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The Evil Twin (Sweet Valley High #100)

by Francine Pascal (Creator), Kate William

3.74 of 5 stars 3.74 · rating details · 586 ratings · 34 reviews

In this climax to the six-part mini-series, Margo attempts to take Elizabeth's life and her place in the Wakefield family. The three identical girls fight a terrible battle, in which Jessica risks her own life to save Elizabeth, Margo is killed, and the sisters are finally reunited.

Paperback, 339 pages

Published November 1st 1993 by Bantam (first published September 1st 1993)

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The Secret Garden by Frances Hodgson Burnett

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100th out of 100 books — 4 voters

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Feb 18, 2013 Kyla Crowley rated it 5 of 5 stars

Welcome to "The House is Burning, But We Choose to Ignore It" or Sweet Valley High #100, "The Evil Twin."

As the lovely snarkers at 1bruce1 pointed out, this book is the Pulitzer of Sweet Valley. That is why it is most deserving of five stars (that's five stars compared to other Sweet Valley books, not compared to anything else). I am not going to spend hours recapping every second of the book... after all, that's been done in three different places already that I know of: The Dairi Burger, Shann...more Welcome to "The House is Burning, But We Choose to Ignore It" or Sweet Valley High #100, "The Evil Twin."

As the lovely snarkers at 1bruce1 pointed out, this book is the Pulitzer of Sweet Valley. That is why it is most deserving of five stars (that's five stars compared to other Sweet Valley books, not compared to anything else). I am not going to spend hours recapping every second of the book... after all, that's been done in three different places already that I know of: The Dairi Burger, Shannon Sweet Valley, and 1bruce1. However, if you don't know the basic plot, you really do need to be informed.

Jessica and Elizabeth are estranged due to The Jungle Prom fiasco (in A Night to Remember, the WORST Sweet Valley book), in which Jessica spiked Liz's punch so that she could win Prom Queen. Liz ended up driving off in the Jeep with Sam, Jessica's boyfriend, in tow, and Jessica was unable to stop them until it was too late. Sam died as a result of Jessica's sociopathy. The next 5 books in the miniseries (The Morning After, The Arrest, The Verdict, The Wedding and Beware the Baby-Sitter) deal with Jessica refusing to tell Liz or the cops her part in Sam's death, and guilt-tripping her by "dating" Todd. Every book just recaps the utter misery of A Night to Remember over and over and over. It makes you want to slash your wrists it is so depressing. But while this is going on, the ghostwriters have thrown another kink in the wrench. Her name is Margo, and she likes to dial capital M for Murder. By the time we arrive at the Evil Twin, she has killed five people on her way from New York to Sweet Valley to "become" Elizabeth Wakefield. She spends the five books studying Liz and her life intently and is hellbent on the fact that Liz's life is perfect and that it is "rightfully" hers. She has fooled everyone into thinking that she is, in fact, Elizabeth Wakefield (and occasionally Jessica). Obviously the book's climax includes a big showdown between Liz, Jess, and Margo at Lila's New Year's Eve Ball. It's probably no shock that Margo dies and the Wakefield twins (unfortunately) don't.

So, now that you know the plot, let's tackle a few questions that I have. I know that Sweet Valley is all about suspension of belief, and none more so than this book. But there are just a few comments/questions/complaints that I have about things that went on throughout this entire miniseries that I am doubting the validity of (and about which I refuse to suspend my belief). These are in no particular order, just as they occur to me while I'm typing this.

1. My alternate title for this book comes from the fact that every single person in Sweet Valley is "sensing" danger, but they completely ignore their instincts until the final hour when Liz is really in trouble. The only two people who actually try to do anything are James, who ends up dead, and Josh, who ends up in jail for a good chunk of time.

