The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

Seventeen-year-old Bianca Piper is cynical and loyal, and she doesn’t think she’s the prettiest of her friends by a long shot. She’s also way too smart to fall for the charms of man-slut and slimy school hottie Wesley Rush. In fact, Bianca hates him. And when he nicknames her “the Duff,” she throws her Coke in his face.

But things aren’t so great at home right now, and Bianca is desperate for a distraction. She ends up kissing Wesley. Worse, she likes it. Eager for escape, Bianca throws herself into a closeted enemies-with-benefits relationship with him.

Until it all goes horribly awry. It turns out Wesley isn’t such a bad listener, and his life is pretty screwed up, too. Suddenly Bianca realizes with absolute horror that she’s falling for the guy she thought she hated more than anyone. -via Goodreads

The Review

Contains slight spoilers, the big ones have been hidden

Where do I start? 

Well, first off. I've seen places like The Nest. They're gross. People high out of their minds, grinding (*shutters*), and plenty of alcohol. My friends try to drag me there and I'm like nuh uh, I ain't going in that dump. So, yes, I applaud Bianca for refusing to take part in that madness. And from then on, I could relate to her fairly well. 

Until the meaningless sex with a boy she hates. Then I slowly pulled my pompoms down and stopped rooting for her. Why sex? Get involved in a damn sport. Work on your cardio. I'm not a religious person, really. I just don't see how having sex with a guy for a distraction from your life is something that's okay? I thought it was kind of weird that she was completely fine with being naked in front of him with all of her insecurities, it just didn't seem like something she would do. At that point, I was rethinking her whole character. And it never caught up with her. She never really felt horrible about it. I thought it was really disgusting, considering the fact that he slept with any girl that was willing. I mean, he slept with someone he considered a DUFF, right? 

Okay, now, the whole DUFF thing. I get it! This novel was not created to tell you about avoiding your problems in life by having casual sex with people you hate. Everyone feels like the DUFF sometimes, even the pretty girls that you think have it all. And love yourself no matter your faults. The message was good. I liked it. Keplinger did it in a fun way, too. Designated Ugly Fat Friend, I mean, c'mon, that's funny. 

Then there's [highlight for spoiler->]the divorce. I would be pretty pissed id my mom or dad sent divorce papers in the mail like that. In fact, I would refuse to talk to them until they faced the other one like an adult.  And when her dad, oh, her undeveloped dad, starts drinking and has his tirade, I was thinking, great, more reason to have more sex with good 'ol Wes *facepalm*. But then immediately after, her dad realizes his mistakes and jumps back into AA meetings. This was totally unrealistic. In most cases, alcoholics need outside help and encouragement to stop drinking. Her dad really wasn't getting any help from Bianca, seeing that every time she had a problem she would run the opposite direction to Wesley. It was just odd. 

I didn't like Toby. He radiated blandness. Good guys always have to be the boring ones, it kills me. It also kills me to say this, I was rooting for Wesley. Oh my. I can't believe I just wrote that... I loathe guys like him. They walk around with this self assurance that makes me want to slap them silly. But he did go through a good change. It wasn't entirely believable, okay, it wasn't really believable at all, but this is a love story, you're prepared for these kind of things going in. 

Over all, a fun read. I also question the morals of every single person in this high school that are willing to do it on a moment's notice. Had a good message with the whole DUFF thing. So it balanced out.

3/5 stars

Mockingjay by Suzanne Collins

Young Katniss Everdeen has survived the dreaded Hunger Games not 
once, but twice, but even now she can find no relief. In fact, the dangers 
seem to be escalating: President Snow has declared an all-out war on 
Katniss, her family, her friends, and all the oppressed people of District 
12. The thrill-packed final installment of Suzanne Collins' Hunger 
Games trilogy will keep young hearts pounding.- via Goodreads

The Review
Tears, lots of 'em. 

