Review Detail

I never read contemporary YA. Not because it's beneath me but because I always thought it wasn't for me. But when I read the synopsis of this book, I new it was special and that I had to read it. To be honest, I really loved it and it's making me rethink this whole "no YA contemporary" thing.

This is a book that I would have loved to read when I was in high school. It's cynical, realistic and honest. It reads like a high school drama, but lets face it, we can never get away from the high school drama. Even as adults, our lives resemble a lot those of teenagers. We still gossip, we still think social standings are very important, and obviously, we still compare ourselves to our close friends. I think this need to compare ourselves never really leaves us and many of us think of ourselves as the duff, the designate ugly fat friend (even if we really aren't). I think the take home messages is that DUFF is a novel that can be read by everyone.

All the characters are flawed and I love this. I think the author has a very strong grip on reality and it shines through her writing and character building. I recommend this book to everyone, especially teens dealing with low self esteem issues because of their appearance (or what they think they look like). I also recommend it to parents because they need to know the issues their kids are dealing with. And I also recommend it to anyone trying to fit in because lets face it, life in general is one big version of high school--without all the homework and homecomings.