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Sweet Valley High #74
The Perfect Girl
Robin Wilson is pretty, smart, and athletic, and her boyfriend, George Warren, adores her. Most students at Sweet Valley High have forgotten that Robin used to be an overweight loner. But Robin remembers. When George becomes friends with a beautiful girl named Vicky, Robin feels George slipping away. If only Robin were thinner, George would drop Vicky in a second!
Before long, Robin is obsessed with her weight. Elizabeth Wakefield suspects Robin is taking her diet too far, but Robin insists she's fine. What will it take to get Robin to admit that starving herself is not the answer to her problems?
Before long, Robin is obsessed with her weight. Elizabeth Wakefield suspects Robin is taking her diet too far, but Robin insists she's fine. What will it take to get Robin to admit that starving herself is not the answer to her problems?
135 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published March 1, 1991
About the author
Francine Pascal
1,139 books1,878 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 18, 2020
The fat-phobia in Sweet Valley may be only rivaled by the overall xenophobia in the community/series. In this book, former fat girl Robin is worried about her boyfriend George's devotion to her when he starts spending more and more time with his partner in a new flying class. To be fair, George cheated on and then dumped his last girlfriend Enid, after meeting and falling for Robin in a flying class, so it isn't an unfounded worry- as old-school Dr. Phil used to say-- if he'll do it with ya, he'll do it to ya. That uncertainty and worry, along with the bulk of the logistics of the Sweet Valley Super Sundae fundraiser resting on her shoulders, makes Robin go a little compulsive with her dieting, and she quits eating all together-- OH, this is a "very special Sweet Valley"-- Robin's diagnosed with anorexia, after-- of course- landing in the hospital after eating nothing for a couple of weeks and winding up with pneumonia. Considering she immediately starts eating what's on her hospital tray after having some very firm words with herself, seems a mild case of the eating disorder. I don't really know how to explain how awful the portrayal of anorexia is in this book is- if you imagine how Sweet Valley High books have handled other very serious issues, though-- then you KNOW how bad it probably is. Two stars- its bad, but also so cheesy its almost fun.
August 26, 2019
The Perfect Girl?
This is a rarity in SVH, a book that tackles a serious issue and actually does it well!
Robin’s obsessive dieting quickly depends into anorexia, and it’s interesting that they also show that she’s compulsive about other things too.
Although it doesn’t detail her recovery, it does describe the steps she’ll have to take in order to get better.
The fact this stemmed from her jealousy and suspicion about her boyfriend and that her fears manifested in this way shows just how easy it is for you to get into these situations. For once it wasn’t just trivialised, it really was dealt with as a serious issue.
Robin is essentially fat shaming her past self though which is annoying, and her surprise that Lois is happy being fat is far more of the normal SVH tone.
Good job, ghostwriter!
This is a rarity in SVH, a book that tackles a serious issue and actually does it well!
Robin’s obsessive dieting quickly depends into anorexia, and it’s interesting that they also show that she’s compulsive about other things too.
Although it doesn’t detail her recovery, it does describe the steps she’ll have to take in order to get better.
The fact this stemmed from her jealousy and suspicion about her boyfriend and that her fears manifested in this way shows just how easy it is for you to get into these situations. For once it wasn’t just trivialised, it really was dealt with as a serious issue.
Robin is essentially fat shaming her past self though which is annoying, and her surprise that Lois is happy being fat is far more of the normal SVH tone.
Good job, ghostwriter!
November 6, 2022
The Perfect Girl
Because the floor in the gym needs repairs, Jessica decides to have a fundraiser. Robin comes up with the idea to break a Guinness Book of World Records by making the world’s biggest ice cream sundae. They’ll sell servings to people to raise the money and the idea goes over well with everyone.
Jess is pissed that Robin thought of the idea because she and Robin (since she showed her up in the book POWER PLAY) have a sort of rivalry (but only in Jessica’s mind). Robin then takes us back to that book and starts thinking about how much “Pretty Hurts” and how unfair it is for people like her vs people like Lila and Jessica. But instead of just chilling and letting “fat Robin” go, the ghost of “Fat Robin” continuously hangs over the head of “Skinny Robin” threatening with every single bite of food she takes to make a reappearance.
