some weird coincidence, I read this book right before Phoebe interviewed Kody Kaplinger for her blog It's a fabulous interview, and it made me see a lot of the things in this novel a lot clearly.

Bianca is the DUFF. That's the designated ugly fat friend to those of you who aren't spoiled rich boys with nothing better to do than come up with insulting nicknames for women. She's introduced to the term by the biggest womanizer in school when...more Enemies with benefits? Why dost this sound so familiar?

By some weird coincidence, I read this book right before Phoebe interviewed Kody Kaplinger for her blog It's a fabulous interview, and it made me see a lot of the things in this novel a lot clearly.

Bianca is the DUFF. That's the designated ugly fat friend to those of you who aren't spoiled rich boys with nothing better to do than come up with insulting nicknames for women. She's introduced to the term by the biggest womanizer in school when he, stupidly, explains to her that by socializing with the DUFF (herself), he increases his chances of getting into her friends' panties. She responds to that by throwing her Cherry Coke in his face.

The thing that sets "The DUFF" apart from most contemporary YA is that there is sex. Lots of it, and not always of the chaste black-out moment variety. Bianca quite honestly uses Wesley to escape the difficult stuff in her life, something which he is not averse to, as it turns out, because he too has things he'd rather not think of. The way Keplinger portrays sex in this book is very different from what some authors show in YA, but not necessarily the bad kind. Unlike Meyer, she doesn't have her characters ashamed of their desires, and, as the story progresses, the sex becomes less the sourse of escape and more a show of love and affection. And while it wasn't quite like my high school experience, I related to the events in the book, and understood why Bianca did the things she did. It fit her character, and the situation she was in.

So this was a great book... for the first two thirds of it. The last third just felt rather bizzare. Ok, so Bianca's father gets over himself because of Wesley giving him an... ahem... wake-up call (and I won't lie when I say I got a kick out of that scene, the sadist that I am), but that subplot just felt under-developed for me. Bianca's struggles with it were purely internal, and the solution to it was just too quick. Her father just didn't seem like a well-developed character.

The other problem is that the subplot about Jake just didn't make much sense. Bianca never confronts him, which would have been a good resolution for her. Instead, she gets her resolution through Jessica, who acts like a messanger for her brother's apology, which makes the plot pretty redundant. Bianca could get over that part of her past with or without that apology, so why throw it in there if she can't even confront the bastard?

Finally, the whole thing with her running away from Wesley after her epiphany felt a little redundant. Yes, yes, I know, she's afraid of having her heart broken. But the thing is that at that point, she is fully aware that she needs to stop running from the problems in her life and start solving them. She knows that she has to stop using Wesley to run away, but that doesn't necessarily mean that they can't stop seeing each other. Moreover, he's the one who helped her get to this conclusion - does she really not realize that he likes her?

Then again, that could be chalked up on Bianca's inexperience in that field, so yeah, that's not such a huge problem for me. Still, why do they have to keep dragging Wuthering Heights in whenever they want a love story? I could barely stand Catherine and Heathcliff, or any of the other characters for that matter. Why do they keep paining this as a love story when it's clearly a tragedy about some brat, taken in by good people, who repays them by ruining their family? I just don't get it!

That aside, "The Duff" is a pretty adult-novel plot material redeveloped in a book for teenagers. Is that a bad thing? Not really - it's realistic, and it's one of the few novels I've read which treats teens like adults, and not like children. It's a good, fun read.(less)

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Jun 09, 2011 Tammara added it

Bianca doesn't seem to actually have major self-esteem issues -- not any more so than the typical girl. Yes, her best friends are skinny and popular, but it doesn't bother her or reflect on her self-image. She's realistic about how she looks, but doesn't want or intend to do anything to change it, because she's fine with herself. Sure, she's bored sitting at The Nest -- the music isn't her thing, she doesn't dance, and doesn't care for the crowd that hangs out there -- a lot of preening people h...more Bianca doesn't seem to actually have major self-esteem issues -- not any more so than the typical girl. Yes, her best friends are skinny and popular, but it doesn't bother her or reflect on her self-image. She's realistic about how she looks, but doesn't want or intend to do anything to change it, because she's fine with herself. Sure, she's bored sitting at The Nest -- the music isn't her thing, she doesn't dance, and doesn't care for the crowd that hangs out there -- a lot of preening people her age. But she goes there occasionally with her girlfriends to keep them from their own bad choices (I love that, btw). She's smart and she knows it, cynical and not sorry about being so. Bianca struck me as a girl biding her time, waiting for adulthood so she could go live her life. Lots of smart girls feel this way during that last couple of years of high school.

