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 to use the same phrase 20 years ago. Every group has a DUFF'.

It got me thinking about what role I played in my group. Was I The Duff? But after reading this I realised it is not a bad thing thanks to Keplinger. As Bianca says "I was the Duff. And that was a good thing . Because anyone who didn't feel like the Duff must not have friends. Every girl feels unattractive sometimes.......I should be proud to be the Duff. Proud to have great friends who, in their mind, were my Duffs." That is just one of the reasons why I loved this book.

The DUFF is funny, smart, honest, and a heartwarming. It is about all the important issues that all teens deal - love, friendship, family and insecurities. Sounds like an emotional read but it is not really. It had that lighter fun feel to it. A book that you will want to pick up and read again just to feel good. And I am amazed this is Keplinger debut novel and she was only 17 when she wrote it. It is a effortless read that had a nice pace and was always entertaining.

Bianca, is instantly likeable character that cause me laughter and heart ache. I think Wesley sums her up perfectly "What you are is an intelligent, sassy, sarcastic, cynical, neurotic, loyal, compassionate girl". She is confused at times and definitely has some family issues but completely relatable. Bianca doesn't deal with her issues and rather bottles them up inside and looks for other ways to escape them.

Now on to my dear Wesley. He makes a great distraction for Bianca. I have to admit at first I disliked him with a passion but as he grew on Bianca, he grew on me too. Definitely a sweetheart (well kind of) hiding as a bad boy. And when you put Bianca and Wes together sparks fly. These two would have to be one of my favourite literary couple because of their witty banter.

The only tiny issue I had with this book was the ending. I liked Bianca and Wes' ending that wasn't the problem. But rather the secondary characters - all there issues seemed to be resolved perfectly especially Bianca's Dad and Toby. It was just a tiny bit too perfect because we all know not everybody gets happy endings.

Overall, The DUFF is a fantastic debut that you shouldn't miss.

Rating: 4.5/5

Note: Lots of colourful language and sex scenes. So if you are sensitive to this maybe this book isn't for you.