George Warren pulls up and offers her a ride home. He starts telling her about his new flying class, and she thinks this is a good thing because he’ll start flying again and finally forgive himself for cheating on Enid (in CRASH LANDING BOOK 20). But he tells her because he’ll be so wrapped up in the class he won’t be able to call her for a few weeks BULL SHIT! Why is that when men get involved in something, they act like they only have one brain cell that can only focus on that one thing at that particular time? Then they just vanish! We however work 9-5-hour jobs, we do housework, and we engage in other personal activities, we raise kids, we have monthly cycles and yet we STILL make time to call you if you’re important to us. (Sometimes even if you shouldn’t be important to us). But then its George.
Robin goes along with this, but then the ghost of “Fat Robin” whispers in her ear when he says he loves her because she has great legs “But he wouldn’t love you if those legs looked like two marshmallows would he Robin?”
Liz and Todd invite Robin to the beach, but “Fat Robin” is hovering over her head whispering in her ear again “The beach are you kidding? They won’t be able to tell the whales from you. You look like a tub of lard in that swimsuit. Isn’t it getting a little tight Robin? Besides your no-body without George by your side to protect you. Are you Robin?” So, she doesn’t go.
The ghost of “Fat Robin” shows up again at diving practice when she’s standing next to a skinny girl and tells her “I bet you if you jump in the pool Robin, you’ll flood the whole gym. Go ahead Robin! Do it! Jump!”
George calls and tells her how great his class is, and that goes on and on about this girl named Vicky that’s great at math (probably code for her FIGURE is great). But he wants her to meet her because he thinks she’ll like her. Somehow Robin doubts this.
The cheerleaders start to plan for the fundraiser and decide they need kiddie pools. They go to a local ice cream store and Jess says she’ll do the talking. She gets the lady to donate samples. Then she offers them samples. Robin is about to but the ghost of “Fat Robin” appears and replaces her face on all the faces of the overweight a family that walks in. She like a maniac. Robin turns the ice-cream down.
Liz and Jess see Louis Waller (OMG! I thought she moved after BEST FRIENDS) and surprise (surprise) she has a MAN! GO HEAD LOUIS! And she’s (gasps) HAPPY! Louis keep it pushing like AYE AYE AYE AYE! This piss Jess off beyond words because she wasn’t shipped off to the isle of characters, she ran out the series. Liz condescendingly says Louis may be fat but she’s happy so what difference should it make.
George brings Vicky to SV and she’s SMOKING HOT! The ghost of “Fat Robin” as you can imagine has a FIELD DAY with this. They go to the club but Robin can’t really connect with Vicky because she doesn’t take the class or have the same teachers as they do. Finally, she says she doesn’t feel like dancing. George is like “whatever” and hauls Vicky off to dance. Okay George is a IDIOT! JUST NO! You don’t take your girl to a club and then ditch her for your hot classmate.
The Ghost of “Fat Robin” whispers “I bet dancing isn’t all he’ll be doing with her tonight. Just like “flying” isn’t the only thing he does with her after class.” They take Robin home and Vicky comes inside. She sees a picture of “Fat Robin” and asks is that her cousin. The Ghost of Fat Robin laughs hysterically and says “Tell her!” She just says “Yeah, that’s me. I use to be fat.” The Ghost tells her “USE TO BE? Once a fatty, always a fatty Robin.” (She hisses this like saying the word HAS BEEN). But Vicky tries to be nice and tell her she’s impressed. It doesn’t work. George chews her a new one for not being nice to Vicky and leaves to go back to school.
She starts to eat a cinnamon roll then notices she’s gained 3 pounds. The ghost again whispers in her ear “Once a fatty. Always a fatty ROBIN!” She decides it's time to go on a diet so she won’t lose George to Vicky.
