Fourth Comings: A Novel Reviews

• Not horrible, but not what I hoped for

  
  By AX7QMRXX81L9K on 2007-09-01
  Like most reviewers, I am a passionate fan of the Jessica Darling books. I loved the first book and adored the second book even more. I was unhappy with Charmed Thirds, and I went into this book expecting to be disappointed and unhappy with the ending. Maybe that's why in the beginning of the book I was annoyed with the actual writing style. I eventually got over that and did find some parts to enjoy. I liked that Jessica spent time with her parents and had a nice talk with her father. Learning about her parents' early relationship gave some insight into why her mother is the way she is. The part where Jessica describes her sister and her sister's friends' lives as MILFs who want OTB (only the best) for their children was good. But I found myself wishing something would actually happen with or to Jessica. Since the whole book covers only one week's time, I suppose that was an unrealistic hope. Only when Jessica learned the secret about her best friend Hope and Marcus's hidden past did I feel a little bit of the old magic coming back.
  Maybe I'm shallow, but a big part of what I loved about the first two books was Marcus, and the latest two books don't include him much. Jessica thinks about him constantly and addresses him in her letter/journal, but he's not there to answer back. We aren't treated to the banter between the two of them that was so great in the beginning. Not that he's talked much lately anyway. He's turned into this practically mute, non-Buddhist, preachy type who I would probably find annoying to be around.
  My favorite parts of this book were where Jessica referenced something from the high school years, and that's not a good thing. I could just re-read the first two books if that's what I wanted. I haven't found much to love in the latest two books. I do still admire the writing and I think McCafferty has been consistent in the way she writes Jessica. But for me, it just doesn't work without Marcus. I suppose it is Megan McCafferty's vision to tell Jessica's story and not a sappy romance novel. Like real life, maybe Jessica doesn't live happily ever after with her high school boyfriend. But we're led to believe that Jessica and Marcus have a one-in-a-million kind of connection, and I think that could and should last forever. I hear McCafferty's writing a fifth and final installment in the series. I just hope she gives the fans what they long for, a happily-ever-after ending for the couple we love.
  
  

• Still Darling

  
  By AWVQR7YYTYJ1L on 2007-08-08
  This is the fourth (and imo, quite highly anticipated) book in the Jessica Darling series as it were known...home to some of the best books of teen angst and college angst alike, Sloppy Firsts, Second Helpings, Charmed Thirds, and now, Fourth Comings.
  
  These books come out a couple of years apart it seems - in part so McCafferty can make them VERY now...they are written attached to an actual date and time, with quite current language and pop culture references. If you've read the books before you'll know that they are written in diary format, with Jessica Darling, our cynical yet lovable heroine, ranting and jibing about the masses, and at times, even those close to her.
  
  This brings us to the first big difference in this book - although it is in journal format, it spans two notebooks, that are written specifically to Marcus Flutie, Jessica's long-time on-again off-again love object. As Jessica points out by the end of the book, writing a journal to Marcus is far different than writing a journal for herself - she feels like she is acting out a role for Marcus rather than just being herself in writing the notebooks, and it shows most prominently in Jessica's continued reflections on events surrounding Marcus, or events he may not have been present for (which she wouldn't have needed to do had the journals been just for her).
  
  A second big difference between this book and the past ones is the fact it does not span a year or two as the first 3 did (the third was Jessica's entire college life) but a simple, but action-packed week. That's not entirely fair though, as many of the conversations and thoughts Jessica has are flashbacks of conversations, moments, and memories that occured several weeks before where the story picks up, and in some cases, quite far back in Jessica's memory.
  
  The plot is basically as follows...when we last saw Jessica, her and Marcus reunited just in time for Jessica to take off on a month-long cross-country road trip with her best friend, Hope. When the trip is derailed, Jessica returns to New York City to figure out the 'what next'. The book picks up six months after this point, and fills in the gaps along the way as to where Jessica is living and how she is trying to scrape a living and pay her student loans. The book opens with Jessica pondering the demise of her relationship with Marcus, to which he blindsides her with a marriage proposal and a week to think it over while he's out of town.
  
