The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend (Hamilton High, #1) in The Perks Of Being A Book Addict

Apr 05, 2013 Trisha rated it really liked it

"It was insulting and hurtful, and it was one of those titles that just fed off an inner fear every girl must have from time to time. Slut, bitch, prude, tease, ditz. They were all the same. Every girl felt like one of these sexist labels described her at some point."

Yes YES and a whole-hearted YES!!!! The message in this book - the growing up and coming-of-age, life is tough and the choices are tough and YOU WILL MAKE MISTAKES!!! - is just perfect. Because you will, you will make mitakes. You w ...more

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Aug 18, 2021 Vanessa Gayle ⚔️ Fangirl Faction rated it it was ok

Shelves: contemporary, substance-abuse, tortured-hero-or-heroine, family-issues, own-ebook-read, own-audiobook-read, reviewed, emotional-reads, young-adult, audio

I have so many conflicting feelings about this book. There is so much hype surrounding this book and after reading the book it is easy to see why.

First of all, if you saw the movie based on this novel and are thinking of picking up the book then be prepared to be surprised because the movie and the book have completely different plots. I dare say that they are barely connected. They are vastly different stories. The movie is loosely based on the book at best. There are some of the same characte I have so many conflicting feelings about this book. There is so much hype surrounding this book and after reading the book it is easy to see why.

First of all, if you saw the movie based on this novel and are thinking of picking up the book then be prepared to be surprised because the movie and the book have completely different plots. I dare say that they are barely connected. They are vastly different stories. The movie is loosely based on the book at best. There are some of the same characters and a few of the scenes in the book take place in the movie but they are simply not the same story. I was a little shocked by this. I really loved the movie so my expectations were kind of high going into the book. Getting a completely different story was a bit of a letdown for me. But such things happen with movie adaptations. It's just that this didn't feel like an adaptation to me, it felt like a completely separate thing with barely any ties to its original source. If I were the author I would probably be insulted.

The fact that the story I got was not the story I was expecting aside, the book's premise was not totally lacking. The plot was okay for the most part and engaging enough, I just didn't much care for the execution. There were so many plot points that I felt were unnecessary or went against the characters' personalities. It just felt kind of messy in general.

The major issue that I had with this book was the main character, Bianca. She was probably the most annoying, immature, and hypocritical character that I have ever read. Most of the time, anyway. Once in a while, she would say or do something that would spark a bit of pride inside my chest, but for the most part, I could not stand her character. Her cynicism really grated on my nerves and her internal thought process was irritating and absolutely aggravating. I could not connect with her character one bit. It isn't often that I dislike a character to such an extreme degree that it affects my opinion of the entire book but such is the case with Bianca. Wesley's character was a bit underdeveloped in my opinion. I think that he had so much more potential. I liked his character for the most part but his character development was pretty lackluster.

Bianca and Wesley's relationship was messy. They jump into a physical relationship right away and Bianca hates him at that point. I guess I just didn't feel like they had much chemistry. At least, nothing to write home about. They do get to know one another throughout all of the time they spend sleeping together so they do start to care for one another. That felt very organic but the rest of their relationship felt so disconnected. There was very little actual romance. I did love how Wesley showed Bianca that he cared though. He stood up for her against her own dad and then he pursued her after she rejected him. He did some romantic things but the same really can't be said for Bianca. The romance felt very one-sided the entire time. There just wasn't enough emotion so their entire relationship felt unconvincing.

Overall, this book is the DUFF in YA Contemporary Romance. This book really had so much potential but ultimately fell flat in so many ways. While I can applaud the author for some of the ideas in the story, I felt that the execution really needed some work. This book has a great premise and is certainly entertaining but everything else really drags down my opinion of the book. Unfortunately, all of the problematic things outweighed all of the good things for me.

BLOG FACEBOOK INSTAGRAM TWITTER BOOKBUB AMAZON PINTEREST ...more

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Dec 31, 2013 Christine rated it really liked it

Shelves: ya, debut-novels

I liked this book more than I expected. However, I was not too thrilled with all the random sex. I give It 4 stars because the author did have her characters learn about themselves and they grew. a lot of ya books seem lacking in that area. I'm sure the movie won't do the book justice. ...more

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May 23, 2015 Carrie rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: chick-lit, young-adult, father-daughter, best-friends, friendship, contemporary

3.5

While this was nor the most spectacular piece of literature it was okay. A little mature I think. I can see younger girls wanting to read this, but it is definitely a young adult novel that is not aimmed at tweens. Just thought that I'd toss that out there for those who don't want their kids reading it.

But other then the amount of sex lol, it's a light and quick read touching on some darker issues, such as aloholism.

...more

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Jul 22, 2013 ilovebakedgoods (Teresa) rated it really liked it

Shelves: killeen-library-paper, young-adult, 2014

I really liked this book. Loved Bianca and her friends and how their friendship had so much meaning and wasn't based on them all being a part of a clique. Loved the message that everyone has probably felt like a DUFF in their lifetime and that everyone has problems, regardless of how they may appear from the outside. There were a lot of humorous moments, some tear-jerking moments and I'm actually kind of sad to see this story end. ...more

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Dec 04, 2014 Renuka rated it it was ok

Shelves: young-adult, romance, realistic, e-book, owned, contemporary, to-review, land-of-blah-and-boring, meh-romance, new-adult

The movie looks nothing like this book, except for the fact that both are pretty awful looking. I just wasn't a fan. Review to come. ...more

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Jan 17, 2011 Christie rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ya, library, favorites

I loved loved loved this book. The writing was easy and fast paced. I thought at the beginning of the book that I would hate it because I was and still am the DUFF, but I as I read it I just loved this book. It was a great story of a few messed up family situations and high school drama and life in general. And after all of it, it was a feel good book about how things can work out. Looking forward to reading more from Kody.

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