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Sweet Valley High #54
Two-Boy Weekend
Love gone wrong...
Jessica Wakefield doesn't know how she'll survive a long weekend without her steady boyfriend, A.J. Morgan. But when she meets Christopher, a mysterious good-looking boy, her lonely weekend turns into one of the most romantic times of her life. Jessica knows she'll have to stop seeing Christopher when A.J. returns, but in the meantime, she's going to enjoy herself.
Then, what started out as fun turns into a nightmare. Christopher refuses to leave Jessica alone. He calls her every night, then begins following her. Jessica is terrified that A.J. will find out and break off their relationship. Has Jessica gotten herself in too deep this time?
Jessica Wakefield doesn't know how she'll survive a long weekend without her steady boyfriend, A.J. Morgan. But when she meets Christopher, a mysterious good-looking boy, her lonely weekend turns into one of the most romantic times of her life. Jessica knows she'll have to stop seeing Christopher when A.J. returns, but in the meantime, she's going to enjoy herself.
Then, what started out as fun turns into a nightmare. Christopher refuses to leave Jessica alone. He calls her every night, then begins following her. Jessica is terrified that A.J. will find out and break off their relationship. Has Jessica gotten herself in too deep this time?
150 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published April 1, 1989
36 people are currently reading
379 people want to read
About the author
Francine Pascal
1,139 books1,843 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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March 19, 2017I have a serious problem. I need to stop reading this crap, but I can't.
January 22, 2023
Oooh! Was not expecting this one to veer towards SVH Thriller category 😱❤️
Skanky Jessica (I say this with all the love in my heart) cheats on her beau while he's out of town with a cute surfer dude she meets at the beach. She spends 2 blissful days hanging out with the guy, until it's time to tell him the truth...that she has a boyfriend and can't see him anymore. He takes the info in stride, much to Jessica's relief. Buuuut it's never that easy, is it? Surfer Dude calls her multiple times a day, and stalks her all over town. Until he mistakes Liz for Jessica and kidnaps her 😱😱
A fun quick read, as Jessica races to find and save her sister from the clutches of a "mentally disturbed person".
4 out of 5 smooches for the hot, mysterious boy you just met, your serious boyfriend be damned. You can just break up with him later and wipe the gnawing guilt from your conscience 😅😅
Skanky Jessica (I say this with all the love in my heart) cheats on her beau while he's out of town with a cute surfer dude she meets at the beach. She spends 2 blissful days hanging out with the guy, until it's time to tell him the truth...that she has a boyfriend and can't see him anymore. He takes the info in stride, much to Jessica's relief. Buuuut it's never that easy, is it? Surfer Dude calls her multiple times a day, and stalks her all over town. Until he mistakes Liz for Jessica and kidnaps her 😱😱
A fun quick read, as Jessica races to find and save her sister from the clutches of a "mentally disturbed person".
4 out of 5 smooches for the hot, mysterious boy you just met, your serious boyfriend be damned. You can just break up with him later and wipe the gnawing guilt from your conscience 😅😅
August 25, 2018
When I was a kid, I d e s p e r a t e l y wanted to read the Sweet Valley High books, but my mom wouldn't allow it. I was only allowed to read The Sweet Valley Twins. So when I saw a friend on FB talking about the books and how much she'd loved them, I told her my sad story and she suggested a buddy read. And here we are.
What can I say? This book was a little creepy, what with the stalker/abusive behavior from the new boy Jessica meets, but it was also compulsively readable and maybe there's value in its cautionary tale. I'm not sure. I enjoyed it in the same way I enjoy candy corns: I know they're not *good*, but I'm gonna eat them til I make myself sick.
What can I say? This book was a little creepy, what with the stalker/abusive behavior from the new boy Jessica meets, but it was also compulsively readable and maybe there's value in its cautionary tale. I'm not sure. I enjoyed it in the same way I enjoy candy corns: I know they're not *good*, but I'm gonna eat them til I make myself sick.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
September 5, 2019
Flirty Jessica returns!
AJ Morgan is going away for four whole days! Of course, this is the end of the world for Jess as she has no one to pay her any attention 😂
Whilst she’s sulking on the beach she meets a cute surfer and immediately starts flirting with him and arranged to go for dinner. All is almost innocent... until, spoiler alert, Jess becomes a cheater! *dramatic shocked music*
What ensues is a completely bonkers few days where Jess is basically stalked by an obsessive teenage boy whose actions are all explained away at the end.