  The rest of the book has Jessica meeting up with all sorts of familiar faces from her family members to her high school classmates to her college pals to some new faces as well...one of the most interesting aspects of the book is the fact Hope, Jessica's best friend, is now a real figure in Jessica's life again, so we get to see their relationship in action instead of in Jessica's lamenting and memories. Basically the book tries to answer that pending question...What now? in every aspect of Jessica's life from her role in her family to her career prospects to most importantly, this crazy marriage proposal from Marcus.
  
  Overall I felt a tiny bit cheated that the book was just one week long...but within the context of the plot any longer and you would have been aggravated. As it is, McCafferty manages to stretch out Jessica's 7-day streak into a 300 page book. Despite my slight disappointment in the length of the plot's timeline, the story itself is beautifully written...the advantage McCafferty has by writing her story in diary format is that as Jessica's writing gets better and more mature, it probably reflects the leaps and bounds McCafferty's writing has taken as well. There is something more interesting, more reflective, and more relatable about Jessica this time around, a voice that realizes her cynicism is both an escape and a hinderence to pushing forward with her life.
  
  I'm glad I bought this book...if only for the way it ended. I think there will be mixed reactions overall, but don't forget, a 5th & final Jessica Darling book is on the way in the next couple of years. A great, mature take on a character I've grown to love and relate to!
  
  

• Definitely not her best

  
  By A2ACAV80BWZMX5 on 2007-08-11
  As a long-time fan of the Jessica Darling series, I can confidently state that this is NOT Mccafferty's best installment so far. Yes, Jessica Darling is more snarky and irreverent as ever, and her uber-cynicism and keen wit leak onto nearly page of her journal. Yes, the writing is still fresh, engaging, and from time to time laugh-out-loud funny, teeming with entertaining satirical tidbits about, well, everything. However, I kind of wish Mccafferty would stop making pop-culture references up the wazoo and bring some more of one of the series' quirkiest, most loveable characters into the forefront--Marcus Flutie. While the journal that Jessica is keeping is supposedly addressed to her infamous Buddhist-lover Marcus Flutie, we really only SEE Marcus Flutie at the book's very beginning and very end--and then only in the briefest of dialogues and an ambiguous letter. As in the third book of the series, Mccafferty seems determined to keep Marcus' charming self hidden far the reach of the reader. The result is that Marcus becomes a shadowy, almost unknoweable character, whose mysterious persona leaves us wondering, "Who IS Marcus Flutie?" (which I realized, after reading the book's final pages, was probably the point).
  
  
  Besides Marcus Flutie, I felt that I didn't really get to know any of her characters too well this time around--besides Jessica Darling, of course, given that this is her journal. The beautiful Bridget, for instance, barely makes an appearence, and even characters that I thought I would get to know more--like Hope, Jessica's bosom buddy--weren't nearly as three-dimensional as they could have been. Overall, the book is teeming with insanely colorful and at times bizarre characters--a drag queen, an on-again, off-again lesbian, a bipolar drama queen who pretends to be what she isn't--but I don't feel like any were particularly real or easy to connect with. Overall, I think Mccafferty's writing has matured in the sense that she is willing to be a little more ambiguous and leave the reader to do his or her part, too. However, I think this very ambiguity was stretched too thin, and we are left with characters who aren't very likeable simply because we don't really know them. In my opinion, this book is in need of a little more substance, and more than a little Marcus Flutie.
  
  

• Disappointed

  
  By A31NPESSYNOOX8 on 2007-08-14
  As a huge fan of the Jessica Darling series, this is definitely the weakest of the four books.
  
  The book takes place within the course of a week, and is basically an intricate letter to Marcus. The reader is finally introduced to Hope, who isn't nearly as interesting as one would think. Bridget has no contribution to this novel at all, expect for a few pages regarding her relationship with Percy. This saddened me, because I really enjoy Bridget. Also, Bethany becomes ditzy again, despite gaining depth and perspective in the previous novel. In "Fourth Comings," Bethany joins a clique of stay-at-home moms called the "MILFS" and insists on promoting a shirt that reads "Doughnut Ho's" for Grant's company. This was a huge character setback for her.
  