George ghosts her for a few days and doesn’t answer the phone and she goes more and more down a hole. She blows up at her mom who serves roast chicken. The Ghost of Fat Robin has merged with Mrs Wilson is probably holding out a transparent platter full of food chanting “EAT IT! EAT IT! EAT! ROBIIIN! YOU KNOW YOU WANT IT!” Robin storms out of the room.
The Ghost merges also with Cara at school and offers her a plate of fries “EAT IT ROBIN! EAT IT! EAT ME! EAT ME!” She puts herself in charge of the money of the fundraiser and tries to take her mind off her hunger pains. Elizabeth notices Robin’s erratic mood swings, but Jessica tells her if she wants to diet she can.
All these people are INSANE because they see all this happening and don’t say a DAMN THANG! By the time George sees it in his schedule to call she’s satisfied that she’s lost 4lbs in 2 days. He tells her he didn’t call her because he was “studying” YEAH, and they both apologize to each other. The Ghost hisses in her ear “Studying my ass! I bet he was STUDYING REALLY REALLY H A R D!” (she emphasizes this by making some bed knocking really hard noises).
He makes plans to take her out the next night. The date is a disaster and ends by George telling her he’s taking Vickey to her parent's house and telling her she doesn’t own him and if he wants to have female friends if he wants to. It’s her problem if she doesn’t trust him. BYE GEORGE! The Ghost of Fat Robin then kills him by throwing her dinner plate at him and slices his head clean off, and then jumps up and twerks on the table with a chicken leg in her mouth.
I’m just gonna skip ahead a bit she gets more erratic as the Ghost starts to merge with her personality more and poor Mrs Wilson gets the brunt of it. The swim coach is the only one that seems to notice what she’s doing to herself. She sends her home, but she still FAILS because she doesn’t tell her MOTHER!
She realizes that her dieting is getting out of hand, but by this, the sight of food disgusts her (making it impossible to eat).
She’s late for a photo session the cheerleaders take with the mayor and Jessica is annoyed. Her uniform is practically falling off her. The Ghost of “Fat Robin” is PISSED she needs that negative energy to *feed* her or she’ll vanish into nothing (kind of like Robin’s vanishing into nothing).
The day of the event, she oversleeps, barely is able to make it there, and when she gets there is to weak to get the chocolate syrup open. She then faints and Todd catches her. They call the ambulance and it takes her to the hospital. They don’t even stop the party SMH. COLD! Liz blames herself for not noticing the signs which were RIGHT IN HER FACE!
Vicky is there when Robin wakes up and she tells her she knows she’s anorexic, and she knows why. Only George isn’t in love with her. He’s in love with Robin. She then confesses that she has a dark ghost of her own called The Ghost of MARIJUANA VICKEY and it calls out to her too sometimes. So now they can be cool and they’re ghost can be girls and hang out and feed off each other’s dark energies.
George tries to make up with Robin and tell her he loves her, but she tells him “she needs space” Basically George SHES OVER YOU! (As she should be).
My Thoughts:
Ok there is no “Ghost of Fat Robin” I made that up. But admittedly I liked the “Ghost of Fat Robin” better than I liked self-conscious Robin obsessing over her weight and George. Yes, this was a book with a serious subject matter (anorexia). I can kind of relate (tho not fully) because I had a disorder that wouldn’t allow me to eat. It was called Gastro Paresis. No, didn’t have anything to do with being gasy. It was a condition where your body wouldn’t digest food properly so your stomach would get full quick and cause the food to come back up.
Yeah, I know gross. But for a while, because I couldn’t eat right I got VERY BONY. I lost A LOT of weight (and I’m already a petite person so there practically wasn’t anything left of me).
It also made the sight of food not give me any kind of appetite. There were days where I was weak and it got to the point my mother was giving me BOOST (a chocolate shake kind of drink) because I just wasn’t eating.
I remember my stepmother taking me to a health food store and someone there actually asked was I anorexic. (I think maybe she was trying to get me some kind of supplement).
I do NOT miss that time in my life! It was HORRIBLE! It’s because of this that I just don’t relate with starving myself ON PURPOSE because I remember all to clear what kind of effect that had on my body when a medical condition caused me not to eat without my actions.
