Published: January 13, 2015 by Poppy
First Published: September 7, 2010
This book was huge when I first got into book blogging five (seriously, five?!?!) years ago. It piqued my interest then, but I never got around to it, nor anything else by Kody Keplinger. Then with the movie coming out, one of the members of my book club was curious enough to suggest we read it, which meant it was finally time.
I did wind up enjoying the book, yet I think I would have enjoyed it more if I had read it 5 years ago. In some ways I feel a little too old for parts of this book, though there are definitely themes that are more universal.
I think my biggest issue was the amount of sex in this book. Reading it now, as a 30-year-old, with a daughter, I can't imagine wanting my own future high school-er to read it. It just felt way too mature. Then I read the author's bio which tells you she started writing it in high school, which all of a sudden makes the book make so much more sense.
High school girls are a little obsessed with sex and relationships, so I can easily see how this book could have been imagined by someone in it. Also, you can't really say the book is too mature for a teenager if in was in fact written by a teenager.
Now for the stuff I liked. I loved the friendship between Bianca and her friends. I do think the book captures so well the essence of been a teenage girl. There were moments of Bianca's inner monologue where I'd comment to myself, I remember feeling the exact same way.
Part of me is curious to read more from this author. In fact I added another one of her books, Shut Out, to my goodreads wish list years ago, December 2011 to be more precise. But knowing my complaints with The Duff, I'd imagine I'll feel quite similar with that one as well, especially knowing it's a modern retelling of Lysistrata, which basically means sex is the main plot line. Even so, I have a feeling my curiosity will get the better of me eventually.
4/5
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