Muse reviewed DUFF : (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) by Kody Keplinger
Review of 'DUFF : (Designated Ugly Fat Friend)' on 'Storygraph'
4 stars
I'll be honest, the first 80 pages or so of this book were painful to read. The main character's constant internal complaining and put-downs about everything from things she even mildly disapproved of to her own best friends (the internalized misogyny made me raise my eyebrows more than a few times) really rubbed me the wrong way. Making matters worse, the presented romantic interest--which the main character makes no bones about expressing her hatred for--starts to fall into the trope of being used (both literally and figuratively) as being the "sex on legs" solution to all of the main characters problems. I considered putting this book down more than once, but kept reading in the hopes that maybe these two flawed characters would eventually take on their own problems in an amazing round of character development that showed that sex is not the answer to all of life's problems.
And …
I'll be honest, the first 80 pages or so of this book were painful to read. The main character's constant internal complaining and put-downs about everything from things she even mildly disapproved of to her own best friends (the internalized misogyny made me raise my eyebrows more than a few times) really rubbed me the wrong way. Making matters worse, the presented romantic interest--which the main character makes no bones about expressing her hatred for--starts to fall into the trope of being used (both literally and figuratively) as being the "sex on legs" solution to all of the main characters problems. I considered putting this book down more than once, but kept reading in the hopes that maybe these two flawed characters would eventually take on their own problems in an amazing round of character development that showed that sex is not the answer to all of life's problems.
And that's exactly what it did.
Bit by bit, the book addressed all of the concerns that I had from the opening, fleshing out the characters into believable teenagers who are grappling with some difficult life situations, and making some mistakes while trying to learn how to cope with them. The problems in the main romance are also fully explored and dealt with as well. It ended up not the story of one person being the solution to all of life's problems, but instead one person helping you become a better individual on your own. By the time the story was examining the nickname from the title, I was smiling from ear to ear. I'm really glad that I kept pushing forward with this book, and I urge anyone who may have had misgivings from the synopsis to give it a chance anyway! It might just surprise you the same way it surprised me.