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Sweet Valley High #52
White Lies
Worried that his good friend Jennifer is becoming too involved with dropout Rick Andover, high school sports reporter John Pfeifer faces a dilemma when he becomes responsible for Rick's arrest and Jennifer blames her father.
144 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1989
11 people are currently reading
368 people want to read
About the author
Francine Pascal
1,140 books1,851 followersFrancine Paula Pascal was an American author best known for her Sweet Valley series of young adult novels. Sweet Valley High, the backbone of the collection, was made into a television series, which led to several spin-offs, including The Unicorn Club and Sweet Valley University. Although most of these books were published in the 1980s and 1990s, they remained so popular that several titles were re-released decades later.
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Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews
September 2, 2019
Jennifer who?!
There was not enough of bad boy Rick to bring any excitement to this.
Jennifer is a complete drip (a word I usually reserve for Enid), and John is showing signs of being a control freak who loses the plot when he doesn’t get his way.
If the sub-plot is just that Jess is being flirty again then it needed something extra.
Dull!
The most exciting part was imagining what Dana’s party would be like.
There was not enough of bad boy Rick to bring any excitement to this.
Jennifer is a complete drip (a word I usually reserve for Enid), and John is showing signs of being a control freak who loses the plot when he doesn’t get his way.
If the sub-plot is just that Jess is being flirty again then it needed something extra.
Dull!
The most exciting part was imagining what Dana’s party would be like.
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March 2, 2015I could write a review, but this one was so boring I'm not sure I could finish my
June 15, 2020
Title: White Lies
Series: Sweet Valley High #52
Author: Francine Pascal/Kate William
Source: Kindle Unlimited
This was probably one of the more interesting SVH I've read in a couple of books. This follows Jennifer as she unwittingly decides she's going to follow Rick Andover (Yeah the same Rick Jess tried to date earlier in the series) to NYC to start their lives as musicians. John Pfeiffer, not happy about seeing his best friend go down this path, helps put in an anonymous leak about Rick robbing the music store he works at, leaving Jennifer stuck in Sweet Valley and furious at her father who she believes to be responsible. When her dad has a heart attack, she's so mad she won't even go to the hospital to see him, leaving John drowning in guilt. There was also some side plot about AJ thinking Jess was getting bored of him.
As I mentioned, this was one of the better books but it still wasn't great. Jennifer showed so much selfishness throughout this book, just planning on leaving the city with a known criminal and ignoring the signs her dad was getting sick throughout. John was also totally self serving and Liz, who knew about everything also aided and abetted in the whole scheme. It left a guy in prison, Jennifer alone and her dad sick. So like...not great character development here.
Series: Sweet Valley High #52
Author: Francine Pascal/Kate William
Source: Kindle Unlimited
This was probably one of the more interesting SVH I've read in a couple of books. This follows Jennifer as she unwittingly decides she's going to follow Rick Andover (Yeah the same Rick Jess tried to date earlier in the series) to NYC to start their lives as musicians. John Pfeiffer, not happy about seeing his best friend go down this path, helps put in an anonymous leak about Rick robbing the music store he works at, leaving Jennifer stuck in Sweet Valley and furious at her father who she believes to be responsible. When her dad has a heart attack, she's so mad she won't even go to the hospital to see him, leaving John drowning in guilt. There was also some side plot about AJ thinking Jess was getting bored of him.
As I mentioned, this was one of the better books but it still wasn't great. Jennifer showed so much selfishness throughout this book, just planning on leaving the city with a known criminal and ignoring the signs her dad was getting sick throughout. John was also totally self serving and Liz, who knew about everything also aided and abetted in the whole scheme. It left a guy in prison, Jennifer alone and her dad sick. So like...not great character development here.
December 20, 2011
Welcome to "Jennifer Mitchell Sure Knows How to Pick 'Em" or SVH #52,"White Lies."
