What's the female version of lasso-dicking?

Rachel’s Book Review Slice:

So, this is a notso typical post. I’m sure Charlee and I will make a true post this week(end) at some point. We have a wild rumpus to fill all of you in on! This post is a review for the concluding book in the Jessica Darling Series that I’ve been reading since I was in Junior High(ack, I feel old). Since Jessica Darling is a very special literary character to me and Ms. McCafferty’s books have been such a tremendous part of my teen years, I knew that a review on Amazon.com wouldn’t have cut it. So I’m pie-blogging this up!

Okay—now I’m going to put into practice my critical theory skills. This review is written using a Post-Feminist Pie Girl filter. Enjoy!

Perfect Fifths by Megan McCafferty
Reviewed by: Rachel of the Pie Girls

It’s extremely hard for me to straight up say I loved this book as much as the previous books in the series. In some aspects, it was exactly what I wanted; in others it was the complete opposite. Just as many other readers of this series, I spent my high school years drawing parallels to myself and Jessica—our snarky protagonist. Jessica and I both *hated* our friends in high school(my Dingbats vs. her Clueless Crew), we both ended up dating people we were supposed to hate, etc. I even made my favorite English teacher, Ms. M, read the series. Ms. M saw the resemblance as well between me and my favorite literary alter-ego. She was one of the speakers for our graduation and in her speech said, “You. Yes. You, will move onto great things.” I burst into tears at that, knowing the line was for Me.Yes.Me. The summer Fourth Comings came out, I had just finished my freshman year in college. I was still dating my high school boyfriend—in fact he bought me the book as a surprise on its release date. In the beginning, I wanted Jessica to accept Marcus’s proposal. I wanted there to be hope for my own started-in-high-school relationship. But by the end of the book—I had changed my mind. I felt at peace with Jessica’s decision because it was the right one for *her*.

My high school boyfriend then broke up with me the following January. So it goes.

So when Marcus Flutie popped back up in Perfect Fifths, I wasn’t necessarily thrilled to see him—Beard or none. I had wanted Jessica to maybe run into him again and realize that: yep, made the right choice. As the novel unfolded, I found myself needing to remind myself that this was natural for Jessica and Marcus. I needed to remind myself that just because I am happier now without my ex than I ever was with him, doesn’t mean that Jessica would feel the same about Marcus. That’s right—I needed to remind myself that Jessica Darling was a fictitious character and not my alter ego. You’d think at 21 that would be a given huh?

What exactly was it that made this fact hit hard? Perhaps when I began to identify more with Marcus Flutie than with Jessica Darling. Marcus Flutie had a relationship with his Anthropology professor—I had a quasi-relationship with my Lab TA. I found myself laughing out loud at phrases like lasso-dicking. I felt pangs in my heart reading about how Marcus had never gotten over Jessica, much like I’m still not over the Physicist. I also have to admit that due to my lack of modesty, the shower scene with Marcus was one that I identified with. Just the look into his thoughts during that moment felt uncannily like my own.

One of the main reasons I had a difficult time getting into this book was the change to third person narrative from multiple perspectives. That the previous four books had all been narrated by Jessica separated this one completely in both its tone and pacing. It’s very obvious that Megan McCafferty had fun writing this book and used inventive voices, such as the chapter of alternating Senryu poems. However, as a reader, I felt a sharp disconnect from Jessica during this novel. It pains me to say these things because I started this book *wanting* to love it to the core. By its own rite, it was a solid book which I enjoyed. But as the conclusion to my all-time favorite series, it fell short. Loose ends were tied up as best as possible and I felt happy to know my favorite side characters had all ended up with lives they wanted to be living. However, there wasn’t a single section of this book that I felt the need to re-read over again because it gave me such intense butterflies the first time. I will say this, from one Jessica Darling fan to another, read the book. It is a conclusion that does exactly what Megan McCafferty promised: the reader knows that Jessica is going to be okay.

Take care, oh dearest Pie blog readers.
XOXO, Rachel