A review by bookhaulin
Perfect Fifths by Megan McCafferty
2.0
2.5-3.0 stars.
I finished Fourth Comings several years ago, and I had /no/ idea that there was a fifth book until now. Frankly, I don't know what to feel about PF. On one hand...I loved Fourth Comings (and the ending!), on the other, my happyendingsarethebest heart can't help but warm up to the idea of Jessica and Marcus coming together all these years later. BUT, that doesn't change the fact that the book felt...really abrupt and unnecessary to me. I'm all for a different Marcus and happilyeverafters, but the way McCafferty executed it...it just wasn't done very well.
In Fourth Comings, I get a sense of why Jessica does what she does, and I can appreciate her growth and the decision that was a result. In comparison, PF feels rushed, and I don't really get why/how Marcus changed. I would've preferred it if McCafferty had kept the POV in Jessica's first person style, because the Marcus I found in PF wasn't the Marcus I was expecting at all--and not in a good way. In fact, he just read like a rehashed version of Jessica. After going through four books expounding on how Marcus' mind is so weird, twisted, how he's such a genius and just /odd/, it was a big disappointment to go into his head and find out that he's actually none of those things...
There were also WAY too many pages of the transcript.
(Basically, to summarize from a conversation with my friend:
"It was bad...then good, then bad, then really good, then really bad, then abrupt.
And then...good-bad?" )
I finished Fourth Comings several years ago, and I had /no/ idea that there was a fifth book until now. Frankly, I don't know what to feel about PF. On one hand...I loved Fourth Comings (and the ending!), on the other, my happyendingsarethebest heart can't help but warm up to the idea of Jessica and Marcus coming together all these years later. BUT, that doesn't change the fact that the book felt...really abrupt and unnecessary to me. I'm all for a different Marcus and happilyeverafters, but the way McCafferty executed it...it just wasn't done very well.
In Fourth Comings, I get a sense of why Jessica does what she does, and I can appreciate her growth and the decision that was a result. In comparison, PF feels rushed, and I don't really get why/how Marcus changed. I would've preferred it if McCafferty had kept the POV in Jessica's first person style, because the Marcus I found in PF wasn't the Marcus I was expecting at all--and not in a good way. In fact, he just read like a rehashed version of Jessica. After going through four books expounding on how Marcus' mind is so weird, twisted, how he's such a genius and just /odd/, it was a big disappointment to go into his head and find out that he's actually none of those things...
There were also WAY too many pages of the transcript.
(Basically, to summarize from a conversation with my friend:
"It was bad...then good, then bad, then really good, then really bad, then abrupt.
And then...good-bad?" )