**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.
NOTE: I am very aware that these books were written by ghost writers but since Pascal put her name on the cover, I'm holding her solely responsible for everything that happens on these pages.
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From the Back of the Book: Just like everyone else… Quiet, determined Kristin Thompson knows exactly what she wants from life. Since she was little, she has had one goal – to become a world-class tennis player. Now all she has to do is win one more tournament and she’ll qualify to turn professional. Then handsome Bruce Patman invites her out and sweeps her off her feet. But there’s not enough room in Kristin’s life for a boyfriend and professional tennis. She begins to wonder if a romance with Bruce will make her happier than winning the tournament ever could. Will Kristin give up the dream of a lifetime to live like an ordinary teenager?
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
*CreepySteven 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
*DisgustingBruce 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 1989 and this is my first time reading it. The cover is pretty blah. I don’t really have anything to say about it.
In the last book, Jennifer wanted to run away with scummy Rick Andover but Liz and sports editor John saw him stealing a guitar and reported him to the store owner. Rick went to jail and Jennifer blamed her dad for some weird reason. She stopped talking to him even when he had heart issues and ended up in the ICU. That was pretty much it. It was boring.
Missing, Presumed Dead: Kirk the Jerk, CreepySteven, Josh, Roger, David and Ronnie remain deep underground. They were joined by EvilNed, Sports Editor John, Jennifer, Penny and beloved golden retriever Prince Albert. Poor doggie. He's in horrible company down there.
Released from the Wakefield Dungeon: To my annoyance, Questionable Mr Collins made his great escape after remaining in the dungeon for several books. Both Caroline and Jade were also released. I honestly thought we’d never see Jade again.
We begin with Liz and Enid discussing that Big Sister program they started in the last book. The program pairs motherless young girls with high school girls so they can have a positive female role model. I’m not sure SVH is the pool to pull role models from but whatever. Questionable Mr Collins is helping them organize everything so I guess he’s finally made his escape from the dungeon. Pity. It was nicer with him down there.
We immediately stop with the charity work to describe the twins as if we don’t already know they are physically perfect in every single way and….
In this book, Jess is described as loving fun, change and attention. I’d agree with all those things. Liz is described as serious, industrious and dedicated. Since when? Liz talks a lot about being busy and having so much to do but we never really see her doing anything. I’d say Jess is way more industrious than Liz. Jess has started six hundred businesses and led a couple of revolutions by now. All Liz did was learn to play the recorder.
Enid shows Liz the application for a girl named Allison who lists her hobbies as shopping, fashion magazines and boys. They both agree that she’d be the perfect “little sister” for Jess. The only problem is, Jess hasn’t agreed to take part in the program (even though she told AJ in the last book that she was founding it). Liz feels confident she can make her sister sign up though.
They pair up girls with Maria, Oliva, DeeDee, Cara, Lynne (who I keep forgetting exists), Jade and Caroline. I guess Jade and Caroline escaped from the dungeon with QM Collins. After Liz and Enid make their own selections, there’s one girl left – Emily who absolutely loves tennis. They agonize over who they can pair her with when Jeffrey remembers new girl Kristin whose only personality trait is tennis. Enid scoffs that they’ll never convince her to do anything that doesn’t involve a net and a racket. She doesn’t even want to ask Kristin but Liz is determined.
Jess runs up to beg Liz for the car keys since she wants to run errands after cheer practice. Liz holds them hostage until Jess agrees to be a big sister to Allison. Jess protests that she doesn’t have a lot of time but Liz assures her she’ll only have to give up one afternoon a week. Jess agrees and Liz is triumphant.
We hop into Kristin’s head. She’s struggling to write an English essay during her lunch break. She never has enough time outside of school to work on homework because of tennis and practice and conditioning. She’s determined to go pro because her mom was a pro.
A random girl named Shelley who didn’t exist until this very minute comes over to Kristin’s table to use the dictionary. Shelley is on the basketball team and is a self-proclaimed “sports fanatic” so she knows exactly who Kristin is. Kristin has no idea who she is because she didn’t exist until just now. Shelley asks how things are going and Kristin tells her that she’s about to try out for a spot in the Avery Cup Tournament. If she makes it and if she wins it, she’ll earn a spot on a traveling all-star team that will play around the world on the pro circuit. Shelley seems impressed. Kristin asks if Shelley wants to go pro too but she says it’s too much pressure and she just wants to have fun. She tells Kristin she’ll be rooting for her and then takes off.
Farewell, Shelley. I wonder if we’ll ever see you again.
