**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.
From the Back of the Book: Jessica's had it with Sweet Valley... Jessica Wakefield is sick and tired of taking second place to her twin sister, Elizabeth. Everyone adores Elizabeth; she's kind and loving and generous. But Jessica can't seem to do anything right. Then Jessica meets handsome, sensitive Nicky Shepard, who feels the same way she does. Nicky is running away to San Francisco and wants Jessica to join him. At first she doesn't take him seriously. But when things reach the breaking point at home, Jessica starts to see that she might be better off if she left Sweet Valley – forever!
Meet the Cast
*Elizabeth Wakefield – identical twin of Jessica and massive fucking martyr.
*Jessica Wakefield – identical twin of Elizabeth with narcissistic and histrionic tendencies
*Ned Wakefield – neglectful patriarch of the clan and successful lawyer
*Alice Wakefield – neglectful matriarch of the clan and an interior designer
*Steven Wakefield – older brother, university student and general asshole
*Enid Rollins – Liz's best friend and generic good-girl type
*Todd Wilkins – Liz's douchebag boyfriend and star of the SVH basketball team
*Lila Fowler – Jessica's self-absorbed best friend and representative of SV new money
*Bruce Patman – school dick and representative of SV old money
*Winston Egbert – stereotypical school nerd
There are more but these are the main characters that plague us book after book.
This book was published in 1985 and this is my first time reading it. The cover is pretty tame but I have to say that there is NO WAY IN HELL that Jessica Wakefield would run away in sweats, carrying a duffel bag. Do these people not know her at all????
In the last book, George and Enid are in a plane crash that leaves Enid temporarily paralyzed. She takes advantage of the situation to hold onto George who is over the relationship and in love with Robin. Jessica takes a cooking class and falls in love with her teacher but that subplot thankfully never really goes anywhere. Throughout the book, Pascal force feeds us the idea that everyone loves Liz and no one loves Jess. Ned and Alice treated Jess terribly through the entire thing and I know it was to set up this book but it felt excessive and out of place. Ned and Alice's brand is to ignore their daughters and remain blissfully unaware of their sinister activities, but in this book, they were really harping on every little thing Jess did and celebrating every breath Liz took. Jess accidentally gave her parents and sister food poisoning which was the best thing to ever happen in any of these books and then it ended with her feeling like her parents love Liz better.
Missing, Presumed Dead: Winston and Bruce are still missing. It's been several books now and I fear they may be gone forever. Roger and Olivia are also missing again and now George and Robin have vanished as well. The Wakefield reign of terror is going strong.
Released from the Wakefield Dungeon: Steven finally escapes along with Caroline. He must be so confused. He missed most of 1985.
We begin with the miraculous news that Steven has finally been released from the Wakefield dungeon!!! Maybe they got tired of feeding him and emptying his chamber pot. I wonder if anyone else sneaked out with him. I guess we'll see soon enough.
Anyway, Steven has left uni and come home for the rest of the semester. He's developed depression since Tricia died and he can't seem to focus on his studies. Liz wants to do something to break him out of his sadness and bemoans the fact that there aren't any activities coming up because they'll be on some kind of school break or something the next week. Jess mentions that Cara is having a party but reminds Liz that Steven isn't Cara's biggest fan ever since the book where Jess tried to set the two of them up. Liz thinks the party is still a good idea and encourages Jess to ask Steven to come. Jess wants Liz to do it because she thinks Steven will see it as interference again but Liz refuses and guilt-trips Jess into being the bad guy because Liz is awful and never thinks of anyone but herself no matter what Pascal tries to tell us.
At dinner, everyone is tiptoeing around Steven when Alice asks if the girls have any fun plans coming up. Jess is going to bail on telling Steven about the party because she can sense that it would be a bad idea but Liz kicks her under the table and gives her a bunch of meaningful eyebrow wiggles so Jess goes ahead. Steven immediately accuses her of trying to get him together with Cara again and tells her to stop manipulating all of their lives. He storms out of the room and Ned and Alice both lash into her for being insensitive. Liz tells them it was her idea and suddenly they both calm down and tell her they know she was just trying to help.
