Review #14 - Sweet Valley High #14 - Deceptions by Francine Pascal

Whose gonna drive you home, tonight ?,

In an unexpected change of personality from Elizabeth, she willing embarks on a forbidden endeavour with the seductive Nicholas Morrow when she agrees to go on a date (she sees this as act of kindness, I see it as the sign of a break-up with Todd) to the most expensive restaurant in Sweet Valley the following Sunday. 

She figures that she'll be okay because it's Todd's mothers birthday that day so he won't want to hang out with her. She decides not to tell anyone about the date except Enid as a confidant and advice giver.

Jessica, unaware of this misdeed,  decides that taking computer lessons from Sweet Valley's resident expert (surprisingly not Winston :o, but a never previously mentioned randomer Randy)will lure Nicholas to her (his family owns a colossal computer cooperation).

She takes the lessons too far when she gets him to hack into the schools database in order to change her grades. They both end up getting caught but fortunately Liz's persuasion powers prevent them from being punished.

Elizabeth goes on her date with Nicholas (they both decide that they should just be friends which is the only reason Liz went in the first place) and Todd's at the restaurant to celebrate his mother's birthday. 

Panicking, she pretends to be Jessica and he believes her until he goes to her house to apologise to
her for mistaking Liz as Jess at the restaurant, Jess reveals she never left the house that evening.

Todd and Jess are both unsurprisingly furious but Jess decides that any boy who prefers Liz to her is unworthy of her attention anyway.

Todd, however, hasn't forgiven her that easily and the silence between them is lethal when Elizabeth is asked to review his teams championship basketball game. Todd plays badly because his mind is on Liz, not the game.

Nicholas, saviour to the masses, explains to Todd at half time that it was his fault Liz betrayed Todd because of his pressurising.With this revelation boosting his confidence Todd wins the championship.

Liz  is on a sorrowful walk home refusing to go to the celebratory party for fear of seeing Todd when Todd finds her, of course,  and they have a passionate make up kiss.

But it's practically law that Sweet Valley has to end on heart-stopping cliff-hanger and this one was definitely one to beat them all. The twins are at the party when they get a phone call from their parents who explain that Tricia, Steven's girlfriend who has leukaemia, is in intensive care and she could die at any minute!

This ending hit me like a ton of bricks - "Not Tricia.How will Steven survive ? Who will Jessica bitch about now ?" was all I could say for 5 minutes afterwards. I think I'll cry if she dies.

The side story was hilarious and the main story was excellent for this month  but I'm waiting for a Sweet Valley book where Jessica's the star - it's been all about Liz lately and I bet Jess is not best pleased.

Can't wait (yet am also dreading because of the death aspect) for #15 !

Verdict : 5 stars !

Babysitter's little sister review next time,

Mimi

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Review #13 - Sweet Dreams #68 - Lovebirds by Janet Quin-Harkin

Down Under,

Failed to surpass the previous two (and only two I've read) Sweet Dreams books, but still heart-warming and definitely a perfect choice for Valentine's month.

The plot of all the Sweet Dreams books are so original : Tiffany is an unintentional prejudice brat from New York but must join her father on his filming trip to Australia for a safari documentary while her Mother goes on her honeymoon. 

On the trip, she meets a millionaire's son, Bruce Dawson, and soon falls for him and his love for protecting the environment. The love is requited.

 Tiff goes through a complete attitude change after saving koalas in a forest fire (literally couldn't make this stuff up) and having to fight for survival in the wilderness.

There's  just one thing separating Tiff and Bruce's love - he lives in Australia, she in New York. When Bruce discovers that he's been accepted to UCLA, Tiffany decides to move into her fathers house as she can't deal with her mothers attitude, the same attitude as she used to have. This end was definitely the sweetest part.

That little subheading I used is particularly fitting as Tiff refers to Men at Work as one of the only things she knows are from Australia in the beginning.Simply couldn't resist.

I particularly enjoyed the setting of this book, it has me convinced that I need to travel to Australia. I also adored the monumental character development of Tiffany which you don't often get in 80's and 90's YA.

Need to read more of these this month.

Verdict : 5 Stars !

Sweet Sweet Valley is my next subject matter,

Mimi

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Review #12 - The Babysitters Club #42 - Jessi and the Dance School Phantom by Ann M. Martin

When We Dance,

February has begun. Therefore,in the theme of the season, I shall be reading and reviewing as many books as I can with a romance theme. It'll be mainly general romance books but there will be some Nancy Drew mysteries and horror books with a romance theme as well.

