Double Love (SVH #1) by Francine Pascal

**This blog contains adult language.**

Warning: Spoilers Ahead!!!  This is a recap blog which means I read the book and tell you everything that happens so you don't have to read it yourself.  Do NOT continue to read unless you want to know what cold-hearted-bitch move the twins made this book.

Tag Line: Share the continuing story of the Wakefield twins and their friends - their laughter, heartaches and dreams.

From the Back of the Book: Will Jessica steal Todd from Elizabeth?  Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield are identical twins at Sweet Valley High.  They're both popular, smart and gorgeous, but that's where the similarity ends.  Elizabeth is friendly, outgoing and sincere--nothing like her snobbish and conniving twin.  Jessica gets what she wants--at school, with friends and especially with guys.  This time Jessica has set her sights on Todd Wilkins, the handsome star of the basketball team--the one boy that Elizabeth really likes.  Elizabeth doesn't want to lose him but what Jessica wants, Jessica usually gets....even if it ends up hurting her sister. 

Well, here we are. The first book of a new series. We have new places to explore and a whole lot of new people to meet. The cast of characters in Sweet Valley is pretty extensive but there are a few that tend to show up pretty consistently.

First we have our Wakefield clan............Ned is the patriarch. He's a lawyer and pretty successful judging by the brand new in-ground pool that the twins can't stop bragging about. Alice is the matriarch. She's an interior designer who seems to care more about fabric swatches than her own offspring. Steven is the older brother. He's away at SVU but comes home frequently to uncomfortably “flirt” with his sisters (you'll see what I mean). Elizabeth is the oldest of the identical twins. She pretty much always thinks she's right and anyone who disagrees with her is just stupid. And then there's Jessica. A lot of bloggers like to call Jess a sociopath but it's not entirely accurate. She does feel bad about what she's done, just not bad enough to do anything about it. I think she's more of a narcissist. She needs everything to be about her all the time. She's also very histrionic, making a huge deal out of absolutely everything.

Outside of the Wakefields, we have a few characters that get a lot of page time. Lila is Jess's best friend. Her dad is one of the richest men in the city (new money) and her personality is basically just....rich. We have Enid, Liz's best friend. She's one of those quiet, bookish girls that we all know and love. Bruce is the son of the other richest man in SV (old money) and he's pretty much the dick of the series. Todd is the basketball hunk that everyone seems to want to get with for reasons I can't even explain. Ken is the quarterback and Winston is the school nerd. All of these characters are massive stereotypes.

Before we kick off, it's important to note that these books were published way back in the last century (1983 for this one) so not only are they very politically incorrect but they're also extremely sexist. Yes, it sucks but it is what it is.

Here we go...........

We meet Liz and Jess right off the bat, of course, because this is their world and everyone in it exists to please them. They are described as being “generously blessed with all-American good looks”, “silky blonde hair” that brushes their bronzed shoulders, “stunning figures”, “almond-shaped eyes the blue-green of the Caribbean” and long legs that make up most of their 5'6” frames. It's okay if you hate them already. Their personalities aren't going to change that.

It's pretty rapidly established that the identical twins are extremely different. Jess eats the souls of babies and sacrifices kittens and puppies on a regular basis while Liz has never done a single wrong thing in her entire saintly life. Liz is a huge martyr, by the way. She constantly sacrifices her own happiness for Jess's but then whines about it incessantly.

Jess is all in a tither because today is the day they find out if they made it into Pi Beta. No, I don't know why their high school has a sorority. I guess some do. It's basically a popularity contest so Jess feels like she's a shoe-in. Liz only pledged because the twins do absolutely everything together.......except they don't. At all. So I don't know what kind of BS that explanation was. Jess is a cheerleader and Liz is on the school paper so they obviously explore different interests all the time. Whatever.