Jess gets upset that, once again, Liz is the golden child and can do no wrong. She leaves the table and heads outside. Liz runs after her and apologizes for making Jess look like a bitch. Jess blows her off and says it's nothing new. That's just how things work in the Wakefield family.
Wow. Jess has finally figured things out.
Jess goes to the Dairi Burger with Cara but she's still feeling awful from the scene at dinner. She's tired of everyone thinking that Liz is the good one and she's the evil one. Don't worry, Jessie love. In my eyes, Liz has been the evil one for at least 20 books now.
#TeamJess
Suddenly the owner comes from behind the counter to tell a group of people who just walked in that they can't stay. Jess can't see what's going on from her position but Cara tells her a small group has walked over from The Shady Lady across the street. I think it's a bar. Anyway, one of the group – a boy named Nicky who also goes to SVH – tells the owner that they just want something to eat and they won't cause any trouble so they're allowed to stay. Jess tells us that she's always been intrigued by Nicky despite the fact that he didn't exist until this book. He's got a bad reputation but his pale blue eyes are sensitive and she thinks he's pretty hot. She compares him to James Dean and makes sure to smile at him as he walks by.
He stops at their table and flirts with Jess a bit. She flirts back even though he makes her a little nervous. Cara seems mildly alarmed by the entire thing.
We're suddenly at Cara's party so literal days have passed with us being blissfully unaware. Liz explained everything to Steven so he agreed to come but now he's sitting in a corner talking to no one and looking absolutely miserable. Jess is bitter that he agreed to come as soon as Liz asked him. She's also miserable because she doesn't have a date and no one has asked her to dance. I don't know why. Jess is usually the life of the party even without a date. I guess Pascal has decided to rewrite history for her own purposes. I hate it when authors do that.
The only thing of note about the party is that Caroline escaped the Wakefield Dungeon along with Steven. I still haven't seen hide nor hair of the others. I hope they made it out too.
Jess ends up going outside to the pool house. It's dark in there but she doesn't turn on a light, wanting to be alone. To her surprise, Nicky is in there. He came to the party with a couple of people from that band that shows up in every book eventually. She asks him what he's doing in there and he tells her he's not very good at parties. She asks him why he always seems so sad and he tells her that it's better than being happy. When she presses, he admits that things aren't great at home. His dad is always working and his mom is caught up taking care of his younger brother who has health issues. No one pays any attention to him. Jess kind of relates since her parents are the poster children for neglectful parenting.
They talk a bit and Nicky tells her how beautiful and smart he thinks she is. Jess is charmed but still a little nervous around him. He tells her to close her eyes and then he kisses her. It's the gentlest kiss Jess has ever had and she's all starry eyed when she opens her eyes again. 💞
Nicky asks Jess if she wants to go back inside and dance and she takes him up on it. They create quite a stir when they go in together. Jess is surprised by how good Nicky is at dancing and the two of them spend a good hour or so dancing away. Nicky eventually asks her if she wants to go somewhere alone and she says 'yes'. Both Liz and Steven try to stop her from leaving with Nicky but she doesn't listen to either of them and takes off.
Suddenly it's the next morning. I have no idea how the previous night ended. Liz has noticed that Jess seems more withdrawn and subdued than usual and mentions it to Ned and Alice who completely blow her off. Alice says the change is “nice” because Jess is less bothersome and Ned blames it on “boy troubles”. These two are garbage parents. The one thing they tell parents to look out for is behavioral changes because it can mean that your child needs some help. But the amazing Wakefields can't be bothered to care.
Liz attempts to talk to Jess but her sister doesn't seem interested in conversation. At one point, Jess blurts out that no one in the family wants her around. Liz halfheartedly denies it and Jess withdraws further into herself. Liz mentions it to Steven who says he'll talk to Jess but not to worry because it's “probably just something she's going through”. Um.....you think? We have a certified genius on our hands, y'all.
Steven takes Liz to the ice cream shop where Ricky is working. I forgot Ricky existed. In case you did too, he was in the book with Annie who the entire school slut shamed until she tried to kill herself. Liz notices that Ricky seems a little down too and she wonders if he and Annie are having trouble. A little gentle questioning reveals that not to be the case. I have no idea if Ricky is our B-plot or not. I'll keep an eye on it.