2. You don't need me to tell you (hopefully) that you cannot be someone's triplet unless they sprang from the same womb. I don't doubt people on this earth looking like each other and not even being from the same family. But being identical in every way except hair and eye color? No. The crazy thing is that NOBODY, not even Jess and Liz, who claim to know each other SO WELL, can tell Liz, Margo, and Jess apart, except for in the final hour. They have spent the whole miniseries ignoring Margo's evil eyes while she impersonated Jess & Liz left and right, and then all of a sudden at the end of the book everyone says, "Well, you're not Jess/Liz! Your eyes are evil!" Since Margo never STOPPED being evil, it makes no sense that they would all of a sudden notice this at the very end and not before. It makes even less sense to believe that Jess and Liz cannot tell when the person they are speaking to is clearly not their twin (i.e., Margo). And while everyone feels uncomfortable around Margo while she is impersonating Liz or Jess, especially Mrs. Wakefield, they never really doubt that they have just spoken to this twin or that twin. A mother not knowing her own daughters? In Alice's case, I'm not surprised, but I still can't suspend my belief in that.

3. Speaking of Jess, who is the target of Margo & Nora in Return of the Evil Twin, it makes no sense why Liz is constantly pursued in this book when Margo's personality would have been much better suited (and much more quickly believed) to Jessica's temperament. In fact, Margo states on numerous pages how she could just become Jessica, and in the end it doesn't really matter which twin she becomes. She is originally attracted to becoming Liz because she believes her to be "perfect" and "flawless" and "the golden girl," and she doesn't want to deal with Jessica's reputation. But as the book goes on, she is constantly mistaken for Jess instead of Liz, and hangs out with Lila far more than Enid (whom Margo hates and vows to destroy when she becomes Liz. Enid instantly sees Margo as Jessica. Again, why can't she recognize her own best friend?). She admits that it would be much more fun to be Jessica, but I guess she is already so committed to being Liz that she just decides to change Liz's entire personality when she takes over her life (Margo would have run into some opposition with Jess had she pulled that stunt. We see how well it went for Liz when she tried to stand up to Jess in A Night to Remember). Todd actually finds out it's not Liz OR Jess he's speaking to when Margo suggests they stay in a room together. Since both of the twins' vaginas are locked up tighter than a drum, this was an automatic red flag to horny Todd. He finally put two and two together... though the fact that no one could tell a complete stranger from Jess or Liz says something about the entirety of Sweet Valley.

4. Margo is persistent in her belief that no one will ever find out that she is not Elizabeth once she actually kills and becomes Elizabeth. I admire Margo's crazy, but this is hysterical on so many levels. It's completely Talented Mr. Ripley, the entire storyline. People were already suspicious since they believed her to be Jessica (ha!) in the first place. Margo says she will get rid of Enid since she doesn't immediately recognize her as Liz. By that count, Margo would have to kill the entire town of SV in order to erase the memory of the original Liz from everyone's minds. Margo is ambitious, but she should have stuck with Jessica in the first book. She knows she can't be as saccharine sweet as Liz all the time. She can barely do it for one conversation. But she is convinced things will go off without a hitch and that that no one will ever know the difference. Although... everyone in Sweet Valley does completely ignore their instincts whenever possible...

5. Liz is such a dense fuck she doesn't figure out that Jess spiked her punch until like page 240 something, with less than 100 pages of the book to go and no way to resolve this. As someone who was more pissed than I've ever been at a book and a person's actions in A Night to Remember, I was even more pissed that the entire thing got brushed aside because of all the Margo crazy. Though Jessica has been the biggest sociopath in the world throughout the entire miniseries, she is suddenly played as a distraught victim in The Evil Twin due to the loss of two boyfriends in a short time span (the fact that one was her doing, however accidental, must have escaped everyone's attention). Liz and Jess remain estranged because of a letter from Todd Jess hid from Liz... until Liz realizes about the spiked punch. But very soon after she also realizes that Josh wasn't lying about Margo and that she is about to die, so she resolves to forgive Jessica by midnight and put the whole thing behind them. Since Liz realizes what happens, Jess never has to admit it out loud, and Liz automatically forgives her, since she reasons that Jessica has been through so much guilt and pain already. She also rationalizes the whole thing away by saying that what Jessica did was just thoughtless and stupid ("typical Jessica") and what Margo is doing is pure evil. Yes, apparently killing one person (accidentally or not), is okay, but once you kill five people you are full-blown crazyfied. Usually we are all pissed at Jessica, because her antics are not typical: they are sociopathic. Liz is clearly not a journalist, since her definition of evil includes Margo but not her own twin.

