April 17, 2011

Series Sunday

Series Sunday is a new bookish meme hosted by yours truly, Literary Marie of Precision Reviews. I encourage all of my fellow book bloggers and bookhearts to play along. 

  • Read an installment of a series.
  • Post a review/recommendation on your blog, FB, Twitter, Goodreads, or Shelfari pages.
  • Share your review/recommendation by posting the link in the comments section below.
  • Include the title, author, and name of the series so that other Series Sunday participants can add the book to their TBR Lists.
Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Years LaterMy Series Sunday pick is Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Years Later, the follow-up to the popular Sweet Valley High series by Francine Pascal. Beautiful, blond and perfect size 6 twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield are back. However, the sisters are not on talking terms. Jessica committed the ultimate betrayal forcing Elizabeth to flee to New York. The small town in California just isn't the same anymore. The chapters alternate between the present and past in order to tell the story of what caused the twins to become estranged. 

A part of me feels that Pascal let devoted fans down. Chapter One was available months prior to the release. It was so juicy that it drew us all in and hyped us up. We were eager for to find out what happened to our favorite characters: Jessica, Elizabeth, Steven, Todd, Bruce, Enid, Lila, etc. So when I finally cracked the book open, ready to read, my balloon of nostalgia slowly deflated. The inconsistencies were plenty. Then again, my expectations were probably set too high for a SVH novel. They've never been about substance. They have always been fun, mindless reading for teens. But the characters are totally different people ten years later! Same names, different personalities. Almost every single action was out of character for the gang. Major side-eyes and "Huh?" moments. It seemed fans remember more about the Sweet Valley characters than Pascal. There was a rumor that Pascal used a ghostwriter for the old books. Clearly, the ghostwriter wasn't hired for this book and Pascal took it upon herself to make a quick buck and attempt to lure old fans back. Silly me to think the adult version would be...well, mature and consistent. 

If you're looking for a "Where Are They Now" of Sweet Valley High, then your reaction will probably be similar to mine. If you can set apart all the facts about the characters when they were in high school and college, then pick it up at the library. Great concept, but flawed delivery.

Title: Sweet Valley Confidential: Ten Years Later
Author: Francine Pascal
Published: March 2011
Pages: 293
Edition: Hardcover
Rating: ♥


2 comments:

  1. OH MY i REMEMBER THE Sweet Vally High Novels. Now i'm going to have to go see if I can dig out one of them to re-read.
    GOOD NEWS. i ENJOY READING YOUR BLOG AND ITS CONTENT THAT I'VE CHOSEN TO GIVE YOU THE
    VERSTAILE BLOGGER AWARD. please go to my page and click the link, the verstaile award for full deails. CONGRATULATIONS

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  2. Sidne,

    How awesome that you still have copies of old SVH novels. And THANK YOU for the Versatile Blogger Award! You've made my day. **throws bookmark shaped confetti**

    ReplyDelete