**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.
From the Back of the Book: Love gone wrong… Jessica Wakefield doesn’t know how she’ll survive a long weekend without her steady boyfriend, A.J. Morgan. But when she meets Christopher, a mysterious, good-looking boy, her lonely weekend turns into one of the most romantic times of her life. Jessica knows she’ll have to stop seeing Christopher when A.J. returns, but in the meantime, she’s going to enjoy herself. Then, what started out as fun turns into a nightmare. Christopher refuses to leave Jessica alone. He calls her every night, then begins following her. Jessica is terrified that A.J. will find out and break off their relationship. Has Jessica gotten herself in too deep this time?
TRIGGER WARNING📢 – There is yet another abduction in this book. I am SPECIFICALLY telling one of my readers not to read this blog. YOU KNOW WHO YOU ARE AND I EXPECT YOU TO LISTEN!!! Everyone else, use your best judgment and protect your peace please.
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 just okay. Nothing to really snark about.
In the last book, we met Kristin the tennis prodigy who had to decide how much of her life she wanted to dedicate to her sport. She briefly dated Bruce but found him to be an asshole and actually called him out for it. Liz and Enid ran a Big Sister program and Jess…..I completely forgot whether Jess had a storyline in the last book or not.
Missing, Presumed Dead: Kirk the Jerk, CreepySteven, Josh, Roger, David and Ronnie continue to haunt the dungeon. I think I might write David, Ronnie and Josh off at this point. I don’t think they’re coming back, y’all. Maria, Jade, Penny and Olivia vanished from existence during this sprint through Sweet Valley’s calendar. It’s not surprising considering this book had no B-plot and very few side character appearances.
Released from the Wakefield Dungeon: Prince Albert was seen frolicking by the pool so he must have dug his way out of the dungeon!!! Good boy! I guess EvilNed followed him out because he was spotted in the Wakefield kitchen. Pity.
We begin with the twinsies leaving one of Kristin’s exhibition matches. She’s still doing very well and winning apparently. It makes Jess wish that she was better at tennis. Liz snarkily tells her that she could be amazing if she’d just focus once in awhile and that leads us directly into our descriptions for the book. This time Liz is described as “mature and responsible” and she is NEITHER OF THOSE THINGS. Jess is just described as “impetuous” which is highly unimaginative on Pascal’s part. Of course, after that’s wrapped up, we get the usual paragraph or two describing how physically perfect these California girls are.
Jess reminds us about that essay contest that AJ is trying to win. I mentioned it in the last recap if you want to go refresh your memories because I can’t be arsed. Liz tells us that she didn’t bother to enter because she was much too busy with the Big Sister program so AJ might actually have a chance. If Liz had entered, the cult would have been obligated to award it to her because she must win all the things.
#allhailElizabethWakefield
I guess Pascal forgot they were just leaving a tennis match because she has them pulling into school for the start of the day. That’s….sloppy.
AJ meets Jess at her locker to tell her that his family is going to Texas to celebrate his grandparents' 50th anniversary. They’re going to leave on Wednesday afternoon and get back on Sunday afternoon. Jess reacts poorly to this news, pouting at being left alone for so long. She whines that she’ll have to miss Ken’s party now. AJ tells her that she can go without him but she says it “wouldn’t be right” and people would judge her for being dateless. She feels annoyed with the idea that she can only do things with AJ now and that people expect her to close herself off like a hermit when he’s not available.
Girl, I think you’re the only one thinking that. Literally no one cares if you go to a party without your boyfriend when he’s out of town.
AJ changes the subject and tells her that he won the essay contest which came with a small gift certificate to a book store and the honor of being King of the Citizen’s Day ball. I still can’t believe how many balls these people have. It’s exhausting. Jess is excited to be the default Queen of the ball. She feels like she hasn’t been getting enough attention lately.
We skip to later that evening. Jess confides in Liz that she’s a little bored being in a long term relationship and she feels like she’s losing a sense of who she is. Liz can’t relate because being in a long term relationship is at least 50% of her personality. She wonders aloud if Jess just needs some time to herself. Jess gets irritated at that and says that she’s bored when she’s not with AJ. Liz thinks she’s contradicting herself but Jess thinks that Liz simply doesn’t understand her. As usual.
We skip right to Wednesday. Jess is pouting about AJ leaving and it’s annoying to read. She’s acting like a child and he’s placating her way too much. Eventually she gets out of his car so he doesn’t miss his plane and he’s off.
