Charmed Thirds (Jessica Darling, #3)

Charmed Thirds (Jessica Darling #3)

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3.75 of 5 stars 3.75  ·  rating details  ·  8,472 ratings  ·  500 reviews
Jessica Darling’s in college!

Things are looking up for Jessica Darling. She has finally left her New Jersey hometown/hellhole for Columbia University in New York City; she’s more into her boyfriend, Marcus Flutie, than ever (so what if he’s at a Buddhist college in California?); and she’s making new friends who just might qualify as stand-ins for her beloved best friend, H...more
Paperback, 359 pages
Published April 24th 2007 by Broadway Books (first published April 11th 2006)
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Keertana
Rating: 4.5 Stars

When you finish a Jessica Darling novel, there is only one thing to say: "OMIGAWD" (Or, you know, quote oh my gawd! unquote).

Whether it be after Sloppy Firsts when that heart-breaking cliffhanger just makes you want to rip your hair out.

Or after Second Helpings after Jessica and Marcus finally, finally, finally get together.

Or after Charmed Thirds when you are simply unable to digest the sheer magnitude, truth, and scope of one book, four years, and so many journeys.

Quite hon...more
Jackie "the Librarian"
This book disappointed me. I had a hard time sympathizing with Jessica this time. Maybe now that she's in college, among her intellectual peers, complaints about how she's surrounded by morons just don't ring true.
Not that we saw much of her in class, or in college. All four years were crammed into this one book. I was looking forward to Jessica's wry observations about her fellow students and classes at Columbia University. How would it feel to no longer be the smartest person around, but be c...more
Polina
I normally don’t write reviews but I just felt that I had to explain my huge disappointment with this book.

First, I have to say that I LOVED Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings. Perhaps that’s partly why I found the third installment in the series so disappointing. But there is more to it, I assure you! Indeed, when I began reading Charmed Thirds I had huge expectations but I as went through the first 50 pages I resigned myself to the fact that this wouldn’t be a 5-star book for me. But I wasn’t r...more
Anna
Maybe it's just me but after Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings I was pretty disappointed by this book.

The third in the Jessica Darling series, Charmed Thirds reads less smoothly (it took me a while to get used to the overly detailed -- and annoyingly wordy -- descriptions of everything) and is far less interesting than the previous books. I think the problem lies int he fact that Jessica is just much less likable for most of this book and the decisions she makes (about her college career and th...more
Filipa
Wow.

Wow.

Wow.

I must say that Jessica Darling series continues to amaze me with every new book I read. This third instalment has surprised me very very much. Although I was expecting to like it, I wasn't expecting to like it as much as the second book. And guess what?

Yup. I do think that this book is, if not better, than as good as Second Helpings. It was a roller coaster of emotions, from the beginning to the end. It seemed that I was actually Jessica and I was going through the routine as her,...more
Jennie
Our Not-so Darling Jessica is off to college. There's lots of touching stuff with her sister and her parents and Marcus and blah blah and if you liked the others, you'll like this one.

But what I really liked about this one is that it gave a really accurate picture of college life. There are a bunch of pissy reviews on Amazon of people who are obviously not in college about how Jessica changed to much and what happened and why didn't she stay in touch with blah blah blah... but that's what happen...more
Heather
Jan 03, 2011 Heather rated it 5 of 5 stars
Recommended to Heather by: Lovers of Marchetta and Lockhart
Shelves: faves, 2011
Oh how I laughed and laughed, cringed in shared mortification, laughed, despaired over mutual heartbreak, laughed, became over-wrought with neurosis, laughed, cringed, sympathized and laughed.