Bill and DeeDee rock up while they're eating their ice cream. Bill's the surfer and DeeDee's......yeah, I don't even remember. They were in a book I recapped at some point but I didn't care about them then and I don't care about them now. Liz asks DeeDee how her art classes at the community center are going and DeeDee instantly gets all flustered. She says she quit and Bill freaks out. He didn't know she quit and demands to know why. DeeDee dodges the question and Bill stiffly says they'll talk about it later. I have no idea why he's getting so upset. Unless he paid for the classes, he has no right to question whether she's going or not. Controlling much?
When they get home, Steven goes to talk to Jess. He says he's noticed she seems depressed lately and demands to know why. She doesn't want to talk to him and that instantly makes him angry despite the fact that he's been wandering around depressed, not wanting to talk to anyone for months. Apparently it's okay for him but not for Jess. He thinks it's because he yelled at her for inviting him to the party so he apologizes but Jess points out that he didn't yell at Liz for the same thing. He angrily says it's because he knows Liz would never try to manipulate him like Jess does. WHICH IS A FUCKING LIE. Liz manipulates just as many people as Jess. I don't know why no one else can see this.
#TeamJess
Jess decides that the only way to win her family's love is to prove somehow that she's just as good as Liz. She thinks that making everyone dinner will be a good first move so she goes inside and makes roast chicken, rice and vegetables. When Alice gets home, she freaks out a bit thinking Jess might give them all food poisoning again. Jess picks up on it and is a little crushed. She keeps playing the part, though, and pours her mom a glass of wine and tells her to go put her feet up for a bit. Alice finds Ned in the living room and they both discuss how Jess must want something big and expensive.
Nice.
You both suck.
Jess calls everyone to dinner but no one touches the food. Liz asks if there's any seafood in it and Ned makes a joke about updating his will first. Everyone laughs but Jess is really hurt. She watches as they cautiously eat tiny bites of food and her resentment grows. Liz notices that Jess seems upset and tries to distract her by telling her that Ricky works at the ice cream shop now. Ned says he isn't surprised and then launches into this big story about how Ricky's parents are divorced and the dad won't pay child support so the mom won't let the dad's parents see the kids. The grandparents want to take her to court to get some sort of visitation and the mom wants to block them. I'm not sure which side Ned is representing but whoever it is needs to hire a new lawyer because this one is spreading their business all over town.
Or at least all over his kitchen in front of people who go to school with Ricky. People who shouldn't know anything about any of this. Not very ethical of you, Ned.
Jess says that she doesn't think the courts should be able to keep the grandparents from seeing kids and Ned basically tells her to stay in her lane because she's just a kid and she doesn't know how these things work. Liz says that they're missing the bigger picture and Ned leans forward to give her his entire attention and tells her to go on despite the fact she's the exact same age as Jess and therefore doesn't know how these things work. She says that it's detrimental to the kids who have already lost their father to lose their grandparents as well and the court shouldn't rule in the mother's favor. Ned tells her how thoughtful and amazing and brilliant she is for essentially saying the same fucking thing that Jess just said. Jess gets up and leaves the table but no one even notices because they're too busy praising Liz for being so insightful. Ned says that he'll use Liz's argument in court and now I'm sure his client needs to reevaluate their choice of attorney. This one needed a 16-year-old to structure his case for him. That's not good.
Also, Jess spent hours on that dinner and all they did was pick at it and laugh at her. They all suck.
#TeamJessForever
Jess ends up in town. She thinks she might go see a movie but she's seen everything that's playing. She's just sort of floundering when Nicky happens by. He asks her if she wants to go for a ride and she's eager to have something to do. They talk on their way to the oldest park in Sweet Valley. He tells her he hates school because no one cares about him or listens to him and she relates to that pretty hard right now. He says he's thinking about taking off. He has a friend in San Francisco who has offered him a job and a place to stay. Jess asks about school and he says he'll just drop out. His family probably won't even notice he's gone.
We blink and it's the next day. Liz comes to wake Jess up so they can go to the hearing for that visitation thing. Wait. It's today? Wow. Ned was really unprepared since he had no idea how to plead his case until Liz told him at dinner. What's he been doing during all those billable hours?