The phone rings and super-social Jess dashes off to answer it. It's Todd and he asks to talk to Liz. Jess lies and says Liz can't possibly come to the phone. Then she babbles about the Pi Beta thing and Todd wishes her good luck with that. When Jess goes back into Liz's bedroom, Liz asks who was on the phone. Jess says Todd called to wish her (Jess) good luck and Liz is a little disappointed. She has a huge crush on Todd and thought he might be interested in her too.

The twins go downstairs so we can meet their absentee parents. Ned hints that he's working on a huge lawsuit that involves SVH somehow and says he'll be working late with fellow lawyer Marianna. Alice will also be working late on a new project so the twins will be on their own for dinner. Both Jess and Liz have to stay after school for cheer practice and a newspaper meeting so they can't ride the bus home. Therefore they are allowed to take the family's second car to school. This isn't your mama's Corolla. The second car is a Fiat Spider convertible. No 16-year-old should be driving this car.

Jess pouts when she's told she can't drive. She was involved in a minor accident a few days ago and is grounded from driving for three weeks. She whines and rages about it all the way to school. When Liz doesn't immediately take her side, Jess accuses Liz of not loving her. She harps on this until Liz promises to try to get Jess's grounding revoked. Jess is a master of manipulation. That settled, Jess tells Liz that she thinks their dad is having an affair with Marianna. Liz dismisses it but she's also suspicious about the two of them.

They also have a very odd conversation about the Patmans (Bruce's family) and the Fowlers (Lila's family). The Patmans are old money and they want to preserve the historical integrity of the town. The Fowlers are new money and want to build a bunch of buildings everywhere. I wouldn't even mention this bizarre thread of conversation but it actually turns out to be foreshadowing for something later.

When they get to the school, Jess gives Liz a big hug and steals the keys to the spider out of Liz's pocket. Liz doesn't even try to get them back. She runs off to meet her best friend Enid. Jess is pissed about this because she's worried people might assume she's the one talking to loser Enid and it will ruin Jess's reputation. She's a peach.

Enid gushes to Liz about a new boy named Ronnie who Enid has a huge crush on. In the middle of this conversation – which is very important to Enid and therefore should be important to her best friend – Liz starts thinking about how she's going to be a famous journalist someday. Right now she is the star writer for the school paper and everyone worships her genius. Especially the teacher that oversees them, Mr Collins. He practically salivates every time Liz is in the room and it's just as creepy and inappropriate as it sounds. Liz's most prominent column is the “Eyes and Ears” column but no one knows she writes it. It's a gossip column and her identity is kept secret from the student body. There's a tradition that if the Eyes and Ears writer is discovered, the entire student body with throw him or her into the swimming pool fully clothed and Liz wants to avoid that at all costs.

Todd rocks up and Enid gets all shy and takes off. The bell rings before Todd can actually say anything to Liz but they arrange to meet later after the newspaper meeting and his basketball practice. Because at SVH they do basketball and football at the same fucking time somehow.

The girls make it into Pi Beta because of course they do. #allhailthewakefieldtwins I really have nothing else to say about that. I guess there's a dance associated with the sorority and their brother fraternity but that's the only importance it has.

Liz's meeting runs a little late and by the time she dashes into the parking lot to meet Todd, she sees him zooming away in the spider with Jess. She's devastated at this turn of events AND she has to walk home. Poor Lizzy.

Back at home we meet Steven. Liz goes on and on about how handsome he is and how he makes all the girls swoon and what an amazing body he has and I'm just as uncomfortable with this as you are. He announces he's hungry and orders her to get her butt in the kitchen where she belongs and cook him something. She finds this charming and goes to make him a sandwich. Of course it had to be a sandwich. Jess comes in while he's eating and she also gushes about how gorgeous he is. I thought SV was in California, not Alabama.

Liz asks Jess why she took off with Todd after school and left her stranded. Jess says she took him to get decorations for the dance. She thought Liz was going to ride home with someone else which makes so actual sense since Liz was the one who was supposed to drive the spider. Liz asks if Todd mentioned their meeting and Jess says no. Liz assumes Todd just forgot all about her.