We’re back with Liz. She spots Kristin after school and runs up to tell her about the Big Sister program and Emily. Kristin says she doesn’t have time to breathe or do her homework so there’s no way she has time for this. Liz doesn’t accept that answer. She tries to emotionally manipulate Kristin by giving her Emily’s sad story – mom died in car crash recently and she’s depressed and only wants to play tennis. Kristin grimaces and repeats that she has zero free time. Liz says surely she can spare an hour or two a week and then tells her to think about it. Kristin says she will and then rides off on her bike before Liz can say anything else. Liz feels good about what she did.
Of course she does.
We’re back with Kristin as she rides her bike to the tennis club for practice. She’s an emotional wreck because Liz triggered her with Emily’s story. No one knows that Kristin’s mom died seven years ago when Kristin was only nine. She was on a plane going to Wimbledon when the plane went down over the Atlantic Ocean. Thinking about Emily reminds her of her grief.
Kristin barely makes it to practice without getting flattened by a bus. Her coach Dorrie – who used to be her mom’s best friend and doubles partner but who was not going to Wimbledon – notices that she’s having an off day and asks her about it. Kristin doesn’t tell Dorrie what’s wrong. She likes Dorrie and her father to think of her as strong and unflappable so she never talks to them about her grief, loneliness or anxiety. Dorrie is super sweet about Kristin’s horrible practice and it seems like Pascal might have finally written a non-toxic adult in this series.
Hopefully I didn’t just jinx it.
{{{Note from future me: Dorrie remains a lovely, supportive person. It was a miracle.}}}
After practice, Kristin and Dorrie usually have dinner at the club with Kristin’s dad since he owns it and works there. They sit down to order and Pascal immediately gets on her bullshit about weight/eating habits. It goes on for a couple of pages as Kristin and her dad discuss what she’s ordering. I refuse to participate in this nonsense and this is the only time I’ll mention it. But Pascal is doing what Pascal does.
Kristin asks her dad and Dorrie what they’ll do if Kristin doesn’t make the all-star team. Dorrie immediately assures her that everything will be fine if she doesn’t qualify but her dad just brushes it off and says there’s no way Kristin can lose. She doesn’t find that reassuring at all. She worries that she’ll let her dad down and disrespect her mother’s memory if she doesn’t win. Her mother always wanted her to play tennis and Kristin feels like she’s keeping her mother’s spirit alive by playing (and winning). A part of her, though, regrets making tennis her entire life.
Kristin and her dad go home. He can tell something is bothering her but she won’t tell him. He thinks she’s worried about not practicing enough so he says he can call the school and get her excused from her morning classes so she can have extra practice time. This just makes Kristin feel worse because deep down she wishes that she could just be a normal teenager. She tells him that she’d rather stay on top of her schoolwork.
We skip to the next day. Completely out of the fucking blue and without showing us a millisecond of her thought process, Kristin finds Liz and agrees to sponsor Emily.
I’m sorry, what? Since when?
Seriously, Pascal, you’re supposed to actually write these things down. Your story should actually tell a story.
That afternoon, Dorrie lets Kristin know that practice will start an hour late. Kristin isn’t sure what to do with her unexpected free time. She wanders over to the school tennis courts where a small crowd is sitting on the bleachers watching Bruce and some random dude named Adam, who poofed into existence this very second, warm up for a match. Kristin drifts over to where Jess is sitting with AJ, Lila, Cara and Amy.
Jess notices Kristin right away and says that she should play Bruce to take him down a peg or two. Kristin is instantly shy because Bruce is super hot (in her opinion) and she has a bit of a crush. Jess yells over to Bruce that he should play Kristin to pick up a few pointers. Bruce ignores Jess but smiles and waves at Kristin. She sits down to watch him play against Adam. Afterwards, Bruce comes over and asks her if she has any tips for him. She offers him a couple and he thanks her brusquely. I thought he was pissed but he actually takes her advice in the next set and it improves his game.
Finished with Adam, Bruce comes over and asks Kristin if she wants to play a set against him. The crowd urges her and Bruce uses all of his supposed charm so she eventually agrees. She reads the room real damn fast though and realizes that the spectators are hoping she humiliates Bruce on the court. She decides she doesn’t want to participate in that because she still thinks he’s nice and she’s dazzled by the attention of this older, “handsome” boy. She lets him win much to the crowd’s dismay. Jess comments that she really thought Kristin was a better player than that but Amy rushes in to big up Bruce and say he is just gifted at tennis.
