The DUFF (Designated Ugly Fat Friend) by Kody Keplinger

Posted on January 27, 2011 by janicu

Kody Keplinger

While I saw a lot of positive reviews for this book, I wasn’t in love with the premise — a girl begins a sexual relationship with a guy she pretty much hates? Hmm. What made me decide that I would give this book a try was this review from Debbie’s World of Books. I’m glad I did.

The Premise: Bianca Piper is a cynical high school girl who spends her time with her two best friends, Casey and Jessica. One night at the local teen hangout, Wesley Rush, the resident “man-slut”, who Bianca cannot stand, begins a conversation with her. His purpose? To get to Bianca’s friends via their weakest link — the Duff, aka the Designated Ugly Fat Friend. Thoroughly disgusted by Wesley’s hurtful label and slimeball plans, Bianca throws her Cherry Coke in his face, gives him what for, and storms off. That probably would’ve been the end of that, except that soon after, Bianca discovers that her often absent mom wants a divorce. So Bianca seeks escape in a physical relationship with Wesley. What was meant to be a distraction has complications that Bianca never intended.

My Thoughts: It blows my mind that this author is 18 years old. Eighteen! The writing doesn’t suffer for it. I think that instead, her age is a strength — the teenage voice in The Duff was more honest and believable than many of the YA books I’ve read lately. Bianca, the narrator, is full of snark and bluster, particularly around her friends (and Wesley who she never holds back from), but she feels like a real teenager. Sure, not all teens are as free with their expletives or as sexually experienced as Bianca, but I could relate to his girl and where she was in her life.

OK. Sneaking around to have sex with the boy you hate is not the healthiest way to deal with your problems. In fact, it is the opposite of healthy. But I could believe Bianca’s need to be distracted from her personal problems (what is reading if not a distraction?), and Wesley is an easy distraction. Bianca manages to ignore what’s going on for a little while, but it all catches up with her. There’s a clear message that there are consequences for what she does: the distancing from her friends that she’s hiding things from, the emotional entanglements, and the possibility of pregnancy or disease (touched lightly, but it’s there). And Bianca isn’t not the only one who learns that you can’t run away forever.

On the other hand, Bianca is really lucky how things ultimately worked out. Wesley easily could have been the bastard she calls him, and the emotional repercussions of their numerous sexual encounters while messy, could have been much more messy. I liked Wesley by the end of this book, but a small (practical) part of me stayed resistant. I think this is where life experience colors the story, but I’m willing to see him as a character with flaws and I could let my disbelief go enough to enjoy the ending, particularly because I wanted these two to work things out. The chemistry between Bianca and Wesley was quite perfect, and I did love their semi-disfunctional, trading-insults relationship.

The secondary characters in this book all had what felt like realistic relationships with Bianca. Her relationship with her parents showed an awareness of their flaws but they do care about their daughter. Her father’s relapse may have been on the dramatic side, but Bianca’s reaction to it was believable. I also loved Bianca’s friendships with Casey and Jessica. The three girls have differing personalities but they each fit a role within their group. There’s a lot of love and loyalty amongst the three, and when Bianca realizes that she’s the Duff of the group, it doesn’t make her search for new, less attractive friends to make herself look better. And realistically, there is worry and hurt feelings when Bianca distances herself from them because of her problems.

The idea that you are not your label is probably the Big Message of this book, but I think it’s an important message, and one that really affects self-esteem. The fact that everyone feels like the Duff, and that one should look beyond a label is something I wish more girls would believe. I liked that Bianca’s choices lead her to these truths.

Overall: While I don’t agree with how the main character initially dealt with her problems, I liked the lessons she ultimately learned, and there was something refreshing in reading a book that embraced sexuality and expletives. I’d recommend this one if you feel like you can look past the idea of a teen’s using sex as an emotional outlet, because this story has a snarky teen voice that I loved because it felt real and honest.

Buy: Amazon | Powell’s | The Book Depository

Other reviews:
Debbie’s World of Books – positive
Karin’s Book Nook – 5 out of 5
Steph Su Reads – 4.5 out of 5
Book Fare Delights – 4 out of 5
Sophistikated Reviews – 4 out of 5
Pop Culture Junkie – 4.5 out of 5
The Story Siren – 5 out of 5
The Hiding Spot – A+
Book Crazy – 5 mushrooms (must read)

The Secret Society of the Pink Crystal Ball by Risa Green (w Giveaway!)

Posted on December 6, 2010 by janicu

The Secret Society of the

Pink Crystal Ball

Risa Green

Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell did a review of this book a while ago and I filed it in my mind as a rather sweet, fun book to look out for. When I was offered the book for review, I was quick to say yes.