6. Margo is Tinker Bell; she controls the weather. All of Sweet Valley is stormy the entire time she is there. Of course the sun comes out the moment she is dead.

I hope to read this book many more times in the future. Maybe by then one or both of the twins will end up dead.(less)

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Jan 09, 2012 PurplyCookie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: sweet-valley-books, book-series, lost-book, young-adult, read-growing-up

The culmination of a great mini-series of Sweet Valley High! Featuring love, murder, lies, betrayal, and all that good stuff, the whole series is must-read for any Sweet Valley fans (makes me wish I still had my SVH collection).

Margo will finally have the perfect life...as Elizabeth. She comes to wedge herself into the Wakefield family at a time when the twins aren't speaking to each other and it hasn't exactly been a peachy couple of months. It'll be easy fooling Mrs. Wakefield, Jessica and To...more

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Feb 14, 2013 Delicious Strawberry rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: francine-pascal

Was this story arc with the evil 'twin' campy? Yes, it was, but that doesn't make it any less fun to read. I read this back when I was in I think middle school. I had been reading other Sweet Valley books, some original series, others high school or SVU, and though I never read all of the books in any one series, I nonetheless enjoyed the adventures of Jessica and Elizabeth, and this one was no different, it was different than previous story arcs and it goes to show you that life may seem perfec...more

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Jul 11, 2012 Melissa rated it 5 of 5 stars

This is the best Sweet Valley High book (so graded in relation to SVH, not actual other books). Evil twin dopplegangers, etc. etc. I read it dozens of times in junior high/high school - it is the conclusion to a six-part miniseries that has Liz get rohypnoled by her idiot twin Jessica, then she drives off a cliff with Jessica's boyfriend Sam, killing him. The series is dealing with the rift between the twins and the death of Sam but MEANWHILE there is this crazy girl Margo who looks just like th...more

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Dec 21, 2010 hannaH rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: svh, own-it, favorites, permanent-collection

AN ABSOLUTE CLASSIC OF TEEN LITERATURE, THIS ONE HAS EVERYTHING. Mental illness, murder, sex (well, only slightly hinted at), psycho doppelgangers, a party at Lila's place, stupid oblivious Wakefield parents, CRAZY MARGO... oh my goodness... Too amazing. In fact, the whole mini series leading up to this one (and its sequel, RETURN OF THE EVIL TWIN) are absolutely the pinnacle of the SVH series. As one other review said, CRACKTASTIC.

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Dec 06, 2012 Caro rated it 5 of 5 stars

The thriller books in the Sweet Valley High series were like my crack in middle school. And they're still fun to revisit! This was when things really started going insane in the lives of the Wakefield twins (kind of like when the show Family Matters turned suddenly sci-fi) but it really worked for Sweet Valley somehow. Loved it and still do! Hahaaa.

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May 08, 2011 eva rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: a-lifetime-ago, children-fiction, favorites

I read more of the SVH series but I can't remember specific titles or covers, but this one I'm sure because of the cover and the fact that when i went to buy it it was not available so i had to wait a couple of weeks/months to get it....i remember also reading it extremely fast and i still remember some of the details of it...

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Sep 23, 2012 Stacy rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-in-2012, young-adult

I found this book at a book sale a few years ago. The SVH series is just as addictive as it was in my junior high years. Hope to find some other books from this series.

This book was written in 1993, so the events would probably have been a lot different if the characters had cell phones!

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Mar 08, 2011 Jamie rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: everyone

Shelves: favorite-ya, thrilling-garbage

Probably the most fun I've ever had reading a book. Psycho Dopplegangers=pure genius. If you have ever been a SVH fan and haven't read this, go straight to your local library or used book store and start reading NOW.

This book should be taught in schools.

