Double Love
Sweet Valley High, Book 1

I Picked Up This Book Because: A character in another book talked about the series and I thought a trip down memory lane would be fun.

Media Type: eBook
Source: Hoopla via HCPL
Dates Read: 3/23/24 - 3/24/24
Stars: DNF - No Rating
Narrator(s):

The Characters:

Elizabeth Wakefield:
Jessica Wakefield:
Mr & Mrs Wakefield, Enid, Todd Wilkins

The Story:

I didn’t even get to the meat of the story because I'm being run off by Jessica's insufferable selfishness. I couldn’t remember why I stopped reading this series as a kid but I have a feeling she is why. Sorry Liz. ( )

So... I'm not sure where to start with this one. Jessica is a horrible sister, Elizabeth is too soft, and their classmates are dumb and sexist. ( )

I think this would be the book I've re-read the largest number of times. As the first book in the Sweet Valley series, it demonstrates perfectly what the series is going to be about. It's not well-written, it's enormously corny and I love it to death and probably always will, even if I know it so well that I can almost recite each sentence before I get to it.

The Plot
Elizabeth and Jessica are both chasing after the same guy – the stunningly dull Todd Wilkins. While Elizabeth relies upon blushing glances, Jessica is far more proactive when it comes to nabbing her man, thus entangling Todd just enough to make Liz believe the two are together. Cue Great And Enduring Angst for most of the book. Meanwhile, Jessica embarks upon underage drinking with sleazy Rick Andover, neatly ruining Liz's reputation in the process. In an uncanny coincidence, it turns out that Steven Wakefield has been dating Trisha Martin, a member of the most gossipped-about family in town. It's okay, though, because he's not dating her sister Betsy, who apparently sleeps around. (Missed a good opportunity there, Steve!) Willing to believe that Liz has undergone a complete personality change, Todd takes Jessica to the PBA/PE dance, but still isn't convinced by her charm, forcing her to seek revenge through telling Liz he'd gone the grope. Liz is suitably horrified, but continues to moon over Todd nonetheless, perhaps encouraged by the fact that he might not be as boring as he'd seemed. Rick carjacks the twins, and Todd comes to the punch-throwing rescue, thus demonstrating that violence solves everything – or, at least, is the way to Liz's heart. Truth is revealed, snogging happens and Jessica is thrown into a pool to teach her a lesson.

The People
Elizabeth Wakefield: For the very first time, we are treated to what will soon become the most tiresome physical description ever to be churned out once a book. We learn that Elizabeth is five foot six, blonde, blue-green eyed, tanned and otherwise perfectly formed. She has a "tiny" mole on her right shoulder and never goes anywhere without her watch. Her big dream is to be a writer, much like every female on the internet between the ages of ten and thirty, and she writes the school gossip column, "Eyes and Ears", so she's obviously well on her way to fame and fortune.

Jessica Wakefield: Jessica, unlike Elizabeth, is bereft of a shoulder mole and a watch. She wears a matching gold lavaliere, however! Jess is co-captain of the SVH cheerleading squad and believes in the motto that all is fair in love and war.

Rick Andover: A SVH drop-out, Rick is Dangerous with a capital D. He looks like a young Clint Eastwood (ew), with added "sultry" dark eyes and an eagle tattoo on his forearm so you just know he's up to no good. Drives a pimped-out silver Camaro, smells like a combination of petrol and leather, and is a fan of cigarettes and underage drinking.

Mr Collins: Faculty adviser for the Oracle and in possession of strawberry-blonde hair.

"Chrome Dome" Cooper: The "stuffy" principal of SVH.

Ronnie Edwards: Quiet and judgemental. New to SVH.

Winston Egbert: Lanky, dark-haired class clown. Has been in love with Jess since 5th grade. Nice and funny, but unattractive.

George Fowler: One of the richest men in Sweet Valley. Made his fortune through silicon chips.

Lila Fowler: Poor little rich girl. One of Jessica's best friends.

Dana Larson: Lead singer for The Droids.

Betsy Martin: Has been doing drugs for years and "sleeps around", according to Elizabeth The Slut-Shamer.

Tricia Martin: A sweet strawberry blonde.

Mr. Martin: A heavy drinker, who gets "bombed out of his mind" every night.

Mrs. Martin: Died of leukemia when Betsy and Tricia were young. In other words, it's her fault that Betsy is a junkie.

Ken Matthews: Blond captain of the football team.

Emily Mayer: Drummer for The Droids.

Bruce Patman: He drives a black Porsche, in case you haven't heard. Tall, dark and handsome and rich and spoiled to boot, there's no wonder he's arrogant and just a little bit sleazy. Star of the tennis team and part of Sweet Valley's richest family. Oh and he has a Porsche.

Henry Wilson Patman: The richest man in Sweet Valley. The Patmans are old money, thanks to the canning industry.