  Some of the novel is about Jessica's search for a job, including a ridiculous interview with an Internet dating service that isn't worth the number of pages devoted to it. I understand that we are supposed to see a different, "more adult" side of Jessica, going out into the work field and trying to figure out her feelings for Marcus. However, to me, she comes across as annoying and childish. The ending was extremely disappointing, and was not satisfying in the least.
  
  There were some good points. Jessica finally begins to understand her parents, especially her father. We also see her deep love for Marin, who is starting school. There is also a clever storyline involving Sara and Scotty, which is somewhat enjoyable.
  
  All in all, I hope the author will use a different formula in the fifth book, because this one just didn't work for me.
  
  

• Booooo! I really, really tried to like it...

  
  By A3JY0UPS09E6LS on 2007-08-19
  Having been a fan of Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings and not a fan of Charmed Thirds, I'd hoped that Mrs. Mccafferty would get it right this time; however I was sorely mistaken and extremely disappointed.
  
  First of all, the book is extremely boring and slowly paced even though it covers only a week in Jessica's life. Jessica Darling hasn't grown at all and her snarky outlook on the world while refreshing as a teenager is absolutely dreadful coming out the mouth of an adult. Enjoyable characters that made leaps and bounds of development in previous books actually de-evolve and are relegated to "not even" secondary status. No Percy, minimal Brigit, hardly any Marcus and Betthany is now an idiot. Not to mention the fact that the great Hope isn't great at all and I can't see why she and Jess had such a monumental friendship in the first place. And the convoluted nonsense that was Hope's secret involving Marcus. Please. Oh, Mrs. Mccafferty why?!
  
  I give this book a great big BOO! and if I could rate it zero stars I would. I don't care that there will be a sequel. I'm off of the Marcus and Jess train. This is one former fan that will not be wasting her $17.99.
  
  
• Underwhelmed
  By A106Q1A6LGU4DP on 2007-08-18
  After reading the disappointment that was "Charmed Thirds," I wasn't sure what to expect of Fourth Comings. Did I want to subject myself to another potentially disappointing book that would further mar the Jessica Darling I so loved when I was in high school?
  
  In the end I decided to buy the book, because at the end of the day, despite the previous installment, I still love Jessica Darling.
  
  However, this book was more than a little dull. Despite taking place in the span of a week, the plot was sometimes slow and hard to read. I found myself skimming through more than just a couple pages, wishing that Jessica (or, I guess, Megan McCafferty) would once again find the style of writing that made Jessica such an important part of my literary world a few years ago. I was unsatisfied with the conclusion of the book, the open-ended way the author left it. I was hoping that this would be the final installment in the Jessica Darling series, but was surprised to learn that McCafferty is writing a fifth book.
  
  I think it's time for McCafferty to let Jessica go. I just wish that she had done so after the second novel.
  
  
• Jessica- not just a song by Graham Colton Band...
  By AXXNFJD9PCZH7 on 2007-08-18
  Let me just say that I greatly enjoy Megan McCafferty's series, following the spiraling life of one young woman, Jessica Darling. The first two books (Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings, respectively) take place during Jessica's last two high school years, while the third (Charmed Thirds) took place in all of Jessica's four college years. ...And now, we are given 'Fourth Comings', a novel which I greatly felt was not up to Ms. McCafferty's par.
  
  Jessica's journals now take us to after college. Instead of the usual one-year journal, this journal is one week in Jessica's life.
  
  I felt greatly disappointed in this book. I was given 300+ pages of one week in Jessica's post-college life (living in Flatbush, Brooklyn, NY area with her best friend, an old high school 'friend' part of the Clueless Crew, and said 'friend's significant other). I also felt that Jessica's sister, Bethany, had made character growth in the last book (Charmed Thirds), and this book those steps to growth had been reversed. Bethany was, what she had been in the first two books; a blonde with not much brains. While I was excited to finally meet Hope (Jessica's best friend, who is mentioned not so much in previous books), I felt Hope's sketchy character plot (Marcus/Hope) was unnecessary. It also made me question how much Jessica really knew Hope, and how much do we (the readers) know of Hope. I felt Hope has been, previously, held up on some what of a pedestal as Jess's B.F.F (best friend forever). Now that we finally meet her, it was somewhat of a let down. Also- where were the great characters of Jessica's childhood best friend, Bridget, and her French class crush, Pepe? Those two characters (who are/were supposed to get married) are not talked about much in this book. Bridget has one scene, which is alright but Pepe has NO whatsoever 'screen time' (so to speak).
  