Jess doesn't want to go and Liz calls her selfish for not being there for Ned. Jess says that Ned doesn't want her there anyway and Liz tries to argue with her. It doesn't work. Liz goes downstairs and tells Ned that Jess feels unwanted. He says that he's not going to “bend to her every whim” and that she probably wouldn't enjoy the hearing anyway. So he basically doesn't want her there, just like Jess thought.
I don't care how Pascal tries to redeem Ned and Alice after this, I will never believe they're good people. They've gone from oblivious and neglectful to downright mean and evil.
Liz decides she's going to do an article for the newspaper about the hearing because she's truly just as evil as Ned and Alice. Hey, Liz, Ricky might now want his personal family information – that you shouldn't even know about – broadcast to the entire student body. This is so ridiculously disgusting to me. Let the poor kid have his privacy. It's bad enough that Ned told Liz and Jess.
After the hearing adjourns for the day, Ricky approaches Liz. He's heard she's writing an article and he's VERY displeased. He tells her that he doesn't appreciate her making his private business public and asks her not to write the article. She's stunned that he wouldn't want her to air his dirty laundry all over school and immediately turns herself into the victim. You know, big bad Ricky yells at poor little Liz for no good reason.
Liz tells Ned that Ricky asked her not to write the article but Ned tells her that it's for the greater good. He literally says: “You'll just have to ask yourself if the pain you cause some people is greater than the enlightenment you'll give others.” So she should just hang Ricky out to dry because.....why? What greater good is this article going to serve? I mean, what kind of enlightenment are the kids of SVH supposed to get out of this tabloid gossip piece? Ned and Liz are both disgusting. NO ONE IS GOING TO BE ENLIGHTENED. Ricky asked you not to write it, so DON'T FUCKING WRITE IT. If Liz had an OUNCE of compassion or empathy in her, she would know what the right thing to do is.
EvilNed is dead to me.
It's later that night. Nicky takes Jess to a party but neither of them have much fun. Jess gets the feeling that Nicky doesn't exactly fit in with his friend group very well. They'll all smoking pot which he declines. He does drink a few beers and she's a little worried about their drive home. He seems to sense it and takes her for a walk so he can sober up a little. He asks her why she seems sad and she fills him in on the last 20 books. She cries on his shoulder a bit and says that she thinks her family wishes she'd never been born. He offers to bring her to San Francisco with him and tells her he's leaving in two days. Jess tells him that she doesn't think she can just run away like that and he's hurt that she doesn't want to go on this grand adventure with him.
They get in the car to go home and Nicky's driving fast and dangerous because he's upset. They go straight through a stop sign and almost get hit by an oncoming car. Nicky manages to brake in time but they go spinning off the road and crash into a light pole. He has no choice but to call his parents to come get them. His father is instantly furious and screams at him for awhile about costing them money. Nicky says that they won't have to deal with him much longer and his father replies “good”.
Sweet Valley just breeds awful parents. Must be something in the water. Maybe Liz should write an article about that instead of ruining Ricky's life.
The next day, Jess tries to talk to Ned, Alice, Steven and Liz and each and every one of them blows her off. She decides that she's just in their way and they won't miss her when she's gone. She puts a call into Nicky who has decided he's leaving later that day due to the trouble the night before. Jess doesn't think she can arrange everything quickly enough to leave that quickly but makes plans to meet him tomorrow in San Fran.
We skip to the next morning. Jess plans to tell her family that she's spending the weekend with Lila. They won't even know she's gone until at least Sunday. She composes a letter for Liz to find later basically saying that she knows everyone will be better off without her because all she ever did was cause trouble. She tells Liz to give her love to everyone even though they probably hate her and then puts the note in an envelope with Liz's name on it. She props it on her dresser and then starts to pack. By the time she's done, the room is actually clean but the letter has slipped behind the dresser.
We land in Liz's head at the trial. She sees Ricky leave the courtroom all upset and goes to follow him. He asks her if she's getting good material for her article and she basically lectures him on how he should handle this entire thing. He tells her that she doesn't understand because she's never been in his shoes and yells that he's mad at everyone and he just wants everyone to leave him alone. She starts yelling at him that he's being selfish and hurting his grandparents to hurt his dad and she's right but she has no business talking to him like she is.