But I know that this is something that sometimes young females go through. So I can sympathize, but thankfully I’ve never been overweight (or weirdly had some off notion in my head that I was overweight) and needed to starve myself and diet. So for that, I really am grateful that I couldn’t relate to some of it.
The ice cream sundae idea was cool, but I just kept trying to realistically imagine trying to build a big ice-cream sundae in a kiddie, swimming, pool and kept seeing the thing fall over. So I just don’t know!
The shallowness of these people never ceases to amaze me. They don’t even stop the event. The principal is totally lost. All the kids have seen her all week and noticed the weight loss and mood swings but they say absolutely NOTHING until she’s laid up in the hospital on the verge of killing herself. Only in Sweet Valley!
Rating: 5
Because the floor in the gym needs repairs, Jessica decides to have a fundraiser. Robin comes up with the idea to break a Guinness Book of World Records by making the world’s biggest ice cream sundae. They’ll sell servings to people to raise the money and the idea goes over well with everyone.
Jess is pissed that Robin thought of the idea because she and Robin (since she showed her up in the book POWER PLAY) have a sort of rivalry (but only in Jessica’s mind). Robin then takes us back to that book and starts thinking about how much “Pretty Hurts” and how unfair it is for people like her vs people like Lila and Jessica. But instead of just chilling and letting “fat Robin” go, the ghost of “Fat Robin” continuously hangs over the head of “Skinny Robin” threatening with every single bite of food she takes to make a reappearance.
George Warren pulls up and offers her a ride home. He starts telling her about his new flying class, and she thinks this is a good thing because he’ll start flying again and finally forgive himself for cheating on Enid (in CRASH LANDING BOOK 20). But he tells her because he’ll be so wrapped up in the class he won’t be able to call her for a few weeks BULL SHIT! Why is that when men get involved in something, they act like they only have one brain cell that can only focus on that one thing at that particular time? Then they just vanish! We however work 9-5-hour jobs, we do housework, and we engage in other personal activities, we raise kids, we have monthly cycles and yet we STILL make time to call you if you’re important to us. (Sometimes even if you shouldn’t be important to us). But then its George.
Robin goes along with this, but then the ghost of “Fat Robin” whispers in her ear when he says he loves her because she has great legs “But he wouldn’t love you if those legs looked like two marshmallows would he Robin?”
Liz and Todd invite Robin to the beach, but “Fat Robin” is hovering over her head whispering in her ear again “The beach are you kidding? They won’t be able to tell the whales from you. You look like a tub of lard in that swimsuit. Isn’t it getting a little tight Robin? Besides your no-body without George by your side to protect you. Are you Robin?” So, she doesn’t go.
The ghost of “Fat Robin” shows up again at diving practice when she’s standing next to a skinny girl and tells her “I bet you if you jump in the pool Robin, you’ll flood the whole gym. Go ahead Robin! Do it! Jump!”
George calls and tells her how great his class is, and that goes on and on about this girl named Vicky that’s great at math (probably code for her FIGURE is great). But he wants her to meet her because he thinks she’ll like her. Somehow Robin doubts this.
The cheerleaders start to plan for the fundraiser and decide they need kiddie pools. They go to a local ice cream store and Jess says she’ll do the talking. She gets the lady to donate samples. Then she offers them samples. Robin is about to but the ghost of “Fat Robin” appears and replaces her face on all the faces of the overweight a family that walks in. She like a maniac. Robin turns the ice-cream down.
Liz and Jess see Louis Waller (OMG! I thought she moved after BEST FRIENDS) and surprise (surprise) she has a MAN! GO HEAD LOUIS! And she’s (gasps) HAPPY! Louis keep it pushing like AYE AYE AYE AYE! This piss Jess off beyond words because she wasn’t shipped off to the isle of characters, she ran out the series. Liz condescendingly says Louis may be fat but she’s happy so what difference should it make.
George brings Vicky to SV and she’s SMOKING HOT! The ghost of “Fat Robin” as you can imagine has a FIELD DAY with this. They go to the club but Robin can’t really connect with Vicky because she doesn’t take the class or have the same teachers as they do. Finally, she says she doesn’t feel like dancing. George is like “whatever” and hauls Vicky off to dance. Okay George is a IDIOT! JUST NO! You don’t take your girl to a club and then ditch her for your hot classmate.