We begin with Jennifer hanging out with Rick Andover, the only deviant in Sweet Valley. She is head-over-heels in love (excuse me, infatuated) with him, ignoring everyone's cries that Rick is an asshole. She plans to run away to New York with him. Sounds like Miss Jen has a case of the Jessicas. Liz and John follow Rick one night and find him robbing a music store and stealing money. Instead of calling the po-po, they call the owner, Luke Lander, and let HIM call the police. Way to be bureaucratic, guys. When Jen finds out about this the next day, she needs someone to blame for Rick's sudden incarceration. Her dad is a nice target, so she proceeds to tell him that she hates him and will never speak to him again.
John, don't you know, is in lurveeeeee with Jennifer, which is why he followed Rick in the first place, to prove what a jerk he is. You are welcome to snort right now if you already know that none other than John Pfeifer becomes an attempted rapist of Lila at book 90-something. As soon as all this shit goes down, Jen's dad ends up in the hospital and she refuses to see him... and John refuses to confess that he's the one who turned Rick in. We already know from experience (Ha!) that John is an almost-rapist, but he would be on Jessica level (see the Margo miniseries) if he didn't confess to what he did by the end of the book. He does, of course... everything in SVH comes wrapped in a nice little bow. I think this one gets a few extra points for the fact that Jennifer punches John in the gut. It would have been much more epic if it had been Lila, however, and that would have been awesome foreshadowing! Oh well.
The subplot, of course, is Jess rubbing her vagina in pussy-whipped A.J. Morgan's face (not literally, of course) and making him do everything she says. Didn't we know this relationship wouldn't work out once she stopped being Liz in "Playing for Keeps"?? Well, the people with an IQ over 70 did, anyway.
I'm so angry my library only has the boring SVH books. Next I get Second Chance and Perfect Shot, both about sports and not about the twins. Ugh!
We begin with Jennifer hanging out with Rick Andover, the only deviant in Sweet Valley. She is head-over-heels in love (excuse me, infatuated) with him, ignoring everyone's cries that Rick is an asshole. She plans to run away to New York with him. Sounds like Miss Jen has a case of the Jessicas. Liz and John follow Rick one night and find him robbing a music store and stealing money. Instead of calling the po-po, they call the owner, Luke Lander, and let HIM call the police. Way to be bureaucratic, guys. When Jen finds out about this the next day, she needs someone to blame for Rick's sudden incarceration. Her dad is a nice target, so she proceeds to tell him that she hates him and will never speak to him again.
John, don't you know, is in lurveeeeee with Jennifer, which is why he followed Rick in the first place, to prove what a jerk he is. You are welcome to snort right now if you already know that none other than John Pfeifer becomes an attempted rapist of Lila at book 90-something. As soon as all this shit goes down, Jen's dad ends up in the hospital and she refuses to see him... and John refuses to confess that he's the one who turned Rick in. We already know from experience (Ha!) that John is an almost-rapist, but he would be on Jessica level (see the Margo miniseries) if he didn't confess to what he did by the end of the book. He does, of course... everything in SVH comes wrapped in a nice little bow. I think this one gets a few extra points for the fact that Jennifer punches John in the gut. It would have been much more epic if it had been Lila, however, and that would have been awesome foreshadowing! Oh well.
The subplot, of course, is Jess rubbing her vagina in pussy-whipped A.J. Morgan's face (not literally, of course) and making him do everything she says. Didn't we know this relationship wouldn't work out once she stopped being Liz in "Playing for Keeps"?? Well, the people with an IQ over 70 did, anyway.
I'm so angry my library only has the boring SVH books. Next I get Second Chance and Perfect Shot, both about sports and not about the twins. Ugh!
April 9, 2020
1.5 stars rounded up. Suddenly manifested generic female character Jennifer Mitchell is mixed up with that bad boy Rick Andover. Jenn's next door neighbor and kind-of stalker John Pfieffer doesn't trust Rick and turns to (of course) Elizabeth Wakefield to voice his concerns after Jenn confides that she's going to run away with Rick for good. John and Liz spy on Rick and catch him literally robbing a store, and then inexplicably call the store's owner instead of the cops. Rick is busted and sent to jail. Jennifer meanwhile decides in her head that her father must have been the person to get Rick arrested, and then when her dad has a heart attack, she decides to ignore hi because she's so mad at hi for something he didn't do. Meanwhile, John keeps getting moonier over Jennifer, and he's loving playing Captain Save A Ho and letting her cry all over his sports editor shoulders, but realizes he may want to fess up that he, not her dad, narced on her sleazy boyfriend. This was a weird SVH book because absolutely none of the characters matter to anyone after this book, as far as I remember. Guess I'll find out, though- moving on.
