Reading Level: Young Adult
Hardcover: 288 Pages
Publisher: Little Brown/Poppy, September 7, 2010
Parasols: 2
From Goodreads:
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.
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I thought this story had a lot of potential. It was edgy, raw and fresh but that was also the problem with this story. Bianca's decisions were rash and not well thought out. I understand that teens tend to just jump into situations without thinking of them first, but Bianca is described to us as stable and sturdy. So when she starts having sex with Wesley because she's upset with her home life, I didn't find it all that believable.
I know that teens have sex. I'm the mom of a teenager. I just didn't like the way that Bianca sleeps with Wesley it seemed degrading. I completely understand the whole friends with benefits idea, but 16/17 yo don't really understand the concept or how to separate the feelings. Maybe I'm just cynical.
I liked Wesley and I liked Bianca, but I didn't like the decisions that they made together. Wesley is described as a great listener, but they always seemed to be having sex, so I really didn't see much of the talking.
This book is definitely for the older teen.
PS. I took the goodreads summary, because I suck at summarizing.
Posts
This was a refreshing point of view! I've only seen reviews where this book got high ratings before. Sounds like the main character does some stupid and immature decisions!
ReplyDeleteHuh. I have heard from friends that they just couldn't put it down and loved this book, so i'm glad to hear about it in another way!
ReplyDeleteI LOVED this book. I read it in one sitting. I thought it was very true to high school. Like every teenager, she makes stupid decisions, who doesn't as a teenager? If you don't like books about sex, it definitly is not for you, but if you want raw emotion, Kody does an awesome job with it. It reminds me of me in high school.
ReplyDeleteAngela, I do not have problems with sex in YA books. I only have a problem when it is as gratuitous as it was in The Duff. I don't think the sex moved the plot or was necessary to the plot.
ReplyDeleteBianca has sex with Wesley for all the wrong reasons, and he uses her as well. That is not healthy, nor is it normal teen attitude.