My Book Boyfriend: Wesley Rush

It's my favourite time of the week - My Book Boyfriend day! MBB is hosted by the lovely Missie at The Unread Reader, and it's all about fictional boys who we want to do bad things with date. This week my book boyfriend is the smart, hot, flirtatious, seemingly-jerky-but-really-vulnerable Wesley Rush from Kody Keplinger's The DUFF. In the book he's described as tall, with dark curly hair and grey eyes. Somehow in my head that translated to Chace Crawford. Mainly because the boy is so, so pretty.

Swoon-Worthy Quotes

 “I think about you much more than any self-respecting man would like to admit, and I'm insanely jealous of Tucker - something I never thought I'd say. Moving on after you is impossible. No other girl can keep me on my toes the way you can. No one else makes me WANT to embarrass myself by writing sappy letters like this one.
Only you.”

"Wesley didn’t say anything. He just sat with me in silence. I didn’t even realize he was holding my hand until after the tears had stopped. Once I’d caught my breath and wiped away the few salty drops from my eyes, he opened his door and walked around to open mine. He helped me out of the car—not that I needed it, but it was still nice—and led me up to the porch with his arm tight around me, like the way he’d guided me out of my house, keeping me close. As if he was afraid I might slip away in the darkness between his car and the front door."

“'Wesley Rush doesn’t chase girls, but I’m chasing you.'”

Review: The DUFF By Kody Keplinger

In a sentence: A fun read that aims to achieve more than it does.

The DUFF tells the story of 17-year-old Bianca Piper, who is opinionated, snarky and super-close to her two gorgeous best friends. She begins to doubt herself when Wesley Rush, the hottest guy in school and resident man-whore, dubs her "the DUFF" (Designated Ugly Fat Friend). She also has issues at home, and when she's assigned to be Wesley's partner on a school project (natch) she turns to him for solace... in the form of sex. Yep, they become friends enemies with benefits, and so begins a complicated relationship with lots of complicated feelings.

I think the book had great potential, but it didn't quite make it there. The message of loving and accepting yourself is an awesome one, but was pushed a bit too hard at times, so we're told rather than shown, making it slightly less meaningful. The writing is solid and the story is unique and interesting, but the pacing felt a little off to me - for instance, it felt like Bianca went from throwing Coke in Wesley's face to jumping in bed with him in a matter of pages (i.e. way too quickly). The characters, too, are interesting and likable overall, but also really got on my nerves a few times. I loved the fact that Bianca is smart and sarcastic, but her snarkiness got a bit grating after a while and could come across as bitter and even nasty. Plus, for someone so cynical and opinionated, it was surprising that she got SO hung up on the Duff thing - and went along with Wesley even when he kept calling her that, without ever mentioning how much it hurt her. As for Wesley - he was totally adorable and swoon-worthy, but again didn't quite live up to how amazing he could have been. I was waiting for him to say or do certain things, and they never happened.

All these things aren't major complaints - it just means that instead of LOVING the book as I thought I would, I only liked it. I think a lot of it comes down to Keplinger's age - she was a teenager herself while writing it, and that's pretty damn amazing, but the book does feel a bit immature and lacking in perspective in places. Having said that, I'm excited to read more of Keplinger's work and see how she develops as a writer. All things considered, The DUFF is a great debut and I had a lot of fun reading it.

Rating: 3/5

Eye Candy
I pictured Kat Dennings as Bianca and Chace Crawford as Wesley.

Source

Source

Fine Print
Genre: Young Adult
Published: 2010
Publisher: Poppy Books
Get It: Book Depository

My Book Boyfriend: Jack Force

My Book Boyfriend is a weekly meme hosted by Missie at The Unread Reader, all about fictional boys who make us swoon. This week my book boyfriend is Jack Force from Melissa de la Cruz's Blue Bloods series. While I didn't love the books, Jack is definitely worth a swoon or two. 

About Jack

• Full name is Benjamin Force, Jack is a nickname. He's blonde, athletic, graceful and "painfully" handsome. Needless to say, he's the most popular guy in school.
• He's a vampire and a fallen angel - and not just any angel, but Abbadon, the Angel of Destruction.
• He's kind, sensitive and romantic, but due to his violent past he sometimes has anger issues. 
• He loves reading, and one of my fave things about him is the way he romances Schuyler via hidden messages in books.
• I picture him as Chace Crawford. 

Swoon-worthy Quotes

"She wanted to run to him - to skip, giggling into his arms - but she savoured the way he was looking at her. She could drown in the intensity of his gaze... Outside of this place, they could be nothing to each other. He would not even allow himself to look at her. He could not afford it. So she wanted him to enjoy himself, to look at her as much as he liked. 'Get over here,' he growled."

"Before she could breathe, there he was, solid against her, his warm lips on hers, his hands around her waist... she could feel his heart beating against hers and the intensity of the emotion exploding between them. She returned his kisses with an ardour that she did not know she was capable of - and he buried his face in her neck, as if he wanted to breathe in every part of her, and she buckled to the floor so that he fell with her, until they were lying down, still kissing, their bodies entwined like roots of a tree."

"Jack looked at her and raised an eyebrow. He looked so serious in the moonlight, but his eyes were teasing. They were sparkling. This was a boy who spoke through books: longing and exile - The Plague, banter and obstacles - Pride and Prejudice. He spoke her language. And with his hair tousled and his eyes shining, she watched as he held her arms above her head, so that she was immobile beneath him... Then he bent down and kissed her so gently, a feathery whisper that melted against her as she pressed her body against his."

Images via Chace Crawford Online