The Premise: Erin Channing is a tenth-grader with the “most boring, normal, regular life ever”, until her aunt Kiki dies and leaves her a pink plastic ball with a set of cryptic instructions. Erin doesn’t believe in magic. She’s known as an “inside the box” thinker, but her two best friends, Lindsay and Samantha convince her to try the ball, and when it seems to actually get results, it begins to change Erin’s outlook.

My Thoughts: I liked Erin. She’s a good kid — that girl in school who works hard and listens to teachers. She follows the rules and has the highest GPA in tenth grade. But because she doesn’t really have any interests outside of school and doesn’t have any quirky traits, she considers herself boring. So boring, in fact, that she worries she has nothing interesting to say in her essay to apply for a coveted position for a school sponsored trip to Italy. And she really, really wants to go to Italy. Two things stand in her way – the essay, and making sure she gets at least an A- in the class.

Writing the essay is something Erin obsesses over, but she can’t think of anything interesting to say. She’s well aware of her “in the box”, “follow the rules” persona, but she doesn’t know how to get out of it, but her aunt’s death and the Pink Crystal Ball is a start. Her friends are the ones who push her into even trying it, and pointing out that she needs to expand her horizons. In the meantime, the A- grade in her AP Art History class also depends on her end of year project which is worth one third of her final grade. Unfortunately, she gets partnered with Jesse Cooper, the last person in class she wants to work with. Jesse used to be a close friend, until his father died at the end of eight grade. Suddenly, the guy who was her first kiss stopped talking to her and started dressing like an art school punk kid, leaving Erin wondering: “What happened?” and what Jesse’s neutral expressions and his offhand comments mean. It’s clear that she’s not exactly over the crush she had on him.

The story is full of thoughtful layers. Although Erin, Lindsay and Samantha seem to fit a particular mold at first (Erin is the brainy one, Lindsay is the nice one, and Samantha is the cool one), they aren’t cardboard characters. Each of them has their own lives and problems, which Erin explains as the story progresses. Lindsay has a bully at school, and her father has begun dating a young, twenty-something girl. To escape, she spends her money on new-age, metaphysical objects like voodoo dolls and crystals. Samantha is chasing after Aiden, a boy who can’t stand her, and her parents are always fighting. She may be the beautiful and cool rebel, but when coming home at 3am gets noticed by the Portuguese housekeeper, not her parents, you know there’s something wrong there. But these girls aren’t in their own personal bubble. They play off each other and affect one another”s lives. The dynamics of their friendships is laid out throughout the story, and the reader is catches glimpses of how well they know each other: when Lindsay is upset she’s known to take it out on whoever is nearby, Erin can’t stand disappointing authority, and Samantha knows how to get the girls to follow her lead.

This attention to detail extended to the plot. With a magic ball, the story could have become something that conveniently took shortcuts and relied on suspension of disbelief, but it doesn’t. There are always consequences or reasons for what happens. The main focus of course is on Erin’s problems, and on how the pink plastic ball from her dead aunt begins to affect her life, but she is loyal to her best friends and tries to help them. These leads to consequences that the girls don’t expect. I liked that this story eventually led to some growth for everyone, rather than the it being just a entertaining romp involving magic. The ending left us with the possibility of a continuation, perhaps from Samantha’s point of view, and I’d love to find out what happens next.

Overall: Before reading this book, I think I had expectations that matched the cover – a story that’s young, a little girly, cute and fun. You know: a Disney movie aimed at teens with three best friends who discuss boys and do somewhat silly things and then work together to fix some problem. This book takes that formula but produces something with much more depth. I thought I would like this book, but I ended up being very pleasantly surprised by how much I liked it when I was done. It left me feeling much like I felt about Polly Shulman’s Enthusiasm: like I’d read something sweet but not fluff.

Buy: Amazon | Powell’s | The Book Depository

Other reviews:
Book Girl of Mur-y-Castell – 3.75
(please let me know if you’ve reviewed this and I’ll add it to my list)

GIVEAWAY:
I have ONE extra copy of this book to giveaway (generously sent to me by a publicist). For a chance to win it:
1. Email janicu[at]gmail[dot]com with the subject PINK CRYSTAL BALL GIVEAWAY, and with “please enter me” or something like that, and that should be it.
2. One email per person please.
3. This giveaway is INTERNATIONAL
4. This contest ends midnight EST December 9th. — that’s three days from now!

Jane by April Lindner

Posted on October 18, 2010 by janicu

Jane

April Lindner

Well, as I’ve mentioned before I’ve been eying Jane by April Lindner first because of the cover posted on Tempting Persephone, then because of Angieville’s review. There was one reviewer who didn’t find the book worked for her, but I decided to plough on and try it. The idea of a modern day retelling with Mr. Rochester as a famous rock star was too appealing to miss. (Also the cover is amazing and it called to me).