It’s pretty funny to be honest because it’s just all so dramatic and over the top and typical Jess. Good job insta wasn’t around or she’d have been caught out instantly.
It’s fun to see Jess back to get scheming ways, one boring twin is plenty.
(Btw it’s annoying that Elizabeth is still getting credit for the big sister project when Enid was the one who came up with it all! But of course Elizabeth the bloody golden girl gets all the praise as per usual! Grr.)
AJ Morgan is going away for four whole days! Of course, this is the end of the world for Jess as she has no one to pay her any attention 😂
Whilst she’s sulking on the beach she meets a cute surfer and immediately starts flirting with him and arranged to go for dinner. All is almost innocent... until, spoiler alert, Jess becomes a cheater! *dramatic shocked music*
What ensues is a completely bonkers few days where Jess is basically stalked by an obsessive teenage boy whose actions are all explained away at the end.
It’s pretty funny to be honest because it’s just all so dramatic and over the top and typical Jess. Good job insta wasn’t around or she’d have been caught out instantly.
It’s fun to see Jess back to get scheming ways, one boring twin is plenty.
(Btw it’s annoying that Elizabeth is still getting credit for the big sister project when Enid was the one who came up with it all! But of course Elizabeth the bloody golden girl gets all the praise as per usual! Grr.)
February 18, 2017
It's been a long time since I've read this one, but I found myself still legitimately loving this crazy book upon re-reading it today. I love that Jessica actually thinks it's okay to cheat on A.J. because he dares to leave town for FOUR ENTIRE DAYS. I love that the boy she cheats with turns out to be a psycho. And I love that none of this stops Jessica from .
Oh, and let's not forget that A.J. writes a winning essay about what Sweet Valley will be like in the "far off future" of the year 2000. Hehe.
Oh, and let's not forget that A.J. writes a winning essay about what Sweet Valley will be like in the "far off future" of the year 2000. Hehe.
November 16, 2022
Two-Boy Weekend
AJ goes out of town to Texas for 4 days and this for Jessica equals AJ broke up with her. She can’t go to some party or the other by herself. So, she misses the party. And she continues to whine to her friends. She even tells Elizabeth things are getting stale because they talk all night and when they see each other there’s nothing to talk about. Elizabeth hits it right on the head when she says. “First, you’re complaining that you spend too much time together. Now, your complaining because you have alone time. Jess make your mind!” (I wish Mrs. Novak were her mom so she could tell her the same thing she told Shelly about people with REAL problems).
She spends some time moping on the beach where she meets Christopher. He’s the forward type and immediately asks her to dinner. She accepts without any hesitation or thoughts that she’s in a relationship.
She goes on one date with him (careful to hide it from Elizabeth) and has a good time. She accepts a second date but then knows this will have to be the last one before AJ comes home. She tells Christopher she can’t see him again because she has a boyfriend. But he doesn’t accept this and his true colors start showing.
He sends her flowers at school (and she has to lie to her friends about where they came from). She tells all her friends Steve sent them to Cara. He calls her constantly. He even shows up at her school and threatens to tell AJ.
AJ unaware this his girlfriend is playing him keeps talking about selling his car and then he hears from a buyer. DUM DUM DUM.. It’s Christopher. Jessica has to pretend like she doesn’t know who he is when he shows up. AJ convinces her to go with him to test drive the car (what kind of boyfriend lets his girl ride in his car with a strange guy?
So this dude is so crazy he almost runs her into a building until she finally agrees that she’ll go out with him. But it’s the same day that AJ is receiving some kind of award at Citizenship Day and she really (REALLY) wants to be crowned Queen. But her hands are tied. She can’t tell AJ (because he’ll dump her and she won’t be Queen) and she can’t cancel on Crazy. She can UH TELL THE POLICE AND GET A RESTRAINING ORDER!
So, at the dance Christopher shows up (as her date) AJ is still clueless and he takes her to the parking lot and when she resists, he puts her in the trunk of his car.