  However, I was satisfied to know that Ms. McCafferty plans to write a fifth book. At least this does not leave us completely hanging, for the ending of this novel was most definately a cliffhanger and slightly oddball.
  
  
• Fourth Comings
  By A18E0V2F73X593 on 2007-08-28
  I am a huge fan of all three previous novels in the Jessica Darling series. And to be honest, this obviously wasn't as good as those before it.
  
  This whole book is written over a span of one week... 300 pages, 7 days. Jessica is writing to Marcus about his marriage proposal... and it just seems that this was sort of pointless. I understand that this is a really important week in Jessica's life, and that if Megan McCafferty were to write less about this one week and add more about what happened before or after, we would have had a different sort of novel. It wouldn't have the same urgency as this had, which is why I think it was a good choice for her to write a novel like this.
  
  However, there were obviously problems. One of the things that I loved so much about the first three books was the impossible situations that Jessica gets herself into... and the way that she is overly sarcastic about everything. It's part of her charm... but in this book it was almost like she had one emotion... she was constantly thinking, and always about the same thing. There was no time for her to be happy, or to relax, or even to spend time with Marcus. He's obviously one of my favorite characters, and I'm surprised at how a book that is almost entirely about him and Jessica's relationship could be so lacking. Marcus only shows up in an actual scene in the beginning... when he proposes. After that he is nothing more than an afterthought.
  
  I wish Jessica didn't think so much, and just let things work themselves out. But then again, I'm not saying this was a bad book. I just think it could have been portrayed differently.
  
  
• A slow beginning with an inspiring ending...
  By A1S7871IO9JXCO on 2007-08-15
  Alright. There are obviously plenty of extreme opinions when it comes to this book, but I feel McCafferty did it right. She takes a very realistic situation and keeps it real and funny enough to make you want to read about it. I think the main problem people have as the books continue, is that they want Jessica to stay the same. Her views and style in the first 2 books was very similar, and she has branched away from it a lot in these other two because she has grown up. Matured. Hey, it happens to the best of us.
  
  Although it's not her best (second helpings will always, most likely, have that title) it does adequately describe what Jessica would act like, live like, and do. My only major complaint is that I think she stretched it out a bit too much... maybe a two week journal would have helped to ease the feeling that McCafferty was avoiding the main issue just to fill pages.
  
  This book is really funny, very unique in the characters, style and overall plot set up. Darling's wit and humor is revealed even more. I can really relate to Jessica's issues. The Hope/Marcus plotline is really interesting, and it was neat to get a chance to meet Marcus' older brother, who's a really cool guy.
  
  And, please don't forget people... there is ONE MORE BOOK. The final one. Those upset by the ending, (as I would have been if I knew this was the last book, but as it isn't it's an awesome ending.)
  as with the HP series and many others... the book right before the end often sets up a lot of plot devices and info so that the last book will be amazing. Hopefully, McCafferty can deliver like she did in the previous books.
  
  
• Jessica is Smart, Funny and Always Growing.
  By A2YIML65LI9CMR on 2007-08-18
  I'm a really big fan of Megan McCafferty's Jessica Darling Series. I read the first two Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings back-to-back a couple of years ago. A few weeks ago, I finally got a hold of Charmed Thirds and dug right into it, it's like Jessica had never left. I, finished Charmed Thirds, and couldn't wait. So, I rushed out and bought Fourth Comings. I was NOT disappointed.
  
  I know, a lot of reviewers were disappointed in Charmed Thirds, but I personally wasn't. Jessica is like any other young woman trying to find herself.
  
  In Fourth Comings, Jessica is still continuing to grow. As is Megan's writing. In this fourth installment, Jessica's journal is written to Marcus in a span of one week. Rather than previous where she just wrote to herself in her journals, in months/years. Fourth Comings does have many flashbacks to months earlier. You won't be disappointed. There is also a nice little story line involving Sara and Scotty. Along with new developments with Jessica's parents, Hope, Bridget, and More. LOTS of interesting things, in Fourth Comings!
  
