Once upon a time, there was a really angsty, miserable teenager. She was convinced that she was better than her hometown (Spoiler Alert: she totally was) and that she was full of untapped potential. She was a giant bitch all throughout high school, a chip on her shoulder and a grimace on her face all four years.
This girl found solace, as many a teenager before and after her, in books. She would walk to the local library after school and check out as many books as her extra bag would allow - sometimes up to ten. She would often stop at the Dunkin Donuts next to the library, order a coffee, and start reading one of her books before she'd catch the bus home.
Surprise: that girl was me.
I wrote a post when I was still blogging for Weddingbee about who I was in high school, so I'll let that speak for itself. The books, though, that got me through, have such a special place in my heart - specifically The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky (this book affected me so much that I kept a list of quotes and their page numbers in my purse until college. . .when I put them on my wall), Violet & Claire by Francesca Lia Block, How to Deal (which is actually two separate novels, That Summer and Someone Like You) by Sarah Dessen and the Jessica Darling series by Megan McCafferty.
I am sure that there are many deep and involved reasons why I decided to re-load the well loved series onto my new tablet after it had sat on a previous reading device, untouched and un-thought of for quite some time; why I had been thinking about Jessica Darling so much as of late that I decided to re-read the books right before Jon and I were heading on a five-day-stay in our hometown for the holidays; why I devoured the books and couldn't wait to write about them. I'm sure that there's a lot to be said about the power of my subconscious regarding this decision - but I'm not the one to say any of it. I'm just happy to have reunited with those who feel like my old friends. I'm happy to have re-connected to them and to the story and I'm happy to have an outlet that allows me to express all of this.
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| images via Wikipedia, copyrighted to Three Rivers Press and Crown publishers |
It's hard for me to review the books adequately as individuals as each time I've read them, I've read them in rapid succession, so that it's essentially one long, great story, so I'm reviewing them in their entirety as The Jessica Darling Series.
If I were to pigeon-hole these books, I'd say that they're coming-of-age novels: YA fodder that follows Jessica Darling throughout high school and college, even into her life as a young professional. The stories, all told by Jessica's point-of-view (with the exception of Perfect Fifths, which is told in third person narrative - and done so very cleverly), include sexual encounters, alcohol, drug usage, death: basically everything that a teenager might experience. What is extra special about these novels is that Megan McCafferty writes in such a realistic manner. Jessica drops f-bombs like a teenager would, her experience with drugs and alcohol are incredibly believable for someone her age and the pressure to do well, to think beyond high school and get into college is described beyond adequately.
Also regarding the realness of Jessica Darling's reality: it is so incredibly not dystopian, not post-apocalyptic, not magical or fantasy-based. There are no creatures or spells, there are no kill-or-be-killed battles or re-built societies that are on the verge of crumbling. No, there's just a girl, high school and a small town - which brings its own battles, but they're of a completely different nature. As a pretty avid YA-reader, it was refreshing to read something so normal, but still well-written.
One of the challenges one faces during a re-read is the test of time: does the story stand up despite the time since you last revisited it? This is how classics like, oh, Catcher in the Rye and To Kill a Mockingbird are born, right? No matter how old you are when you read it or how long it's been since it was published, the story is still a good story, it's still worth teaching and discussing. I wouldn't necessarily say The Jessica Darling Series should be identified as a classic, as some items (i.e., the debate about the newness of e-mail and IMs, how technology makes things impersonal, etc.) have an outdated feel to them, however the story at its core is identifiable by almost anyone: here is a girl growing up, struggling to find her place, struggling against the world when she finds it, forever her own worst enemy.
For me, I had a personal lightbulb moment. When I read the series the first time (which, at the time, was only the first three), I was so connected to Jessica Darling. I felt like we were one in the same, that finally, finally, finally there was a flawed fictional individual with whom I could identify with - not because I wanted to be her or because she was someone I could become if only, but because I felt that I was her, that she was me. When I read the series the second time in college (which was the complete collection), I was slightly more removed, in that way that college students have: "oh, this is so high school, wasn't that a drag? Glad I'm out of there." I was still identifying with Jessica and still on her side, convinced she was right and that we would find our way. Now, when I read it as an adult, living in the city with her husband and three cats, working a job that finally provides security as well as purpose, I was completely on the other side and I saw what many critics had been saying for quite some time: Jessica Darling is not likeable.
And neither was I.
I had the weird experience of reading it and knowing that I was an adult - something I'm sure will only continue to happen as I get older. Reading it and thinking how glad I am to not be that girl anymore, how grateful I am for who I am now. . .and instead of immediately identifying with Jess and all of her issues, of latching onto her because we were One In The Same, I felt nostalgic: for her, for me, for our shared history. Because that's what it is, at this point. History.
It wasn't a bad thing and admittedly, the series has a personal meaning for me, but I imagine that adults who don't have the 'history' with the story that I do might immediately be turned off by Jessica Darling and her whining, her seemingly insistence on misery. I can only hope, however, that teenagers who read it have a similar experience that I did my first time around: here's someone who gets it. And then maybe, just maybe, these teenagers who are struggling with the It Crowd or all of the smallness that is involved in a small town, will see the light at the end of the tunnel.
I give The Jessica Darling Series an A. And not just because Megan McCafferty and I are Twitter friends.
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| personal photo | Total fangirl moment. The illustration she's referencing can be found here. |
I give it an A because of its importance to me, sure, but also because of the importance it could have for others.
What's your favorite throwback novel? Any particular story you clung to in your adolescence, angst-ridden or otherwise?
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