June 4, 2018
I knew this book would be crazy, but I never thought about how furious the characters would make. Here’s a top three countdown of who made me angry:
#3: John Pfeifer- It’s so annoying how he blames himself for everything. Not everything is his fault.
#2: Rick Andover- People like him shouldn’t be out on the Sweet Valley streets. Who knows how many lives he destroyed? I wouldn’t be surprised if he literally got away with murder after his release.
#1- Jennifer Mitchell- It’s pretty ironic once you think about how she complains how her parents treat her like a child, yet she acts immature by sneaking around with him (knowing she’ll get caught), trying to run away, and basically acting like a brat. (classical rule: act like child= treated like child) She doesn’t know how lucky she is because I’ve read about kids who actually die at their parents’ hands.
#3: John Pfeifer- It’s so annoying how he blames himself for everything. Not everything is his fault.
#2: Rick Andover- People like him shouldn’t be out on the Sweet Valley streets. Who knows how many lives he destroyed? I wouldn’t be surprised if he literally got away with murder after his release.
#1- Jennifer Mitchell- It’s pretty ironic once you think about how she complains how her parents treat her like a child, yet she acts immature by sneaking around with him (knowing she’ll get caught), trying to run away, and basically acting like a brat. (classical rule: act like child= treated like child) She doesn’t know how lucky she is because I’ve read about kids who actually die at their parents’ hands.
October 22, 2019
White Lies Sweet Valley High
The Plot: Jennifer Mitchell has what John Pfeifer needs, but she says he’s just a friend. So who is Jennifer into? Bad boy Rick Andover. Yes, they dug him back up 51 books later. The one and the same that tried to abduct the “heavenly” Wakefield twins. Jennifer plans to run off with Rick and start a band and thinking John can be trusted she confides in him. John predictably gets upset and confides in Elizabeth that Jennifer plans to run away with Rick. Elizabeth tells him that maybe it’s best to just let her go, but John has other plans. He convinces Elizabeth to trail Rick on intuition that he’s up to something and they find out that he’s broken into the music store he works at and stole an expensive guitar. Elizabeth tells John to call the store owner just to make sure. Jennifer waits for Rick to show up that night so they start their new life together and she waits… and waits... and waits. She goes home because she doesn’t want to throw her parents off in case something happened to Rick and he still wants to run away. Her Father drops the news the next day that Rick was arrested last night, Jennifer jumps to the conclusion that her father was the one that ratted him out because she heard the phone click during one of she and Rick’s conversations so her Father must have been on the other end. So she turns the cold shoulder to her Father, despite all his efforts to talk to her. She turns to John, but as she gets closer and closer to him even though he feels guilty for letting her blame her Father and it was really him that turned Rick in he gets his mouth shut. (He thinks she might be starting to have more than friend feelings for him). And he lets this continue, even though Elizabeth tells him he needs to tell her. Jennifer’s father gets hospitalized, yet she still refuses to go to the hospital to see him. Elizabeth talks John into telling Jennifer the truth and they go to her house to break the news. Of course, Jennifer gets upset with John but lets Elizabeth drive them to the hospital. They find out Mr. Mitchell is scheduled to have heart surgery. Jennifer blows up at John and even though he wants to stick around, Elizabeth says he should leave. (I think maybe he does anyway). The next day Jennifer doesn’t show up at school but Elizabeth asks her Dad to check on Mr. Mitchell and Ned tells her the surgery went ok. John wants to talk to Jennifer but he knows that she probably isn’t hearing anything he has to say so Elizabeth drives him to the hospital again and while he waits in the car goes to the gift store and buys flowers. She gives them to Jennifer and says there from him. Jennifer has cooled down and says she’ll speak with him. Elizabeth goes to get him and tells him he owes her 10 dollars and that he has good taste in flowers. Jennifer and John talk and she tells him she knew Rick was wrong -all along- she just needed someone to blame and that she forgives him (and really does start to look at him differently). In Plot AJ keeps letting Jessica talk him out of family events he wants to go to. They’re disagreeing more-as you do when the heat cools off- and Elizabeth thinks that maybe they aren’t so right for each other. But by the end of the book, Jessica has convinced him that she’s over the Big Sister program that Enid Rollins organized (and that we'll hear more about next book)
My Thoughts:
“Elizabeth didn’t know what to say. Normally she respected people’s feelings and gave them their privacy.” I had to roll my eyes at this. Since WHEN does Elizabeth care about other people's privacy. She's always butting her nose into character after character's business in this series.