The Ghost of “Fat Robin” whispers “I bet dancing isn’t all he’ll be doing with her tonight. Just like “flying” isn’t the only thing he does with her after class.” They take Robin home and Vicky comes inside. She sees a picture of “Fat Robin” and asks is that her cousin. The Ghost of Fat Robin laughs hysterically and says “Tell her!” She just says “Yeah, that’s me. I use to be fat.” The Ghost tells her “USE TO BE? Once a fatty, always a fatty Robin.” (She hisses this like saying the word HAS BEEN). But Vicky tries to be nice and tell her she’s impressed. It doesn’t work. George chews her a new one for not being nice to Vicky and leaves to go back to school.
She starts to eat a cinnamon roll then notices she’s gained 3 pounds. The ghost again whispers in her ear “Once a fatty. Always a fatty ROBIN!” She decides it's time to go on a diet so she won’t lose George to Vicky.
George ghosts her for a few days and doesn’t answer the phone and she goes more and more down a hole. She blows up at her mom who serves roast chicken. The Ghost of Fat Robin has merged with Mrs Wilson is probably holding out a transparent platter full of food chanting “EAT IT! EAT IT! EAT! ROBIIIN! YOU KNOW YOU WANT IT!” Robin storms out of the room.
The Ghost merges also with Cara at school and offers her a plate of fries “EAT IT ROBIN! EAT IT! EAT ME! EAT ME!” She puts herself in charge of the money of the fundraiser and tries to take her mind off her hunger pains. Elizabeth notices Robin’s erratic mood swings, but Jessica tells her if she wants to diet she can.
All these people are INSANE because they see all this happening and don’t say a DAMN THANG! By the time George sees it in his schedule to call she’s satisfied that she’s lost 4lbs in 2 days. He tells her he didn’t call her because he was “studying” YEAH, and they both apologize to each other. The Ghost hisses in her ear “Studying my ass! I bet he was STUDYING REALLY REALLY H A R D!” (she emphasizes this by making some bed knocking really hard noises).
He makes plans to take her out the next night. The date is a disaster and ends by George telling her he’s taking Vickey to her parent's house and telling her she doesn’t own him and if he wants to have female friends if he wants to. It’s her problem if she doesn’t trust him. BYE GEORGE! The Ghost of Fat Robin then kills him by throwing her dinner plate at him and slices his head clean off, and then jumps up and twerks on the table with a chicken leg in her mouth.
I’m just gonna skip ahead a bit she gets more erratic as the Ghost starts to merge with her personality more and poor Mrs Wilson gets the brunt of it. The swim coach is the only one that seems to notice what she’s doing to herself. She sends her home, but she still FAILS because she doesn’t tell her MOTHER!
She realizes that her dieting is getting out of hand, but by this, the sight of food disgusts her (making it impossible to eat).
She’s late for a photo session the cheerleaders take with the mayor and Jessica is annoyed. Her uniform is practically falling off her. The Ghost of “Fat Robin” is PISSED she needs that negative energy to *feed* her or she’ll vanish into nothing (kind of like Robin’s vanishing into nothing).
The day of the event, she oversleeps, barely is able to make it there, and when she gets there is to weak to get the chocolate syrup open. She then faints and Todd catches her. They call the ambulance and it takes her to the hospital. They don’t even stop the party SMH. COLD! Liz blames herself for not noticing the signs which were RIGHT IN HER FACE!
Vicky is there when Robin wakes up and she tells her she knows she’s anorexic, and she knows why. Only George isn’t in love with her. He’s in love with Robin. She then confesses that she has a dark ghost of her own called The Ghost of MARIJUANA VICKEY and it calls out to her too sometimes. So now they can be cool and they’re ghost can be girls and hang out and feed off each other’s dark energies.
George tries to make up with Robin and tell her he loves her, but she tells him “she needs space” Basically George SHES OVER YOU! (As she should be).