  I'll be waiting for the fifth book on pins and needles. (The Final Book.)
  
  
• not worse, just different.
  By A1X13F6A7K8663 on 2007-08-20
  Having read the first installment in the Jessica Darling series, Sloppy Firsts, when I was only 12, I feel that I have literally grown up with the books, and I identify strongly with Jessica's journey into adulthood. I devoured Second Helpings, which ended on a perfect note and could well have been the end of the story, and Charmed Thirds, which jarred me a bit with its format (chronicling only Jessica's breaks during college rather than her day-to-day trials and tribulations) but impressed me with its intelligent and realistic depiction of Jessica's evolving relationship with the love of her life (or not?), Marcus Flutie. It was clear in the third installment that my beloved characters were growing up. In choosing to deal with such an age span-- 15 to, so far, 23-- Megan McCafferty has preordained that her books will vary drastically in content and style. Still, Fourth Comings came as a surprise to me.
  
  The fourth book's format is even more experimental than that of the third: the entire novel chronicles only one week of Jessica's life. In addition, this time her snarky observations and poignant musings are addressed to Marcus, whose shocking, nontraditional marriage proposal she is neurotically mulling over. She explores her relationship with her best friend Hope, with whom she now shares an apartment, and as a long-time reader I appreciated the fleshing out of this very important secondary character. Jessica's and Hope's friendship, only communicated via letters in the former three books, rings absolutely true in the fourth. Readers are also briefed on the chic mommyhood alternately enjoyed and endured by Jessica's sister Bethany, as well as the relationship between Jessica's aging parents. Indeed, the book is made up predominantly of lengthy reflections rather than transcriptions of events, simply because, well, how much can actually happen in one week? This didn't bother me for the most part; Jessica's rants, however cynical, are always entertaining, honest, and somehow vulnerable. But-- I felt that, for all the hard work she put into Jessica's week-long meditation on life, love, and the pursuit of okayness, McCafferty might have crafted a more satisfying ending. Open-endedness is always tricky, especially when one's audience is comprised largely of "happy ever after"-craving adolescents; the ending of Fourth Comings feels a bit like a cop-out on the author's part, a neatly ambiguous path to a fifth and final installment. I agree with one of the former reviewers, that the resolution (or lack thereof) of Jessica's relationship with Marcus is incongruous with the quirky yet committed, loving relationship portrayed so brilliantly in the first three books. Marcus's final letter to Jessica feels devoid of warmth-- we recognize no trace of the impish, theatrical heartthrob we've come to love, and Jessica's reasons for her ultimate decision on the matter don't feel sound enough to negate the ardent passion with which she's loved Marcus for so long.
  
  This books has its strong points, the most impressive of which may be McCafferty's skillful, convincing aging of Jessica. Through an ever-broadening vocabulary, increasingly frank sexual description and more complex, thoughtful reflections, McCafferty has transformed Jessica from a sardonically funny but sheltered high schooler into a believably overwhelmed (or is it underwhelmed?) college grad. Though some may fault Fourth Comings for its departure from the sweet modesty of its predecessors, devoted readers will realize that this departure is necessary if we are to believe that Jessica has matured.
  
  I closed this book feeling on the verge of tears. On the one hand, it is a sweet rush of a novel, chock-full of all the witty plays on words and multifaceted characters the series is known for, and on the other hand, it is an apparent ending to the relationship which has always endeared me most to the series-- Jessica's and Marcus'. Still, any disappointment or sense of being let down I felt at the close of this book only intensified my anxiety for the fifth and final to arrive.
  