Well, Suzanne Collins has just written one of the best series of books I've ever read. Not to mention my favorite. I hope I can write my review tomorrow because I need to voice my thoughts on this, everything's jumbled and, well, I'm trying to sort myself out right now. Dripping nose, puffy red eyes... I must be a wreck. I want to start now but anything I write might be a bunch of incoherent rambling due to my exhaustion. REVIEW TOMMOROW *crosses fingers tightly* 

That was my initial reaction to Mockingjay, written sometime between three and four in the morning. After that, I  laid my head on my pillow, and just thought about all of the characters that I love so much. Katniss, her strength and compassion. Peeta, his way with words and kindness. Gale, his passion and straightforwardness. Finnick, his humor and AWESOMENESS. I could go on and on.... and on. Before I knew it, I was sobbing, again. I've never shed so many tears for a book, hell, for a book series! And there were seven Harry Potter books. I just felt it. I kept on laughing to myself that I was crazy for caring SO much about fictional characters, but then again, why would anyone read if you didn't love who the people were woven in the story. I came to the conclusion I am NOT crazy for caring, I would be crazy if I didn't care. So, there. This book is like riding the Knight Bus (Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Askaban reference, go here to see the Knight Bus scene). You're going full speed, until a little old lady crosses the street and SCREEEEEECH. You stop dead, your face slams into the glass painfully, the seconds tick by, and then your off again, dodging traffic. One more thing before the spoilers begin, I've never been Team Peeta or Team Gale. I like both, equally. I didn't care who Katniss ended up with because she had good reason to choose either. I didn't even care if she chose to stay alone. I just wanted her to be happy, she deserved it more than anyone. I loved Mockingjay.

5/5 stars

***THE SPOILER FREE PART OF MY REVIEW ENDS***

"Katniss, there is no District 12." Catching Fire ended with this, from Gale. And, since I'm late on The Hunger Games train, I already had Mockingjay sitting right next to me. If I didn't and had to wait a year to find out what happened to my favorite district, I might have lost it. But I didn't. The shiny cover stared at me, looking innocent. A mockingjay in flight, how much more uplifting could it get? It tricked me into thinking I was safe. I knew it from the first sentence I read, this was not going to be a happy read.


Katniss, walking through the ashes of District 12 brought me to tears. Most of the people in town died, including Peeta's entire family. Sure, the mom was a complete witch, but the dad was kind. We never got introductions to either of his brothers, I still felt heartbroken for Peeta.


When Katniss finally agrees to become the Mockingjay, the symbol for the entire revolution, I'm relieved. This meant that she was, at least, attempting to get herslef back together, but you have to give the girl a break! She's just been through two Hunger Games, her town was completely destroyed, and Peeta is getting tortured by the Capitol. Me? I think I'd just become a morphling addict and peace out to the world. Katniss's first mission as the Mockingjay is to visit a District 8 hospital. It gave me goosebumps to read about all of the hope that she gave those people sitting there, wounded. When the hospital's destroyed, I balk. I wasn't expecting it, and it just added fuel to the fire with the hatred for the Capitol. When Katniss and Gale go all bad ass with their bows and shoot down some planes, I cheer them on! Revenge!


All of Katniss's time spent with Gale really made him grow on me. And Finnick, he was just a great character. When he got Annie back, I loved it. I knew the real him would come back, better then ever. And then... that brings me to his death. Honestly, I think it was done for shock value. There was no reason for him to die. Blow off one of his legs! Make his face disfigured! They way he died just made me cringe. Then Katniss has his life flash before her eyes, and it was just beautiful writing.


As one yanks back his head to take a death bite, something bizarre happens. It's as if I'm Finnick, watching images of my life flash by. The mast of a boat, a silver parachute, Mags laughing, a pink sky, Beetee's trident, Annie in her wedding dress, waves breaking over rocks. Then it's over.


 I had to stop, and have a cry session before I could go on. I just kept waiting for someone to die. Peeta, Gale, Pollux, Cressida, and Katniss. All are in danger. 


Then, the final battle, where Prim dies. Her death didn't affect me. I felt like she was just there. We didn't really see much of her in all three books. We always had Katniss talking about how much she loved her sister and how she needed to protect her. I really figured that it would happen, actually. It would figure, you replace her in The Hunger Games so she doesn't die, then kill her in the final installment. It broke Katniss, though. And guess what?! Gale and Peeta made it through!

When it's time for Katniss to kill Snow, I know she won't. Not because she feels a last pang of mercy, but because she's going to kill Coin. I'm glad she did. She was as snakey as Snow. The ending with Katnisss and Peeta living happily ever after didn't really make any sense to me... But you can't say Katniss didn't deserve it. I'm just saying the people haven't changed one bit and they, in reality, probably would've made her some kind of puppet, set an example out of her. Put her in some kind of solitary confinement. Who knows what kind of stuff these people would come up with? 