*Was I the only one thinking at first that the big secret was Jennifer was planning to have sex with Rick?
*What do girls see in this asshole? But then what do girls see in Bruce Patman? At least we can say its Bruce’s money and looks. We don’t even get a cover of Rick Andover (which shows how unimportant he is). He’s probably skinny, long-haired, tatted up, and has a tongue ring.
*I kinda wondered how many books it would take before Jessica became Jessica again. And it only took FOUR whole books for her to flirt with another boy with her boyfriend inches away from her. I wanted AJ to call it off with her in this book, but he’s so whipped he’s just like “whatever you say, Jessica”. AJ really is a kind of boring character. He’s just kind of in the background. When he does speak it’s just to remind us “Oh they’re still together.” (in case we wondered) Or to remind us “they’re in love!” (spare me). The only characteristic this guy has is he’s into poetry and from Georgia. Oh and he likes hiking. VERY undeveloped!
*"You can get a penalty for that Wakefield.” “What kind of penalty?” – I wanted AJ to walk up on her right then and be like “Yeah Mike, what kind of penalty?” Or “Yeah Jess what kind of penalty did you want him to give you.” But that would make him to interesting. (Couldn’t have that).
*(Sighing) “You think by book 52 Elizabeth would have learned her lesson about following people. Didn’t she *just* wind up tied to a chair for following Ronnie Edwards -Against the Odds
*"My theory about men is you have to make them do what you want. Otherwise, they’ll never think of it themselves.” Even tho morally manipulating AJ is wrong, a part of me admires that she has this kind of control over AJ to get him to bow down to whatever she wants and whatever she thinks. I don’t know how long this will last, but I just can’t be mad at it.
*Thinking about John just made me realize how my best friend must have felt all those years ago when he had feelings for me and had to watch me go after one fool to the next. He was probably so frustrated knowing that he was the better guy. Unlike Jennifer, I never did open my eyes. Best I am so SORRY! Even tho I don’t like that every girl HAS to end up with the guy by the end of the book (rolls eyes) I do like that they all seem to learn their mistake by the last chapter.