  
• The witty sarcasm we all know and love...
  By AXNDGNSQ76KBG on 2007-08-23
  I'm sure everyone reading this review read at least the first two books, and if you haven't you absolutely need to. Not for the sake of the review, but for your own sake - really, just read them, I promise you'll love them (honestly.)
  Opinions on the third and fourth are split, but I still loved them both...
  Within the first few pages of the fourth book, it became clear to me why I love the series - the witty, sarcastic, contemptuous writing is just too enthralling to resist.
  In Fourth Comings, Jessica is writing her journal with the intent of giving it to Marcus - it takes place over the course of a week, and follows her deliberations over his marriage proposal. (Don't worry, I didn't spoil, you find all that out in the beginning.) As she points out, her superficial comments are significant if only because she wanted to share them with him.
  There's something about the idea of it all being written for someone else to read (Marcus, especially) that makes it even more impossible to put down.
  And the end... although some people might not have liked it, remember, there is a fifth book. The end of the fourth book isn't really the end at all, and once you've read it we can have long discussions about whether or not it should have happened that way. I can't say anything else without giving it away...
  So in the end I'd give it 4.5 stars. You get to see more of Hope, and the rest of the Pineville crew is there too in their own way. And besides, it's Jessica Darling... how can you not read it?
  
  
• Good read and maturing author
  By AUPABNW87NXM1 on 2007-08-12
  I had a feeling I was not going to love this book, but I did, after page 80something. It starts slow and Jessica's snark is edged with offense (I kept remembering Almodovar's opera prima which was much the same) but as it happened, it grew on me and by the end I recognize Megan has grown as a writer and reaches a quite accurate representation of what is like to grow up, whether you like it or not. Probably not an automatic classic but still, looking forward to the fifth.
  
  
• Five Stars
  By A12VLMC3AVOV0J on 2007-08-19
  My copy is already tattered. I folded down one page corner where Mccafferty wrote something brilliantly hilarious...then another. Then another...
  
  Jessica Darling is as real a character as you can find in fiction. I'll be waiting in suspense to see what transpires in Book #5....
  
  
• Another amazing book by Megan McCafferty
  By A3TH11WFZ7K5Y on 2007-08-28
  Fourth Comings, the latest addition to an already wonderful series, is an excellent book that, unfortunately, has not recieved the amount of praise it deserves. The novel starts off as snarkily as ever, with Jessica's scathing observations of her surroundings. And it only gets better from there: I can't count the number of times I've laughed out loud while reading this book. Some complain that Fourth Comings lacks "substance," but you can't deny that it is hilarious.
  
  I feel that the characters have really grown and matured (if you can call it that) throughout the course of this series. I really enjoyed reading this book, as you can really see, sympathise with, and understand Jessica's dilemmas and the thought process behind her actions. I'm also very proud of her for her ultimate decision at the end. Which, by the way, I loved.
  
  One of the unique things about this book is that it only covers the time span of a week, as opposed to the usual length of a year or more. It took some time to get used to, but I don't feel that it detracted from the book in any way. The plot didn't seem too forced or dragged out at all. It's a testimony to Megan McCafferty's skill as a writer that she can adapt her books to any period of time without ruining the quality of said book.
  
  There are just so many little things that I loved about this novel that I can't possibly begin to list them all. Characters, plot, snarky statements...It was all perfect. I just have to say that buying this book has been worth every single penny. Since I got it a week or two ago, I'm currently rereading it for the fourth time. And I can tell that I'll definitely be reading and rereading the Jessica Darling series for a long time. <3
  
  
• I would give it 10 if I could!
  By A189WLDZ7CS0DS on 2007-04-11
  I know that this book isn't due out until August, but I had to comment/review on the wonderful job that Megan Mcafferty has done so far! I am looking forward to this book and have ever since I finished the last! Iam dying to get reaquainted with old characters and see if any new ones join! Who knows what could have happened on the cross country road trip that Jess set out on. Lets not forget that she left with Marcu's journals...who knows what could be instore for us. Plus there are wedding bands on the front... I know for sure that Megan wont let us down and this book will be just as good if not better than the previous three!
  
  
• Enjoyed but not as much as the others...
  By ALWGOH1JIA3KR on 2007-08-09
  Jessica stull makes the same witty observations and in this book tends to have deeper relationships with others (except Marcus) as she has matured. I would have liked to see more of a resolution in the outcome of Jessica's life then there was in the end. Maybe that is left for a 5th one?????
  
