book review: fourth comings by megan mccafferty

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Welcome to day four of Megan McCafferty and Jessica Darling week at nomadreader!

This book is the fourth in the Jessica Darling series, and the summary and review will have some spoilers if you haven't read the earlier books.

Summary: Jessica Darling is out of college and believably barely working. She nannies for her sister (who pays her an obscene but believable amount of money), and she lives with Hope (Hope!) and another familiar Pineville face. As Jessica is celebrating her independence and adulthood, Marcus is starting college, as a first-year-student, at Princeton. Cue relationship drama: once again, Marcus and Jessica are not at the same place in their lives.

Review: I love the opening scene of this book. Our beloved Jessica has discovered some of her own bad-assness! As perhaps the only fan of these books who doesn't really care about Marcus (I don't necessarily dislike him, and there are times I'm rooting for them, but mostly, I'm a pure Jessica fan: I want her to succeed and make me laugh along the way), I loved this book. The timing is quite different from the first three: it all takes place in about a week. Jessica breaks up with Marcus; he proposes. She spends the week (and the book) contemplating their relationship, but this timeline gives her pining for Marcus and general indecision an adultness. This book is a departure from Jessica's teen angst, but she's still Jessica. I also loved having Hope be a main character. It was delightful to finally get to know her as an individual. I confess, too, that there's a certain comfort in seeing a smart, funny character you admire struggle with the normal post-college problems. After a less enjoyable (but still great) third book, it was wonderful to return to one I enjoyed immensely. For fans of the series, there are many familiar faces in surprising places; it's delightful to meet old friends and foes and see what they're up to as well.

Rating: 4.5 stars (out of 5) - really loved it
Pages: 320
Publication date: 2007
Source: my local public library

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