Charmed Thirds

While I was nearly dissuaded by some negative reviews claiming Charmed Thirds paled in comparison to Mccafferty's previous two novels, Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings, I bought it anyway. Moral of my experience: don't buy into negative hype. Charmed Thirds was every bit as good, real and addictive as Mccafferty's earlier masterpieces. Some readers may have been put off by Jessica's coming of age college experiences. However, I had the opposite reaction - I think the evolution of her character for better and worse just strengthened by admiration for Mccafferty as a writer. Had Jessica remained the same as she was in high school, the story would have become stagnate and fairy tale like. We cannot impose idealistic qualities on Jessica and neither should Mccafferty. Let's not pick up Mccafferty's fourth Jessica Darling story expecting to read exactly what we want to happen - let's let Jessica tell us what's going to happen.

I really enjoyed this book. Of course after the very long wait, expectations were at an all time high but I was thoroughly satisfied by the end of it. I have seen negative comments and really, Jessica Darling is not meant to be a role model for your daughters. And teenagers don't always want to read about someone who is perfect. Just because Jessica may have had sex or had a drink doesn't mean that I would make the same choices just because the character from my favourite book decided to. As much respect as I have for the character, from a teenager's perspective, if your daughter is intelligent, she won't be so easily influenced. McCafferty's writing is so marvellous that something like that is a cruel and lame reason to stop anyone from entering the wonderful world that is Jessica. Megan McCafferty has written about so many things that other books miss out on. There are so many beautiful insights that fill pages in Charmed Thirds. So many new blunders and revelations that you make with Jessica as you read through the book. I am addicted to the Jessica Darling series' because of the wit and humour. The jokes had me in stitches and it was so refreshing to read Jessica's diary entries which contained an extensive vocabulary. I highly recommend Charmed Thirds to anyone who has read the first two books. And if you haven't read the first two books, buy them first and add this one to your wishlist ;)

I've inhaled all of the Jessica Darling books. I read the first two in no time, and did the same with this one. I've grown up with Jessica and couldn't wait to see where she would be next. I cried with her, smiled with her, loved with her, hurt with her. McCafferty has such a beautiful way of expressing Jessica's emotions. She goes through so many things in these important years, that I myself am currently going through. It doesn't matter that I wasn't brought up in suburbia, her emotions are universal, reaching through different regions and classes. She's grown up a lot in this book. But, she still has a lot to go, which is why it takes so much to get to the ending. I love that. I love the journey she takes. It's painful and beautiful and real. Sometimes she does the right thing, sometimes she doesn't. Which is exactly what growing up means, trying new things out. Which is exactly where we should all be able to relate, it's at least where I can relate. Because the journey is hard, it can be beautiful in spots, but it's tricky and painful most of the time. Megan McCafferty has such a way with words that has made her my favorite author. She makes me understand that there are people out there that understand and that can relate. It's okay to be who you are, I've learned that right along with Jessica. Each book leaves me happy, but wanting more.

I recently got this book from my library, and after reading some of these negative reviews, I was fully ready to be completely dissapointed and never want to hear the word "notso" again in my life. So basically, I was completely surpised. This book was just as amazing as the last two books. Maybe not my favorite over Second Helpings, but still just as good. Megan stayed true to the series and presented a wonderful view of a broke college students trying to find her way in the world from Pineville. Jessica has changed... she is a lot more sexual, and more mature in this book. But seriously people, she's in college! If she was exactly the same as she was in HS, this book would have no point. Jessica, like probably all teens in the WORLD makes a few bad desicions in this book, but she overcomes them in the best way she can. To the people to think Jessica was crazy, think about her own heartbreak. Marcus goes and gives her the silent treatment for 2 YEARS because she was drunk and went a little to far with a guy. He sends her cryptic one word postcards. And after everything he did to her in book 2! He does everything he can to distance her, and Jessica in turn is left confused and with a void of wonder left inside of her. This book is still, the same old Jessica. Still witty, still liberal, and still quite obcessed with love and sex working out to her advantage. I love her humoress insight, as I did with every book, and I loved her relationships throughout the book, not matter how odd they might seem. I especially happy to see Len back in the picture, because if there was a part in the last book I wished had went differently, it was her realtionship with Len. One last note, if Jessica had simply stayed with Marcus and been an angel college student... the book would have been rather boring don't you think? Megan can't write the same book twice... it's illogical and pointless for the readers. Overall, EXCELLENT book my Megan McCafferty. This book was excellent, and I hope it's out in paperback soon so I can get my copy. I simply can't wait until the next edition comes out.

The most important aspect of this novel, and one that you have to be aware of to read this book, is that the Jessica Darling of Charmed Thirds is a different Jessica. It's astonishing how much college can change a person, but that is exactly what has happened here. The Jessica Darling of Pineville, class of 2002, was the cocky, attitude-y,if awkward feeling, salutatorian of her class. And she deliberately chose to attend an Ivy League college in the heart of New York City. Change is inevitable. Thus, in this novel, that confident Jessica is knocked off her "suburbumpkin" high horse onto the streets of Manhattan. Of course, new Jessica disappointed me at times. Her dissatisfaction with her urban life at Columbia was particularly disheartening. Her friendships and time spent there seemed like such a waste for someone who was so eager to go there at the beginning. However, these are not necessarily faults of the novel. They reflect, far more realistically than the first two books, that not everything goes right. As perpetually pissed off as Jessica was in the first two books, she was in her comfort zone. Now that she's forced herself out of it, her inability to accept her surroundings makes her seem far more human than perfect teenaged cynic. Her formerly breezy cynicism transitions into a far more earnest despair, as it reflects her burgeoning transition from adolescent to adult. Although her lengthy introspection becomes wearisome, it contributes significantly to the greater picture that the novel paints. However, one problem I did have with the book was that Columbia really failed to come alive for me. I assume this is because the Jessica's narration only spans her summer and winter vacations. While it is understandable how this makes the book more realistic, it also detaches the reader from the reality of the setting. Despite the undeniable reality of Jessica's newfound doubts within herself, the fact that we only see her for a few months throughout her four years at Columbia severely detracts from the book. Four years are crammed into 300+ pages, and in the end, it doesn't feel thorough at all. Nevertheless, this is a fitting continuation of Jessica Darling's saga. Needless to say, Marcus Flutie is as touching and exasperating a presence as ever, and Jessica's relationship with him is as absorbing as ever. This books leaves the door wide open for a fourth, and I'm still looking eagerly forward to reading that one.