Currently Reading #2 - The Ruling Class by Francine Pascal

(Picture belongs to Goodreads)

 

Hello Readers,

 

So this isn't a Book Haul because I only got 3 books :( so I'm waiting until I accumulate enough to do one . On the Brightside I've just ordered 23 books as My Birthday present and I'm off school this week so shopping opportunities are destined to arise.

 

Luckily for you I'm posting something else. A Currently Reading Post of a modern book by Francine Pascal - Sweet Valley's creator !

 

Blurb :

 

In the posh suburban Dallas high school of Highland Park, the beautiful and perfect Jeanette Sue is queen. The Ruling Class, her clique of spectacularly cruel girls, runs the school. Brutally. And no one questions them. Certainly not the little suck-up Myrna Fry, whose only aim in life is to be part of the Ruling Class, no matter what or who gets trashed. It's a nightmare school caught in the grips of terror until the arrival of the totally undesirable, absolutely unfashionable, and -- way worse -- poor Twyla Gay Stark. And then, of course, there is the tall and gorgeous hunk, Ryder McQuaid, Jeanette Sue's property. Or so Jeanette Sue thinks.

 

My Current Thoughts :

 

I'm on page 21 out of 176 at the moment and I already know it doesn't even compare to SVH . Sure Jeanette Sue's a lot meaner than Jessica but literally none of the characters are relatable whereas ,with SV, I share qualities with pretty much every character.

 

This doesn't mean I'm not enjoying this Mean Girl's style read because after all I do love an excellent antagonist so Jeanette Sue and the rest of the clique is awesome.

 

One issue with this book - why does everybody have a double barrelled first name ?
Seriously Francine - Jeanette Sue, Myrna Fry (what sort of name is that anyway ?), Twyla Gay, Anna Marie, Mary Anne (BSC!) and Betty Jane - ?

Teaser Tidbit :

 

Basically a Teaser Tidbit challenge is a showcase of a taster from my current read to entice you to add it to your TBR pile.


"With her so blond hair (somebody said it's not really blond, but they don't know) and her aqua eyes (I heard they're colour contacts, but I don't believe that) and the whitest teeth (this girl in my math class said they're all caps, but that's not true), she's way the most perfect girl in the school." - page 2


Sound familiar? Minus the parts in brackets and Multiply by 2 you've got a standard SV opening. Seriously Francine ?

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You wouldn't want to face the wrath of Jeanette Sue, would you ? 

Review/Recap of this will be up tomorrow most likely,
Mimi


Review #2 - Sweet Valley Twins #21 - Left behind by Francine Pascal or Seriously Francine,a gold digger?

(picture belongs to Goodreads)

 

Good evening readers,

 

I know there was never a currently reading post for this but that's because I read this in one sitting on Saturday so I didn't really see the point in doing one.

My next post probably won't be until the weekend because I'm working my way through my modern books at the moment and taking a break from Nightmare Hall. But you're in luck because my Saturday post will probably be a Book Haul because I'm going to one of my best towns for 80's and 90's books.

 

Expect a lot more posts soon though because on Friday, half-term break commences.

 

Back to the present and the review :

 

WARNING THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

 

 

In my opinion this is one of the weakest Sweet Valley books I've read because it was more focused on Elizabeth's friend Sarah than the actual twins. However that doesn't mean that it didn't have enough drama to outshine any daytime soap.

 

First let me introduce you to our main character (I won't bother introducing you to the usual characters) Sarah and her train-wreck of a family. Sarah is a member of Elizabeth's posse and has recently been suffering problems at home due to her father's gold digger fiancé.

The story starts with it's generic opening of the twins descriptions and extra-curriclars as if we needed reminding for the millionth time that the twins are more beautiful, Elizabeth's smarter and Jessica's wilder than we'll ever be.

We then move on to the actual story with Elizabeth, Amy and Sarah discussing a history project and arrange to work on it at Sarah's sleepover the following Friday.

Amy invites them both over for home-made brownies - *drools* - and Sarah mysteriously refuses ! Seriously Francine , who refuses brownies (except Stacey for medical reasons and Dawn because she's weird) ?

Jessica then finally makes an appearance to complain that the Unicorn's featurette in The Sweet Valley Sixers was less than appeasing - as if they got a featurette anyway.

