Review Detail

Reader reviewed by Stephanie

16-year-old Jessica Darling is in hell. Her best friend and the only person who understands her, Hope, has moved away, leaving her to rot in the pathetic town of Pineville, NJ, with her pseudo-friends, a group of superficial girls whom Jessica christens the Clueless Crew who speak in "omigod"s and "like"s. Her older sister Bethany, who was one of those extremely popular social butterfly types Jessica despises in high school, is getting married to the most boring moneymaker in the world. Marcus Flutie, a mysterious druggie and male slut, is sending Jessica mixed signals, signals that Jessica would rather ignore, but can't help responding to. Top it off with an absent period and A-level insomnia, and you've got a whangdoodle of an angsty teenage life.

It's a good thing Jessica has her unfailing sense of humor to help her get along. Often making up words such as "assplosion" (for a diarrhea attack) and accurately writing down the dialect of a summer beachgoer, Jessica's journal entries are nearly unmatched in wit and humor. Readers will kill themselves laughing, and then kill themselves again as they wait for the sequel.