The Premise: Jane is a modern day retelling of Charlotte Brontë’s Jane Eyre. Left homeless and penniless after her parent’s accidental death, Jane Moore applies for a job as a live-in nanny, and because of her serious nature, she is considered perfect for the job as a nanny to the daughter of famous rocker, Nico Rathburn. When she gets to Thornfield Park and finally meets Nico, he isn’t the partying playboy she imagined, and she is not the easily impressed fan he’s used to dealing with. There’s a mutual fascination which turns into something more, but the secrets of Rathburn’s past threaten to ruin their fledgling relationship.

****** This review assumes you know the basic story behind Jane Eyre. If you do not, it’s probably best you just skip to the “Overall” section ******

My Thoughts: This book started off muy excellente. I felt my pulse quicken in the early pages, learning about the serious, practical Jane, desperate to find a place to live now that her semester at Sarah Lawrence is over. As she muses about her indifferent family and selfish siblings, I can’t help thinking ahead, knowing that she’s going to get the job. The anticipation was delicious, certain that she deserves something good, and but well aware that Jane has no idea what awaits her at Thornfield Park. I took to Jane very quickly. She has a level headed practicality which actually feels rather refreshing. Under circumstances where the cliched young adult heroine could be twittering and making me cringe, Jane keeps her spine up and never falters. Hooray for a nineteen year old girl who isn’t portrayed as a dimwit!

The fact that Jane didn’t compromise herself in childhood in order to please her family serves her well when she arrives at Rathburn’s estate. She’s a firm but understanding nanny to 5 year old Maddy, and when Nico Rathburn finally appears, despite an internal turbulence caused by his presence, she stays true to her steady self. Unlike other people, she doesn’t coddle the rock star, and initially she keeps herself well-contained, but Nico is intrigued by the new nanny and keeps her nearby. I knew where things were headed and so I paid careful attention. I think that at first, I liked how the two got along, but the romance may have moved a little more quickly than I would have liked. The looming disaster I knew was coming, the difference in their ages and most importantly, Nico’s role as Jane’s boss worried me more than I remember being worried by the original. I felt unsettled by them in this book, and because I knew Nico’s secret I paid more attention to how he hid it (and how he lied to do so).

I haven’t read Jane Eyre since high school, and I remember the general story, but the details are fuzzy. I remember when I first read it, I was shocked to find out about what was in the attic. After the revelation, previous hints made sense in the original book. In Jane, I already knew what was coming, so the shock value was not there, and the hints strewn throughout the book felt more heavy-handed than necessary. I wondered – did Brontë’ really leave as many hints as this? After finishing Jane, I got a copy of Jane Eyre to compare, and Jane is surprisingly true to the original, and the hints are the same. So are the lies that Mr Rochester tells his Jane about the strange things she sees in his house. I like that Jane is faithful to the original, but on the other hand, this faithfulness to Nico/Mr. Rochester’s deception left me cold.

I was dismayed when I felt out of love with where Nico and Jane’s relationship had been going. Then a surprising thing happened. I fell back in love with them. I kept reading; Jane does the right thing and leaves, and then she spends time hiding away with the St. John siblings in New Haven, Connecticut. In her time apart from Nico, Jane convinced me that her feelings weren’t just something that happened because of the thrill of having someone like Nico paying attention to her. She can go on with her life and there are other options open to her, but it’s clear that Nico has her heart, even after what he’s done. In her path to forgiving him, I guess I did too. Maybe this is a process I would have gone through re-reading Jane Eyre today. At any rate, I have a new appreciation for Jane’s withdrawal, because it makes all the difference.

At night ,though, I would drift into dreams so vivid I felt I was actually reliving moments Nico and I had shared – his hands on my back, his smell, his taste on my tongue, his voice calling my name, his weight in the bed beside me – and I would startle awake. For minutes afterward, I refused to believe it had only been a dream. And then I couldn’t get back to sleep, my sadness so heavy and palpable I feared I might never sleep again. In those long, dark hours, Nico haunted me like a phantom limb.

Overall: This modern day retelling cleverly leaves the bones of the original intact, staying remarkably close to the plot of Jane Eyre, but in a fresh and youthful package. Jane and her rock star love are nods to Bronte’s original characters, but they are all their own. I may have been disenchanted in the middle, but the ending reversed those feelings. Ultimately, this is a book that lived up to my expectations and I closed the book with a sigh of satisfaction. Highly recommended for fans of Jane Eyre.

Buy: Amazon | Powell’s | The Book Depository

Other reviews:
Angieville – positive
Persephone Reads – positive review
Book Fare Delights – 2 out of 5 (It didn’t work for her, but she explains why very nicely)