Jessica rushes home as she remembers that the president of the Unicorn club (whose amazingly more annoying than Kristy) ,Janet, is coming to the Wakefield residence to discuss the plans for the Unicorns latest party so she has to clean her room in order to impress her - because that's a totally normal thing to do.

Anyway Janet comes over and asks about Steven - unobvious to Jessica because she has a crush on him - but he's not there so they continue with their planning while eating cookies. Seriously Francine are you trying to make them obese (and me) ?

The perfect idea of a luau - Seriously Francine, what ? - and they decide to have the Hawaiian party in Jessica's yard because it has palm trees - I thought there was palm trees like everywhere in California ?

The next day the twins go roller-skating - How 80's :D - Jessica invites Janet and Elizabeth invites Sarah who at first attempts to refuse. Seriously Francine , who wouldn't want to skate with the Wakefield's ?

At the rink Sarah tells Elizabeth her Cinderella tale - After her Mother died her Father persued his secutery Annie whose spiteful to Sarah when her Father isn't around and who Sarah is convinced is only marrying him for his money. Now I ain't saying she's a gold digger...

Meanwhile Janet asks Jessica about Steven again but of course he's too macho to hang with his little sisters and is playing basketball. Janet decides it's time for refreshments - nacho's and cherry cola (Seriously Francine, can you hear my stomach grumbling ?) - and they bump into Bruce Patman. Do I hence foreshadowing , Francine ?

Sarah has returned after the rink and tries to sneak up stairs to avoid Annie but gets caught and scolded. Annie pigs out on the sofa whilst Sarah does Annie's jobs for her as a punishment

As soon as Daddy dear returns though Annie clears up any evidence of her lounging  - speechlessness annoyance ensues - and a harsh reality slaps Sarah cold. Her father is going on a business trip for a week therefore she and Annie will have a week alone together. Seriously Francine , does the poor girl deserve such torture ?
 

The situation reminded me of the opening lines to one of my favourite songs I'm on fire by Bruce Springsteen from Annie's perspective :
Hey little girl is your daddy home ?,
Did he go and leave you all alone ?,
Oh I got a bad desire

Automatically after Sarah's father leaves Annie receives a phone call summoning her to a town faraway from Sweet Valley for a week! Sounds like a win win situation right ? Well imagine being alone in house for an entire week at age 12. Sound like my worst nightmare personally.

When Sarah gets home she gets a call from her inquisitive Aunt Lillian but she dismisses all comments of unhappiness.

The seemingly endless evenings of restlessness continue and everyone is become more concerned especially Elizabeth but Sarah's too afraid to admit the truth.

Jessica finally finds out about Janet's unrequited love and loses it - The argument even ends up with Jessica threatening to leave the Unicorns ! I haven't been so shocked since Mallory went on strike. Fortunately this is quickly resolved.

Sarah's returned home from school on Friday when she hears a noise from downstairs and does the 'logical' thing of running downstairs to see if there's a burglar. This is when she stumbles, her head colliding with a banister and is knocked unconscious all because her school books fell on the floor.

Elizabeth shows up at the house a few hours later to take Sarah to her sleepover but no one is answering the door. Peering through the window Elizabeth witnesses a horrible sight - no not Scott from All night long - Sarah looking dead !

Immediately Mr Wakefield jumps into Emergency mode - breaking through the glass to save her and finding her father's business card so he can come to rescue.

Luckily Sarah's worst injuries were two broken twos plus a concussion. Sarah's father and Aunt Lillian turn up and they're bewildered to learn that Annie wasn't caring for her. Little Miss Guilty turns up and it turns out she's been lying about everything including the fact that she actually had no reason to leave Sarah ! Somebody tune the hospital radio to Kanye West's Gold digger.

The book ends up with the twins learning that Sweet Valley Middle School has a new arrival - Ginny Lu (what a name !) from Texas - the star of the next book Out of Place.

Disappointment then flooded through me - what about Jessica's legendary luau ? Seriously Francine you better include that in Out of place or there'll be trouble. At least it's only month till my birthday which I think is when I'll be receiving it. Damn you Sweet Valley cliff-hangers!

My rating of Left Behind : 5 stars

 

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If you've read Left Behind please share your opinion of it.

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See you Saturday,

Mimi

 

 



Redesigned and Revived

I'm back Readers and better than ever hopefully,

 

So after not posting for over a week due to the crazy ad problem that Blogger was having, I'm back.

