Customer Reviews

Charmed Thirds

5 star:		(72)
4 star:		(18)
3 star:		(17)
2 star:		(14)
1 star:		(16)

 

 

The brilliance of the first two books in this trilogy was that the reader was responsible for a lot-we were required to "get" Jessica unlike her parents, her peers, and ever her closest friends. And Mccafferty wrote with such precision and wit that Jessica became endeared, a hero, but she never strayed from the perfunctory happenstance of all pubescent life. We "got" Jessica, bought her hook, line, and sinker. The wholeness of Jessica's character-her worrisome, analytical nature juxtaposed to her flaws-made her more real and true than most characters in teen lit books, not merely a compilation of adorable quirks and journals filled with angst over prom dates and zits.

The first books worked because they spent time developing Jessica and made her existence both incredibly cool (She's snarky and likes John Hughes films! She listens to The Smiths! She writes editorials for her school newspaper! She likes nerds!) and incredibly tragic. Though from a rational standpoint, a poem stuffed into one's backpack is not the stuff of Hamlet, Mcafferty made it true anguish. We were so wrapped up in the endearing Jessica and so confused about Marcus Flutie's intentions that it was-- perhaps the sign of a truly genuine story-- as if the events were unfolding in our own lives. The lip-nip was ours, likewise the heartache of Len Levy. The annoyingness of the Clueless Crew. We felt it all, and wanted to scrawl, "Life sucks and then your die," on our book covers, too.

I waited with baited breath for the final installment in the Jessica Darling Epic, and trudged through the pages with alarm. J. (a laughable collegiate moniker) is now a woman. And not the woman I wanted her to be. Somewhere along the way she picked up the habit of leaving huge chunks of time out of her journals and letters- instead reporting sexual trysts and ridiculous scenarios (her parents bang-a-langin' in the living room upon her visit home, to her utter horror) whenever she felt the urge. There is nothing cohesive about the book. J's new personality is both uncharming and totally annoying. The sweetness and sincerity are gone now, and what's left is the making of an OC archetype. Worse still, of course, the writing grew from unrelentingly realistic to slapstick one-dimensional. Why even include the Clueless Two and Co. if there has been no change at all? As a reader, I'm offended that the writer who once expected me to understand, to "get", the complicated psyche of her heroine now paints a story so clumsily and manically. Subplots come and go, characters apparently fall of the face of the earth, only to reappear chapters later in some offhand parenthesized comment.

There is simply, absolutely, unequivocally, nothing charming about this latest attempt at a novel. Save yourselves.

Jessica Darling is in college at Columbia in Megan Mccafferty's third installment of this series. And suprisingly, the same angsty, existential characteristics that made her such a great character in the first two books, make her nearly unbearable in Charmed Thirds.

The book is told in a series of letters, emails and mostly diary entries as Jessica deals with summers at home with her parents, with college friends, a long-distance love affair that is on but mostly off, internships and bad jobs.

The problem is, she's not a very nice person, and she's hardly interesting enough to sustain the novel. It's interesting to see this young woman, who had been the most honest and cool of her high school crowd, morph into a petulant, judgmental and unreliable young adult. Her warts-and-all honesty was endearing in high school, but by college you just want her to grow up a little bit and get some perspective.

It's interesting how the formula worked before, but now it falls flat. As a teen-ager, pointing out the bad clothing choices and faux-ironic tee-shirt messages, that seemed kind of wry and amusing. But in a college-age student, it seems snooty and shallow.

The book is well-written, and an interesting slice of contemporary college life.

It's a shame that Jessica hasn't aged gracefully enough to make her someone whose journals are worth a peek.

Like pretty much everyone else reading this book, I read Megan McCafferty's first two books, so I can only contrast them. In this one, it seemed at times like the author was trying too hard. The descriptions of some of the college boys, like the "bright-eyed death cab cuties" or being "dashbored" by them, literally made me roll my eyes. Even though I get the references, maybe I'm too old (I'm certainly outside the demographic) because it just seemed cheesy.

What happened to the Republican guy (no spoilers) seemed like it was supposed to move me, but it didn't; I was just left wondering why it was so significant. Also, I didn't like Marcus in this one, and the internship at True magazine also seemed like it could've been written to be more amusing. I did like the focus on Jessica's sister, though.

In short, some of the good aspects of the first two books were still here, but it felt like this story was slapped together quickly and too much happened. Whatever magic there was between Jessica and Marcus seems to be gone.

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.

"Sloppy Firsts" is one of my favorite young adult novels. It was well written and witty, with a great love story involving complex characters. I wasn't as thrilled with "Second Helpings," but was still excited to read this third book in the series. The book didn't live up to my high hopes.

Is there anyone who doubts that at the end of everything Jessica and Marcus are going to be together? Obviously they are meant to be, but I feel like I'm being taken on a long and depressing trip until they finally, finally end up together. This book was especially long and depressing.

Jessica has finally escaped her oppressive hometown and is a student at an Ivy League school. She should be thrilled. This is her opportunity to expand her mind, to meet new friends and focus her life. She does none of these things, and as I read about her squandering every opportunity that comes her way I found myself developing anxiety. Why couldn't she make good decisions? Why couldn't she see she was screwing up her future? Why couldn't she just be happy for a change?

The more I read, the more uneasy I became. The resolution at the end wasn't enough to satisfy me, and I found myself growing more impatient with Jessica every moment, instead of feeling sympathy for her plight. It was a disappointing feeling to have about a character I so loved in the first book.

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 ;)

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.

I admit that I was hesitant to buy this book because I had built it up so much in my mind. And I read some of the negative reviews about Jessica being such a downer and a sex maniac and too political and there's not enough Marcus blahblahblah. But my curiosity got the best of me and I bought it and I don't regret it. I won't bother summing up the plot but this book is by far the most mature of the three which makes sense because Jessica is older now. Others have made this point but I'll say it again: She's not 16 year old Jessica anymore! Let Jessica grow up, people! This book is also the most realistic because Megan McCafferty gets all the details just right about college life, city life, hometown life. Second Helpings was incredible but let's face it, was kind of a fantasy. I guess some readers don't like to have that whole happy Jessica/Marcus fantasy ruined. I prefer the raw honesty of this book over some fluffy romance because it's more like real life. And as a confused college student myself I can tell you that even the most confident girl can sort of lose herself and forget who she is for a while when she's on her own for the first time in her life. I can't think of another series like this where we get to see a girl grow up and go through so many life changes. I think Megan McCafferty is an awesome writer and I will follow Jessica's journey straight to the nursing home!

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.