Elizabeth senses something is wrong and she and Jeffry head to the parking lot catch Christopher whose stalled long enough in confusion that the girl he thinks is in the trunk is standing there. Jeffrey knocks him out. J
ess is rescued and after all this, she goes back in listens to AJ give his speech, and then breaks up with him because she’s just not ready for anything serious and long-term. AJ is still non the wiser that his girl cheated, the guy he was about to sell his car to was a pycho path and almost killed her several times, and that one of those times happened not that far away just minutes ago (Shaking my Head).
My Thoughts:
AMAZING! After all, that and poor AJ is STILL in the dark when the book ends. Maybe she should have just told him she cheated. That would have taken away Christopher’s power. “I told him WHAT?” (and his hold on her).
Then it’s (I’m not joking) a THOUSAND events that crown people. They have one every other (if not every) week at SVH. How many crowns has Jessica already won? Is getting a crown for Mrs. Citizens Day really worth your life at the hands of a pycho path? This girl’s morals are just off the chains!
Its kinda funny though because my ex went through this EXACT same scenario when he cheated and ended up with a pycho-path and then she shot up his apartment and tried to call everyone in his phone.
But at the same time, it makes me MAD because even though AJ is a boring, one-dimensional, character he probably is a nice guy, and yet this is the kind of girl’s guys like him choose. The crazy ones just like Jessica that cheat and lie and turn down their marriage proposals and beat them with skillets. Those are the ones they act like they won’t EVER leave and will follow till the ends of the Earth.
AJ deserved WAY better than how he was treated in this series. He wasn’t given much depth, and he was given a bipolar, cheating, a liar for a girlfriend. Well goodbye AJ. I guess you will now fade off the face of the earth to Sweet Valley oblivion where all the characters go when Elizabeth or Jessica don’t have a use for you anymore in their stories. Don’t worry AJ Jeff will be there soon to keep you company. Along with the other 1 timers.
Rating: 7 Very Interesting! This one was a lil more crazy than normal (and a lil more entertaining).
).
AJ goes out of town to Texas for 4 days and this for Jessica equals AJ broke up with her. She can’t go to some party or the other by herself. So, she misses the party. And she continues to whine to her friends. She even tells Elizabeth things are getting stale because they talk all night and when they see each other there’s nothing to talk about. Elizabeth hits it right on the head when she says. “First, you’re complaining that you spend too much time together. Now, your complaining because you have alone time. Jess make your mind!” (I wish Mrs. Novak were her mom so she could tell her the same thing she told Shelly about people with REAL problems).
She spends some time moping on the beach where she meets Christopher. He’s the forward type and immediately asks her to dinner. She accepts without any hesitation or thoughts that she’s in a relationship.
She goes on one date with him (careful to hide it from Elizabeth) and has a good time. She accepts a second date but then knows this will have to be the last one before AJ comes home. She tells Christopher she can’t see him again because she has a boyfriend. But he doesn’t accept this and his true colors start showing.
He sends her flowers at school (and she has to lie to her friends about where they came from). She tells all her friends Steve sent them to Cara. He calls her constantly. He even shows up at her school and threatens to tell AJ.
AJ unaware this his girlfriend is playing him keeps talking about selling his car and then he hears from a buyer. DUM DUM DUM.. It’s Christopher. Jessica has to pretend like she doesn’t know who he is when he shows up. AJ convinces her to go with him to test drive the car (what kind of boyfriend lets his girl ride in his car with a strange guy?
So this dude is so crazy he almost runs her into a building until she finally agrees that she’ll go out with him. But it’s the same day that AJ is receiving some kind of award at Citizenship Day and she really (REALLY) wants to be crowned Queen. But her hands are tied. She can’t tell AJ (because he’ll dump her and she won’t be Queen) and she can’t cancel on Crazy. She can UH TELL THE POLICE AND GET A RESTRAINING ORDER!
So, at the dance Christopher shows up (as her date) AJ is still clueless and he takes her to the parking lot and when she resists, he puts her in the trunk of his car.
Elizabeth senses something is wrong and she and Jeffry head to the parking lot catch Christopher whose stalled long enough in confusion that the girl he thinks is in the trunk is standing there. Jeffrey knocks him out. J
ess is rescued and after all this, she goes back in listens to AJ give his speech, and then breaks up with him because she’s just not ready for anything serious and long-term. AJ is still non the wiser that his girl cheated, the guy he was about to sell his car to was a pycho path and almost killed her several times, and that one of those times happened not that far away just minutes ago (Shaking my Head).