  
• McCafferty is getting comfortable
  By A3E5LUQ1IVGLT7 on 2007-08-14
  McCafferty's novels used to be tightly plotted journals of an enigmatic Jessica Darling, with a high emphasis on multi-character development. Now that the series has reached its fourth installment and the author has reached some fame and credibility, I think her novels have decreased in entertainment and quality ever since the stellar first two. This book was degraded into simple ramblings and the now annoying rants of Jessica Darling, and while the snarky style was once a plus, it became overpowering asset in the fourth novel. All she did was complain and transcribe conversations, while they were meaningful, they were very repetitive.
  
  Her previous novels had great character portraits: Marcus, Bethany, and Percy to name a few. But in this book McCafferty's wonderful secondary characters took a major backseat when it came to Jessica's rants.
  
  The portrayal of Marcus's and Jessica's relationship in the first two novels is inconsistent with the ending of this novel. And while I appreciate an open-ended ending, the ending of this book was disappointing because it didn't tie up any loose ends, even the ends of secondary plotlines (when will Jessica get a "real job"? Is she as good friends with Hope as she claims, as her appearances are very disappointing in the second through fourth books?) If McCafferty decides on a fifth book to properly end the series, I only hope she decides to step it up.
  
  
  
  
• A Good Book for Jessica Darling Fans
  By A26480JNH2EOSK on 2007-08-14
  this book is good if you are just looking for a view into jessica darling's life and into her thoughts. you will not enjoy this book however, if you are looking for a book with intense marcus/jessica interaction that is full of love. this book rarely features them interacting together at all, as he is away and out of touch for almost the entirety of the book. but if you are able to get that past that, it has a good number of plot twists that keep it interesting for the reader.
  
  
• Not gonna lie
  By A263VICKI7DXE9 on 2007-08-15
  I'm not going to lie I cried a little when I finished this book. Thankfully I went online and realized it was NOT the final book, because if it was I would probably burn that one and just say the story ended at the 3rd book.
  Anyway, Mccafferty does it again by making Jessica's thoughts seem like they could be written by your own hands.
  My only grief was their was less Flu (sigh sigh) then ever yet the book still was magic.
  Until the 5th book then.....
  
  
• fourth comings is hilarious, smart, compulsively readable
  By A2GC3R3YE3IEBS on 2007-08-15
  I'll start by saying I'm a HUGE fan of Megan McCafferty and her Jessica Darling books, so I gobbled up Fourth Comings as fast as I possibly could. The first delight of this book is Megan McCafferty's AMAZINGNESS with language and her brilliant ability to spin words into humor. Seriously, there is some of the most hilarious stuff in Fourth Comings that you will ever read (see the whole Bethany/snark commentary). But also, McCafferty keenly reflects what it's like to be poised on the brink of adulthood, staring down so many tough decisions about love and life and love life.
  
  
• Finally the 4th book is out!
  By A3D76N1EBHK0BW on 2007-08-17
  I was so excited to see this book out that I went back and read the first three so I could remember and get the most out of it. I loved it and could NOT put it down. I am so excited that she is writing a fifth to go along with the first 4. YAY! Good job Megan!
  
  
• Poor Jess
  By A2NRCBG1GEMMKK on 2007-08-19
  I just want Jess to be happy. We all have a love in our past that we question...Did we let them go too soon??? Not soon enough??? I didn't want Jess to get married at 22 but I also loved her when she was with Marcus. What is to become of Jess???? Guess I'll have to wait for Final Fifths..LOL
  
  
• Read the whole series in four days!
  By A3FV4BY8X2ENQ4 on 2007-09-04
  This book is amazing. All her books are. I highly recommend them if you are looking for a quick, but great read.
  
  
• from Tarah of LoveReads! ([...])
  By A2I44HZZ4DMPO7 on 2007-09-27
  When I got my hands on the fourth installment of the famous Jessica Darling series I was VERY excited, and I am happy to say that Megan has delivered another brilliant story!
  
  When we last left Jess she was heading off on a roadtrip with her best friend Hope, still reeling after being handed a ton of notebooks by the on again of again Marcus Flutie. Unfortunatly, the roadtrip sadly ended as quickly as it began thanks to a couple of klepto college students and a crowbar. (probably went to my school actually since the place Hope and Jess stopped to eat is 5 min up the road from me!)
  