One last thing, I was kind of dissapointed that Katniss didn't mention either of her kids' names, I hope her and Gale stayed in touch, and her mom... ugh.

Defiance by Lili St. Crow Review

Hmmm, how do I start? The beginning of Defiance was great. Dru is totally bad ass, and finally makes her first kill on a sucker. Whoop, go Dru. But as the story went on, I found myself cheering her on and then wanting to throw a bucket of ice over her head, slap her, and then scream, "Get your head on straight!" Well, actually, one part because I want her to save Graves already, not snivel about him! So I guess they balanced each other out, and this book was rated three stars. 

ENTER AT YOUR OWN RISK, THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS: 
So, after the cliffhanger in Jealousy, I was absolutely positive Dru was gonna step up, and save Graves. Instead, I got her pining for Graves, not doing a thing about it. The fact that Dru sat around in bed crying completely destroyed my portrayal of her, I mean really. She just depended on her set of movie star lookalike Order and Christophe. Oh Christophe, I actually liked you until you started acting like a controlling creep. Then, you got really annoying, overprotective, and super creepy. I won't even go into your personality disorder. *shivers*  I didn't even get an action scene outta you. You just stood there and screamed at Dru for half of your appearances. I can't comprehend why Dru can even stand you... It depresses me because I liked you before!

Dru has major trust problems. She either trusts the wrong person, and ends up regretting it big time. Or she doesn't trust the one she should trust. (e.g. the whole Christophe and Leon situation) 

Anyways, when Dru does make her first kill, Chris gets pretty upset because she didn't follow the plan, and she got a few scrapes in the process. Nothing sinister, just scrapes. And Chris's reaction is as follows... 

"Are you damaged? Are you hurt" Christophe held me at arm's length, his fingers gentle but iron-hard. He checked me from top to toe, and his eyes narrowed when he saw the dried blood crusting on my arm and the scrape on my leg. 

*facepalm* Yes, Chris is now a middle aged mother. Maybe I'm overreacting to that whole scene because I just don't like Chris anymore, but whatever, it's my review. Moving on... 


I loved Nat! I think her and Dru got along together very well. The fun moments between these too had me laughing out loud, and I like that Dru is broadening her friendship horizon. 

Now we're gonna fast forward through the training sessions Dru has with Chris. Then the confusion on whether or not Dru should make a move on Chris because she might still "like like" Graves. Yeah, Dru, remember him? He could be DYING! And you're having a dandy time with Chris the middle age mother. Sure, you're training, but I know you could be asking to try and find Graves! Then Dru gets attacked by a larval form... thingy. It was never really explained what the hell it was. That was disgusting. I did like that we got to see more of Dru's abilities when this happened. Her powers are revealed more and more in every book, which is great because I love to see her strengthen. 

Okay, here it comes, Leon found "information" on Chris. The stuff that Leon showed Dru pretty much said that Chris was lying about everything, and had handed Graves to Sergej the evil vampire but also Chris's father. Of course, Dru believes everything Leon says, and goes to the address that Chris is supposedly is holding him. (Trust issues, Dru!) Once there, she's greeted by Sergej which translates into her getting knocked out and waking up in a bed. Turns out it's the room Anna (the very misguided svetocha that tried to kill Dru in the last book) and Graves are being held. Meanwhile, as if that wasn't enough Dru is almost done blooming, and is having difficulties with the process. I feel like I've been waiting for this moment forever!!! 

Then Dru does battle with a gazillion vamps and Sergej. Sergej is dead? Not sure about that one, but I'm pretty sure he's not. Anna is dead? Not sure about her either... Then, somehow, the book ended with Dru, Graves, and Ash (Ash is the Broken wulfen that finally managed to change back to human form again, hoo-rah!) going out on their own wild adventure, abandoning the Schola. Dru got her independence back, and now she's feeling like it's her against the world. I really don't want to see her pining after Chris in the next book. But I don't think her and Graves are couple material. More best friends. Who knows how Lili is going to end this series? There's so many directions it can take from here! 


3/5 Stars