My Thoughts:
AMAZING! After all, that and poor AJ is STILL in the dark when the book ends. Maybe she should have just told him she cheated. That would have taken away Christopher’s power. “I told him WHAT?” (and his hold on her).
Then it’s (I’m not joking) a THOUSAND events that crown people. They have one every other (if not every) week at SVH. How many crowns has Jessica already won? Is getting a crown for Mrs. Citizens Day really worth your life at the hands of a pycho path? This girl’s morals are just off the chains!
Its kinda funny though because my ex went through this EXACT same scenario when he cheated and ended up with a pycho-path and then she shot up his apartment and tried to call everyone in his phone.
But at the same time, it makes me MAD because even though AJ is a boring, one-dimensional, character he probably is a nice guy, and yet this is the kind of girl’s guys like him choose. The crazy ones just like Jessica that cheat and lie and turn down their marriage proposals and beat them with skillets. Those are the ones they act like they won’t EVER leave and will follow till the ends of the Earth.
AJ deserved WAY better than how he was treated in this series. He wasn’t given much depth, and he was given a bipolar, cheating, a liar for a girlfriend. Well goodbye AJ. I guess you will now fade off the face of the earth to Sweet Valley oblivion where all the characters go when Elizabeth or Jessica don’t have a use for you anymore in their stories. Don’t worry AJ Jeff will be there soon to keep you company. Along with the other 1 timers.
Rating: 7 Very Interesting! This one was a lil more crazy than normal (and a lil more entertaining).
).
November 21, 2020
I downloaded this book via Kindle Unlimited.
No ma'am. This was not the one.
AJ has to go to Texas for four days, and you'd think Jessica is going to die. How could she ever go without her soft lovable boyfriend from Wednesday to Sunday afternoon? But in typical Jess fashion, that's all forgotten by Friday when her bad mood makes her friends ditch her and she meets the elusive Christopher, a tall dark stranger with whom she falls into a weekend long whirlwind romance. But when AJ is home, he's soon to be forgotten. Only, he won't let her. Not only does he ring, send flowers, stalk her until she cracks but demands she goes on another date with him. So in Jessica fashion, she sends Liz on the date while her and AJ go to the citizen's day ball, and of course Liz gets kidnapped and Jess then breaks up with AJ because she "just can't be committed to one guy".
This whole book was a whirlwind, no sensical mess. If Jess didn't think she could commit to one guy...Why didn't she just admit to AJ what she had done (PS she never told him she cheated on him). I...I have no words for how much I disliked this one.
No ma'am. This was not the one.
AJ has to go to Texas for four days, and you'd think Jessica is going to die. How could she ever go without her soft lovable boyfriend from Wednesday to Sunday afternoon? But in typical Jess fashion, that's all forgotten by Friday when her bad mood makes her friends ditch her and she meets the elusive Christopher, a tall dark stranger with whom she falls into a weekend long whirlwind romance. But when AJ is home, he's soon to be forgotten. Only, he won't let her. Not only does he ring, send flowers, stalk her until she cracks but demands she goes on another date with him. So in Jessica fashion, she sends Liz on the date while her and AJ go to the citizen's day ball, and of course Liz gets kidnapped and Jess then breaks up with AJ because she "just can't be committed to one guy".
This whole book was a whirlwind, no sensical mess. If Jess didn't think she could commit to one guy...Why didn't she just admit to AJ what she had done (PS she never told him she cheated on him). I...I have no words for how much I disliked this one.
February 11, 2025
Good book!
June 4, 2011
Ohmigod, I love going to my sisters apt. She has the absolute worst books and I love them all. She has this Sweet Valley High book on her shelf and I finally got around to reading it. I never read them when I was younger because I always thought the High School books were going to be too scandalous, so I stopped reading after the middle school series. This book was so so so lame. Deborah and I went to Sausalito on Monday and when we were just hanging out, we took turns and read this book out loud to each other. Yes, we are lame, but then so was this book.