We skip directly to Friday. {{{Note from future me: Get used to the skipping. Pascal bounces around the calendar like a drunk ping pong ball.}}} Jess is at lunch with Amy, Cara and Lila and they’re all fed up with her whining about AJ being gone. Jess thinks she deserves the extra attention so she doesn’t care that they’re annoyed. They ask her to go to the beach after school and she initially refuses, wanting them to talk her into it. Cara is the only one who plays her game and she eventually decides to go.
We skip ahead to after school. Jess is sulking and pissed that her friends aren’t trying hard enough to cheer her up. She’s really insufferable in this book. I’m usually the first one to say that Jess isn’t as bad as Pascal tries to pretend she is but this book might change my mind. They all sit in the sun for awhile but then Lila says she wants to go to Dairi Burger. Amy and Cara are cool with that but Jess pretends she doesn’t want to go so they’ll beg her. This time they don’t. She’s offended when they just say ‘see you later’ and leave without her.
She just sits on the beach feeling sorry for herself for hours. The sun starts to set and the beach clears out. There’s only one person surfing so she watches him for awhile. Eventually he returns to shore and approaches her, introducing himself as Christopher. She thinks he’s gorgeous and he’s clearly into her as well because he asks her to have dinner with him. She decides she deserves to have some fun and agrees to meet him in an hour at a restaurant just outside of town.
Girl, you just met this man. This is how people get killed.
Jess goes home to shower and change. Liz asks her what her plans are for the evening and Jess says she’s going to dinner with “Chris”. Liz assumes Chris is a girl. Jess is happy to let her do it because she doesn’t want anyone to know she’s seeing another guy behind AJ’s back.
Jess meets Christopher at the restaurant and he suggests they get a table outside. She thinks he sounds “seductive and thrilling”.
Apparently Jess finds outdoor dining titillating.
Hey, I'm not here to yuck anyone's yum.
Christopher asks her a bunch of questions about her life as they eat but he doesn’t answer any himself. He won’t even tell her where he lives.
Jess finds the entire dinner “thrilling” which seems to be Pascal’s favorite word in this book. She really likes Christopher……
Girl, you know NOTHING about him.
…..and finds the taboo-ness of the date exciting. After they finish dinner, she suggests a walk alone on the beach. In the dark. With a man she doesn’t know. In a secluded area. In a town no one knows she’s in.
They end up making out on the beach. He asks to see her again the next day. She agrees but she doesn’t want anyone in Sweet Valley to see them together so she suggests they meet at a cafe in Pacific Shores.
We skip directly to the next morning. Jess meets up with Christopher and he hands her a single red rose. When she makes a fuss over it, he runs off and then returns with an armful of roses that he bought from a street vendor. It’s kind of cute but what the hell is she supposed to do with them all day? He also buys her a little seal figurine she sees in a window. Jess is all caught up in the excitement and danger of her little fling. She thinks that she deserves to be fawned over like this and she enjoys the near-obsessive level of attention she’s getting from him. She’s not even troubled when he says he’d die of jealousy if he ever saw her with another guy.
She thinks it’s “thrilling” that he likes her enough to be jealous.
Girl, I’m going to need you to find your brain cells because they seem to have wondered off. Might I remind you that YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW HIS LAST NAME!!!
They spend the day together walking around Pacific Shores. When they’re ready to go home, Christopher asks if he can see her again the next day. She panics because AJ is coming back the next day but she says she can meet up with Christopher in the morning. They arrange to meet at the beach because she knows none of her friends will be up and about on a Sunday morning.
We just skip to the next morning. Jess meets Christopher and immediately tells him she can’t see him again. When he asks why, she admits she has a boyfriend. He acts like he understands and she’s relieved that this isn’t going to come back to bite her in the ass.
She walks away from the beach – and Christopher – feeling “like a heroine in a tragic, dramatic love story”.
YOU DON’T EVEN KNOW WHERE HE’S FROM OR HOW OLD HE IS OR HIS LAST FUCKING NAME!!!
We skip right to Monday evening. Liz makes a reappearance. She tells Jess that she’s thinking of doing an article about that basketball player named Shelley who poofed into existence in the last book. I truly thought we’d never see her again. I guess she survived the culling. Jess couldn’t care less about Liz’s stupid newspaper. Liz is hurt that Jess isn’t giving her the attention she thinks she deserves.
There’s a lot of entitlement in this book. Lots of people thinking they deserve things and demanding attention. I guess that’s what happens when you spend a whole book with the twins.
