Available at Boomerang Books :: The Book Depository
Synopsis
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.
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.
Review
The DUFF is my first Kody Keplinger novel. And surprisingly (in a good
way), I loved her writing style. Although the storyline is quite usual,
the narrative is downright honest and feels extraordinary real to me. I
love how the characters come to live under her pen, especially our
heroine Bianca. She’s bitter and uninterested in the notion of true love
but at the same time she plays the role of mother hen to her two
beautiful best friends Casey and Jessica. She hated the handsome playboy
Wesley Rush in her school, but a series of problems and scenarios
brought them together, not as a loving couple, but merely as partners,
if you get what I mean.
The idea of Bianca having flings with
Wesley as a distraction from her problems kind of threw me off at the
beginning. I mean, it would appear inappropriate in the East, where
(premarital) sex is a taboo, much less reoccurring ones with no formal
ties between the involved parties. However, the real feelings of love
and care that slowly developed between Bianca and Wesley were sweet in a
way.
I like that the author actually sends out some
thought-provoking messages through this novel. Sometimes we unknowingly
hurt others - we think we are better than others and some insult them
like they deserve it. But the truth is, everyone has their own problems,
it doesn’t mean that you can judge others just because you think you
are better. After all, no one is perfect.
After finishing with The DUFF, I’m certainly up for more novels by Kody Keplinger!
Rating :
Synopsis
Worse, she totally doesn't fit in with her dad's perfect new country-club family. So Whitley acts out. She parties. Hard. So hard she doesn't even notice the good things right under her nose: a sweet little future stepsister who is just about the only person she's ever liked, a best friend (even though Whitley swears she doesn't "do" friends), and a smoking-hot guy who isn't her stepbrother...at least, not yet. It will take all three of them to help Whitley get through her anger and begin to put the pieces of her family together.
Review
The story opened up with Whitley waking up beside a stranger after a crazy graduation party. Obviously, they did something real passionate after getting drunk. And Whitley was adamant to get herself out of the scene and forget everything. But it seems fate has another idea on its mind. When Whitley’s dad suddenly announced that he was getting married again, she was shocked and upset. But the real problem arose when she found out that she was going to have stepsiblings... I don’t want to spill the beans, but I guess anyone of you who have read tons of novels might probably see what’s coming.
Kody Keplinger has a way with writing about messed-up characters that actually makes you love and hate them at the same time. I love it that Keplinger is able to write about everyone’s problems with such dexterity and depth that sometimes I actually laugh out and cry along with the story. I hate that most of the people are so focused on their own troubles that they fail to see what damage they are causing to themselves and others.
My favourite character in this novel would be Harrison, a surprisingly handsome, good-natured guy who became best friends with Whitley. He’s the one who really cared about her and offered her true friendship. He invites her to come to his house for a slumber party, he saves her from almost being raped and he always stands by her no matter what happens. Seriously, I would LOVE to have a friend like Harrison – who cares if he’s gay?
A Midsummer’s Nightmare is a pretty decent summer read, and I enjoyed it as much as The DUFF.
Rating :
About The Author
Kody currently lives in NYC and writes full time. She enjoys Thai food, Converse tennis shoes, and way too much television.
Kody writes for YA Highway, a blog devoted to the young adult publishing industry. She is also a featured writer for Poptimal.com, a popular pop culture blog, where she reviews TV shows and movies.
You can find Kody on Twitter, Tumblr, or email her at kodykeplinger@gmail.com.
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