Jessica's boyfriend is going away for the weekend and she is de vested, like this is the worst thing that could ever happen to anyone. She is at the beach with her friends when she meets a surfer and he asks her out for the following day and she says yes. They go out, but she tells him that they can never see each other after today because her boyfriend is back in town the following day. Christopher, the dude, doesn't take it well at all and begins to call and stalk her all the time. Jessica never tells AJ, her boyf, that she went out with someone else and when Christopher threatens to tell AJ unless Jessica goes out with him again, she doesn't know what to do. She tells Chris that she'll go out with him on the same night as the big Citizen's Day Ball of which AJ won an award at and at the last second, Jess calls Chris to cancel and says she is sick. She goes to the ball, but Chris shows up anyway and see's Elizabeth and thinks it's Jess. (They are twins, if you don't know this series.) She covers for him because AJ is about to get an award and Chris takes Liz for a walk and it turns nasty and he ends up tying her up and locking her in his trunk. Jess feels that something is wrong and goes looking for Liz and Liz's boyfriend ends up fighting Chris and they save Liz. Jess and AJ break up because Jess doesn't think she wants to date just one boy.
SO LAME! If anything, this book is a cautionary tale for young girls. Don't date strangers off the street! Oy, whatever. I read it in like a day. No harm done.
Grade: C-----
Jessica's boyfriend is going away for the weekend and she is de vested, like this is the worst thing that could ever happen to anyone. She is at the beach with her friends when she meets a surfer and he asks her out for the following day and she says yes. They go out, but she tells him that they can never see each other after today because her boyfriend is back in town the following day. Christopher, the dude, doesn't take it well at all and begins to call and stalk her all the time. Jessica never tells AJ, her boyf, that she went out with someone else and when Christopher threatens to tell AJ unless Jessica goes out with him again, she doesn't know what to do. She tells Chris that she'll go out with him on the same night as the big Citizen's Day Ball of which AJ won an award at and at the last second, Jess calls Chris to cancel and says she is sick. She goes to the ball, but Chris shows up anyway and see's Elizabeth and thinks it's Jess. (They are twins, if you don't know this series.) She covers for him because AJ is about to get an award and Chris takes Liz for a walk and it turns nasty and he ends up tying her up and locking her in his trunk. Jess feels that something is wrong and goes looking for Liz and Liz's boyfriend ends up fighting Chris and they save Liz. Jess and AJ break up because Jess doesn't think she wants to date just one boy.
SO LAME! If anything, this book is a cautionary tale for young girls. Don't date strangers off the street! Oy, whatever. I read it in like a day. No harm done.
Grade: C-----
April 24, 2020
I am not sure I ever read this book as a kid-- there were some SVHs that I never bought and I never found at the library-- this may be one of those few forgotten gems. Or it could just be that after 35 years I just don't remember this one. Either way, I liked it more than most of the SVHs I've read recently. Jessica is just soul-crushingly sad and grouchy and bratty because AJ has to go out of town for a WHOLE FOUR DAY WEEKEND, and she can't wrap her ditzy little head around how she could possibly spend her time without full-fledged pouting and despair while her perfect ginger boyfriend is visiting his grandparents and aunts and uncles and cousins like a normal human who has occasional family obligations. So she does a super-Jessica Wakefiled-esque thing by picking up a hot surfer she meets at the beach and spends a couple of days going out with him and leading him on and not bothering to find out jack shit other than his first name ABOUT him, and her Wakefield-twin-pheromes make this surfing hottie go full stalker on her when she tries to dump him the day AJ gets home from his family reunion. To her credit, Jess seems kind of self-aware by the end of the novel in a way that will undoubtedly not last, and without serious spoilers, there's not a ton more I can say about this book other than Jesus H. Christ, there seem to be a lot of total whackjobs in Sweet Valley, and dating in the 1980s seems flat out dangerous and maybe the super strict parents that some of the minor characters have in this series had DAMNED good reasons to not allow their kids to date with all these psychos out living amongst them in this tiny CA town. 3 stars because I was actually interested in reading all the way through and couldn't remember the ending and it was fun. Typical Wakefield pathologies on full display in this one. Onto 55.
July 18, 2016
Ok, so I stumbled across an article about the artist who did about seven bajillion* Sweet Valley High covers. Now, when SVH came out I was past their prime age demographic and never did read any of these. So I'm looking over these cheesy covers and reading the synopses of the books and $DEITY help me, I had to read one to see what all the hype was about. I mean, there's what - 6,284** of these things?