Steven leaves without really telling them why he was home in the first place. Jess assumes he must have a girlfriend that he's keeping hidden from them. She vows to go all Nancy Drew on his ass and find out what he's up to.

We take a hop to school the next day. All anyone can talk about is how Jess and Todd are the hot new couple on campus. Liz naturally just mopes about this, whining to us about how much she 💓LOVES💓 Todd even though, as far as I can tell, they've barely ever spoken to each other. I think Liz just loves the idea of Todd. Jess, meanwhile, is doing everything she can to get Todd to ask her to the dance. He doesn't seem super interested in her which Jess takes as a character flaw on his part. Clearly she's the best girl in the whole damn town and she'll do whatever it takes to make him see that.

After school, Jess runs into Rick in the parking lot. Rick is a year older and a high school dropout. Somehow he has tattoos even though you have to be 18 to get them. I guess he has a fake ID. He flirts with Jess, calling her “Heaven” (#gag) and then orders her to get in his camaro. For some reason she does.

Main character seriously needs to watch a few episodes of Law and Order SVU? Check.

Rick drives fast and dangerous but Jess is thrilled by it. She wishes someone – particularly Todd – could see her with Rick because he's just so cool. Rick knows where Jess lives without her having to tell him which is really just creepy but he drops her off around the corner so her parents won't see her with him. He tells her to meet him in the same place tomorrow night and then he drives off like a bat out of hell.

Jess arrives home at the same time as Alice. She notices Alice is tense and assumes Alice also suspects Ned of bending Marianna over his desk and giving her a good legal briefing...if you know what I mean.

We skip to the next night. Jess has dressed with care in a short skirt and low-cut top because she wants to look older and more sophisticated. Liz assumes Jess is going out with Todd and mopes some more about how horrible her life is.

Rick takes Jess to a biker bar and orders them beers and shots of whiskey. Jess doesn't really touch hers but he downs his beer and both the shots within the first ten minutes of the date. He begins to get a little physically aggressive with her and she does her best to fend off his roving hands. When he goes in for a very non-consensual kiss, she gets pissed and orders him to take her home. Despite the fact he's very obviously impaired and shouldn't be driving at all.  Sigh.

Main character seriously needs to watch that very special episode of Full House about drunk driving?  Check

Rick tells Jess that she shouldn't “put anything in the window that you don't sell in the store” and tries to kiss her again.

I'm not even going to go into how wrong this attitude is.  You all know this by now.  It's 20 fucking 20.

Jess jumps up from the table, telling Rick she'll just call a cab. He gets pissed and yanks her back down, telling her she isn't going anywhere until he has his fun. Another man at the bar asks if she's okay but it's pretty clear his intentions are just to get her away from Rick so he can have his own way with her. Rick gets pissed at the random dude and throws a drunken punch. A bar fight breaks out and the police are called. The bartender decides to press charges against Rick because this isn't the first time he's caused trouble in the bar and Rick is arrested and taken away.

Jess is sure that her entire life is over but one of the remaining cops recognizes her as LIZ because his daughter also goes to SVH. Jess does nothing to correct his erroneous identification. He takes her home but lets her off with a warning. He doesn't even bother to talk to her parents or anything. He calls her Liz as he drives off and some chick named Caroline who apparently also goes to SVH overhears and immediately begins making phone calls.

By the next day at school, everyone has heard the story about how Liz was arrested after being involved in a bar riot with Rick. Liz is horrified but doesn't immediately make the Jess connection because she's nowhere near as smart as she thinks she is. Even Enid thinks Liz is guilty despite Liz insisting she's never even met Rick and definitely wasn't arrested for anything. Enid tells her that they can still be friends but apparently Ronnie isn't so sure he wants to be associated with anyone who is associated with Liz. This makes Enid unsure of whether she should continue to support her troubled friend.

These people are all assholes.

