**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: What will The Droids do without Emily? Elizabeth Wakefield is surprised when Emily Mayer tells her she wants to join the school newspaper. After all, Emily's a musician, not a writer. Why would The Droid's crack drummer turn to writing, especially when the band is so popular? Emily confides to Elizabeth that she's having problems at home. Her stepmother has imposed a strict curfew and gets annoyed whenever Emily practices her drumming. What's worse, Emily's father seems to agree with his new wife. Emily's certain her stepmother is out to get her – and she's succeeding. Can Elizabeth help Emily before the situation at the Mayer home reaches the breaking point?
Because of course, only a Wakefield could possibly solve this problem.
Meet the Cast
*Elizabeth Wakefield – identical twin of Jessica and massive fucking martyr.
*Jessica Wakefield – identical twin of Elizabeth with narcissistic and histrionic tendencies
*EvilNed Wakefield – neglectful patriarch of the clan and successful lawyer
*VileAlice 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 former boyfriend currently exiled to Vermont
*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 it's my first time reading it. The kindle version tells me that the ghostie for this book was Kate William again so at least we're in familiar (however incompetent) hands. The cover isn't bad I guess but that girl doesn't look like a drummer in a rock group to me. She's too wholesome.
In the last book, we spent Christmas in Sweet Valley. Suzanne came to visit because she thought she had MS and wanted to make amends for her past behavior. Liz and Todd decided to cool off their romantic relationship and Todd somehow fell in love with Suzanne. I don't know if any of that will be acknowledged in this book but we'll see. (((Note From Future Me: it was not.))) At the end of book 24, we learned that Emily was having problems at home and feared being sent to boarding school.
Missing, Presumed Dead: Robin, George, DeeDee and Patty are still missing. They were joined by Winston, Enid, Lila, Cara and Bill. To be honest, the entirety of SV except for The Droids, the twins, Bruce and Mr Collins were missing from this book but I didn't have space to list them all so I focused on the bigger characters.
Released From the Wakefield Dungeon: No one. The Wakefields' reign of terror must be stopped.
We begin with Jess and Liz in the cafeteria discussing their grandparents' upcoming visit. Jess wants to decorate the house for them after school but Liz says she has to go work on The Oracle after school (The Oracle is the school paper). Jess can't believe Liz would pick the paper over getting ready for their grandparents. They haven't seen them for over a year because they live so far away. Liz is barely listening to her because she's eavesdropping on the next table where Emily and Dana are having a conversation. Dana is commenting about how lucky Emily is to have a baby half-sister (Karrie) but Emily tells her it's mostly a pain in the ass. Not only that, but her stepmother Karen is out to get her.
After school, the mildly creepy Mr Collins tells Liz that Emily wants to try out for a place on the newspaper. She's shocked because Emily has never shown an interest in journalism before but she agrees to give Emily a tour of the newspaper room and a rundown of how things work. When Emily comes in, it's clear she's been crying. Liz asks her why she wants to join the paper and Emily says Karen suggested it. She tells Liz that Karen wants her to go to a boarding school and she's trying to do everything she can to stay on Karen's good side so she won't be sent away. Even if that means joining the paper.
We're with Emily now on her way home from school. She's thinking about her life and how everything went wrong when her dad married Karen. She wants her dad to be happy and she knows he loves Karen but she's been miserable ever since her stepmother joined the family. Things got way worse once Karrie was born. She thinks about her mom and how everyone at school think she's dead (because that's what Emily told them) but in reality her mom just walked out on her and her dad one day. Emily thinks the lie is okay because her mom might as well be dead for all the interest she's shown in her daughter.
Life with her father had been perfect until Karen. He was a very involved father who supported her music 100% and went to every gig she ever had. Karen thought Emily was spoiled and got too much attention. She did her best to come between Emily and her father, picking fights and telling her husband little half-truths to make Emily look bad.
Emily's thoughts turn from her wicked stepmother to her crush – Dan who plays the bass for The Droids. I think we might have met him in one of the earlier books but I've forgotten absolutely everything about him. Emily is a little smitten with him and wants to get to know him better which is just another reason that she doesn't want to get shipped off to boarding school.
We hop over to dinner at the Wakefields. Grandpa praises VileAlice for being a superwoman and making dinner despite her full time job. Grandma says that Grandpa has been forced to eat a lot of takeout since she's gone back to school. I guess Grandpa doesn't know how to use a stove. Apparently Grandma is the oldest student in the American History Ph.D. program at her university.
They talk about their plans for the visit and I'm not going to bore you with that. The only noteworthy thing is that Liz notices that VileAlice seems more tired than usual. (((Note From Future Me: Don't worry about that. It comes to absolutely nothing.)))