Dear lord. These are... not good. You've got MarySue1 and MarySue2, PerfectBoyfriend, and StalkerNewBoy. Throw in a dance and a TwinConfusion kidnapping and hilarity ensues. It all works out in the end, but these two go through this every book? You'd think they'd get smarter.
I would feel bad giving this book a one star because I am so very much not the demographic but I feel safe with a two star because I'm fairly sure that Miss Perfect One & Two would have annoyed the crap out of me soon enough even as a teen.
* slight exaggeration
** slighter exaggeration
Dear lord. These are... not good. You've got MarySue1 and MarySue2, PerfectBoyfriend, and StalkerNewBoy. Throw in a dance and a TwinConfusion kidnapping and hilarity ensues. It all works out in the end, but these two go through this every book? You'd think they'd get smarter.
I would feel bad giving this book a one star because I am so very much not the demographic but I feel safe with a two star because I'm fairly sure that Miss Perfect One & Two would have annoyed the crap out of me soon enough even as a teen.
* slight exaggeration
** slighter exaggeration
July 28, 2014
She broke up with AJ! I can't believe it.
AJ had to go to Texas for a four day weekend, and Jessica couldn't come. She was sad about it, but what could she do. So, she was in a fowl mood, until...
Her friends drag her to the beach,and end up leaving her there. While she's there alone, a handsome surfer comes up to talk to her. They go out for dinner,and the surfer, Christopher,falls for Jessica. There's a problem, though. She already has a boyfriend.
AJ had to go to Texas for a four day weekend, and Jessica couldn't come. She was sad about it, but what could she do. So, she was in a fowl mood, until...
Her friends drag her to the beach,and end up leaving her there. While she's there alone, a handsome surfer comes up to talk to her. They go out for dinner,and the surfer, Christopher,falls for Jessica. There's a problem, though. She already has a boyfriend.
April 13, 2020
This is a SVH book that really didn’t age well. Actually can’t even believe that Christopher’s behavior was even okay in the 80s. Christopher basically stalks Jessica after she rebuffs him but it’s all her fault anyway for cheating on AJ. Ummmmm okay. WTF!!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 24, 2010
This is just my childhood. That sums up the entire series. Everything in my childhood happened around reading this wonderful series.
August 1, 2012
I read every single SV book when I was a teen-wish I had kept them to revisit now in my "old age"!!
December 19, 2024
I read this one so many times as a kid, and I want to defend it here a moment because I think it's important to be discussed in its time context and bearing in mind their ages.
Jessica is a total flirt and we saw signs of it through the previous few books, where she would still flirt with boys even while having a steady boyfriend AJ. It's not great, but it isn't demoniac either...because let's remember she's only 16 and teenagers are stupid. Right? We were ALL stupid at that age, no exceptions.
AJ goes away for four days and she has no idea how she will get through those days without him. You want to say: it's only four days, Jess! But again, she's 16. I vividly remember feeling like time was standing still, at that age, and just one weekend away from my boyfriend felt like ten years. I could not STAND it and honestly moped and felt miserable for those two days. Of course this is ridiculous if you're an adult - but 16. Let's remember that! And Jess is such a flirty attention seeker anyway.
Christopher hits on her and asks her out for the evening. She goes along to have some fun, not thinking through her actions until later in the evening when her feelings get confusing and she wonders what she's done. I had so many feelings like that at that age. Then he kisses her and it's so nice that she eases into it and, too late, thinks that was a mistake...but enjoys being with him so much that she spends the next day with him too, knowing it's wrong but unsure what she really wants.
Yes, she's shallow...but also...16! This isn't a grown woman - and she didn't sleep with him or anything! And yet reviewers are describing her behaviour in this one as sociopathic. No...only if all teenagers are sociopaths.
She feels terrible guilt and confusion and is trying to work out why she even did what she did. It's Sweet Valley, so it doesn't get too deep into it, but basically she's trying to work out who she is and what her real feelings are and if she even loves AJ. By the end, she determines that if their relationship were really solid, she never would have done what she did, and she admits to him that she isn't ready for any of this and they need to break up. Fair enough, I say! She didn't murder his cat or sleep with the football team. Let's give her a break this time!
Especially because Christopher turns out to be insane. I saw a reviewer say they love Liz - really??? So Christopher calls Jess every day even when she begs him to stop, follows her all over town, follows LIZ without knowing there's a twin - pretends to want to buy AJ's car and takes it for a test drive with Jess, speeds and threatens to smash it into a wall (!) - and when Jess says she has a psycho after her, Liz...rolls her eyes and says, 'He's not a psycho,' because 'sometimes Jessica's histrionics were really too much to take'.