I kinda forgot Amy has a thing for Bruce.
Bruce gives Kristin a grateful look for taking a dive and then offers to drive her to the tennis club. She refuses at first because she has her bike but he just bulldozes right past that and tells her she’ll just have to figure how to come back for it later.
Kristin accepts the ride. She’s hella impressed by his stupid Porsche. He flirts with her the entire drive and it’s just dripping with slime and misogyny. At one point he tells her that he’s going to need to teach her how to have a good time and it sounds vaguely threatening considering who he is. When they get to the club, he invites her to the movies on Friday night. She tells him that she practices every evening. He says he “won’t take no for an answer”.
No shit.
That’s the problem, asshole.
I can’t believe Pascal thinks this is cute.
Kristin sees Dorrie pull up and she panics, not wanting to be seen with a boy. She agrees to the movies and rushes away.
We skip right to Friday. Kristin lies to her dad and says she’s going to the library to do some research for school and then walks a couple blocks away to wait for Bruce. He’s pissed that she wouldn’t let him pick her up at home. I’m not sure why. She tells him that she has to be home by 10:00 because of an early practice the next day. Bruce “scolds” her and says there’s more to life than tennis.
Kristin has fun at the movie. Bruce wants to go to the Dairi Burger afterwards but she reminds him that she has to be home at 10:00. He tries to bully her into going by making her feel like a baby for needing to go to bed early but she actually holds her ground. He begrudgingly takes her home.
It's nice when people actually stand up to Bruce.
We land in Liz’s head early Saturday morning. She contacted Mr Thompson the evening before to ask if she could interview Kristin about the Avery Cup for the Oracle and was told to be at the tennis club bright and early to talk to her before practice. When she arrives, Kristin is nowhere to be seen. Liz briefly interviews Dorrie about the Avery Cup but they get interrupted by Mr Thompson who is wondering where Kristin is. Liz can tell he’s irritated and she feels bad for Kristin because in Liz’s mind, practice just isn’t that important.
Kristin finally shows up all frazzled because she overslept. Apparently she didn’t hear her alarm. Dorrie ushers Mr Thompson away for a few minutes so Kristin can settle herself and do a quick interview with Liz.
We immediately slide into Kristin’s head mid-paragraph which is super annoying. Kristin tells us that she was up until 1:00 thinking of Bruce.
Gag.
For some reason she blurts out to Liz – the author of SVH’s gossip column – that she was out on a date with Bruce the night before and her super strict father has no idea. I have no idea why she tells this to Liz but this is the perfect opportunity for Liz to tell Kristin about the time Bruce almost sexually assaulted her or the times he sexually harassed Jess and other SVH girls or the time he was controlling and borderline abusive to Jess when they dated. Does she? No. No, she does not. Because Pascal doesn’t think any of these things are a big deal.
Kristin tells Liz that her father is more into her career at this point than she is. She explains about her mother’s death and says she thinks she and her father both keep her mother’s spirit alive through Kristin’s playing.
We slide back into Liz’s head (without a page break or anything) as she concludes the interview. She gives Kristin an information packet about the Big Sister program and Emily's contact information and then leaves. As she walks back to the Fiat she wonders if Kristin is really happy playing tennis.
We have an official head hop into Kristin’s head after practice that evening. She goes home and her dad tells her that Bruce has called several times. He asks who Bruce is and Kristin says he’s just a friend from school. Her dad seems okay with this. He also seems to figure out that Kristin has a thing for Bruce and he’s pretty chill about it.
Kristin runs upstairs to call Bruce back. He says he just got a new speaker system and he wants her to come over to listen to CDs. She says she is having dinner with her dad and Dorrie and he acts like a big baby about it.
We skip to the next morning. Kristin goes to pick Emily up bright and early so they can go to the tennis club together. Emily is thrilled to be there and acts like she’s on a Hollywood set as Kristin gives her a tour of the building, the pro shop and the courts. Kristin introduces her to Dorrie and then they hit some balls together. Emily has a great time and Kristin enjoys it too.
We skip right to that evening. When Kristin gets home from the club, Mr Thompson tells her that Bruce called again. I don’t know if he’s suddenly annoyed with the amount of times Bruce disturbs him or if Pascal forgot that he was previously chill with all this but suddenly he gets all stern and says he hopes her new friend won’t interfere with the Avery Cup. Kristin resents it and the fact that her father thinks he has to manage her time for her.
