Saturday 17 March 2012

Secrets - Francine Pascal

READ: FEB 11 - 12, 2012
RATING: 6 OUT OF 10

Beautiful and ruthless, Jessica Wakefield is determined to be chosen queen of the fall dance at Sweet Valley High. If she can win the contest, she's sure to win Bruce Patman, the most sought after boy in school.
The only person standing in Jessica's way is Enid Rollins. When Jessica discovers the truth about Enid's past, she knows the crown is within her grasp. She doesn't care that Enid is her twin sister Elizabeth's best friend—or that revealing the secret may cost Enid both her reputation and the boy she loves.
Only Elizabeth can save Enid from Jessica's vicious gossip—but can she stop her scheming twin in time?
Another one that I didn't read as a teenager. This one didn't have nearly as much drama as the first book, or maybe it was because most of it surrounded Enid and not the Wakefield family that I didn't find it quite so fun. It was also a good 60 or so pages shorter than Double Love, which made it shorter than some of the BSC books! I didn't realise the SVH books didn't have a standard page-length. 
As usual, this book revolved around Jessica being jealous over the possibility of someone (Enid) getting something she had her eye on (being crowned queen of a high school dance) and scheming to get it, and ultimately upsetting a lot of people in the process. Most scheming goes on in this book in a sub-plot as Lila (jealous that her dad is spending all his time with a young teacher and not her) spreads a rumour that her French teacher is having an affair with a student. But everyone gets what they deserve in the end as Jess is forced to dance with Winston, as he is crowned king of the dance, and Lila has no date as Ken realises she initiated the rumour about Ms Dalton. Nothing is really concluded about Ms Dalton so I hope that's cleared up in later books, it would be horrible to have that sort of rumour on your academic record!

An entertaining enough book while I was ill in bed, and plenty of cute scenes between Liz and Enid and Todd to combat Jessica's scheming. Oh, to be semi-innocent in 80s Sweet Valley! There's a strange mixture of sweet naivety in these books with Liz and Enid having pillow-fights and baking cookies, versus Jess drinking wine at Lila's party and cars parked at Miller's Point with steamed up windows. Plenty of hints at what teenagers really do, but no explicit details. Looking forward to reading #3! 

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