Justine's Thoughts: The Jessica Darling Series by Megan McCafferty

The Jessica Darling Series
By Megan McCafferty

Warning: Squeals about this series up ahead.

Any thoughts:

A lot actually, therefore I will express all of them through bullets!

• Jessica Darling’s life in ten years. From 16 to 26. Only in five books. Definitely loved it.
• My favourite one out of the five: Perfect Fifths. My second favourite: Sloppy Firsts.
• My favourite characters (major & minor and in no specific order): Jessica Darling, Marcus Flutie, Sunny Dae, Marin, Hope Weaver, Shea (because of her hilariousness), and (to be honest) Bridget Milhokovich.
• I’ve created a list of words I did not understand while reading the series and in the end, there were more than 25. For most, I went to the dictionary and looked them up. For a few, they’re explained after being mentioned. So to sum it up, my vocabulary has quite expanded (I hope)!
• It’s written in the format of a journal by the heroine - Jessica Darling. Though in the fifth book, that changes and I think it was an excellent idea, which is probably why I loved that one the best.
• In the first four books, Jessica darling contemplates a lot (emphasis on a lot) in her journal that I found myself (most of the time) skipping some paragraphs but only skimming through carefully to make sure I haven’t missed anything important. This is because later on, she’ll most likely mention it.
• Barry Manilow is very important in the whole entire series! So don’t skip it! In fact, I’ve become a Barry Manilow fan myself after reading Perfect Fifths.
• There are a ton of quotes I’d be willing to share though I’m sure I would give away something, so...I won’t.
• I would also type out the descriptions of each book but I’m now positive that it would spoil everything so, once again, I won’t.
• BUT! Maybe I can give the description of the first book, Sloppy Firsts, which will give you an idea of what the plot is like. (It’s located down below.)
• Jessica’s maturity as she ages and as the story progresses really shows throughout the whole series.
• Perfect Fifths had me: glancing at the next page even though I’m not supposed to, hold it tight to my chest, sobbing (without tears) because I didn't want the series to never ever end, read every single word and not skip anything, and wanting to rip it into shreds out of...anger? excitement? sadness? happiness? annoyance? I don’t know, you guess. I will not spoil anything, so I’ll leave that up to you.
• You might have wondered (or not) what made me move onto the next novel and the next. It’s the plot, I tell you. And Jessica’s humorous mind. Oh, and my curiosity.
• An extremely witty series overall. I enjoyed it so, so much.

Description of Sloppy Firsts:

“My parents suck ass. Banning me from the phone and restricting my computer privileges are the most tyrannical parental gestures I can think of. Don’t they realize that Hope’s the only one who keeps me sane? . . . I don’t see how things could get any worse.”

When her best friend, Hope Weaver, moves away from Pineville, New Jersey, hyperobservant sixteen-year-old Jessica Darling is devastated. A fish out of water at school and a stranger at home, Jessica feels more lost than ever now that the only person with whom she could really communicate has gone. How is she supposed to deal with the boy- and shopping-crazy girls at school, her dad’s obsession with her track meets, her mother salivating over big sister Bethany’s lavish wedding, and her nonexistent love life?