Here's the first book that I finished this month :

Proving yet again mysteries reign supreme, this is the second book I've read from Jessi's perspective (the other being the rather uneventful book #75 - Jessi's horrible prank) and I can already make the judgement that she's my second least favourite BSC member because her personality is rather boring.

In this one, Jessi receives threats after being cast as the lead in her dance schools latest production and she,with help from the rest of the club, must use her powers of deduction to discover who the saboteur is. 

Meanwhile, The club are gearing up for the Pet Show (another of Kristy's great ideas, no suprise there) in which their charges will showcase the best attributes of their animals in order to win prizes. There's dispute on who shall win and which sibling gets to enter each pet but in the end all the kids get prizes. 

The main thing I enjoyed about it was that there was a heavy focus on ballet and it had me wishing I had done it - not to receive death threats though. 

The side story was the weakest of all the books that I've read so far but it was still fun.

Another disappointing thing was that there weren't many babysitting anecdotes although there were many Nancy Drew references which I much appreciated.

Verdict : 5 Stars !

Next we have a Sweet Dreams Review,

Mimi

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Review #9 - Sweet Valley High #13 - Kidnapped ! by Francine Pascal

I always feel like, Somebody's watching me,

Although it failed to triumph the greatness of the previous book in the series (see my review) it was still one of the best Sweet Valley High books because of it's stellar ingredients : drama, far-fetched plot, a crazed stalker on the loose and Jessica's seductive flirting - which just about puts her on the same wave length in craziness and danger as the stalker.

The plot continues directly from the previous book : 

Elizabeth has been kidnapped by a mental orderly, Creepy Carl, at the hospital where she's working as a candy striper. 

Unaware of these events, Jessica leaves for the rich,new and attractive Morrow's party where she meets Regina. She's the only Sweet Valley High character I know with a disability (she's deaf) and the star of a similar Sweet Valley High book #26 - Hostage which is just as good.

There's also Nicholas, her brother whose in college who Jessica has her sights set on - don't get your hopes up a Jessica, have you read the plot of the next book ? 

After days in darkness and days of Jessica crying, Elizabeth is saved due to a slip up at the hospital where Carl mistook Jessica for Elizabeth - yet more proof why being a twin is better.

The novel ends with Elizabeth meeting Nicholas who gazes at her adoringly upon sight and Liz knows she's in for trouble.

Basically, it was like a slightly inferior version of my favourite Sweet Valley book - Sweet Valley High #7 - Dear Sister.

Another thing that made me love this book even more was that it's got me obsessed with the Sweet Valley High tv show because the three part episodes of this were absolutely amazing. 

They add in the additional story of Carl (or as he is known in TV show, Peter) escaping from prison after being arrested for kidnapping Liz and kidnaps Jess. Still not as good as the books though but equally satisfying.

Can't wait for #14 - Deceptions !

Verdict : 5 Stars !

Look forward to a series review soon of the Saturday Night series,

Mimi

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Review #8 - The Babysitters Club #40 - Claudia and the Middle School Mystery by Ann M. Martin

The only thing Claudia is guilty of is bad spelling,

No picture for this  because it's the collection cover.  I understand it's pretty unacceptable that this post is almost a week late. 

But at least it's here now :

I've decided that, even though I've only read two books from her perspective, Claudia is my second favourite babysitter and Mary Anne is my least favourite - hence me not reading any books from her and reading books from all the other  babysitters.

I absolutely adored the storyline of this one - Claudia is accused of cheating in Maths test off one of the best students in the class and must somehow prove her innocence therefore solving the mystery of    why the other girl cheated.

Here's the reason for hating Mary Anne in this one : she actually thinks Claud cheated and says so but when the other babysitters get angry at her she bursts into tears so they forgive - Slap not hug Claud !

The main reasons for my love for this were : there were lots of anecdotes about babysitting, mystery's always tend to be my favourites and Janine was in it a lot (she's my favourite non-babysitter).

Although it wasn't as good as possibly my favourite ever Babysitters club book and the only other Claudia book I've ever read (I plan to change that soon) The Babysitters Club #2 - Claudia and the phantom phone calls it was still excellent.

Verdict : 5 stars !

Sweet Valley review coming soon,

Mimi

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Review #6 - Sweet Valley High #12 - When love dies by Francine Pascal

It must have been love, but it's over now,

Posted a day early because plans fell through. No picture unfortunately because I only own the 3 in 1 that it's in so you'd be getting a picture of Deceptions.