She calls Bruce back and he says he wants ice cream which fucking triggers another discussion about our redacted topic. I hate Pascal. Kristin agrees to go to the local spot but warns him that she has to be back right after because of an early practice the next day. She goes downstairs to tell her father about this ice cream quest and we get several more paragraphs about [redacted]. I’m so fucking sick of this. Her dad tells her he wants her back in an hour and she agrees.
When Kristin gets in the car, Bruce announces that they’re going to a jazz club in the canyon instead. Kristin protests that she doesn’t want to do that but he ignores her and does what he wants.
Of course he does.
Is this supposed to be charming? Because it isn’t.
Kristin gets back two hours late and her dad is pissed. He accuses her of not caring about the tournament or her career. She feels like she’s letting him down.
We skip to Tuesday which is the first day of the qualifiers. Emily is there to watch with Mr Thompson. Kristin’s opponent is someone she’s beaten easily before but she struggles this time. It’s a fight and Kristin barely pulls it off. Dorrie and Mr Thompson are clearly very surprised at her struggle. Dorrie smiles and tells her that she did well. Kristin resents the lie. Her dad tells her she just needs more rest and she resents that too.
Bruce calls her that evening and makes a bunch of lame excuses as to why he couldn’t be at the match. He asks if she’s busy Saturday night and she says yes. He says “Well, you’ll just have to cancel whatever you’re doing.”. His parents are having their big annual party that night and he wants her to be his date. She says she can’t go out that night because the 3rd round of qualifiers is Sunday morning and she needs her rest. He pushes and pushes until she says she’ll think about it.
He will never accept a ‘no’, Kristin. You need to pay attention to that.
We briefly land in Jess’s head. She’s with Lila and Amy discussing what they’re going to wear to Bruce’s party. Amy seems to think she’s Bruce’s date. Lila and Jess know Bruce asked Kristin but neither bother to tell her because they’re the worst friends ever.
We’re back with Kristin at Thursday’s qualifiers. She expected to have some trouble with her opponent today but her game is way off. She barely manages to get the win. Dorrie tries to talk to her about what’s going on but Kristin just snaps that all anyone cares about is how she plays and she wants them to love her even if she doesn’t win. She runs off before Dorrie can respond.
We’re back with twinsies. Liz and her “little sister” are having a cookie competition with Jess and her “little sister”. They’re judging who can make the most cookies the fastest and then VileAlice is judging who made the best cookies. Jess and her kiddo skip a bunch of ingredients and end up winning the speed portion of the competition but their cookies are inedible. VileAlice declares Liz and her kiddo the winner.
Let’s be real, that was always going to happen. No way in hell VileAlice would have let Jess win.
Also……
We’re back with Kristin that evening. She’s having dinner with Dorrie and her dad as usual. Dorrie asks if they’ve been putting too much pressure on her and Kristin admits they have. (To be honest, I think a lot of it is Kristin thinking they're putting pressure on her when they're not.) She just wants more time to do normal things that don’t involve tennis. Like dating. Her dad says she can’t throw away years of work on a boy. He reminds her that this has been her dream for seven years and they’re just trying to support her. She gets upset and leaves the table. She feels lost and isn’t sure what she wants anymore.
Suddenly it’s Saturday evening. Kristin decides to go to the party despite the match the next morning. Bruce doesn’t bother to pick her up so she goes to the country club alone. She feels intimidated right away by the fanciness of everything and she’s underdressed in a sundress and sandals. She didn’t realize everyone would be in formal wear. Some of the girls are even wearing corsages for some reason.
Bruce starts her way but gets waylaid by Amy who grabs his arm and leans into him. Bruce doesn’t disengage himself. Kristin walks off and ends up standing in the drink line with Winston. She’s happy to see him and jokingly asks him if he has some tips on how to behave at this party. He nods toward Bruce and says just don’t act like him. He goes on to say “That’s what happens when too much money, good looks and ego all hit in the same place.” Kristin is surprised to hear someone dog Bruce like that because she’s only ever heard good things.
Girl, from who?
Bruce?
Bruce approaches the drink line and stops to flirt with every girl there. He barely acknowledges Kristin at all. She’s confused. As the night goes on, he pretty much ignores her. He does dance with her once but he dances with all the girls once so it means nothing. Kristin ends up leaving early. She doesn’t bother to tell Bruce she’s leaving.
As she heads home, Kristin realizes that she hadn’t really been missing out on anything by dedicating her life to tennis because parties are dumb and boring.
I mean…...yes and no. She is missing out on her childhood and that isn’t good but anything involving Bruce and Liz is definitely overrated.
