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3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
To see my review for "The Duff", click HERE.
PS. DO NOT READ IF YOU'RE NOT FOND OF UNPOPULAR OPINIONS.
PS. DO NOT READ IF YOU'RE NOT FOND OF UNPOPULAR OPINIONS.
This is the first book I have read in one sitting. I loved it.
“Wesley Rush doesn't chase girls, but I'm chasing you.”
I'm one of the people who read this after watching the movie, and the movie definitely took some liberties with the story, as they're both extremely different from each other. I don't really think that this is a bad thing though, as I personally really liked both iterations. The book definitely surprised me (those of you who have experienced both know what I'm talking about), but I ended up thoroughly enjoy this story. I love the main character, I think she's extremely funny and very relatable. And Wesley is really amazing too. He was one of the first book boyfriends that I loved. This book is awesome, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys this genre.
I'm one of the people who read this after watching the movie, and the movie definitely took some liberties with the story, as they're both extremely different from each other. I don't really think that this is a bad thing though, as I personally really liked both iterations. The book definitely surprised me (those of you who have experienced both know what I'm talking about), but I ended up thoroughly enjoy this story. I love the main character, I think she's extremely funny and very relatable. And Wesley is really amazing too. He was one of the first book boyfriends that I loved. This book is awesome, and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys this genre.
I so wanted to like The DUFF. I just couldn't like it.
I could relate to Bianca. I mean, who hasn't felt like the ugly fat friend? Her insecurities and wanting to distract herself are things I can relate to. I couldn't relate to how she distracted herself, but I feel like there are people out there who can.
I just found myself getting annoyed at how she hated Wesley and yet finds herself falling for him. I suppose it happens, but it felt so cliche. She's just so cynical, and a lot of the time, it was hard to root for her. And to a certain extent, it was hard to believe that she'd sleep with Toby after throwing soda in his face. She just seemed super inconsistent. Teenage girls can be all over the place, but Bianca just seemed excessively inconsistent and all over the place, and it was kind of frustrating to read. Her friends were pretty standard, as was Toby. As for Wesley...I don't even know what to think about him. His transformation seemed really sudden, and it wasn't completely believable.
Things definitely ended on a happy note, but Keplinger wrapped things up a little too nicely. I kind of wish Bianca's insecurities and her issues with her parents were explored a little more. And does her relationship with Jake several years earlier have anything to do with her cynicism? Because I felt like that wasn't explored very much either.
I get why people love this book- it felt very authentic, and very real, even though parts of it were a little hard to believe. Keplinger wrote this when she was in high school, which does lend to the authenticity of it.
Final thoughts: The concept was intriguing, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. It gets a 1 out of 5.
I could relate to Bianca. I mean, who hasn't felt like the ugly fat friend? Her insecurities and wanting to distract herself are things I can relate to. I couldn't relate to how she distracted herself, but I feel like there are people out there who can.
I just found myself getting annoyed at how she hated Wesley and yet finds herself falling for him. I suppose it happens, but it felt so cliche. She's just so cynical, and a lot of the time, it was hard to root for her. And to a certain extent, it was hard to believe that she'd sleep with Toby after throwing soda in his face. She just seemed super inconsistent. Teenage girls can be all over the place, but Bianca just seemed excessively inconsistent and all over the place, and it was kind of frustrating to read. Her friends were pretty standard, as was Toby. As for Wesley...I don't even know what to think about him. His transformation seemed really sudden, and it wasn't completely believable.
Things definitely ended on a happy note, but Keplinger wrapped things up a little too nicely. I kind of wish Bianca's insecurities and her issues with her parents were explored a little more. And does her relationship with Jake several years earlier have anything to do with her cynicism? Because I felt like that wasn't explored very much either.
I get why people love this book- it felt very authentic, and very real, even though parts of it were a little hard to believe. Keplinger wrote this when she was in high school, which does lend to the authenticity of it.
Final thoughts: The concept was intriguing, but it just wasn't my cup of tea. It gets a 1 out of 5.
I had to read it again after I finished the movie. I didn't realize Kody is a teenager - very talented writer. The book is complicated. I can recommend the movie, but I will be selective about recommending the book to everyone. Teens are dealing with teen issues like they are adults and it's ugly to watch. But I enjoyed both works.
From seeing the DVD case based on this book I have to say I was skeptical of the quality of this story but evidently they--unsurprisingly--took quite a few liberties with it for the adaptation. Teen fiction is difficult to write, you don't want it to be patronizing or moralizing and you want to avoid cliches. This does a great job of both; the characters are believable and relatable, their issues are the types of issues that everyone has to some extent or another, though it's primarily focused on Bianca and her life. Something interesting I've discovered is that I'm more bothered by swearing and "mature content" in YA/Teen fiction than in Adult fiction. A lot of that, I imagine, is that it's not the type of books that I was reading when I was in high school or junior high and now that I have nieces and nephews that I would like to have some influence on, I'm more concerned about the type of media they're consuming. Anyways, this was great, writing about friendship and sex and divorce and self-image are all difficult subjects to do for this age group but Kody Keplinger manages it quite handily.
I liked this book a lot more than I thought I would. And actually, my few issues with it (mainly that she didn't seem concerned about getting pregnant) were resolved by the end. Not bad at all.
I really, really, really, really enjoyed this. Wesley was just wonderful. Well ok, he was kind of an asshole sometimes, but when he wasn't, he was great. There were so many fantastic moments and exchanges of dialogue between Wesley and Bianca, I must have like 30 bookmarks in my ebook. And I loved the scene
It ended too soon.
Spoiler
when she went to his house on Valentine's Day, and he was alone playing video games, because that was the moment you knew, for sure, that he was into her. Because would Wesley Rush really spend Valentine's Day alone?It ended too soon.