Search - Charmed Thirds

In some ways, very similiar to the first two - but in others much, much different. The book spans her entire college life, and is extremly sexual in nature. While I enjoyed reading since it caused me in some ways to reminice on people I knew and my college experiences (where I graduated 15 years ago) - I'm not sure I really liked/related to the Jessica that was telling this story.

Just like the last two books in this series, Jessica is back full of snark and hilariousness. You can always expect great writing, irony, and comedy in any of these books. However, I have to say that so far this was not my favorite. Four years of college were compressed into this book making it seem like everything and nothing happened all at once. There were concentrated moments on events that I didn't care about too much and found myself trying to read faster to get through to the next part. I never did that with the other two. All in all, I think that this is still a great book and one that must be read to complete the Jessica Darling series, but I have to give it a B- instead of an A+.

Darling! The whole Jessica Darling series is a wonderful throw back to my youth! Jessica in the College Years is both witty and educated! I could see myself in the pages of Jessica's composition notebooks. I really like this series!

A great follow-up to the first two installments, definitely not a disappointment. I love the honesty in true-to-life situations and the real emotion in this book. Nothing is sugar coated but the character approaches her circumstances with humor. I'm really loving this series!

Reviewed by Jocelyn Pearce for TeensReadToo.com

CHARMED THIRDS covers the college years of Jessica Darling, a character previously introduced in Megan McCafferty's novels SLOPPY FIRSTS and SECOND HELPINGS. I can't compare it to the other two, as I haven't read them, but I can say that this is a fantastic book!

Jessica has a wonderfully funny, original voice that resonates throughout her journals, kept over her breaks from going to school at Columbia. Jessica is just a girl from New Jersey who made it into Columbia, and her life, with all its trials and triumphs, seems very real. She's struggling to hold on to her old friends while making new ones at school, trying to survive in the big city of New York, and working to earn money for school.

There's not a real overall plot arc, unless you want to say it's Jessica's relationship with her boyfriend, Marcus Flutie. Marcus has gone across the country to California to attend a Buddhist college, and Jessica misses him like crazy. Jessica and Marcus reminded me a lot of another fictional couple, CC and Shrimp from Rachel Cohn's books GINGERBREAD, SHRIMP, and CUPCAKE. In both couples, the guy is an offbeat and untraditional hippie in California (and both explore Buddhism!), and the girl is living in New York and deciding if her life should be about her or about the guy. Both Marcus and Shrimp have older brothers, too. There are quite a lot of parallels! Readers who enjoy Rachel Cohn's books are sure to like CHARMED THIRDS as well.

The brilliance of McCafferty's novel does not lie in what goes on (though Jessica's internship at the magazine True is just one of many interesting and amusing experiences she has!), but in the strength of her characters. All of the characters are very real, and very interesting. Add that to Megan McCafferty's excellent writing, and you've got a wonderful book! I'll certainly be looking up the first two books as well--it was that good!