  The story itself is meant to be a journaling of her life during a week after Marcus asked her to marry him. So once again Jessica is thrown a curveball wondering if shes the kind of woman that could handle a man like Marcus for life.
  
  As I said before this is the summer after jess has graduated from Columbia and now she lives in an apartment that's named Sammy (I kid you not) with Hope and her sharing a room and the promiscious Manda and her girlfriend Shea sharing another. She is still looking for a job but is kept afloat finacially by her sister who pays her for watching neice Marin and she also has a quasi-editor job for a magazine called Think!.
  
  The timeline of this book is only a week but contrary to what your probably thinking a lot happens. For those of us who have made the transition out of college into real life or are about to this is a great book. It is also a great book if you had those experiences either. I don't know why I like these books so much, maybe it's Jess's Dawsons Creek speech or something else. All I can say is I cant wait and I hope there is a next one!
  
  
  
  
• Come on!
  By A3MWKLZYOVTDI7 on 2007-12-28
  I found these books when I was a teenager and could easily relate to Jessica Darling. But as I have gotten older and more mature it seems Jessica is only getting, well, older. She freaks out when she finds out her boyfriend and friend had a relationship...when they were ten. What?!
  Are they not allowed to be friends simply because she feels that the two people most important to her should be in competition for her attention? Also, none of my favorite characters appear in the novel for very long. I missed the old journal format in the previous books, and was not fond of the new letter format. I know Mccafferty can do so much better...we've seen it done before! Hold out for book number five!!
  
  
• POSSIBLY THE BEST SERIES I'VE EVER READ.
  By A23G39XF2IZHML on 2008-02-13
  I RELATE TO THE CHARACTERS IN THIS SERIES SO MUCH, THAT ONCE I START READING THEM I CAN'T PUT THEM DOWN. MY FAVORITE SERIES BESIDES HARRY POTTER OFCOURSE!
  
  
• What. Ever. For. Ever.
  By A2GBJQ9THOYDAJ on 2008-04-16
  We first met Jessica Darling in _Sloppy Firsts_ when she was a fifteen-year-old New Jersey sophomore, smart, angst-ridden, and very confused about what life was supposed to be. She thought too much and over-analyzed everything. The second book took her through high school graduation and the third through Columbia (where she worked hard to graduate a semester early in order to save $15,000 on her student loan). Now Jes is twenty-two and living for a year in a Park Slope sublet, sleeping in the lower bunk bed while Hope, her artistic BFF, takes the upper. She's dependent on her married-well older sister for a ridiculous salary babysitting her niece while struggling as a freelance semi-journalist, she blows the one good job interview that comes along, and most of her old friends are safe in grad school. Things have changed a lot in the past half-dozen years, but the one thing that hasn't changed is her connection/separation relationship with the predictably unpredictable Marcus Flutie, now a twenty-three-year-old freshman at Princeton. When she went to break up with him for her own peace of mind, he sabotaged her attempt by proposing marriage. She insisted on a week to think about it and this is the story of that week, made up partly of her hilariously searing observations about contemporary events and partly of reflections on just how she arrived at this point in her life. McCafferty is truly a master of the language and the book is a delightful read just to watch her play with the language -- but it's much more than that. Her grasp of character and psyche is extremely apt and her view of New York intellectual weirdness in the first decade of the century is spot-on. Will there be a fifth volume? Who knows? What Ever.
  
  
• Meh
  By A2BN8KFI4ZL8X9 on 2008-04-22
  I grabbed the unabridged audio book at the library on a fluke - I enjoyed the story enough, but the insistence of the reader to SING when the characters do renders the story barely tolerable.
  
  
• very funny
  By AFOH5VMZSIT3T on 2008-11-03
  As always Jessica Darling is hilarious. This book is good but not as great as the others in the series. I definitly reccomend reading this though.
  
  

• Charmed Thirds
• Second Helpings: A Novel
• Sloppy Firsts: A Novel
• Lock and Key
• Love Is a Many Trousered Thing (Confessions of Georgia Nicolson)