My Thoughts:
Ok there is no “Ghost of Fat Robin” I made that up. But admittedly I liked the “Ghost of Fat Robin” better than I liked self-conscious Robin obsessing over her weight and George. Yes, this was a book with a serious subject matter (anorexia). I can kind of relate (tho not fully) because I had a disorder that wouldn’t allow me to eat. It was called Gastro Paresis. No, didn’t have anything to do with being gasy. It was a condition where your body wouldn’t digest food properly so your stomach would get full quick and cause the food to come back up.
Yeah, I know gross. But for a while, because I couldn’t eat right I got VERY BONY. I lost A LOT of weight (and I’m already a petite person so there practically wasn’t anything left of me).
It also made the sight of food not give me any kind of appetite. There were days where I was weak and it got to the point my mother was giving me BOOST (a chocolate shake kind of drink) because I just wasn’t eating.
I remember my stepmother taking me to a health food store and someone there actually asked was I anorexic. (I think maybe she was trying to get me some kind of supplement).
I do NOT miss that time in my life! It was HORRIBLE! It’s because of this that I just don’t relate with starving myself ON PURPOSE because I remember all to clear what kind of effect that had on my body when a medical condition caused me not to eat without my actions.
But I know that this is something that sometimes young females go through. So I can sympathize, but thankfully I’ve never been overweight (or weirdly had some off notion in my head that I was overweight) and needed to starve myself and diet. So for that, I really am grateful that I couldn’t relate to some of it.
The ice cream sundae idea was cool, but I just kept trying to realistically imagine trying to build a big ice-cream sundae in a kiddie, swimming, pool and kept seeing the thing fall over. So I just don’t know!
The shallowness of these people never ceases to amaze me. They don’t even stop the event. The principal is totally lost. All the kids have seen her all week and noticed the weight loss and mood swings but they say absolutely NOTHING until she’s laid up in the hospital on the verge of killing herself. Only in Sweet Valley!
Rating: 5
July 13, 2026
I think every book or TV series from this time period covered an eating disorder plot. BSC did it through one of Jessi's fellow ballet dancers, Full House had DJ exercising a ton and eating less, California Diaries had Maggie. Now we have SVH which is a tough place to live when you have even a pound of extra weight on you. Cause boy are they awful. And being a teenager and feeling this way is bad. I'm in my 40s and sometimes struggle with body image and being a teen in the 90s when stick thin was the look was not fun.
Although I'm not a big fan of Robin considering she stole George from Enid she's front and centre here. George who cheated on Enid with her now has a new lady friend Vicky. He has started flying again after nearly killing Enid in a crash. Now Robin thinks as he cheated with her, he'll cheat on her which yeah he probably will. She starts to diet which leads to her not eating at all and getting weaker and sicker.
The b plot involves the cheerleaders making a giant sundae to raise money and Jessica being het usual terrible self to Robin despite her being obviously sick. Like mad at her for making their picture look terrible due to her being sick. But as sways things work out in the end and realistically too as Robin works to heal from anorexia.
Although I'm not a big fan of Robin considering she stole George from Enid she's front and centre here. George who cheated on Enid with her now has a new lady friend Vicky. He has started flying again after nearly killing Enid in a crash. Now Robin thinks as he cheated with her, he'll cheat on her which yeah he probably will. She starts to diet which leads to her not eating at all and getting weaker and sicker.
The b plot involves the cheerleaders making a giant sundae to raise money and Jessica being het usual terrible self to Robin despite her being obviously sick. Like mad at her for making their picture look terrible due to her being sick. But as sways things work out in the end and realistically too as Robin works to heal from anorexia.
March 3, 2009
We all read them. Which was your favourite?
Confess and be absolved. *nods*
Mine was the tale of the anorexic teen.
*later became anorexic teen*
*shakes fist at irony*
Confess and be absolved. *nods*
Mine was the tale of the anorexic teen.