Back with Emily and the A-plot. Her father comes in and says that he and Karen have discussed things and they think a 10:00pm curfew on weekdays and a midnight curfew on weekends is reasonable. That's what mine was at that age. Emily, however, is furious. She never had a curfew before because her dad just trusted her. The Droids usually practice until 11:00pm on weekdays because they can't start until after dinner and this new rule might mean she'll have to leave the band. Her dad says that she wakes up the baby when she comes home so she's going to have to follow this new curfew whether she likes it or not.
Dan calls later and asks her why she didn't come to practice that night and she tells him she forgot all about it. He says they went over a new song and asks if she wants to get together at some point to go over it so she's caught up. They make plans to meet up on Friday night. Unfortunately Karen announces that they have theater tickets for that night and they need Emily to babysit Karrie. She's afraid to make Karen mad so she agrees to change her plans.
Back to the B-plot. VileAlice is feeling insecure and jealous over how much the twins are enjoying their grandparents' company. She asks EvilNed if he thinks she's been neglecting the kids and I swear this is the most self aware this woman has ever been. YES YOU NEGLECT YOUR KIDS! We been knew that. But EvilNed tells her she's the best mother in the entire world. VileAlice acknowledges that she's never home and doesn't pay the girls much attention. She has the nerve to say that she assumed they didn't mind her indifference but the way they're soaking up the attention from their grandparents has her thinking otherwise. She says she thinks she's going to try to be around more because she's losing touch with her kids.
I predict this lasts exactly one book.
The next day Emily comes to see Liz in the Oracle office. She pours her heart out about Karen and her fears that she might be shipped off to boarding school. Liz acts like this is new information despite the fact she heard it at the end of book #24. Emily admits her mom is alive and that she has “problems” so Emily hasn't made any effort to get in touch with her. Liz feels bad for her and tells her to feel free to come to the Wakefield compound at any time.💀
Don't do it, Emily. You might never leave.
After school Jess and Liz get dressed to go out to dinner with their grandparents. They're going to a chinese restaurant in a nearby city and they're excited because EvilNed doesn't like chinese food so they never get to have it. VileAlice surprises them by coming home early from work. She says she stopped by the store to buy steaks and potatoes and she's looking forward to cooking a big dinner. Jess tells her they already have plans and VileAlice pouts. She wants to come along at first but they remind her that EvilNed hates chinese so then she tries to get them to change the restaurant. Jess refuses because they've both been looking forward to it. She asks if they can have the steaks the next night and her mother reluctantly agrees. Liz can tell she's upset but Jess says that mothers don't get jealous over their kids spending time with their grandparents.
She should be right but we know better.
Back to the A-plot. Emily is allowed to practice her drums from 4-6 every afternoon so she goes down right after school. Unfortunately, on this particular day, Karrie didn't go down for her nap at the regular time so she's sleeping when Emily starts to practice. Karen rushes down to the basement to yell at her for waking Karrie up. Emily tries to defend herself by saying it's the time she's allowed to practice but Karen doesn't care. Today was an odd case which Emily had no way of knowing but, to be honest, it wouldn't have killed Emily to just check when she got home to make sure the baby was awake. I get her frustration and Karen is definitely being a bitch about it, but Emily could have been more considerate and checked. Babies don't operate on a strict schedule. Especially if they're teething or something.
The phone rings and Emily rushes to answer it. It's Dan. She tells him she can't make it to practice but doesn't tell him why. He asks if he can come over the next afternoon to check out her cymbals and that is not a euphemism. Emily knows that Karrie has a doctor's appointment so she figures it will be okay. She's starting to accept the idea that she might be forced to quit the band but she's still hoping to get something started with Dan.
Back to the B-plot. VileAlice has been trying to get the girls to spend time with her instead of with their grandparents. She keeps trying to entice them with “better” plans but the girls keep turning her down because Grandma and Grandpa are only there for three weeks and then they won't see them again for another year. Honestly, it's great that VileAlice wants to be a more involved parent but she's acting like a child here. She can be a more involved parent when the grandparents are gone again. It's ridiculous for her to pout and act hurt when the girls want to see Grandma and Grandpa instead. I don't think she even wants to spend time with them. She's just jealous that they like their grandparents better.
Pascal doesn't care about the B-plot either because she immediately hops back to the A-plot. It's the next day. Emily and Dan go back to her house and down to her “studio” in the basement. She shows off her cymbals, getting in some practice. Karen comes home to hear the noise and flips out. She shows up in the basement holding a crying Karrie and demands that the noise stop. When she sees Dan, she really gets upset. She tells Emily that's it's inappropriate for her to have a boy over without permission and it's hella inappropriate for her to have him over when no one is at home. Again, those were the rules in my house when I was 16 too. Emily says they weren't doing anything but Karen yells that she won't have Emily growing up to be a irresponsible tramp like her mother.
