The DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) by Kody Keplinger

The DUFF: the designated ugly fat friend.  The one girl in a group that’s just not “as pretty” as the others.  DUFF: it’s a “real” thing, you know.  You can look it up on Urban Dictionary, where it’s been an entry since 2003.  The DUFF, the girl in any group who’s just not as pretty, not as skinny, not as noticeable, not as special as the friends she’s with. And, regardless of the group, regardless of the situation, you already (and always) know who the DUFF is…don’t you?  She’s you.

“For a girl with such a fat ass, I felt pretty invisible.”

FINALLY, you are saying to yourself SHE’S GOING TO WRITE ABOUT A FAT BOOK (AS PROMISED) AT HER FAT BLOG.  IT’S ABOUT TIME!

Well, about that . . .

But!  But!  It says “fat” right there, in the title!  Yet one of the things that works about The DUFF is that we don’t really know if our protagonist, Bianca, is “actually” fat.  And one of the things that doesn’t just work but that makes The DUFF brilliant is that it still manages to be about the complicated and often painful politics of body image.  Bianca might be fat.  She might not be.  The DUFF challenges readers to ask: what does fat look like and what does fat mean anyway?

The DUFF starts one night out when Bianca is out with her friends.  She is approached by Wesley, school hottie and well-known player, who attempts to chat her up so her friends will like him.  Why would that work?  Because, as Wesley explains, Bianca is The Duff among her friends.  She knows it and they know it, he assures her.   If they see him talking to her, why, they’ll think he’s sensitive and kind for deigning to talk to her and probably make out with him.  Bianca, naturally insulted, throws her Cherry Coke in his face and stalks off.

Of course, you can probably guess where this is headed.

One of the things that works the best about this book is that though many plot developments seem inevitable and predictable (Bianca and Wesley’s hostility is also chemistry?  You don’t say!) Kiplinger still manages to give them an extra dimension, something just a little different than what you thought you guessed.

Like I said, we don’t know “how fat” Bianca is, but we do get to hear some of her thoughts on how fat she feels.  She refers to herself as having “big thighs” (p. 12), as being “chubby” (p.39),  and as having a “fat ass” (p. 139). But, again, Kiplinger knows that everyone feels that way sometimes, that feeling like that doesn’t always describe how we actually look.  Is this a book about a fat girl?  Kinda.  But it’s also a book about how society sometimes makes you feel like “a fat girl” by making you feel like “fat” is the worst of who you are.

Another nice touch: Bianca’s best friends, Casey and Jessica, also have insecurities about their looks.  Though Wesley opens by telling Bianca she’s the DUFF, Casey and Jessica are only human.  At one point, Casey protests SHE’S the DUFF.  Casey thinks she’s “Sasquatch” (p. 44) … but tall girls are all models, right?  They never have anything to worry about! Kiplinger knows that’s not true, and she knows that’s the heart of the DUFF.  One particularly nice, subtle moment comes when Bianca says something dismissive to Casey about the girls on the cheerleading squad, a squad Casey happens to be a member of:

“…He wouldn’t even date a girl on the Skinny Squad–“

“I really hate it when you call us that.” (p. 190)

Such a nice touch!  Slamming of the other cheerleaders who have “skinny” bodies doesn’t pass without comment.  Casey lets Bianca know that makes her uncomfortable, that the language is reductive and hurtful.  In less than 20 words and without beating you over the head with it, Kiplinger gets the point across, loud and clear.

So, Bianca finds herself pulled into a quickly escalating physical relationship with Wesley in an attempt to get through some rough personal times. (again, an refreshingly honest detail: sometimes, we use physical and sexual intimacy in a way that’s not always healthy or fair.  But it feels good and it makes us feel connected.)  They banter, bicker, have sex, and start to scratch each other’s surfaces.  But can they ever be more than just “enemies-with-benefits?”

(This is one of the book’s less believable parts: it’s so honest about sex that when the plot starts to veer off to “and the guy you have random hook-ups with could totally turn into awesome boyfriend material if you just stick it out and give him a shot!!!” it feels a little unrealistic.  Yeah, that happens, but, in my experience, not that often.  But this is, in many ways, a romance novel so it’s not entirely jarring or unexpected within the genre.)

The relationship between Bianca and Wesley is good, don’t get me wrong.  For one thing: their sexual relationship is sizzling and integral to their relationship as a whole. (This is one of very few YA book I can think of that discusses cunnilingus.  [maybe the only non-lesbian one?] And discusses it in a way that seems totally believable and real to a teenage girl’s mind.) No hand-holding here, Edward Cullen!  The way the book deals with sex is definitely for mature readers but it’s also good to see YA fiction moving beyond the billowing curtains.  And Bianca and Wesley’s banter is good too: natural, unforced, and kind of mean in all the best ways.  So are the moments when they start to really connect.  She stands up to him, calls him on bullshit, and doesn’t let him treat her like crap.  He likes her more because of that.  That’s believable, that works.

But, for me, what makes The DUFF really work is Bianca’s relationship with her girlfriends, some other girls at school, and herself.  This is a feminist book.  It’s a book about owning your identity, about not feeling bad for feeling good about sex, a book about rejecting “sexist” labels and words that tear girls down.  (yes, Kiplinger uses the word sexist!  HURRAH!)

