Review Detail

If there’s one thing I’ve heard consistently about Kody Keplinger’s writing, it’s that her portrayal of teenagers (especially with regards to sex) is extremely realistic and unapologetic. And if YA fiction needs anything, it definitely needs to sugarcoat sex less than it does now—in my opinion, of course.

So in that respect, I found The DUFF to be extremely refreshing. Bianca, the main character, has a lot of sex, and the sex she has isn’t of the “one true love, forever and always with this guy” variety. Bianca is using Wesley—who she really can’t stand—as a means of distracting herself from her parents’ divorce and her dad’s lapse back into alcoholism. And while Bianca and I are very dissimilar people, and I would never do what she does, I respected her choices and found them to be very realistic.

Overall, I was definitely a huge fan of Bianca. In one of the very first chapters, she quickly proved herself worthy of my attention when she went on a tirade against instalove and meaningful relationships. Definitely my kind of girl.

Beyond that, the whole “enemies with benefits”, while not exactly new or unique, was still a fun, engaging plot. I very much enjoyed the snappy banter between Wesley and Bianca; it was nice to see that she could hold her own against his “man-whore” persona. Of course, it wouldn’t be a good love story if things between Bianca and Wesley didn’t change. However, I thought Kody Keplinger did an excellent job in showing the subtle transition in her protagonists’ relationship over a period of several months.

There was also a more serious edge to The DUFF, beyond the lighthearted romance. Both Bianca and Wesley had issues with their family, reasons they sought distraction from sex. That darker undertone gave this novel a bit more depth that it wouldn’t have had otherwise.

However, The DUFF is still a debut novel, and it came accompanied by a few rookie mistakes. For one thing, Keplinger picked up quite a few plot threads but didn’t carry them out to the end, leaving them dangling and unresolved. That was disappointing.

The biggest problem I had with this book was the way Kody Keplinger inserted her own opinions (or I assume they’re her opinions) into the narrative. I’m not in any way adverse to discussions of politics, homosexuality, or how awful the Brontë sisters are in my books, but the way those topics were handled in The DUFF was nothing short of preachy. It felt very unnatural, like Keplinger was forcing those segments into her narrative just to prove her PC-ness or whatever. Definitely, I thought the preaching and forcing issues into the book that really had nothing to do with the main story was not a good stylistic choice.

But other than that, The DUFF was a cute romance with a wonderfully refreshing take on teen sexuality, instalove, and slut shaming. We need more books like this, in my opinion. Kody Keplinger is a welcome addition to the YA community.