Review time! - The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

(288 pages)

Published: 09/07/10

About the book:

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.

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.

My thoughts:

I absolutely, 100 %, completely and totally fell in love with Keplinger's characters. I'm not sure if I've ever read a book where I've ended up loving every single character as much as I did with The DUFF characters. Every character had some little - or big - thing that made them lovable and relatable. I loved Bianca and her criticism. Her pessimistic personality makes her seem real and true. In fact, I've got a few friends a lot like her. Hell, you could even argue that I'm like her in some ways. Not the pessimistic part of her, but other aspects certainly.

I have to say, Wesley had to be my favorite character. I loved to hate him, and then I just began to love him. He added so much to the typical player label. I thought that the author gave him a lot of personal drama that made him more likable, and more like a normal person. Which I loved. I hate it how authors make their characters into gods. It's just not real.

As for the plot, well I give that an A+ to go along with the characters. I loved Bianca's internal drama (being the DUFF), and how she dealt with it. (I loved the scene where she throws the coke in Wesley's face, and the end scene too, but I won't give that one away!) I love the other dramas in Bianca's life, as well. She had quite a few. Her parent's divorce, her father's drinking, her mother being absent, sleeping with Wesley, lying to her friends about it... I really think that Ms. Keplinger did a wonderful job at creating a believable realistic teen atmosphere that any teen could relate to. Because who hasn't felt like The DUFF at some point in their life? 

Review time! - Beautiful by Amy Reed

I know, I know. I haven't been around in a while. I am a horrible person. You have my permission to beat me with random objects until I swear to post daily. 

Beautiful by Amy Reed

(240 pages)

Published: 11/06/09

Four stars

About the book:

When Cassie moves from the tiny town where she has always lived to a suburb of Seattle, she is determined to leave her boring, good-girl existence behind. This is Cassie's chance to stop being invisible and become the kind of girl who's worth noticing.

Stepping into her new identity turns out to be easier than Cassie could have ever imagined...one moment, one choice, will change everything.

Cassie's new existence both thrills and terrifies her. Swept into a world of illicit parties and social landmines, she sheds her virginity, embraces the numbness she feels from the drugs, and floats through it all, knowing that she is now called beautiful. She ignores the dangers of her fast-paced life?but she can't sidestep the secrets and the cruelty.

Cassie is trapped in a swift downward spiral tinged with violence and abuse, and no one—not even the one person she thought she could trust—can help her now.

My thoughts:

I'm really, really not sure what to say about Beautiful. I loved the plot idea, and I love how it's real, and how things like this actually happen in real life. But at the same time I thought that it was a bit over the top. I felt like the author was trying to make every possible horrible thing happen R Cassie, an d that it got to be a little bit unrealistic. Especially Cassie's transition from good girl to bad girl. It seemed a little rushed. And you can't possibly tell me that there's girls that pathetic and weak that they will do anything possible to fit in. Maybe there are people like that, but it's really just so hard for me to wrap my head around that. But anyway, Cassie's fall into the life of a bad girl seemed a bit rushed to me.

I can't say I was too crazy about Cassie herself either. I just couldn't like her because I felt like she was a truly pathetic individual, even before she started using and sleeping with her boyfriend just to make him happy. She was such a follower, such a weak person. A lot of Reed's characters were, except for Alex, who I didn't like for other reasons (such like she was a controlling bitch), but at least she could stand up for herself. I did however like Sarah. I felt like she and she alone had a reason to be weak, being raped her whole life and all. And while I saw her fate coming the entire novel, I didn't think that it would happen the way it did. I lost a little respect for her then. Still she .remains my favorite character.

The last problem I have with Beautiful was the ending, which felt loose-ended and hurried. I felt like nothing was really solved and I felt robbed that I didn't get to see Cassie's supposed transition back into a good girl.

Despite all of this, the novel really does have a wonderful plot line. Reed delivers a wonderful message to her readers. Reed doesn't hold anything back and she dives into a life of drugs, alcohol, and teenage sex. She really gets down in the dirt for this one, which makes it more real. She doesn't shy away from the ugly truth of addictions, which is why I've given Beautiful four stars.