*later became anorexic teen*
*shakes fist at irony*
January 12, 2023
This was a good one in the series. There are tons of trigger warnings in this book. I mean, I don’t like using the phrase trigger warning but the story is clearly outdated in the terms. Robin is a girl utterly obsessed with her weight. After losing a ton of weight when she was the new girl at SVH, she’s still feeling insecure. I get it though because all of the kids at SVH tormented her and called her “tubby”. Her biggest tormentor was of course, Jessica who is now on the cheer squad with the newly svelte Robin.
Robin’s boyfriend George used to date Enid and they casually discuss how he paralyzed Enid in a flying accident a few books back. Anyway, George is in college and still dating Robin in high school-suspicious. He decides he’s going to take flying classes again. He begins working with Vicky, his “perfect” girl partner. Robin becomes jealous of Vicky and thinks George isn’t interested in her anymore because she’s gained weight. She then takes a nose dive straight to anorexia losing 8 lbs in 2 weeks by not eating and exercising to the point of exhaustion. Everyone turns a blind eye to the behavior including her mom of all people. Jessica makes snide remarks about Robin, her drive, body, and personality throughout the entire book. Ultimately, Robin passes out in front of everyone and finally people realize something’s been off with her.
Side note, while George was galavanting with Vicky, he could have taken a moment to simply check in on his actual girlfriend. At the end Vicky said Robin had nothing to worry about because George spoke of Robin all the time, however, George missed several weekends of seeing Robin to “study” with Vicky and he opted to skip a weekend visiting Robin to drive Vicky to her parents’ house. Soooo, what would you think? George, as a boyfriend, should know his girlfriend is struggling and he was so self-absorbed which is literally the trope for every boy in Sweet Valley.
Anyway, great book-highly recommend.
Robin’s boyfriend George used to date Enid and they casually discuss how he paralyzed Enid in a flying accident a few books back. Anyway, George is in college and still dating Robin in high school-suspicious. He decides he’s going to take flying classes again. He begins working with Vicky, his “perfect” girl partner. Robin becomes jealous of Vicky and thinks George isn’t interested in her anymore because she’s gained weight. She then takes a nose dive straight to anorexia losing 8 lbs in 2 weeks by not eating and exercising to the point of exhaustion. Everyone turns a blind eye to the behavior including her mom of all people. Jessica makes snide remarks about Robin, her drive, body, and personality throughout the entire book. Ultimately, Robin passes out in front of everyone and finally people realize something’s been off with her.
Side note, while George was galavanting with Vicky, he could have taken a moment to simply check in on his actual girlfriend. At the end Vicky said Robin had nothing to worry about because George spoke of Robin all the time, however, George missed several weekends of seeing Robin to “study” with Vicky and he opted to skip a weekend visiting Robin to drive Vicky to her parents’ house. Soooo, what would you think? George, as a boyfriend, should know his girlfriend is struggling and he was so self-absorbed which is literally the trope for every boy in Sweet Valley.
Anyway, great book-highly recommend.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 14, 2023
This is a very significant addition to the series as it deals with the problem of anorexia nervosa. Looking it up I see that women have it at three items the rate that men do.
The basic theme is this. Robin has a boyfriend but he is taking flying lessons and his partner in this is a woman. Robin begins to become concerned about how close those two might be and why she isn't getting Robin's attention more.
Robin had been overweight at one time and she now thinks that if she gets slimmer he will pay more attention to her. She also has a lot of other self doubts and they all play together to set her on the path to becoming anorexic.
She eats less and less and becomes more and more angry. Other students are noticing this, especially as her performance in diving practice gets worse.
The tie-in to this is the cheerleaders are trying to raise money so they are gong to have a huge ice cream thing going on and Robin is in charge of that.
Hence, another problem Robin as a lot of pressure is being put on her for that, for diving and for other things.
We see her deterioration as she gets more and more extreme about eating and we see how others are noticing that more and more but trying to force her to change simply isn't going to work until she realizes herself that she needs to change her eating habits.
It's written very well and we see the gradual changes in Robin's physical and mental states and the concern others develop about her. We also see the result of her non-eating and what she has to do literally to survive.
An excellent overview of the subject.