Reading The DUFF and not knowing how ugly or fat Bianca “really” is doesn’t just show how subjective and individual measures like that are.  Keplinger knows it helps readers understand that everyone feels like the DUFF sometimes.  Perhaps that seems a little simplistic, but I think it’s a message teen readers NEED to hear.

Hell, I think it’s a message we ALL need to hear.

Recommended for: Language and sexual situations make this one for older teens only.  I recommend this as a first purchase for public libraries and for teens in grades 10-12.  I think this has the potential to be one of those books teen girls pass around from friend to friend.

A NOTE ABOUT THE COVER!

You’ll note that my post features two covers.  The one of the left is a picture I took the ARC cover.  The one one the right is the one that’s shown on Amazon, Kiplinger’s site, etc.  I IMPLORE YOU, POPPY, PLEASE USE THE ONE ON THE LEFT.  Not because the girl on the left is “fat” (maybe she is, maybe she isn’t…which fits the text!) but because the cover on the right seems all wrong for the book.  Funky eyeshadow?  Blowing a bubble with bubblegum? What does that have to do with anything?  It seems almost tween-ish.  AND THIS IS NOT A TWEEN BOOK.  That model looks almost flippant and uninterested.  The girl on the left is looking right at you: up close and unblinking.  I can practically see the smirk on her lips.  She’s Bianca.

Comment for a Chance to WIN A COPY OF THIS BOOK!

I hope you can’t wait to read this book!  It doesn’t come out until September 7, but after ALA I ended up with two advance reading copies.  (thanks to Little & Brown!)  I knew that meant I had to give one away!  So, as I did with Some Girls Are, I’m going to use random.org to select a random winner from the comments.  It could be you!

All you have to do is leave a comment with your thoughts about the word DUFF and you’re entered. (details: contest is open until August 12, US entries only please, don’t forget to use an e-mail address when you comment so I can contact you.) And if you don’t win,  don’t forget to go into your local library and request they buy a copy.

In the meantime, I suggest everyone take a moment to embrace their inner DUFF, the first step in working towards letting go of any power a word like that might have over you.

We *are* all The DUFF.

And that’s OK.

13 Responses to “The DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) by Kody Keplinger”

  1. Stephanie

    Oh I want Edward Cullen to read the part about the cunnilingus! I wish he was a real dude so you could send HIM this book!

  2. steph

    My thoughts about the word DUFF?

    Oh. So *that’s* what I’ve always been.

    Vindicating and depressing, all in one.

    But the book sounds amazing.
    Also, I miss you.

  3. Bridget

    Maybe I’m just distracted this afternoon, or maybe my self-esteem issues are showing, but I have to keep correcting myself from thinking DUFF stands for Dumb Ugly Fat Friend instead of Designated Ugly Fat Friend. It’s funny how once the self-loathing and self-doubt worms its way in, it can creep up on you even when the friends you feel like you’re DUFFing for aren’t even around. Makes me think that instead of saying I’m my own worst enemy, I should start saying I’m my own DUFF…

  4. Julia

    This review hit close to home. I’ve always felt like the DUFF among a group of petite, cute best friends. I definitely want to pick this book up, Ang. Thanks for the recommend.

  5. Gretchen

    My thoughts on the word DUFF: I uh, didn’t realize that was an actual term? But I think you really get to the heart of how the existence of the word and the assumption that every group has a Designated Ugly Fat Friend relies on girls and women feeling insecure and being told they’ll never be good enough and that their value is derived from how they look.

    I think we’ve ALL felt like the DUFF in our group at some point, regardless of how we actually look–and that being the DUFF means we’re somehow not fully human, excluded from normal social interaction as people. Barf.

  6. Susan

    Like most, I have my days that I feel like the DUFF in my groups of friends (more often recently) Anyway, it is interesting to see a new book that may help girls to not cut others down. I can’t wait to read it.

  7. Rebecca

    Argh this sounds amazing!

    I am the DUFF. Have been and probably always will be. But, on the other hand, my friends love me for who I am. So that’s okay.

    I love the cover on the left, the girl has a very Karen O vibe to her

  8. Bee

    This is such a well thought-out, well-written review, I love it.
    I’d so have loved to win this, but I’m international…so you can chuck me out *SOB*

  9. Lara Z

    Love the review – it really makes me want to read this book!

    As a side note: there is a scene with the big “C” in my first novel, BRINGING UP THE BONES. Oddly enough, it’s a scene I’m both proud of (might possibly be the first YA cunnilingus scene ever) *and* disappointed with (because Bridget “finishes” very quickly, and in hindsight, not many 19-year-old boys are *that* talented).

    Love the blog, too, BTW – refreshing and much, much appreciated.

    • Angie

      Ahhh, Lara that is the ONLY one of your books I haven’t read! (my favorite is definitely Contents Under Pressure one of my favorite “If You Like Sarah Dessen….” read-alikes. Soooo good!) I will bump ButB to the top of my pile! 🙂

      Thanks for reading and commenting and linking, I appreciate it SO much!!

  10. CookieMonsterGirl15

    Hey, i just finsihed reading Duff and i had to run to the interent to find other books like this one. I spent the whole afternoon reading it, it was full of what i consider passion on fire, the way the author was able to descibe the feelings and emotions that ran thought Biancas mind when she was kissing Wesley was my favourtie part. I read your blog and realized you read alot of books for teens so if you could maybe sent me a list of books like this one it would be great- Thanks so much 🙂