Sloppy Firsts
Author: Megan McCafferty
ISBN: 9780609807903
Sloppy Firsts by Megan McCafferty is the first in a series about Jessica Darling, a high school sophomore whose best friend Hope moves away. The story is told from the point of view of Jessica writing in her journal and through writing letters to Hope.
Jessica is super smart and a track star. On the surface, she has it all. When her best friend moves, Jessica is lost.
She hangs out with the ‘Clueless Crew’ (the nickname Hope and Jessica dubbed their three other friends) but is completely unsatisfied with her life. When Marcus, the class bad boy begins to pay attention to her Jessica doesn’t know what to do.
After Jessica does Marcus a big favor, he begins to talk to her in school, much to the dismay and confusion of the Clueless Crew. Jessica and Marcus have a strange relationship that even Jessica can’t explain. She doesn’t know why she can’t stop thinking about him, even though she is convinced that she doesn’t like him.
Honestly, I’m not sure how I feel about this book. In my opinion, nothing happened until 200 pages in. While it was exciting to be privy to Jessica’s private thoughts, I just couldn’t get into her head.
I had an idea of where the book was going and kept waiting for something to happen, but nothing did…until literally, the last page. I hate waiting for action in books, and as I was reading I kept wondering if anything was ever going to happen.
I found Jessica’s character a little bit hard to believe in because of her maturity level and her amazing vocabulary. Yes, she was the class genius, but she is still only a 16 year old in the novel.
The one thing I found really cool about the book is that we never actually meet Hope. Hope plays such a large role in Jessica’s life, but we never hear her voice or her thoughts. We only learn about Hope through Jessica’s letters.
I will probably attempt to read the second book in the Jessica Darling series because I’ve heard such good things, but I can’t promise I’ll get through it. I’m disappointed because I had really high hopes for this one! Can’t wait to hear what you all thought!
2/5
I've always noticed these books at the library and the bookstores and thought they looked they might be good. I just haven't gotten around to actually picking them up. Will you continue with the series?
Oh no! I'm absolutely obsessed with these books — hands-down one of my favorite series ever. I can definitely see what you mean about a lack of action, though — they're very internal. If it's any consolation, I think Second Helpings is the best book in the series — and a lot happens there! I guess it doesn't hurt that I'm totally in love with Marcus Flutie… trust me, he transforms. 🙂
I've not read this book yet, although the title is intriguing. Belonging to a writers group for 3 years which meets monthly, on the first page is where action is expected to start, so you get the aim of the book pretty quick. I tend to skim the first page, a middle of the book page and close to the end spot to see if the writing holds my interest. If it's a manuscript from the group, I line edit as I go and read all the way through. Series books are good if you fall in love with the style of the author and want to follow the main characters through other conflicts, triangles and reconciliations.
keep reading!