Second helpings a novel

4.5/5 stars This is 100% the sequel I was hoping for after the joyride that is Sloppy Firsts!! It truly takes the romance, angst, and teenage relatability to the next level, and I am just filled to the brim with adoration for this series! Goodreads synopsis: Jessica Darling is up in arms again in this much-anticipated, hilarious sequel to Sloppy Firsts. This time, the hyperobservant, angst-ridden teenager is going through the social and emotional ordeal of her senior year at Pineville High. Not only does the mysterious and oh-so-compelling Marcus Flutie continue to distract Jessica, but her best friend, Hope, still lives in another state, and she can’t seem to escape the clutches of the Clueless Crew, her annoying so-called friends. To top it off, Jessica’s parents won’t get off her butt about choosing a college, and her sister Bethany’s pregnancy is causing a big stir in the Darling household. With keen intelligence, sardonic wit, and ingenious comedic timing, Megan McCafferty again re-creates the tumultuous world of today’s fast-moving and sophisticated teens. Fans of Sloppy Firsts will be reunited with their favorite characters and also introduced to the fresh new faces that have entered Jess’s life, including the hot creative writing teacher at her summer college prep program and her feisty, tell-it-like-it-is grandmother Gladdie. But most of all, readers will finally have the answers to all of their burgeoning questions, and then some: Will Jessica crack under the pressure of senioritis? Will her unresolved feelings for Marcus wreak havoc on her love life? Will Hope ever come back to Pineville? Fall in love with saucy, irreverent Jessica all over again in this wonderful sequel to a book that critics and readers alike hailed as the best high school novel in years. This book has filled me with so much love, it’s insane. I never would’ve thought when I started this series that I would feel so at home with these characters, in Jessica Darling’s crazy life. I truly feel like a piece of my heart belongs to this series, and I can’t find any other words to explain the experience. As I mentioned, this sequel takes everything to love about the first book and raises it to the next level. While the first book is brooding and build-up, the sequel is a culmination of all the angst and misunderstandings and teenage hardships into an even more relatable ode to high school-dom. Jessica’s cynical, snarky but honest take on the world around her creates the most relatable story of senior year I’ve ever read - and I should know, considering I graduated high school less than a month ago. There really is a piece of Jessica to fit any reader’s experience, as a teen or just in life, which is why so many readers (including myself) hold this series so close to their hearts. If you need any more encouragement to read this series, believe that if you read these two books, you’ll feel so at home with these characters and with this story that you won’t want to leave. And if you read Sloppy Firsts and are as devastated by the abrupt ending as I was, the relief you’ll feel when you (eventually) get the answers to all your questions will be well worth the angst it took to get there. So that’s a plus 😉. I truly truly recommend this series to anyone who’s been a teen (that’s you) because it’s the embodiment of the teenage experience - no matter what your own teenage experience looked like. It doesn’t shy away from the tough stuff, but it doesn’t shy away from the reckless, lively, and hopeful side of being a teenager either; it recognizes the beautiful significance of both. If you enjoyed this review, you can friend me here on Goodreads and follow me on Instagram/Pinterest @ashton_reads for more bookish content! Thanks for reading!