Jessica Darling says what most of us are shamed to think. She isn’t noble, far from it, but she’s deliciously flawed in a true, human way. We all say the wrong thing at inopportune times. Many of us, myself included don’t know when to shut up or back down. We may even jump in the sack with a subpar guy for...more
Rachel
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Michelle
You guys--I didn't love this book like I thought I would. The first two Jessica Darling books were funny, fast reads, but this...meh. A few problems--finally, Jessica is in New York, going to school...but we hardly ever hear anything about it. Almost the whole book, I wanted to hear about college--how Jessica was adjusting, what classes she loved, if she was still the smartest, snarkiest girl around. The book rushes through nearly four years of school, and we don't get much of it. The little we...more
Virginia
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Lauren Acton
This book covers Jessica Darling's college years and she narrates her (mis)adventures in the same caustically funny voice. McCafferty continues to use the concept of a journal and letters to tell Jessica's story and while I found that it is very true to life that months can sometimes go by without any journal writing, sometimes that left the reader out of the loop. Jessica tends to withdraw from people who are important in her life when she's processing big events, but she also sometimes withdra...more
Deena
I'm liking this series, but not for the usual reason of Marcus Flutie. Honestly, he ticks me off. But I completely empathize with Jessica on so many things. I swear, I've had the same thoughts and feelings about the same topics! I'm nowhere near as Ivy-smart as she is, but I have been there when it comes to trying to relate to your parents when you have nothing intellectually in common. And the job prospect angst--oh yeah, every time DH's job moves us around. There was one spot where she talks a...more
Sam
Jun 22, 2011 Sam rated it 1 of 5 stars
Shelves: ya
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A. S.
This is the third book in Megan McCafferty's Jessica Darling series. In terms of character development, Jessica is incredibly realistic. Jessica seems to go out of character, but in terms of how a young college aged woman would act, it's totally believable.

The book starts at the end of Jessica's first year at Columbia and chronicles the decline of her relationship with Marcus Flutie, her high school sweetheart. Jessica passes through relationships with other guys, ultimately being unfulfilled. A...more
Kali
Jan 19, 2011 Kali is currently reading it  ·  review of another edition
1-19-11

So I started this book a little less than a week ago, and i'm already almost done with it. During class, i can read almost 50 pages if i'm not distracted. This serious is something I'm totally into. I like the plot of the books, and the events that happen in between other major events. The suspense is what keeps me reading. The things that Marcus, Jessica's boyfriend/ex boyfriend/whatever you want to call him, I like the way he expresses himself to her, the way he talks and gives the vide...more
Michelle
Finally free of dull Pineville, Jessica makes her way to prestigious Columbia University full of wide-eyed enthusiasm. Well as much enthusiasm Jessica is capable of when her boyfriend Marcus is also heading off to college, just all the way across the country in California. And once again, Jessica, who over-thinks everything, begins to over-think their odd relationship. Especially after Marcus begins sending cryptic one-word postcards does she feel like losing her sanity. But financial and family...more
Jessica Lawlor
Charmed Thirds by Megan McCafferty is the third book in the wonderful Jessica Darling series. Book three opens the summer after Jessica’s freshman year at Columbia University.

We’re introduced to a whole new cast of characters since Jessica has a new group of college friends who are just as quirky as her. Jessica is still with Marcus, though she does not get to see him as much as she would like because he lives in California.

Jessica lands at an internship at a hip NY magazine. She can’t wait to t...more
Karin
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Lauren Fidler
i loved sloppy firsts and second helpings. charmed thirds? notso.

mccafferty apparently has never met a plot device she didn't like. siigghh.

in the first two installments, jessica's life is metered out slowly in months, each month's end marked by a letter to hope. as in life, time flies in college and here the format alters, marking more the periods in between learning. poor hope gets ignored for huge chunks of time and the letters now are more based between marcus and jessica, jessica and her...more
Anna
*sigh*

I loved Sloppy Firsts. I loved Second Helpings even more. And I didn't like Charmed Thirds at all.

There were some good points--like the very, very beginning and the very, very end--but the entire middle was so boring. And Jessica, the main character who I loved so much, became annoying and made a bunch of incredibly stupid decisions. GAH. I skimmed like crazy through this, because I just didn't feel like reading pages of boring, inane nonsense. What happened to this awesome series?