Liz finally gets a clue and confronts Jess after school. Jess manages to deflect the entire conversation because she's in a hysterical fit about Steven dating some girl named Betsy. I guess Betsy is the town's least favorite drugged out ho and Jess is sure that her entire life will be ruined if anyone at school finds out that Steven is dating her.

Suddenly it's a new day and we're crashing Enid's first date (?) with Ronnie. But it's okay because Todd is also crashing the date. He's all mopey about Liz being a delinquent and Ronnie brought him along to the beach to cheer him up. Ronnie bags on Liz the entire time saying that she's awful and untrustworthy and that no boy should ever date her. He says that if a girl he liked did something like that, he would drop her immediately and never forgive her. Not sure why she'd need his forgiveness but whatevs. Enid tries to defend her friend but she also doesn't believe Liz is innocent so it's very wishy-washy at best. Mostly she just frets that Ronnie might find out she was arrested once but she doesn't bother to tell us that story because it's the plot for book 2. Todd just mopes that Liz isn't who he thought she was.

The rumors continue to swirl at school and everyone is treating Liz like actual garbage but she doesn't bother to tell anyone that it was Jess because Liz is a martyr and she gets off on this stuff. Jess doesn't think they need to clear anything up because a new scandal has emerged. Apparently the lease the school held on the land where the football field is located has expired. Both the Patmans and the Fowlers want to buy it. The Patmans want to turn it into some kind of a botanical garden and the Fowlers want to build a factory. Apparently they've gotten some kind of injunction and now no one can use the field. The team might not be able to play any more games this season.

Ken and Todd, as the reigning jocks of the school, organize a rally. They decide to have a sit-in on the field to protest. As they're all standing there working each other up, Bruce and Lila wander by. The crowd turns on the two of them, blaming them for the sins of their fathers. Bruce counters by throwing major shade at Liz and it actually pricks Jess's conscience. She decides to admit the truth to Todd. Todd thinks that Jess is just trying to take the rap for Liz and decides that Jess is an amazing person. He kisses her and asks her to the dance. Jess just goes with it.

When Liz finds out about their PDA, she's crushed. Winston feels bad for her and when Bruce shows up to really rub it in, Winston white knights the fuck out of the situation and asks Liz to the dance. She agrees to go with him as friends.

Back at home, Jess is on cloud nine while Liz mopes. Steven comes in and he's pretty down as well. Jess is furious that they aren't giving her the attention she deserves so she dramatically flings herself about and declares that their father is definitely having an affair despite her having no actual proof of this. It pisses Steven off and he yells at her for not having more faith in their father. Jess angrily tells him that he's just like their dad with his skanky drug ho. Steven reaches apoplectic levels of mad and asks her what she's talking about. Jess starts to hysterically cry that no one knows how fucking hard her life is and they're all just a bunch of bullies. Martyr Liz rushes to her defense and tells Steven that they know he's seeing Betsy. Steven corrects them. He was seeing Betsy's sister Tricia who is much more appropriate but she's broken up with him because he refused to be seen with her in public.

Someone should just torch the entire fucking house with everyone in it. They're all awful.

We skip to the night before the big dance. Jess has just found out that Liz is going with Winston and it's led to some major screeching about how Liz must be out of her mind. Liz just calmly says that she and Winston are going as friends and she plans to enjoy herself.

After that completely pointless scene, we skip to the night of the dance. Todd arrives to pick up Jess about 30 seconds before Winston arrives to pick up Liz. The two guys make awkward small talk while they wait for the girls to come down. Liz arrives first in a white strapless dress that looks sensational on her. Winston makes a big deal about her being the most beautiful girl in the world which makes Liz laugh. Todd seems pretty pissed about it though. Winston and Liz take off and then Jess makes her entrance in a slinky blue dress. Todd tells her she looks pretty and Jess is disappointed that he doesn't go into raptures like Winston did for her sister.