That was definitely several steps too far.
Emily is humiliated that Dan heard her get yelled at. Been there. It sucks. She's devastated that he knows her mom is alive and that she's been lying to everyone for years. Karen bursts into tears and runs from the room with Karrie and then Dan makes an embarrassed exit. Emily starts crying too and calls Liz. Liz immediately tells her to come over so they can talk in person because Emily's crying too hard to talk on the phone.
Emily arrives while the Wakefields are eating dinner so they ask her if she wants to join them. She declines the offer of food but sits at the table with them. Grandma asks her what's wrong and Emily spills her guts out to the entire family. She says that she knows her dad is going to take Karen's side and asks if she can just stay at the Wakefield's house for awhile. EvilNed says she can stay the night but she has to call her father and tell him where she is and that she's safe. Emily agrees.
When Emily calls her dad, he's furious with her. He tells her that he won't have her disrespecting his wife like that. She doesn't tell him what Karen said about her mom because she doesn't want to hurt him. She says that she isn't coming home and he tells her if she isn't home in an hour, he's going to put her drums out on the street. Emily tells the Wakefields that she has to go home and Grandpa offers to drive her.
We don't see what happens.
The next day at school, Dan seeks out Emily to check on her because he's been worried. Emily lies and tells him she's fine and everything at home has settled down. Then she tells him she's quitting the band to help out around the house more. He tries to convince her to change her mind but she insists that drumming was just a phase and she's grown out of it.
Emily goes to the Oracle office to ask about placing an ad to sell her drum set. Liz tries to get her to talk about things but Emily says she doesn't want to talk about it.
Liz seeks out Dan to talk about Emily. She tells him about the ad and mentions that she wants to “lose” it. Dan tells her to run it. He'll buy the drums himself to save them for Emily.
Where do these 16-year-olds get their money? I never had $200 laying around at that age.
Wow. Pascal really doesn't want to spend much time with the Wakefields in this book. I can't really blame her.
A week passes. Dan calls Emily after the ad goes out and tells her that his friend is interested in buying the drums. She's hurt because he didn't try to talk her out of selling them so she thinks he doesn't care that she's giving up music. She decides he doesn't really care about her either which is completely unfair. He comes over to get the drums for his “friend” and she's a total bitch to him. He asks her if she wants to go to a movie and she turns him down. She can't believe he's being so “callous” by taking her drums away from her.
Girl.
I can't with you.
We briefly hop into VileAlice's head so we can listen to her be an insecure brat for a few pages. She's jealous of the grandparents and looking forward to their visit ending. She's still trying to entice the girls away from spending time with Grandma and Grandpa but it isn't working because the twins recognize that they don't have much time left in the visit and then they won't see them for an entire year. VileAlice whines to EvilNed who pretty much tells her she's being dumb. I understand where she's coming from but it's pretty unreasonable for her to expect the girls to ignore their grandparents. She needs to suck it up for a few days and then try to be more involved.
Actually, she should have been more involved all along. You can't neglect your kids for 24 books and then expect them to pay attention to you just because you've decided you need to do better. This is your doing, Alice. You created this.
After that annoying intermission we go back to Emily. She tries to talk to her dad about Karen but he just gets mad. She finally tells him about the things Karen said about her mom in front of Dan but that just makes him madder. He tells Emily that he expects her to get along with her stepmother and then he leaves. Emily is crushed. All she's been doing lately is trying to get along with Karen. She's doing everything she's asked to do and babysitting pretty much all the time but it's never good enough. Karen expects her to do all the babysitting AND make dinner AND clean the house and Emily just can't keep up with everything.
I feel ya. I lived that life once. Being Cinderella sucks.
I think it's a new day but it's hard to tell sometimes. Emily is trying to get caught up on her homework that she's fallen behind on but Karen asks her to babysit again. Before she leaves, she gives Karrie a doll with beaded eyes. Emily says that she thinks the eyes look loose but Karen dismisses her. The phone rings and Karen answers it, sitting Karrie on the couch beside her. Sure enough, Karrie gets the beaded eye off and pops it in her mouth, choking on it.
(((Note from me: Pascal goes back and forth over whether this object is a “bead” or a “button”. She uses them interchangeably. I'm going to stick with bead since that's what she called it first.)))