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Nov 03, 2008 Marian rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: readit, sweetvalley, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jul 02, 2011 Lauren Keating rated it 4 of 5 stars

So bad it's good. I read this in primary school when it seemed totally plausible that someone could don a blonde wig and replace Elizabeth. Trashy, dark and melodramatic- Sweet Valley at it's pacey best.

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Jan 26, 2012 Laure added it

Shelves: children

When I was a child, my grandmother was always buying these books for me, and I didn't want to hurt her feelings. This is one of the few I remember.

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Jul 06, 2009 jenn added it

Shelves: 2009

Probably the most off the hook SVH book I've read. Many plausibility gaps - but then, it's Sweet Valley.

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Mar 06, 2009 Stephanie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: childhood-favorites, young-adult-novels

Because I couldn't make a "childhood favorites" bookshelf and NOT include this book. Cracktastic.

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Feb 08, 2009 Slone added it

Yep, I started reading this series in junior high. I hope it didn't stunt my mental growth.

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May 20, 2008 Brandy rated it 2 of 5 stars

I could cheat and put every SVH book in this list, but I think I will just put this one because of the impact it had on me. I loved the series, was shocked and even blushed at some of the teeny bopper sex scene...did any fans realize Bruce had his hand on Liz's ....? Anyway, I stopped reading after this book because I didn't like the way the series had turned. Jessica spiked Liz's drink causing a deadly crash which lead to a twin look alike coming to town to kill Elizabeth and take her place. At...more

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Dec 26, 2011 Lynn ಠ_ಠ rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: read-as-a-kid

Read this when I was a kid and I remembered staying up till wee hours in the morning to finish it.

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May 09, 2011 Katie rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: crime-thriller, young-adult

Probably the most ridiculous, over-the-top Sweet Valley High book - and that's saying something!

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Sep 15, 2012 Aurora rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: really-read, books-i-own, rated-books

http://sveta-randomblog.blogspot.com/...

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Aug 05, 2009 Alex rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-loved-when-i-was-younger

I LOVED this one. I used to check it out from the library 20 times a year, probably.

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Jun 03, 2011 Megan Gray rated it 5 of 5 stars

One of the first suspense novels I ever read. I loved this mini-saga!

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Apr 17, 2013 Andrea Pieper rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: andy

I remembered I didn't want to put it down,

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Mar 24, 2009 Allison rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: 1990s

I reluctantly admit to reading these novels...

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Aug 29, 2012 Nicole rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: favorite-series, fiction, light, guilty-pleasures, my-misspent-youth, sweet-valleyverse, teenage-wasteland, ya, read-in-2012

This is 4/5 stars for a Sweet Valley book, not the same scale I use to rate other books. So calm down.

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Jul 25, 2012 Jae rated it 5 of 5 stars

I think this was my favorite book of them all!

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May 24, 2009 Nivedita rated it 5 of 5 stars

a very good one.soo thirlling.i enjoyed it...

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Jul 23, 2010 Jason rated it 5 of 5 stars

The literal definition of So Bad It's Good.

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Mar 28, 2012 Anna rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: 2012

Finally, after all these years, I found out whether or not Margo completed her villianous plan to take Elizabeth's place. It was torture not knowing. I feel as though my childhood is now truly over, all mysteries have been solved.

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Oct 24, 2010 Jodie rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: the-early-years

I was so happy when this series hit 100! I never wanted the adventure to end. A wonderful centennial celebration was had by all!! Happy 100 Sweet Valley High! Thanks for the great reads.

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Apr 20, 2011 Katherine rated it 4 of 5 stars

This book is so completely over the top, yet thoroughly enjoyable. I read it 10-15 times as a teenager. Love the series or hate it, this book is Sweet Valley exemplified.

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About Francine Pascal

Francine Pascal (May 13, 1938— ) is an American author best known for creating the Sweet Valley series of novels. In 1982 she created the characters and the stories for the first six books and her agent, Amy Berkower of Writers House sold them to Bantam Books. Book number one is mostly written by Ms. Pascal. From then on she wrote the stories for every book ever published in the series. After the...more

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The Evil Twin (Sweet Valley High #100)

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