The phone rings and Liz eavesdrops as Jess has a rather dramatic conversation with someone. She wonders what kind of trouble Jess has gotten herself into now. As the reader, we know it’s Christopher calling but we don’t know what he said.
We skip to the next day. I think. It isn't clear where we landed in the timeline. AJ randomly mentions that he wants to sell his car. He’s going to stick a sign in the window with his phone number on it.
Christopher continues to call Jess every day. He wants to see her again. He wants to be friends. He says she can’t throw what they had away.
THEY WENT ON TWO DATES!
Suddenly it’s Wednesday. The same week or another week is anyone’s guess. In English class, Questionable Mr Collins hands Jess a note summoning her to the office to pick something up. When she gets there, it’s a bouquet of flowers. AJ sees her with them so she pretends that CreepySteven asked her to bring them to Cara. Luckily Cara plays along and says it’s something CreepySteven does often.
:::Snort.:::: If AJ believed that, he's an idiot.
We skip to Friday. Jess and AJ are at the Dairi Burger with Lila, Cara, Ken, Winston and Aaron. Where the hell is Maria? Has anyone seen her lately? I’m starting to fear she might be underground. Jess looks out the window and sees Christopher standing next to AJ’s car. You know, the one with AJ’s number written on a sign in the window? Bet you didn’t see that coming.
Jess is so startled that she spills her drink all over herself. Christopher has been calling every single day and each time he gets angrier and more aggressive. She’s really starting to get scared.
But she still tells absolutely no one about him.
We just skip to Saturday. We’re really flying through the days here. At this rate, the twins will be graduating in the next chapter. Jess and AJ go to the beach and she’s paranoid the entire time that Christopher will be there. Nothing happens in this section except AJ mentions some guy called about the car and is coming over to test drive it the next day.
Hmmmm……. I wonder who that could be???????
Christopher calls Jess that night. He says he’s madly in love with her and he’ll do anything to be with her. He threatens to tell AJ about them. Jess worries that he might be “insane”.
Really? Just now? Because his behavior has been perfectly reasonable up until this point?
We skip to Sunday. Jess resents that no one in her family can “sense her trouble and take pity on her”. She’s told nobody about Christopher and his creepy stalking but she still expects them to know somehow.
I really hate this book’s version of Jess.
Jess heads over to AJ’s house after lunch. He says the guy is coming over soon for the test drive so they get busy cleaning the car. To no one’s actual surprise (except Jess who is dense as hell), Christopher is the one who pulls up. He pretends he doesn’t know Jess and she tries her best to stay calm as he and AJ talk about the car.
Another call comes in about that car so AJ suggests that Jess go along for the test drive. She can’t think of a reason to refuse so she gets in the car. Christopher drives fast and reckless because that’s the only thing Pascal can think of to create tension in the car. It’s lazy and she overdoes it. I can’t tell you how many times we’ve had this exact scene in a book.
Christopher drives to an empty store lot and throws the car in park. He threatens to tell AJ again and says he’ll only keep quiet if Jess goes out with him on Saturday night. That’s the night of the ball so Jess tells him she has other plans. She tries to get out of the car but he locks it and then puts the car into gear and speeds toward the front of the building. She panics and agrees to go out with him. He takes her back to AJ’s house.
AJ can tell that Jess is upset when they get back. Christopher laughs it off and says the accelerator was a little softer than he was used to so he went a little fast on the highway. AJ doesn’t really buy it but Jess says nothing. Christopher leaves.
We skip to Wednesday. Liz takes her Little Sister Kim to the mall after school. Christopher just happens to be there too and mistakes Liz for Jess. He starts following them around and approaches Liz at one point, asking her why she’s ignoring him. She tells him to get lost and then she and Kim leave the mall.
Later that night, Jess finally tells Liz what’s been going on. Liz is SUPER judgmental about it naturally. She tells Jess that Christopher will have power over her until she tells AJ the truth. Jess knows this is true but she doesn’t want to tell him before the ball. She knows that he’ll break up with her and she really wants to be Queen. Liz is pretty disgusted with her.
To be fair, so am I. Jess is awful in this book.
We skip to Friday. Christopher has been calling Jess once or twice a day. Jess has been pretending to be into him again so he won’t feel compelled to tell AJ about them. Liz again tries to get her to tell AJ the truth but Jess refuses to say anything until after the ball.