 

As you can see Babysitting in Sweet Valley has a new colour scheme that I think is far superior to it's previous design.

 

Anyway I read two Nightmare Hall books - Monster and Truth or die - during my absence which I might do re-caps for. Please comment if you want them.

 

I'll be reading Deadly Attraction after my current read so expect a currently reading post soon.

 

Before I go I'd just like to thank you all for your lovely feedback. I really appreciate it.

 

If you liked this post please don't forget to Comment.

 

Don't forget to Follow this Blog and Share the love with your friends!

 

Bye for now,

Mimi

 

 

Review #1 - Point Horror - Nightmare Hall - The Wish by Diane Hoh or Seriously Diane, how many times are they going to go to Vinnie's?

Hi readers,

Sorry this wasn't posted yesterday but you can blame that on the boring geography I was enduring till 19:00. My next post will probably be a currently reading of Point Horror - Nightmare Hall - Monster by Diane Hoh or a review of it on Friday.

Anyway let's move onto the review shall we :

WARNING THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS

I've read 5 of the Nightmare Hall books (Silent Scream in 2011, The Roomate in 2011,Guilty in 2012,Scream Team 2009 and Pretty Please last week)and nearly all of Diane's stand-a-lone Point Horror books. In my opinion she's one of the series' best writers and I wasn't disapointed by this novel.

The Wish begins in a setting that appears in all the Nightmare Hall books but rather to an over-kill point in this one (8 TIMES) - Vinnie's Pizzera which is basically a less superior version of The Dari Burger (SV) but specialising in pizza's instead.

Our main character Alex - whom is a plain jane (typical point horror) - stumbles across The Wizard ,a creepy beyond belief fortune telling booth , that she happens to be afraid of due to a fortune telling incident when she was 9 - so random.

As she's quaking in fear at this 'harmless' antique her posse approachs including the Sweet Valley Twins ! Not really but Julie and Jenny (why is there always a Jenny/Jennifer in Point Horror books?) are dead-ringers for the Californian beauties - long blonde hair, one twin is studious and often wears blouses and the other lives to party and is addicted to dating.

Other honourable characters I'll mention are Kiki,whose name even sounds bitchy. Kiki is known for her bitchness and constantly failing diets. And Marty whom Alex is besotted with.

Back to the story - 2 of the characters decide to make wishes and get their fortunes told. Julie wishes for an exotic face - you definetely wouldn't catch Jessica Wakefield wishing for that - and her fortune card reads "BEWARE THE LOOKING GLASS,LEST YOU SEE YOUR TRUE REFLECTION". Gabe , Julie's boyfriend and your typical jock, wishes for wheels and his card says "SLOW AND STEADY WINS THE RACE".

2 more of the characters are about to make wishes when suddenly a power cut strikes because of a raging storm happening outside. When the lights finally turn back on the students decide to return to their dorms. But not all of them make it...

Julie crashes the car into a tree lying across the road and her face is completely destroyed. Gabe's confined to a wheelchair. Alex realises their fortunes have come true !

The next day the reminants of the gang are at Vinnie's again and Kiki wishes to be 5 pounds thinner . Her fortune card reads "SELF-DISIPLINE IS THE GREATEST OF ALL VIRTUES".

They then venture to the hospital visit Gabe, Julie and Jenny (who stayed overnight because she didn't want to leave her sister). But before Alex can reach the room she hears a blood-curdling scream from Julie's room - Poor Jenny's learnt she's missed a trip to Vinnie's! Only joking this book may be far-fetched but not that much.

Inside she discovers twins fighting over a snake patterened mirror that was gifted to Julie anonymously - possibly by a snake in the grass ?

After this fiasco Jenny decides not to protect her twin from this creepy Santa but chooses to return to the dorm instead.Meanwhile Alex goes to her job at the radio station and  Kyle closes the door to the radio booth with Alex inside. During her radio work she receives an anonymous request to play the song "Who's sorry now?" for Julie.

She ends her shift rather abrubtedly after this - just because Julie may have a pyscho after her doesn't mean you should be slacking on the job Alex - but the door to the booth is locked. To the reader Kyle is looking pretty shifty but Alex dismisses his involvement and tries to phone for help.