We skip to the next morning. Kristin is exhausted because she didn’t sleep well the night before. Her opponent is very, very good and ends up winning the match. Kristin loses the chance to be on the all-star team, although they do make her an alternate.
With the way things go in Sweet Valley, I’m sure she’ll end up on the team. Someone will break a leg or something.
Dorrie talks to Kristin afterward and tries to cheer her up. Kristin says she’s glad her mom didn’t live to see what a failure her daughter is. Dorrie tells her that her mother was planning to quit tennis after Wimbledon because she wanted a normal life with her family. Dorrie says winning isn’t everything and it doesn’t make a person. They cry together.
We skip to the next day. Bruce is waiting in front of the school and he actually tsks at her and wags his finger in her face, telling her she needs to explain why she thought it was okay to leave his party without telling him.
Bruce needs to die in a fire.
She can’t believe she was ever attracted to this asshole and she tries to walk off but he grabs her arm and “restrains” her.
Pascal, this is not okay. It’s not cute.
Kristin yanks away from him and tells him she doesn’t owe him any kind of explanation since he spent the entire night ignoring her. She says he obviously doesn’t care about her because he didn’t even remember she had a life-changing match the day before. She walks off leaving him behind.
After school, Kristin picks Emily up to take her out for ice cream. When she gets to Emily’s school, she finds the little girl outside on a bench crying. Emily tearfully admits that she tried out for tennis camp but didn’t make it. She’s worried Kristin won’t want to be her Big Sister anymore. Kristin reassures her that she likes Emily for who she is and not how well she plays tennis. She realizes she’s had the same thoughts about her father and Dorrie not liking her anymore and how dumb that was.
We’re suddenly back in class. I have no idea how much time passed. Kristin is in English class when Mr Collins announces that The Samaritans are sponsoring a community-wide essay contest with the topic “Sweet Valley in the Year Two Thousand”. The Samaritans aren’t a cult even though it sounds pretty ominous. They’re a “group of business people who get together on a weekly basis for social and professional reasons” like sponsoring civic activities and doing charity things. The winner gets a $100 gift certificate to a bookstore and a medal. They will also be crowned King or Queen of the Citizen’s Day Ball that’s a month away.
Another fucking dance? Holy corsages.
Liz catches up with Kristin after class to tell her that they’re having an ice cream party for all the Big Sister participants (bigs and littles). Kristin almost refuses out of habit but then tells Liz that she’ll try to make it. Emily has been coming to the club with her every day after school so they can just come to the ice cream party before practice.
We skip to that evening. Sure enough, the coach of the all-star team calls Kristin. One of the team members sprained her ankle and won’t be able to play for at least eight weeks. Since Kristin's the alternate, the coach offers her the spot. She happily accepts.
We skip to Friday and land in Liz’s head. She’s found out about Kristin being in the Avery Cup and she decides to organize a group to go cheer for her.
Back to Kristin. It’s Sunday, the day of her first match on the all-star team. A bunch of SVH kids – including Bruce the prick– have come to watch and cheer her on. Seeing Bruce makes Kristin determined to win even though her competitor hasn’t lost a single game in the entire tournament.
Kristin ends up winning because of course she does.
Afterwards she and her father have a good talk. He assures her that he never meant to put any pressure on her and that he wouldn’t care if she quit tennis forever. He just wants her to be happy and he was under the assumption that all she wanted was to win a spot on the all-star team. It’s a good talk and Mr Thompson proves to be one of the better parents in SV. At the end of the discussion, he casually admits that he has feelings for Dorrie and he wants Kristin’s blessing to pursue them. She’s ecstatic and tells him to get the girl.
We skip to Monday morning. Bruce comes up to Kristin’s locker and says he’s taking her out to celebrate later. She tells him to bug off.
We skip to Wednesday. This is ridiculous. The ice cream party is a big success. AJ is there too for some reason despite being neither a Big Sister or a Little Sister. He wants to enter the essay contest and he asks Jess to look over his draft later. That feels like an odd choice but whatever. Jess is excited at the idea of him winning because that means she could be the queen of the ball beside him. She feels like she could use a little extra attention.
The book ends there.
Um.
Okay.
I feel like Pascal just quit on that one.
In the realm of all things Sweet Valley, this one wasn’t so bad. I was dreading a Bruce-centric book but he was barely in it and he didn’t come off as the hero by any means. I didn’t hate this one as much as usual.
Coming up Next: I guess we’re going to care about that essay contest and the ball.
