**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: Off Limits.... Sandra Bacon has finally found a boy to love. Manuel Lopez is kind, sensitive, and handsome, and he cares about Sandra as much as she cares about him. But there is one problem: Sandy's parents don't approve of Manuel. So the couple must keep their love and their precious moments together a secret. Then eyewitnesses place Manuel at the scene of a life-threatening accident and only Sandy can clear his name. If she tells the truth, she may lose her parents' trust and love; but if she doesn't, she will certainly lose Manuel forever.
TRIGGER WARNING: Racism
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
*Jeffrey French – Liz's new victim....I mean love interest
There are more but these are the main characters that plague us book after book.
This book was published in 1987 and this is my first time reading it. (((Note from future me: I did not, in fact, read it.))) The cover is pretty dumb but we're used to that.
In the last book, Molly tries to exist in Sweet Valley while everyone blames her for killing Regina which she didn't actually do. People continued to be horrible to Justin. Jess decided to start a scholarship in Regina's name.
Missing, Presumed Dead: Since I did not read this book in its entirety, I cannot say who did and did not show up in Sweet Valley. Sorry.
Released from the Wakefield Dungeon: Again, I can't say who escaped and who remains. We'll figure it out next time I guess.
We begin with Jess being amazed that Sandra and Manuel fell in love. Cara doesn't think it's all that weird. Jess is annoyed that Cara doesn't gossip as much as she used to and blames it on her being in a relationship with Steven. She rants that being in relationships at their age is dumb and it's annoying that everyone seems to be pairing off. She warns Cara that boys in long-term relationships start taking their girlfriends for granted and she's not even wrong. Cara just laughs at her.
The girls go to cheerleading practice. The squad is going to do some kind of competition to raise money for the Regina scholarship fund. They discuss routine for a bit and we end up getting cameos from Robin, Maria and Jeanie in the scene. Ricky is there too and I honestly forgot he even existed. I think he was in that book where he dated the girl that tried to kill herself. Right? I don't know. Sandra is late for practice and they all discuss what could be keeping her, ie Manuel. Pascal tells us that Manuel and Sandra are from “completely different worlds” because “Manuel's family is originally from Mexico and still speaks Spanish around their home”.
I'm just going to leave that there. Honestly, I have a feeling that's going to be the least of the sins in this book.
Jess reminds us that Sandra's family is “bigoted” and Sandra's dad hates immigrants in particular.
This is a lot given our current political climate.
Sigh.
We land in Sandra's head. She joins practice late. Afterwards, she gushes to Jeanie about Manuel. She's going to meet his family in a few days and Jeanie is excited for her. Sandra takes a few pages to recap the book where she tried to keep Jeanie out of Phi Beta Alpha and almost ruined their friendship. I'm going to trust you remember. Jeanie tells Sandra she should bring Manuel to their family cookout. Sandra says she'd like to, but she can't. Her parents are going to be there and they can't know about Manuel.
Pascal, we've done this book already. Remember Michael and Maria who couldn't date because of some mob family war? I know that the reason Sandra is hiding her relationship is different, but it feels like you just recycled that book for this one.
We land in Jess' head to get introduced to the B-plot. Lila hints that she wants Jess to throw her a birthday party but Jess pretends to be obtuse. In reality, she's going to throw Lila a surprise party on the day after Lila's actual birthday. She's instructed everyone to pretend to forget Lila's party to throw her off.
Such an original idea, Pascal. <eye roll> I swear there was an episode like this on/in every single series in the 80's. It's been done to death.
The twins finally get their descriptions. We'll ignore the sun-kissed skin, eyes like the ocean bullshit and get right to the meat and potatoes. Liz is adorned with the crown of “earnest, responsible and even-tempered” while Jess gets dubbed “impetuous and headstrong”.
Back with Sandra and our A-plot. Manuel drives her home and we get this sentence: “Sandra felt like she had to pinch herself to prove she wasn't coming.”
😲
Um.....
I assume she meant “dreaming”. I hope she meant dreaming. She does say a couple of sentences later that “being with him made her tingle all over” so who knows.
I wonder if that mistake was in the actual book or if it happened when they reformatted it into the Kindle version?
Sandra really admires Manuel because he runs track, coaches an elementary school track team and is a great big brother to his five siblings. They've been together for THREE WHOLE WEEKS and she already knows that she's in love with him and they are meant to spend the rest of their lives together.
Aw, youth.
Sandra gets home and sits with her mom in the kitchen while dinner is being made. Sandra sees an article in the newspaper about an upcoming Mexican festival and mentions it to her mother. Mrs Bacon says that she thinks it should be canceled because it will probably lead to riots. Sandra's mom refers to the Mexican community in Sweet Valley as “those people” and mentions again how they are “completely different” from the rest of the town. She rants to Sandra that they “aren't Americans” and shouldn't be here.
You know, I don't think I can do this. Given what's going on in the world right now, I can't keep reading shit like this. It makes me anxious. I'm going to give the rest of the book a light skim and report back if there's anything important.
So this book is truly a repeat of the Michael/Maria book. It's just page after page of Sandra lamenting that her parents can't know about her relationship with Manuel and Manuel repeating that he doesn't want to hide their love over and over. Super exhausting. Also, the B-plot is really cruel and it made me feel sorry for Lila which is nearly impossible to do.
There was one thing of note, though. Let me set the scene........
Sandra tells Manuel that she's going to tell her parents about them and he suggests they celebrate by taking a ride on Sandra's parent's boat. She doesn't tell her parents. In fact, she tells them that she's going to go on the boat ride with Liz and then she gets Liz to come along to make the story mostly true. While they are out on the boat, the engine malfunctions. Sandra tries to fix it and it FUCKING EXPLODES. Manuel and Liz are both thrown from the boat which immediately is engulfed in flames. Sandra is trapped. Manuel goes through the flames to rescue her and then hauls her unconscious ass a quarter of a mile to shore. Sandra begs them to not mention that Manuel was on the boat at all.
When the paramedics come, Sandra tells them that she and Liz were on the boat alone and Liz saved her life. She goes on and on about how heroic Liz was and Liz doesn't correct her. Liz does interviews with the local media and the entire town is talking about how heroic she is. Sandra's parents even give her a gift for saving their daughter's life. Manuel doesn't mind and he's just happy that Sandra is okay.
Until.....
Witnesses mention seeing Manuel on the dock around the boat and he gets hauled down to the police station. They think he tampered with the motor and caused the explosion. Sandra gets called down there with her parents because Manuel says the reason he was there is because he's Sandra's friend. When Sandra gets there, she lies and says she's never seen Manuel in her life.
She quickly recants and tells everyone that Manuel is really the one that saved her life. She tells her parents that they are dating and then gives a magical speech about how Mexicans are just people too which completely heals her parents' deep-seated racism.
The book ends with our C-plot and our sneak peek into the next book. Enid's grandmother is moving in and she's super excited about it.
Coming Up Next: Will Enid's excitement over her grandmother living with them fade away like Johanna and Patty?
So sorry I skipped this one, y'all. I hope you understand. I'll see you next time. Same blog, same awful people.
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