Predictably the line is dead and darkness suddenly descends upon the radio station. This next part now is a bit weird : an unexplainable wind tries to drag Alex off the balcony that's connected to the radio booth. Seriously Diane ?

Fortunately the head of the radio stations saves her and so the next day she's recovered enough to go to - drum roll please - Vinnie's ! During their pizza Alex has several bitchy thoughts (that are repeated several times throughout the book) about Kiki eating the most out of anyone on the table. I thought Kiki was supposed to be the bitchy one !

Alex forgets her resentment towards The Wizard by having her own fortune told with Marty. Marty wishes to not have to do an upcoming speech. Alex doesn't wish for anything which is a bit strange considering the title of the book. They both get the same card that reads "SILENCE IS GOLDEN".

Now this was when I started getting my suspicions about Bennet - a member of the group who badly damaged his legs in a previous accident that is never explained (so much for back stories) so wears crutches and is always groaning about his inability to play football due to the crutches-who is the only one who hasn't visited the Wizard.

The next day it's time for another group outing not to Vinnie's this time - SHOCKER ! - but to a football game. During the intermission Alex receives phone that tells her to "Take me seriously or you'll regret it "The voice is disguised of course - it always is in point horror books - but Kiki later admits that it was her who called intending for it to be a joke about Alex's refusal to take The Wizard seriously - her bitchy side has finally been unleashed!

While the others go to Vinnie's, Alex goes to a party back at the dorms.And sees Kyle being thrown over the balcony... I should point out this is a plot hole because Kyle is written to be at Vinnie's and so is the thrower who I'll reveal shortly.

Alex decides to investigate to see if any clues to the identity of the thrower are on the balcony - wow Alex look at you giving Nancy Drew a run for her money - after Kyle's been carted to the hospital in a coma. She finds a shiny gold football medallion (hence the cover) in a plant pot and discovers that it's the same design that was given to every member of the football squad. Including : Gabe, Kyle, Bennet (who's now looking SUPER FISHY) and Marty.

The next day whilst she's visiting her friends at the hospital she illegally searches through Kyle's belongings to see if the one that she found is his. It's not as Kyle's as it's amongst his possessions but before she begins to question the other suspects Kiki collapses in the ward (how convenient ?) and is hospital due to her dangerous weight.Karma's a bitch and so is Kiki.

This certainly doesn't stop the gang visiting Vinnie's - I swear that place would be bankrupt without them - and Alex gets each suspect alone to ask them about the football charm. They all claim to have lost it. Seriously Diane,everyone's so carless?

Alex gets the shuttle bus home from Vinnie's as she's lost her friends and finds that it's completely empty with the exception of the driver. As soon as she's inside he begins careening the bus at high speed like a maniac. When they reach the woodland near Nightmare Hall ,the same place as the car accident, he jumps out. Magically the police appear moments later to save Alex.

To cheer Alex up the following day the friends go to Vinnie's - seriously Diane ? what sort of diets do these kids have - and thus begins Alex's strange shouting rant with the Wizard about why all this is happening to her .Suddenly a fortune card comes out of the machine ,and I swear at the time I read this a shiver went down my spine , that reads "THE WHEELS ON THE BUS GO ROUND AND ROUND".

Frightened , Alex pleads for Marty to take her home but changes her mind and wants to go to the hospital instead to check if Kyle's jewel football is still there for a reason that remains unexplained. Of course ,as anyone could have guessed, the football has miraculously vanished !

We then come to the worst 'scary' scene ever :it has come to the time when Marty has to deliver his speech  but his voice has gone , taken by a voice stealer it seems.

If you're like me you may have worked out now that a bad thing has happened to everyone but Bennet. Way to make it obvious Diane!

To make me even more convinced that Bennet is behind all these 'accidents' his ex-girlfriend tells Alex that she had Bennet's football charm and only just gave it back to him.

Alex then goes to Vinnie's thankfully for the final time and confronts the Wizard again - like any 'sane' person would. He starts sending her fortune cards that say things like "You dare threaten me ?".

Gabe appears and points his crutch at her and she realises that she's forgotten a majorly important detail of the night Kyle was thrown from the balcony....

The weird length of the throwers arm.Exactly the length of the crutch Gabe has and Bennet but Alex has completely overlooked Bennet so is convinced Gabe is the perputraitor. Alex is knocked unconscious by an unknown and when she awakes she finds herself in the storage closet of Vinnie's.