The basic theme is this. Robin has a boyfriend but he is taking flying lessons and his partner in this is a woman. Robin begins to become concerned about how close those two might be and why she isn't getting Robin's attention more.
Robin had been overweight at one time and she now thinks that if she gets slimmer he will pay more attention to her. She also has a lot of other self doubts and they all play together to set her on the path to becoming anorexic.
She eats less and less and becomes more and more angry. Other students are noticing this, especially as her performance in diving practice gets worse.
The tie-in to this is the cheerleaders are trying to raise money so they are gong to have a huge ice cream thing going on and Robin is in charge of that.
Hence, another problem Robin as a lot of pressure is being put on her for that, for diving and for other things.
We see her deterioration as she gets more and more extreme about eating and we see how others are noticing that more and more but trying to force her to change simply isn't going to work until she realizes herself that she needs to change her eating habits.
It's written very well and we see the gradual changes in Robin's physical and mental states and the concern others develop about her. We also see the result of her non-eating and what she has to do literally to survive.
An excellent overview of the subject.
November 4, 2021
Robin Wilson has become convinced that George has lost interest in her and is interested in his new flying buddy from college. She's sure it's because she's becoming fat again, and she starts a program of extreme dieting and exercising , losing weight at a rapid rate until she collapses at a school event one day, and her friends realise she is anorexic, not just dieting.
July 31, 2018
I’m giving this one 4 stars because it actually deals with real life issues (anorexia) in a somewhat realistic manner. Props to the ghostwriter!
April 14, 2020
For some strange reason I always loved this one as a kid, but I can’t even begin to tell you why. Maybe because Robin’s problems don’t just magically go away at the end?
December 23, 2017
What won my heart with this book were the joking comments and the interesting plot. This book was just awesome.
March 17, 2024
It deals with the concept of anorexia and control. Robin struggles as control slips off her fingers in the stress of life.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 6, 2011
Funny - I remember Sweet Valley High books as being longer than this.
It is (as far as I remember; this is the only SV book I've read in a loooong time) a typical SV book: Elizabeth is a rather boring goody-two-shoes, Jessica's an absolute brat, and the problem of the book - namely, that Robin is anorexic - is resolved very quickly.
Look, props to the author (ghostwriter) for not solving the problem by having Robin miraculously realize that it's okay to eat pizza, but honestly, I think some of the book's positive messages are undermined by Jessica's...witchiness. (Hey, don't get me wrong. She's the more interesting twin. That doesn't mean that she'd make a particularly good friend.)
Then again - it's so formulaic I can practically see the numbers multiplying and dividing themselves, so what else can one expect?
It is (as far as I remember; this is the only SV book I've read in a loooong time) a typical SV book: Elizabeth is a rather boring goody-two-shoes, Jessica's an absolute brat, and the problem of the book - namely, that Robin is anorexic - is resolved very quickly.
Look, props to the author (ghostwriter) for not solving the problem by having Robin miraculously realize that it's okay to eat pizza, but honestly, I think some of the book's positive messages are undermined by Jessica's...witchiness. (Hey, don't get me wrong. She's the more interesting twin. That doesn't mean that she'd make a particularly good friend.)
Then again - it's so formulaic I can practically see the numbers multiplying and dividing themselves, so what else can one expect?
March 28, 2016
I usually like Robin, I really enjoyed her story earlier in the series, but this time around I wasn’t much of a fan. This one was quite dark and depressing as it had to explore the mindset of someone slipping into anorexia, and Robin’s behaviour wasn’t great.
Readable, but not one of my favourites.
Readable, but not one of my favourites.
October 28, 2011
Aside from the fact that Robin is apparently an X-men with her ability to gain and lose tremendous amounts of weight within a span of a week or two (book 4, book 46, book 74), I really liked this book. In the world of Sweet Valley, this story was so realistic it may as well have been a textbook.
October 24, 2010
These were always read in one sitting, and then I could not wait for the next adventure to begin.
June 21, 2013
I remember the cover just not the story.
Read
April 13, 2015Anorexia is super bad for you, as is judging your entire self worth on what your boyfriend may or may not think of you.
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