Review: Shut Out by Kody Keplinger

Title: Shut Out
Author: Kody Keplinger
Published: September 5th 2011
Source: Purchased
Genre: Young Adult Contemporary
Buy: Amazon ~*~ Barnes & Noble
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Caution: May contain spoilers

Most high school sports teams have rivalries with other schools. At Hamilton High, it's a civil war: the football team versus the soccer team. And for her part, Lissa is sick of it. Her quarterback boyfriend, Randy, is always ditching her to go pick a fight with the soccer team or to prank their locker room. And on three separate occasions Randy's car has been egged while he and Lissa were inside, making out. She is done competing with a bunch of sweaty boys for her own boyfriend's attention.

Then Lissa decides to end the rivalry once and for all: She and the other players' girlfriends go on a hookup strike. The boys won't get any action from them until the football and soccer teams make peace. What they don't count on is a new sort of rivalry: an impossible girls-against-boys showdown that hinges on who will cave to their libidos first. But what Lissa never sees coming is her own sexual tension with the leader of the boys, Cash Sterling...

My Thoughts:

After reading The DUFF, I was in love with Kody Keplinger's style of writing. It's one of those things where you know it isn't a 'one hit wonder' kind of situation. This is an author who can take any story and turn it into an epic story that not only touches you but also makes you laugh a lot. So, long story short, I absolutely had to get this book.

Lissa's idea to get this rivalry between the teams to end was pretty great. It brought out the best and worst in everyone, not to mention showed people for who they really are. Not just the boys, but also the girls. I don't know what it was, but I just did not like Randy from the start. It made me wonder why someone as sweet as Lissa would be with such a jerk. Since he's such an idiot, it doesn't take long for him to do something stupid.

In the meantime, Lissa is shelving books at the library with the assistance of Cash. Now, Cash... let me tell you right now, this guy is awesome. He has this genuine sweetness to him, and he actually has deep thoughts. It's hard for Lissa to resist his charm (heck, it would be hard for ME to resist his charm). It was very swoon-y. This quote pretty much says it all:

I didn't have that kind of fight in me.

For Lissa, caving in to this is like giving up on her cause, not to mention giving up control over a situation. It's hard for her to let go of control and let something else or someone else take over. This aspect of her personality was one I especially liked. She needed to grow from this because:

You can't control everything. Sometimes you just need to relax and have faith that things will work out. Let go a little and just let life happen.

Shut Out was brilliant. Just plain brilliant. This premise is very amusing in itself, but the way it was developed was in the best way possible. As I mentioned above, the way Kody Keplinger writes makes the story great. She isn't afraid to just tell it like it is, not only life lessons, but also she has this way of turning a phrase that makes you laugh out loud. If you haven't read Kody Keplinger yet, I strongly suggest that you do. Go get one of her books. Now.

My Rating:

Review: The DUFF by Kody Keplinger

Title: The DUFF
Author: Kody Keplinger
Source: Purchased
Genre: Young Adult
Buy: Amazon ~*~ Barnes & Noble
Add to your Goodreads shelf
Caution: May contain spoilers

.
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.

~synopsis from Goodreads

My Thoughts:

There’s just something about a book that surrounds a girl who hates a guy. It’s probably why I’m writing one, and thoroughly enjoy reading them. Bianca is a snarky and smart girl that you can’t help but love. She’s facing some serious issues at home, and this causes her to act out away from home. Sure, maybe it was stupid the way she acted out--by hooking up with Wesley Rush. And not to make excuses for her, but she wanted the distraction.

Why did she need to be distracted? She didn’t want to face reality--her parents living in separate locations, her mother after all these years finally filing for divorce, her alcoholic father teetering on the edge of a relapse. When those things happen, you either get depressed and cry, or you dive into anything else that is right there. Even if it’s with someone she hates.

Wesley is pretty much the biggest jerk for pointing out the whole DUFF thing to begin with to her. I mean, what guy would say that to a girl? Isn’t it supposed to be some sort of covert operation where the DUFF is supposed to be appreciative of the personal interest while he pounces on her friend? What I think is the worst is that Bianca took it to heart and allowed it to upset her. It might’ve been partially due to what else was going on in her life that made her more vulnerable to letting it get to her AND hooking up with Wesley.

The distraction distracts her from her friends Casey and Jessica. They get upset with her for bailing on them without reason. She didn’t mention the Wesley thing and her family situation to them. When she starts thinking something more is happening with Wesley, she bails. ‘He’s not a one girl kind of guy’ is her attitude. So she moves on. But can she move on? As much of a jerk as he is, he really was there for her. A lot. (My thoughts on this, some guys seem like jerks because they’re just cocky and sarcastic, deep down they can be caring… it just takes a trained eye to distinguish between the real jerks and only cocky guys… if that makes sense…) And if we distract ourselves from the distraction that we maybe might want to focus on, we may hurt ourselves.

There’s so much more to The DUFF than just the enemies with benefits aspect. The reality of her family’s problems is a harsh one. Facing those things can be extremely hard and extraordinarily depressing (speaking as a child of an alcoholic parent AND divorce). And Bianca’s take on the fact that everyone is a DUFF is true. We all feel like one, even if we are in a popular group and everyone loves us. But we should never let our doubts and negative thoughts get to us.

The DUFF is an amazing read. Despite Bianca’s potty mouth. It was funny AND real. It delved more into the emotions rather than what Bianca chose to do. Kody Keplinger is just spectacular. Definitely recommended!

My Rating:

Exceptional: Stay up until at least 1 AM