Mrs. Patman: Was a Vanderhorn before marriage. The Vanderhorns were one of the first families to settle Sweet Valley. So that makes Bruce REALLY old money.

Caroline Pearce: School gossip, who lives three doors down from the Wakefields. Owns a small black poodle.

John Pfeifer: Sports editor of the Oracle

Enid Rollins: Elizabeth's BFF – or just a weird nerd, if you ask Jess. Shoulder-length brown hair, big green eyes and smart and funny, despite being quiet.

Bob Russo: SVH science teacher. Elizabeth and Jessica are in his Chemistry class. He's the smartest and most demanding teacher at the school, moody and sarcastic. Not a very nice guy, except for when he lets his class eat sorority-pledge pizza.

Coach Schultz: The school coach. No, really.

Alice Wakefield: Blonde like the twins and an interior designer.

Ned Wakefield: Dark, handsome and a lawyer.

Steven Wakefield: Just over six foot tall and in possession of "beautiful" dark eyes and an athletic body, it's no wonder that Steven makes a success story out of the internet meme and convinces his sister to make him a sandwich.

Cara Walker: Despite her long, dark hair, great figure and mad tennis skillz, Steven just isn't interested.

Mrs. Waller: School dietician.

Marianna West: The newest partner at Ned Wakefield's law firm. A beautiful divorcée (GASP!), she used to be married to heart specialist Gareth West. According to Bruce, she's a "trampy broad".

Todd Wilkins: Todd is captain and star of the SVH basketball team, and supposedly one of the cutest boys in the school. (Presumably Kate William never saw how he looked in the cover art.) He's tall and lean with brown (coffee-coloured!) eyes and a tanned, muscular chest. Unfortunately, he drives a battered Datsun, not a Porsche.

The Places

Sweet Valley: Rolling hills, a "quaint" town centre and a beach fifteen minutes away. Sounds too good to be true!

Elizabeth's Bedroom: Cream walls, off-white carpet, a velvet-covered chaise longue, a closet with louvered doors and two mirrors. A large table is home to a typewriter, books, paper, pens and pencils. Above it is a theatre poster of A Touch of the Poet. Because she's a writer. And writers have bedrooms that look like writers sleep in them.

The Dairi Burger: Local hamburger joint and SVH hangout.

Kelly's: The most notorious bar in Sweet Valley. A beachfront roadhouse with loud country & western music, dimly-lit cracked-vinyl booths, smoke-filled air and a lack of respect for underage drinking laws.

Greek Life

Pi Beta Alpha: The "positively best" or "snobbiest" sorority at SVH, depending upon whether you're Jessica or Elizabeth. Members include Liz and Jess, Lila, Cara, Caroline and Enid. Why exactly Enid was accepted is anyone's guess.

Psi Epsilon: Members include Todd Wilkins and Ronnie Edwards.

The Fashion

* A tuxedo outfit owned by Elizabeth and borrowed by Jess: consists of a shirt, trousers and bow tie.
* Jess' outfit for her date with Rick: her sexiest red blouse, a black silk-jersey skirt and Elizabeth's black sandal heels.
* Jess's dance outfit: a blue, slinky dress with spaghetti straps, a plunging neckline and a full skirt with a handkerchief hem.
* Elizabeth's dance outfit: a white, strapless dress.
* Todd's and Winston's dance outfits: cords, shirts, ties and sports coats.
* Jessica's dunking outfit: Elizabeth's blue button-down shirt and jeans.

The Pairings

* Jessica/Todd – Jess chasing; one actual date
* Enid/Ronnie – ongoing dating
* Jessica/Rick – one date
* Jessica/Winston – unrequited love on Winston's behalf
* Elizabeth/Bruce – rejected date invitation from Bruce
* Elizabeth/Winston – one platonic date
* Elizabeth/Ken – one largely-platonic date
* Elizabeth/Todd – much angsting by Elizabeth; eventual serious relationship

Hoo boy! did teenage me have some bad taste in books.

I saw this yesterday in a Free Little Library and couldn't resist finding out how it would read now.

It's pretty awful; what was teenage me thinking?? The characters were so cardboard: Jessica is the vain, selfish, shallow, 'evil' twin; Elizabeth is everything good and shiny. Jessica steals Liz's love interest and Liz is all brave and noble. Liz's love interest is an absolute jackass of an 80's teen with a 50's mentality. And I don't even know what the hell was supposed to be going on with their parents...

Dumb book. I'd probably be less harsh with it if I didn't know there were authors out there like Blume who were doing exponentially better books for teens long before this was written, but thankfully there were, and thankfully I read them. ( )

Okay...reading these because of nostalgia. For the time period, these books totally deserve 4 stars. They were originally published in the 80's, and you can only find majority of them on ebay or by thrifting. As an adult, its an easy read, filled with the cattiness of high school. I loved these books when I was growing up (usually found at the local thrift store) and I'm so excited to read them from start to finish as an adult! ( )