As it is unlocked she quickly escapes and the Wizard is directly in front over her screaming -yes he can talk and if you're like me and petrified of creepy dolls (thank you Poltergeist) you'll be having nightmares tonight - that she and her friends are responsible for everything that has happened.

Alex spots a crutch poking out from behind the Wizards booth - thank god the Wizard wasn't the one talking - and she assumes obviously that it's Gabe. Out pops ... Bennet! I KNEW IT.

Bennet explains that the Wizard telepathetically told him to cause all the accidents and his legs would be fixed allowing him to play football again. The Wizard did the humanly impossible things like making Marty lose his voice. Seriously Diane?

Bennet is carted off to a mental hospital before he can do his final deed to the wizard - killing Alex - and the book ends with the Wizard being sold to a burger joint owner - The Dari Burgers' possibly ? - who's unaware of the terror it will cause.

My rating of The Wish :

 3.5 out of 5 stars

 

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If you've read the The Wish please share your opinion of it.

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Bye for now,

Mimi

Currently Reading #1 - Point Horror - Nightmare Hall - The Wish by Diane Hoh

 

Hey Bookaholics,

 

Today I'm going to be introducing you to my current read The Wish and why it may be one of the most far-fetched and weirdest Point Horrors.

 

Expect a lot of Point Horror reviews and currently reading posts this month because it is after all Halloween - which is almost better than Christmas in my opinion even though it's not really celebrated in the UK.

 

Anyway back to :

 

The Wish

 

(photo belongs to Goodreads)

 





Blurb is from the edition pictured above because I don't know anyone who could write one better than the one already printed on the back :

 

High on a hillside overlooking Salem University, sits Nightingale Hall. Nightmare Hall, the students call it. Because that's where the terror began...

Alex is the first to notice the strange little booth in the campus pizza place. Wishes granted, fortunes told says the sign. Inside sits The Wizard, an eerie wooden figure with sinister blue eyes.

Alex's friends all make wishes. And, one by one, their wishes come true - but in terrifying, twisted ways. Could The Wizard be behind the horror? Or is it someone else - someone with a deadly wish all of their own?

 

 

My Current Thoughts :

 

Freakishly weird plotline that I guess if probably more sci-fi than horror. I don't really like this cover - with the exception of the autumn leaves in the background , brown and DEAD - it would be so much better if it was a picture of the menacing Wizard.

 

I'm on page 66 and it's already been ridiculous - an immensely strong gust of wind attempts to blow the protagonist off of a balcony 8 floors up . Seriously Diane ? But there'll be more on these crazy features in my recap/review which will probably be posted tomorrow.

 

For now to keep you intrigued here's a teaser tidbit :

 

Teaser Tidbit

 

Basically a Teaser Tidbit challenge is a showcase of a taster from my current read to entice you to add it to your TBR pile.

 

"And although his image had completely disappeared into the veil of darkness, Alex could feel the icy blue eyes of The Wizard, watching,watching ..." page 13

 

 

Don't Forget to Follow or The Wizard may get you ...

 

 

Happy Point Horrorween !,

 

Mimi

 



 

 

 

Introduction

Hello readers,

Most SV and BSC based blogs are written by 30 year olds wishing to re-read and laugh about the over-dramatic trials and tribulations of the books they isolated themselves with.

That's what makes my blog different.

I'm only 13 (nearly 14 as my Birthdays in November).  I didn't grow up in the 80's or 90's when these books where at the height of their popularity. I'm experiencing Stoneybrook, Sweet Valley , River Heights and Shadyside for the first time. I have to scour charity shops, book stalls and second hand stores to find these diamonds in the ruff.

And ,most importantly, I couldn't imagine my life without them !

Therefore after discovering blogs such as What Winston Saw I decided it was time for me to create my own blog based on the books that I love the most.

Featured here will be : book hauls, read-a-thon updates, reviews and more. I'll try to do at least 3 posts a week.

Also ,in case you were wondering, Elizabeth is my favourite twin and Stacey is my favourite club member.

If you wish to know what I'm reading (because I do also read some modern books as well) then friend me on Goodreads.

Interested ? 

Then click that Follow button now !

 

I really hope you enjoy this blog,

Mimi