Rating: 5
The Plot: Jennifer Mitchell has what John Pfeifer needs, but she says he’s just a friend. So who is Jennifer into? Bad boy Rick Andover. Yes, they dug him back up 51 books later. The one and the same that tried to abduct the “heavenly” Wakefield twins. Jennifer plans to run off with Rick and start a band and thinking John can be trusted she confides in him. John predictably gets upset and confides in Elizabeth that Jennifer plans to run away with Rick. Elizabeth tells him that maybe it’s best to just let her go, but John has other plans. He convinces Elizabeth to trail Rick on intuition that he’s up to something and they find out that he’s broken into the music store he works at and stole an expensive guitar. Elizabeth tells John to call the store owner just to make sure. Jennifer waits for Rick to show up that night so they start their new life together and she waits… and waits... and waits. She goes home because she doesn’t want to throw her parents off in case something happened to Rick and he still wants to run away. Her Father drops the news the next day that Rick was arrested last night, Jennifer jumps to the conclusion that her father was the one that ratted him out because she heard the phone click during one of she and Rick’s conversations so her Father must have been on the other end. So she turns the cold shoulder to her Father, despite all his efforts to talk to her. She turns to John, but as she gets closer and closer to him even though he feels guilty for letting her blame her Father and it was really him that turned Rick in he gets his mouth shut. (He thinks she might be starting to have more than friend feelings for him). And he lets this continue, even though Elizabeth tells him he needs to tell her. Jennifer’s father gets hospitalized, yet she still refuses to go to the hospital to see him. Elizabeth talks John into telling Jennifer the truth and they go to her house to break the news. Of course, Jennifer gets upset with John but lets Elizabeth drive them to the hospital. They find out Mr. Mitchell is scheduled to have heart surgery. Jennifer blows up at John and even though he wants to stick around, Elizabeth says he should leave. (I think maybe he does anyway). The next day Jennifer doesn’t show up at school but Elizabeth asks her Dad to check on Mr. Mitchell and Ned tells her the surgery went ok. John wants to talk to Jennifer but he knows that she probably isn’t hearing anything he has to say so Elizabeth drives him to the hospital again and while he waits in the car goes to the gift store and buys flowers. She gives them to Jennifer and says there from him. Jennifer has cooled down and says she’ll speak with him. Elizabeth goes to get him and tells him he owes her 10 dollars and that he has good taste in flowers. Jennifer and John talk and she tells him she knew Rick was wrong -all along- she just needed someone to blame and that she forgives him (and really does start to look at him differently). In Plot AJ keeps letting Jessica talk him out of family events he wants to go to. They’re disagreeing more-as you do when the heat cools off- and Elizabeth thinks that maybe they aren’t so right for each other. But by the end of the book, Jessica has convinced him that she’s over the Big Sister program that Enid Rollins organized (and that we'll hear more about next book)
My Thoughts:
“Elizabeth didn’t know what to say. Normally she respected people’s feelings and gave them their privacy.” I had to roll my eyes at this. Since WHEN does Elizabeth care about other people's privacy. She's always butting her nose into character after character's business in this series.
*Was I the only one thinking at first that the big secret was Jennifer was planning to have sex with Rick?
*What do girls see in this asshole? But then what do girls see in Bruce Patman? At least we can say its Bruce’s money and looks. We don’t even get a cover of Rick Andover (which shows how unimportant he is). He’s probably skinny, long-haired, tatted up, and has a tongue ring.
*I kinda wondered how many books it would take before Jessica became Jessica again. And it only took FOUR whole books for her to flirt with another boy with her boyfriend inches away from her. I wanted AJ to call it off with her in this book, but he’s so whipped he’s just like “whatever you say, Jessica”. AJ really is a kind of boring character. He’s just kind of in the background. When he does speak it’s just to remind us “Oh they’re still together.” (in case we wondered) Or to remind us “they’re in love!” (spare me). The only characteristic this guy has is he’s into poetry and from Georgia. Oh and he likes hiking. VERY undeveloped!
*"You can get a penalty for that Wakefield.” “What kind of penalty?” – I wanted AJ to walk up on her right then and be like “Yeah Mike, what kind of penalty?” Or “Yeah Jess what kind of penalty did you want him to give you.” But that would make him to interesting. (Couldn’t have that).
*(Sighing) “You think by book 52 Elizabeth would have learned her lesson about following people. Didn’t she *just* wind up tied to a chair for following Ronnie Edwards -Against the Odds
*"My theory about men is you have to make them do what you want. Otherwise, they’ll never think of it themselves.” Even tho morally manipulating AJ is wrong, a part of me admires that she has this kind of control over AJ to get him to bow down to whatever she wants and whatever she thinks. I don’t know how long this will last, but I just can’t be mad at it.
*Thinking about John just made me realize how my best friend must have felt all those years ago when he had feelings for me and had to watch me go after one fool to the next. He was probably so frustrated knowing that he was the better guy. Unlike Jennifer, I never did open my eyes. Best I am so SORRY! Even tho I don’t like that every girl HAS to end up with the guy by the end of the book (rolls eyes) I do like that they all seem to learn their mistake by the last chapter.