But of course it works because Liz is Pasca's ultimate hero. Ricky goes back into the courtroom and tells his mom to stop and, of course, it fixes everything and Liz is the hero once again.
I hate her.
I truly, truly, hate her.
Back at home after the hearing, Liz goes to return a scarf she borrowed from Jessica. She's a little startled to see Jessica's room so clean and then discovers that the closet is practically empty. She immediately goes downstairs to tell her parents who, at first, just insist that Jess is at Lila's. Finally Liz manages to convince them that Jess wouldn't take her entire closet to Lila's and they finally show some concern. I'm sure it was difficult.
They call Lila first but she hasn't heard from Jess and had no plans to see her that weekend. Steven remembers that Nicky is a person who exists so they look up his number in the phone book....
….and give it a call. It's busy, so EvilNed and Liz decide to drive over there. Nicky's mom is pretty hostile and she seems to hate them both on sight which is really refreshing. She admits that Nicky ran away and that they haven't looked for him because they're just too busy. EvilNed and Liz leave.
We hop into Jess's head now. She's been sitting in the bus station for hours hoping that her family might care enough to try to stop her from leaving. She doesn't realize the letter fell behind the dresser and she figures they read it ages ago and truly don't care. Finally she gets on the last bus for San Fran.
Back at the Wakefield complex, Steven remembers that someone he played basketball with in high school hangs around Nicky's crowd. HOW THE FUCK DOES STEVEN EVEN KNOW WHO NICKY'S CROWD IS? Pascal, this makes no sense in the entire world. Steven didn't even know who Nicky was, how could he know who Nicky's friends are? Dumb, dumb, dumb. And so lazy. So very lazy.
Conveniently, this person that Steven pulled out of his ass knows exactly where Nicky is and who he's staying with. The Wakefields realize that the Fiat is there and assume that Jess either went by bus or plane so they split up to go to the bus station and the airport.
PASCAL!
WHY would they assume that? They know she was going with Nicky. Why wouldn't they assume that they were going in Nicky's car? Both Steven and Liz know that she'd gone off with Nicky in his car before and none of them know it was wrecked.
Seriously, you can't just make your characters reject the most logical conclusion because you need them to. IT DOESN'T MAKE SENSE!
Anyway, EvilNed and VileAlice head to the airport and Steven and Liz go to the bus station. Steven approaches the counter to ask if Jessica Wakefield bought a ticket today. The person working says that they don't take names so he doesn't know. Steven starts to describe Jess and then realizes how stupid it is and pushes Liz in front of the man's face. The man acts surprised and says he thought she was on the bus. The bus is just pulling out so Steven asks what the next stop is and then he and Liz take off after it.
Lucky for them, the bus gets delayed at the next stop and they are able to catch up and track down Jess. They stand in the aisle of the bus and tell her that they love her and they don't want her to leave. The three of them have a tearful hug and then Jess gets off the bus. The Wakefields are all reunited back at the complex and they agree not to throw Jess in the dungeon because Pascal would have a hell of a time selling book 22 without her. Everyone agrees to appreciate each other more and pay more attention to how everyone is feeling. Then they join hands and sing a special hymn of forgiveness and love.
Well, maybe not that last part but the rest of it was accurate.
The book ends with Liz filling in Enid on everything that happened. They discuss how Jess has magically been cured of all her issues and how Steven's depression disappeared in a poof so he could go back to school and be forgotten again. I guess the Wakefield love really does solve all the world's problems. But trouble is brewing across the cafeteria so Pascal can set up a future book. Bill is furious and yelling at DeeDee who looks frightened. Enid tells Liz that DeeDee has been backing out of projects and canceling plans lately and Liz remembers that class that DeeDee bailed on. They both speculate what it could all mean and then the book ends.
I hate this book and almost everyone in it.
Except Jess.
#TeamJess
Curse Count: 3. EvilNed said 'damn' and Liz and Steven both said 'hell'. You know, in case you were wondering.
Coming up Next: We take a break from the original timeline to read a “Special Edition”. It's time for Summer Break where things will happen that will probably never get mentioned again in the series. I swear these special edition book exist in their own alternate universe or something.
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