We skip to Saturday. The pacing of this book is jarring. Christopher calls to solidify their plans and Jess pretends that she has strep throat. He seems to buy it but Liz isn’t convinced.
Suddenly it’s ball time. {{{That sounded weird.}}} Somehow Christopher shows up at the club and mistakes Liz for Jess again. He cuts in when she’s dancing with Jeffrey and she doesn’t let him know he has the wrong twin. She thinks she can distract him until after the coronation at least and then let Jess handle it.
Christopher suggests a walk and Liz just agrees to go with him which is the stupidest thing she could possibly do. I never want to hear that Liz is smart again because this was as brainless as you can get. Just when I think she can’t possibly get any dumber, Jeffrey starts to follow them outside but she motions for him to stay behind.
We slide over to Jess who is waiting impatiently for the coronation. The head of the organization is giving a long ass speech and then AJ is supposed to read his winning essay out loud. It all sounds super riveting. Jeffrey comes up to tell her that Liz went outside with some guy awhile ago and never came back. He describes the guy and Jess realizes that it was Christopher. She thinks about going after Liz or at least warning someone but then decides to do nothing because she doesn’t want to miss the crowning.
I can't figure out why Jeffrey didn't just go outside to look for her?
HEY, W, IF YOU DID NOT LISTEN TO MY WARNING AND YOU STARTED TO READ THIS BLOG, STOP READING NOW! I'M SERIOUS!
We slide back to Liz. Christopher has led her away from the clubhouse. He says he’s going to take her away so they can always be together. She tries to get away from him but he pulls out a knife and threatens her with it. He drags her to the parking lot and gets a rope out of his trunk. He ties her up and then forces her inside.
We slide back to Jess. Suddenly she gets a “terrible twin feeling” that lets her know that Liz is in grave danger. She runs outside with Jeffrey on her heels and the terrible feeling somehow leads her directly to the parking lot and Christopher’s car.
Christopher sees Jess and freaks out, thinking Liz escaped somehow. I guess he doesn’t notice that she’s wearing an entirely different dress and has a different hairstyle.
:::Sigh.::: Men.
He tries to grab her but Jeffrey tackles him. The two start fighting. Jess hears a knocking sound coming from the trunk so she grabs Christopher’s keys from the ignition and goes to open it. Liz is fine. Jeffrey wins the fight because of course he does. Security guards hear the commotion and arrive to apprehend Christopher. Liz tells Jess to run back inside for the crowning. She does.
Jess gets back inside just as AJ finishes reading his essay. The head of the organization launches into another speech and AJ joins Jess to wait for the crowning. Suddenly her conscience attacks her and she tells AJ that she doesn’t deserve the crown. She never actually admits to cheating on him but she tells him that she isn’t ready to be in a serious relationship and she thinks they should break up. He’s heartbroken but tells her that he wants her to be Queen anyway. He has to pick someone and there’s no one he would rather pick.
They get crowned and have their spotlight dance. They vow never to forget each other.
I wonder if we’ll ever see him again.
We skip to later that evening. Somehow, the authorities never bothered to inform the Wakefields that one of their daughters was abducted and thrown in a trunk so no one knows except Jess, Liz and Jeffrey. Liz tells Jess that Christopher was taken away by the police. He admitted to everything and asked to see his psychiatrist because of course he is mentally ill. I don’t really have the spoons to rant about mental health rep in books from the 80’s. It was bad. Period.
We skip to Tuesday and the most confusing scene in the entire book takes place to introduce the plot for the next one. The cheerleaders are all in the locker room discussing an upcoming dance. YES ANOTHER ONE. It’s an athletic club dance or something. For some reason they start talking about whether or not Shelley will go. I have no idea why they care or why this is even on their radar. It comes out of nowhere and it doesn’t feel natural at all. Jess thinks to herself that Shelley is super shy and never dates because she’s taller than most of the boys. She still thinks Shelley will go to the dance, though, because, as the star basketball player, she’s expected to. Amy says there’s no way a boy will ask her because she’s a “beanpole”. They decide to make a bet with Jess saying Shelley will go and Amy saying she won’t. It’s really stupid. The book ends there.
Coming Up Next: Pascal probably writes yet another book where a girl’s body will be discussed extensively. :::cough::: Excuse me. I meant, we find out whether or not Shelley can get a date for the dance.
I know I’m on the edge of my seat.
Also, it better not be Bruce.
It will be hilarious if it's AJ.
I just hope Jess goes back to normal. Her character was really destroyed in this book and I'm not talking about the cheating.