To be...more
Julie
This book was a bit of a disappointment after FIRSTS and SECONDS. Like a lot of other reviewers, I hated how all four years of college were crammed into one book. Not only were those years not fleshed out, we didn't even get a glimpse into those years. We're led to believe that Jessica Darling is only journaling on her school breaks? Because of this, most of her writing focuses on the people we knew in the first two books...Bridget, the Clueless Two, Len and of course Marcus. This feels like JD...more
Laura
The third book of the “Jessica Darling” series, Charmed Thirds takes off where Second Helpings left off–the likable, yet perpetually angsty and troubled, Jessica Darling is now attending college at Columbia University in New York City. She’s got her loving, long-distance relationship with high school boyfriend Marcus Flutie, a dream internship at an ironically hip magazine, and, of course, enough wit and sarcasm to make this book as fulfilling a read as the previous two.

Charmed Thirds covers a l...more
Emma M.
I absolutely ADORED the first two novels in this series. In the previous two novels I could really relate to Jessica but I lost all of that in “Charmed Thirds.” I really thought the voice changed tremendously between the second and third book and I know some would explain that as part of growing up. However, there was more to it than Jessica simply growing up. It just seemed to me that she really could not have grown so much when nothing happened plot-wise. She just went around in circles while...more
Laura
Blah, I hate to admit I read this book because it was trashy, and I almost made the decision not to even finish it. But the series, like this stupid book, pulled me in and now I feel compelled to read the rest of it, like with the Twilight ones. (How can this be more embarrassing than that??)

Really though, in the first book, I saw McCafferty as clever and entertaining, in the second one, it was waning, and the third was just ridiculous. I would give it one star because she was trying way too har...more
Jessica
Sep 10, 2007 Jessica rated it 2 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Chick lit fans
I loved Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings, there were laugh out loud funny and all around great books. But unfortunately this one left a lot to be desired. It wasn't the worst book I have ever read but it wasn't the best. I think Megan McCafferty is an excellent writer and story-teller but this book was hard to get into and even harder to stay interested in. I did enjoy parts of the story but had to give it only 2 stars because this installment paled in comparison to the first 2.
Pixie
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Becca
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
Janean
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Liz
I am still a devoted fan of Jessica and Marcus, but this book was a bit of a let down. Charmed Thirds follows Jessica's entire collegiate experience. She has matured, but she isn't quite as likable and witty in this book as she was in both Sloppy Firsts and Second Helpings.

I also feel as though many of the secondary characters in this book weren't as developed as those in the first two novels of this series. Many people come in and out of Jessica's life, but I didn't feel any sort of attachment...more
Ines Diaz
Things are looking up for Jessica Darling. She has finally left her New Jersey hometown/hellhole for Columbia University in New York City; she’s more into her boyfriend, Marcus Flutie, than ever (so what if he’s at a Buddhist college in California?); and she’s making new friends who just might qualify as stand-ins for her beloved best friend, Hope.

But Jessica soon realizes that her bliss might not last. She lands an internship at a snarky Brooklyn-based magazine, but will she fit in with the übe...more
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Charmed Thirds (Jessica Darling, #3)
Charmed Thirds (Jessica Darling, #3)
Charmed Thirds (Jessica Darling, #3)
Charmed Thirds (Jessica Darling, #3)
Charmed Thirds (Audio)

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Megan McCafferty is the New York Times bestselling author of the Jessica Darling series, Bumped and Thumped. Her work has received honors from the ALA and the NYPL and has been translated into eleven languages, including Chinese, German and Indonesian. Megan is a Princeton University Community Fellow for Mathey College.

Jessica Darling’s IT List: The (Totally Not) Guaranteed Guide to Popularity, P...more
More about Megan McCafferty...
Sloppy Firsts (Jessica Darling, #1) Second Helpings (Jessica Darling, #2) Fourth Comings (Jessica Darling, #4) Bumped (Bumped, #1) Perfect Fifths (Jessica Darling, #5)

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“I thought Marcus was going to be in my life forever. Then I thought I was wrong. Now he’s back. But this time I know what’s certain: Marcus will be gone again, and back again and again and again because nothing is permanent. Especially people. Strangers become friends. Friends become lovers. Lovers become strangers. Strangers become friends once more, and over and over. Tomorrow, next week, fifty years from now, I know I’ll get another one-word postcard from Marcus, because this one doesn’t have a period signifying the end of the sentence.

Or the end of anything at all.”
104 people liked it
“Most people talk when they have nothing to say. I’m not talking because I have too much to say. None of which I’d want you to hear.” 91 people liked it
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