The DUFF: Designated Ugly Fat Friend

Wow, I didn't love this.

Okay first, because of the title of this book, I would honestly never have read it EXCEPT for the fact that I met the author once and she was absolutely spectacularly lovely. So then of course I HAD to read it. I met Kody very briefly at YALLFEST in 2015 (??) and I just now read the book because I'm a professional procrastinator, clearly. I also did the unthinkable and saw the movie years ago before I read this.

I don't have a lot to say about this other than I don't like many YA tropes. And this book is a melting pot of classic tropes (love triangle, enemies to friends, etc). It was kind of all over the place, dealing with a lot of issues at once including (spoiler alert??) alcoholism, divorce, family problems, low self esteem, teen pregnancy, friendships, and trying to find a means of escape from problems instead of dealing with them. Let's throw in a love triangle! Because there were so many issues on the table, it felt scrambled, rushed, and like nothing was really properly addressed or resolved.

Anyway, I don't have much positive to say and Kody is lovely and I would try reading another of her books instead so I'm going to cut this short.

Would I recommend? No, but maybe pick up another of her books instead.

“I was the Duff. And that was a good thing. Because anyone who didn't feel like the Duff must not have friends. Every girl feels unattractive sometimes. Why had it taken me so long to figure that out? Why had I been stressing over that dumb word for so long when it was so simple? I should be proud to be the Duff. Proud to have great friends who, in their minds, were my Duffs.”

This was a pure impulse read. I literally decided at 11 o'clock at night last Friday that I was going to read this. Then it was 1 o'clock in the morning and I was reading the last chapter. I read this book in one sitting, with one break to get a drink. I read this book incredibly fast. This was in part because I enjoyed it, but also because it is a very short book.

This book deals with the issue of being that one friend in the group that does not quite fit in. At least that person believes they do not. In this book that girl is Bianca. However, Bianca does not learn about her status as the DUFF (or Designated Ugly Fat Friend) until one night when Wesley decided he wants to hook up with one of her friends so he is nice to Bianca. He lets it slip that she is the DUFF and if he is nice to the DUFF her friends will like him more.

I could relate to Bianca's feelings about being the one friend who did not quite fit in. There have been many times where I've been the only single one in my friend group, the only one who does not have weekend plans, or even the boring one at a party who just kind of sits there. However, I appreciated that Bianca did not let it fully consume her once she realized she was the DUFF. Yes she was constantly thinking about it, but she still did something about it.

I absolutely loved the progression of the relationship between Bianca and Wesley. I loved all the scenes with them getting to know each other and slowly opening up to each other about their messed up lives. And I was really happen with how everything tied up in the book.

Overall, this was a solid contemporary. I'm not a fan of contemporary books for the most part, but I appreciated this one. I also really want to see the movie, so I was motivated to read the book (because you always have to read the book first).