Rating: 5
December 15, 2021
Before John Pfeiffer became a wannabe rapist, he fell for Jennifer who was in love with troubled teen Rick Andover (see one of Jess's many dates!!!) After Rick is arrested Jennifer blames her father who soon falls really ill, but John is actually the one who grassed Rick up, can he ever confess, and will Jennifer ever forgive him if he does?
May 23, 2021
Spoilers
No seriously spoilers
It’s hard cause John turns out to be a sex predator, so this just feel ick especially because we all know a John and it’s often the ones you don’t expect, like John. Then they go crazy and burn your house down.
No seriously spoilers
It’s hard cause John turns out to be a sex predator, so this just feel ick especially because we all know a John and it’s often the ones you don’t expect, like John. Then they go crazy and burn your house down.
December 18, 2022
I avoided reading this book for months because I really don't care for these secondary characters like Jennifer Pfieffer. Give me Jessica hijinks and Elizabeth drama! Finally finished it, and it wasn't as bad as I thought it would be. Glad to move on to the next!
December 19, 2024
Jennifer wins the award for the worst daughter and friend of all time - not to mention the dumbest. And as cringe as Jess and AJ are, Liz needs to get a life and mind her own business! They're 16 - who cares if they break up in a few weeks!?
March 22, 2019
Ultimately John proves to be way worse that Rick. At least Rick never sexually assaulted anyone. Oddly this book never explains what happened to Rick. He had a hearing but what was the outcome?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 29, 2025
Jennifer and John deserve each other - what terrible, terrible people.
April 1, 2010
John Pfeifer has managed to get himself into a real jam. While trying to look out for his friend Jennifer (whom he's also in love with), he spies her boyfriend robbing a store. John tips the police off and Rick, the boyfriend, is arrested. Jennifer temporarily loses her mind and jumps to the conclusion that her father set Rick up, despite the fact that Rick was busted with the guitar and stolen money in his possession.
Jennifer turns to John for comfort and John's reluctant to tell her the truth, even after her father's heart starts to fail. Eventually Elizabeth threatens to tell Jennifer the truth, so John does the right thing. Jennifer flips out (justifiably) and wants nothing to do with John.
All of this I can sort of deal with. It's the fact that John was willing to let Jennifer continue to hate her father while the man was sick and there was something John could have done, and then Jennifer forgives John all while thinking he's been the best kind of friend to her. That crossed the line for me.
Later this decision bites Jennifer in the arse because, well... Don't Go Home With John. That book admittedly makes it really hard to go back in time and view his actions in anything without looking for clues to his inevitable fall from grace.
Oh, and Jessica and AJ work at destroying their relationship without even fully realizing it. Surprisingly, Liz doesn't intervene even though I'm thinking she probably should.
Jennifer turns to John for comfort and John's reluctant to tell her the truth, even after her father's heart starts to fail. Eventually Elizabeth threatens to tell Jennifer the truth, so John does the right thing. Jennifer flips out (justifiably) and wants nothing to do with John.
All of this I can sort of deal with. It's the fact that John was willing to let Jennifer continue to hate her father while the man was sick and there was something John could have done, and then Jennifer forgives John all while thinking he's been the best kind of friend to her. That crossed the line for me.
Later this decision bites Jennifer in the arse because, well... Don't Go Home With John. That book admittedly makes it really hard to go back in time and view his actions in anything without looking for clues to his inevitable fall from grace.
Oh, and Jessica and AJ work at destroying their relationship without even fully realizing it. Surprisingly, Liz doesn't intervene even though I'm thinking she probably should.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 24, 2010
I just love them all. I think it should be required reading. Or at least a great way to live vicariously through teen drama without all the actual drama.
July 8, 2013
I have read so many of these books I can't remember all of them.
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August 1, 2013Graded By: Erin
Read the drinking game and review here.
Read the drinking game and review here.
December 25, 2021
The one where we wonder (again) if Rick Andover has a chocolate covered dick...or maybe it's that gold trans am..,or maybe I'm confusing my SVH super douches...
Displaying 1 - 18 of 18 reviews