!!!!!!!!!
At no point does anyone think to tell the police. But then I remembered this was written in the 1980s...and stalking was not only not illegal, but the cops would have genuinely taken Christopher's side and laughed Jess off until she was murdered.
My point is that actually, it's a terrifying, unsettling look at social attitudes and the treatment of women / young girls in that time period. And if we all sit here and slag off Jessica even in 2022, then I have to wonder if we have moved forward from the 1980s at all. Because Jess makes a mistake...but it is a typical high school thing that isn't the biggest crime in the world by far, and she gets punished beyond measure for it, and somehow there are women reading this and saying she's the sociopath. The reviews are as disturbing as this book.
Jessica is a total flirt and we saw signs of it through the previous few books, where she would still flirt with boys even while having a steady boyfriend AJ. It's not great, but it isn't demoniac either...because let's remember she's only 16 and teenagers are stupid. Right? We were ALL stupid at that age, no exceptions.
AJ goes away for four days and she has no idea how she will get through those days without him. You want to say: it's only four days, Jess! But again, she's 16. I vividly remember feeling like time was standing still, at that age, and just one weekend away from my boyfriend felt like ten years. I could not STAND it and honestly moped and felt miserable for those two days. Of course this is ridiculous if you're an adult - but 16. Let's remember that! And Jess is such a flirty attention seeker anyway.
Christopher hits on her and asks her out for the evening. She goes along to have some fun, not thinking through her actions until later in the evening when her feelings get confusing and she wonders what she's done. I had so many feelings like that at that age. Then he kisses her and it's so nice that she eases into it and, too late, thinks that was a mistake...but enjoys being with him so much that she spends the next day with him too, knowing it's wrong but unsure what she really wants.
Yes, she's shallow...but also...16! This isn't a grown woman - and she didn't sleep with him or anything! And yet reviewers are describing her behaviour in this one as sociopathic. No...only if all teenagers are sociopaths.
She feels terrible guilt and confusion and is trying to work out why she even did what she did. It's Sweet Valley, so it doesn't get too deep into it, but basically she's trying to work out who she is and what her real feelings are and if she even loves AJ. By the end, she determines that if their relationship were really solid, she never would have done what she did, and she admits to him that she isn't ready for any of this and they need to break up. Fair enough, I say! She didn't murder his cat or sleep with the football team. Let's give her a break this time!
Especially because Christopher turns out to be insane. I saw a reviewer say they love Liz - really??? So Christopher calls Jess every day even when she begs him to stop, follows her all over town, follows LIZ without knowing there's a twin - pretends to want to buy AJ's car and takes it for a test drive with Jess, speeds and threatens to smash it into a wall (!) - and when Jess says she has a psycho after her, Liz...rolls her eyes and says, 'He's not a psycho,' because 'sometimes Jessica's histrionics were really too much to take'.
!!!!!!!!!
At no point does anyone think to tell the police. But then I remembered this was written in the 1980s...and stalking was not only not illegal, but the cops would have genuinely taken Christopher's side and laughed Jess off until she was murdered.
My point is that actually, it's a terrifying, unsettling look at social attitudes and the treatment of women / young girls in that time period. And if we all sit here and slag off Jessica even in 2022, then I have to wonder if we have moved forward from the 1980s at all. Because Jess makes a mistake...but it is a typical high school thing that isn't the biggest crime in the world by far, and she gets punished beyond measure for it, and somehow there are women reading this and saying she's the sociopath. The reviews are as disturbing as this book.
December 15, 2021
While AJ is away, a slightly sociopathic Jess will play, sadly she ends up two wiring AJ with a psychopath who ends up stalking her and kidnapping Liz by mistake. I liked AJ and Jess sucked in this book
November 23, 2023
Classic Jessica Wakefield gets up to her Classic tomfoolery.
June 21, 2013
I remember the cover but just not the story.
Read
August 1, 2013Graded By: Erin
Read the drinking game and review here.
Read the drinking game and review here.
May 30, 2014
A dance, a stalker, a kidnapping, all wrapped up with a tidy now. Such fun!
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