The lead male character, Wesley: my God, what a piece of work this guy is. What struck me immediately about Wesley: he's blatantly, unapologetically honest about how little he cares about anything but getting what he wants. He straight-up tells Bianca that she is the DUFF -- the Designated Ugly Fat Friend -- and that being nice to her will make him look more sensitive to her hot friends! He chooses the wrong girl to say this to (here's the moment I got hooked on this book) because Bianca is having none of that. She tosses her entire coke on him and tells him blatantly and unapologetically what she thinks of him... and then she takes her friends and leaves! And then Wesley thinks "What a bitch!" and gives up, right? WRONG.

I loved Kody Keplinger's voice. She nailed the thoughts, feelings and reactions of an intelligent, loyal girl who has just enough emotional turmoil at home, and just enough past heartbreak, to be a little more harsh and cynical than she needs to be. I also thought she got Wesley right. He's arrogant, full of himself, rich and used to getting his way all the time, every time. Good God, how boring that would be after a while, if no one was ever a challenge. Then along comes Bianca. Let the fireworks begin.(less)

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Apr 12, 2011 Aleeeeeza rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2011-read

As soon as I got my (virtual) hands on this one, I delved into it. I’m a HUGE fan of Kody Keplinger. Huge, huge, huge. She was one of the first published teen authors I came to know, and was obviously a huge inspiration for me. So her book was one I wanted to read as soon as I found out about. The whole girl-hates-the-jerk-who-turns-out-not-to-be-a-jerk-and-subsequently-girl-falls-for-him premise sounded amazing. And then, everyone’s been praising it non-stop, so I was sure I’d adore it.

Except t...more As soon as I got my (virtual) hands on this one, I delved into it. I’m a HUGE fan of Kody Keplinger. Huge, huge, huge. She was one of the first published teen authors I came to know, and was obviously a huge inspiration for me. So her book was one I wanted to read as soon as I found out about. The whole girl-hates-the-jerk-who-turns-out-not-to-be-a-jerk-and-subsequently-girl-falls-for-him premise sounded amazing. And then, everyone’s been praising it non-stop, so I was sure I’d adore it.

Except that I didn’t. The first thing that bothered me was the writing. It just didn’t flow very well, and the voice, even if, in other people’s opinions, was realistic, just didn’t gel with me. I was hoping throughout it’d improve, but it didn’t. Bianca’s aggression rubbed me in all the wrong ways. I love, love, LOVE snarky protags. Half of my novels have snarky protags! But in this case, I failed to comprehend her narrow-minded view of the world. It didn’t quite make sense that she was so angry at everything. She didn’t have any esteem issues in the beginning, and wasn’t a total loser—she had two adoring, albeit somewhat annoying (to me) friends—so where the cynicism stemmed from, I’m at lost cause.

The chemistry between Wesley and Bianca…quite frankly, was zilch. Wesley Pissed. Me. Off. Even in the tender moments, I was rolling my eyes. Which probably wasn’t the intended effect. Also, the first thing Bianca says to Wesley on their first meeting is: Wesley Fucking Rush. Okay, she’s never actually spoken to him before, just hates him on what she’s heard and seen of him, and curses at him in the first sentence she speaks to him. And Wesley takes it in a stride. What?

There also weren’t any emotional repercussions for Bianca for using Wesley through her body. I’m not saying she should’ve suffered brutally or anything, but if you’re screwing a guy on a regular basis just for distraction, and one that you eventually fall in love with, wouldn’t you feel somewhat bad about it?
I don’t know. This book just didn’t do it for me. There were so many issues in the book, and they could’ve been dealt with so much better to make a killer novel, but it kind of failed for me in every department. The ending was also put together way too easily.

BUT, I will give credit to how the author shed light on labels being employed by people as a way to make themselves feel better. Like, if someone is sleeping around with loads of people, whatever the reason behind it, they’re classified as whores. But the person who calls them a whore has their own set of issues…and it could be anything, but it’s something, because we’re all humans, and we’re all flawed. And basically, judgementalism SUCKS. (That isn’t even a word. But whatever.)(less)

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About Kody Keplinger

I'm a 19-year-old college student and young adult author. My first book, THE DUFF, debuted on September 7, 2010. I write books for teenagers and strive to be honest and true-to-life. For more info, check out my website.
http://kodykeplinger.com

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“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.” — 493 people liked it

“No matter where you go or what you do to distract yourself, reality catches up with you eventually.” — 364 people liked it

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