My opinion :

It seems like ages since I've read a Sweet Valley High, since December I've only read Sweet Valley Twins books, and what a good decision it was to pick up this one, that I received for Christmas, to remind myself how far-fetched and loveable they are.

This has to be one of my favourite Sweet Valley High book and maybe from every Sweet Valley series one of the best. In my opinion books 5 to 30 are the best from the SVH series are the best for plot in my opinion as the book proves.

Both twins work as Candy Striper's at the hospital, Elizabeth to actually help out and Jessica to swoon a hospitalised SV resident celebrity. 

Karma's a bitch (and so's Jessica) so Elizabeth ends up working on the ward that the aforementioned  celebrity is on and ,downside, a creepy stalker who keeps asking her strange  questions and watching her when he thinks she's not looking. Meanwhile Jessica's plan has majorly back-fired, again..., so she's working on the maternity ward run by a witch of a woman.

This doesn't stop Jessica from going to see the celebrity and stirring up trouble by accidentally injuring him every time she tries to make him swoon.

Elizabeth discovers the real motive for Jessica's volunteering and seeks revenge by getting the celebrity to fake propose to Jessica. Hilariously, Jessica actually considers marrying him but changes her mind - how convenient for the sake of the series.

The book also focuses on their brother's, Steven, girlfriend's ,Tricia Martin, dilemma - Should she tell everyone she's got leukaemia ,including Steven ? 

The answer is yes and Tricia realises this after a lot of  unnecessary crying and a break-up. They make-up after Steven's short- lived relationship with Cara Walker , one of Jessica's best friends (can you guess who set them up in the first place ?), crashes and burns.

The ending is probably the best part of the book - Elizabeth is kidnapped by the mental orderly who has been stalking her all week ! This is the focus of the next book which I literally want to read right now - it might be even better !

Verdict : 5 out of 5 stars !

Coming soon : Fear Street #3 - The Overnight by R.L Stine Review,

Mimi

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Review #4 - Sweet Dreams #99 - One boy too many by Marian Caudell or Seriously Marian, just let her date them both !

Friday Fabulousness,

My first review in months but what actually feels like years and boy am I happy to be reviewing again. Been busy the last couple of days that's why this wasn't up on the day after I read this (Tuesday).

Heads up for tomorrow - a book haul may be posted. Unfortunately last week when I went shopping I only got 1 book - Sweet Valley at least for 5p ! But another from a mini series -second in a series I don't own the rest of.I hate it when that happens. The town I'm going to tomorrow I haven't been to since October so the shops should be well stocked - including one that practically specialises in 80's/90's books.

Anyway onto Today's review (couldn't find a picture of this one sorry) :

I seriously regret that I don't own any more of these - I shall hope to buy some more tomorrow or if not in my monthly Amazon order - and also regret not picking them up sooner.

Splendid story again : an avid reader (who I felt very poignant to) has to choose between two identical twins with very two very different personalities - which I can't fathom how she managed to do because they were both equally attractive.

My personal favourite parts were the 80's mall scenes as they went into excruciating detail about the dresses and books at the time. Also the poolside scenes were pretty cool.

Not as good as Sweet Dreams #83 - Love by the book by Anne Park - the only other a Sweet Dreams book I've read - but still amazing !

Verdict : 5 out of 5 Stars

Don't forget to comment below about what you thought of this post or you not allowed to date the other twin,

Mimi
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Bout of Books Read-a-thon Update #2

Good to see you've survived so far,

So I didn't want to participate in the challenge yesterday because is there really anyone who would be perfect enough to voice any of the Sweet Valley characters, never mind the Wakefield twins, in a radio show ? I think not. Therefore this post shall be short but sweet unlike Lila Fowler.

Update #2

Yesterday I managed to start and finish The Babysitter's Club #39 - Poor Mallory by Ann M. Martin. I thought the plot was phenomenal and my favourite part was definitely Mallory's speech to the mean girls. I'd rate it 5 out of 5 stars. 

I read the whole 137 pages of the book yesterday and nothing else - slightly better than Monday however I still want to read at least 200 pages today. Already I've read 28 pages today out of 167  of Fear Street #2 - The Surprise Party by R.L Stine so I hope to finish it by the end of the day as well as trying to get to page 50 of Sweet Valley Twins #10 - One of the Gang by Francine Pascal.

Until tomorrow,

Mimi

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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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See you Saturday,

Mimi