In honor of the imminent release of Perfect Fifths (9 DAYS !!), I've decided to revisit all of the books in the Jessica Darling series. Let me preface this whole post by saying that these are some of my favorite books of all time. If every book that I was required to read for school was as interesting and compelling as these, I would eat them up and ask for more.
Jessica Darling, cutesy name aside, is a cynical, borderline depressed high school student. After her very best friend moves away, she's left to cope with the Clueless Crew, three of her friends who have no idea how shallow and materialistic they are. As a track star, she's constantly hounded by her dad and by the embarrassment of her compilation of race-losing moments, Notso Darling's Agony of Defeat, Vol. I. Jessica comments on her world through a journal that she obsessively writes in to try to defeat her persistent insomnia.
Enter Marcus Flutie, an infamous Dreg who taunts and tempts Jessica at every turn. By egging her one he helps her to come to grips with with her lackluster friends and her hidden desires.
One of the most realistic things that Jess brings up is her obsession with her virginity. It is something that she thinks about at every turn in the road. Her other obsession is her nightly conversations with Marcus. He becomes her Tylenol PM, lulling her to sleep every night. For the first time, she is seriously considering giving up her virginity to someone she has previously considered the source of all her problems.
This book gives us two great literary characters: Marcus and Jessica. He becomes one of our fantasies (I've had sexy dreams about him :). She is relatable, she is each and every one of us. We are all Jessica, looking for that someone who is our best friend, in male form. We are all looking for Marcus. Someone who relates to us on every level and is an equal in love and in friendship. Their sexual tension is what drives the novel and, in turn, drives us.
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