Emily tries to get Karrie away from Karen so she can help her but Karen is hysterical and holding on tightly. Emily slaps her and then takes Karrie from her arms so she can do the Heimlich like she was taught in school. I remember that class. Thank god I never had to use that information. The bead pops out and Karrie starts to scream. Karen takes her back, holding her and sobbing. Emily's dad comes in and starts screaming, demanding to know what's going on. Karen is too upset to answer so he jumps to the conclusion that Emily did something to hurt the baby. He screams at her to go to her room and won't listen when she tries to explain.
This man is horrible. I don't know if he can be redeemed at this point.
Emily gets her drum money and decides to run away. She stops at a restaurant to call Liz for some reason and Liz rushes to pick her up. Emily tells Liz she plans to go to Chicago to try to find her mother. Liz wants to talk her out of leaving but can't figure out how. She decides to delay her. VileAlice requested some milk earlier so Liz drives to the grocery store. Emily stays in the car while Liz runs in and then suddenly, 82% into the book, we're introduced to an entirely new character. His name is Eddie and Liz tells us he's worked on the Oracle layout a few times. He tells Liz that Regina is back. I almost forgot she existed.
I guess our C-plot finally dropped. Regina is home. My guess is we're setting up the next book.
I predict we'll never hear from Eddie again.
Liz is stunned to hear Regina is back in SV. She never mentioned coming home in any of her letters and she should still be in the middle of her treatment. Liz decides to figure all that out later and she tells Emily that she needs to run the milk home before it spoils. She's still just stalling until she can figure out what to do. When they get to the compound, the Wakefields convince her to stay the night because it's getting so late. She can take the bus to Chicago in the morning.
You know, I don't think Emily is thinking this through. Her mom left with no intentions of seeing Emily again. She's been gone for 5-6 years and she's barely even written in all that time. She's not going to be okay with Emily just showing up on her doorstep. If she wanted a relationship with Emily, she would have had one all along.
Emily goes up to Liz's room to rest and Liz goes down to talk to VileAlice and Jess about the situation. She tells them everything that Emily told her. VileAlice is cool with Emily staying there but insists that Liz has to call Emily's dad to let him know she's safe. Jess tells her that Emily might never forgive Liz if she does but VileAlice doesn't budge.
In the meantime, Emily calls the last number she had for her mother. A woman answers and says she used to be Emily's mother's roommate. Apparently Emily's mother remarried two years ago and moved to Mexico without ever telling Emily. Emily is crushed. She's sitting there feeling sorry for herself when Grandma knocks on the door. She tells Emily that she isn't Grandpa's first wife. His first wife died leaving him and a son named Louis. He was a teenager when Grandma and Grandpa got married and had EvilNed. She admits that their relationship was difficult for years because he resented her taking his mother's place and she didn't know how to parent a teenager. They eventually worked it out and now their relationship is amazing but it took time. Emily hugs Grandma and cries.
Emily's dad (whose name I still don't know) and Karen show up at the compound with Karrie after Liz's call. Karen immediately apologizes to Emily. She admits that she gave Karrie an unsafe toy because she was too “pigheaded” to listen to Emily and says that Karrie would be dead if Emily hadn't saved her. She admits to being jealous of the attention Emily's father gave her and says that she just thought it would be easier with Emily out of the house. She was also insecure because Emily knew how to do all the household things and she even seemed to know what to do with Karrie and Karen felt like she was floundering. She begs for Emily's forgiveness and Emily grants it.
Emily's father says fuck all about how he's been treating his daughter. He doesn't apologize or say he was wrong. But I guess Pascal has decided that the matter has been resolved to her satisfaction.
I know I'll never forgive him but I doubt we ever see him again so it doesn't matter.
We skip to the grandparents' going away dinner. It's a surprise for them and Liz has a surprise planned for Emily as well. She has The Droids come over with Emily's drums. They set up in the dining room while everyone else is hanging out in the living room. When Liz announces dinner is served, The Droids start playing. Emily is surprised and immediately jumps behind her drum set to join them.
I hope she gives Dan his money back.
We skip ahead a few days. Liz goes to visit Regina and is surprised to see the gates to the house are closed and padlocked. She goes to Bruce's house instead, thinking he'll definitely know why Regina is home but he's surprised to hear the news. He calls the house and a woman claiming to be her aunt answers. She says Regina isn't in. Bruce is worried. Regina doesn't have an aunt. He vows to find out what's going on and the book ends.
Wow. A lot of people went missing in this book. Too many to really name but I'll stick the “big ones” in the Missing, Presumed Dead section. (((You've clearly already read them.)))
Coming Up Next: Well, the book is called 'Hostage' so that can't be good. I guess we'll find out what's going on with Regina and her fake aunt.