At the dance, Jess and Todd “really started getting into the music in a very sexy way” whatever the fuck that means but then he catches sight of Liz and his attention stays locked on her for the rest of the night. Jess is fuming. She tries everything to get him to pay attention to her but he only has eyes for Liz. She vows revenge.

After the dance, Jess comes in to talk to Liz. She collapses on Liz's bed sobbing and tells this story about how she had to fight off Todd and he wasn't taking no for an answer. She tells Liz that she was begging him to stop as he put his hands all over her. Liz is horrified.

We spend a chapter with Steven. He realizes he was awful to Tricia and goes to apologize. Tricia accepts his apology and they make a date for later. After he takes her home, he realizes his father's car is in front of him so he starts to tail his dad. Turns out his dad is going to Marianna's house late at night. Steven is sure this proves the affair Jess was talking about.

Over the next week, Todd tries very hard to talk to Liz. She does everything she can to ignore him thinking he assaulted her sister. Finally he calls. He tells her that he's spent a lot of time thinking about it and he thinks he can forgive her if she agrees never to see Rick again. He makes it sound like it's an immense sacrifice for him and he's doing her a massive favor. Liz gets angry and says he has a lot of nerve judging her for something she never even did when he's much more problematic. He has no idea what she's talking about and tells her that she's making him angry and she should stop having opinions if she wants to date him. She tells him she never wants to talk to him again and she hangs up.

Liz goes to cover the hearing with the Patmans, Fowlers and the school board. She's surprised to see that Marianna is handling all the speaking instead of her father. All three sides make impassioned arguments but the judge sides with the school board. SVH will keep its football field. When she gets home, Alice announces that they're having a guest for dinner and Liz is dismayed to hear it's Marianna. She's convinced her father is going to reveal his affair to the entire family over dinner.

He doesn't. You know, because he's not actually having an affair. They're just colleagues and the twins are idiots.

We skip ahead a chunk of time. A week maybe? Liz is trying to tell herself that she hates Todd but it isn't working. One night they go to the Dairi Burger and Todd is there with some friends. Liz and Jess decide to leave but as they're getting into the car, Rick jumps in. He hijacks the car, doing donuts in the parking lot and almost killing a bunch of their friends. Todd sees it through the window and sees the terror on Liz's face. He runs out to get into his own car.

Rick is drunk and he drives recklessly toward that biker bar, intending to get some kind of revenge on the bartender who pressed charges against him. The twins are terrified but can do nothing to stop him. When they get to the bar, Rick grabs both of them, intending to drag them inside but Todd arrives to save the day. He and Rick get into a fight in the parking lot and Todd wins because of course he does (even though it makes no real sense that he'd be able to kick Rick's ass). Liz is so thankful she kisses him.

Todd follows them back home and then he and Liz talk. She tells him it was Jess who went with Rick to the bar and he finally believes her. Then she confronts him about assaulting Jess and he tells her that it never happened. She believes him because she knows her sister. They end up making out and I guess all's well that ends well. I guess. I mean, he's awful and controlling and he didn't believe her when he should have but I guess that's all fine.

Liz confronts Jess and Jess very masterfully turns it all around to make it sound as if Jess was just trying to protect Liz. Liz actually seems to buy it. Then Jess says she only let everyone believe Liz got arrested because if anyone knew it was her, Jess would have been kicked off the cheerleading team. She says she knew Liz would want to help her and Liz reluctantly admits that's probably true. Liz forgives her but decides she needs to get even.....just a little.

At a student rally, Liz pretends to be Jess and then turns “Liz” in as the Eyes and Ears columnist. The student body descends to throw her in the pool. Jess tries to tell them who she is but Todd sinks that by calling her Liz. Jess is thrown into the pool.

The book ends by setting up the next one. Enid arrives at Liz's door in tears. She says she's done something awful and Ronnie is never going to forgive her for it.

So we survived our first dip into the shark infested waters of Sweet Valley. Did you escape with all your toes? Remember, you can lead a normal life with just 7 or 8 of them.