**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: Sudden tragedy… Terri Adams loves football. In fact, she’s one of the Sweet Valley Gladiator’s biggest fans. She’s also the biggest fan of Ken Matthews, the team’s quarterback. Terri thinks Ken has everything going for him – he’s good-looking and popular, and he’s led the Gladiators to an undefeated season. Then one rainy night, Ken is in a terrible car accident that leaves him blind. His football career is over, and even worse, his friends are so uncomfortable about his blindness they avoid him. Ken would be miserable if it weren’t for Terri. She’s the one person who is always there when he needs her. But when Ken realizes he’s falling in love with her, he’s convinced that she could never return his feelings. Can Ken and Terri ever be more than friends?
I’m not surprised the kids of SVH are dicks about someone’s disability. I bet I have to trigger warning this one. Also, after reading this description, I’m not sure Pascal knows what “fatal” means.
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 boyfriend
*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
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 awful. The model for Ken looks...ill. I’m not sure blind equals that.
In the last book, Liz agonized over her relationship with Todd AGAIN because they couldn’t spend enough time together and he’s in a different tax bracket now. They broke up for a bit but ended up back together. I think Todd decided to come back to SVH as well. Yay. Jess briefly thought about going to the academy but ended up changing her mind. It was a really boring book.
Missing, Presumed Dead: I’ve given up Roger for dead at this point so this will be his last mention. Rest in peace, asshole. CreepySteven was joined by his parents in the dungeon. I mean, someone said that EvilNed answered the phone once but I didn’t see him so I think he’s underground. Caroline, Recorder and Prince Albert remained below as well. I don’t care about the others but Pascal better give us Recorder and Prince Albert back.
Released from the Wakefield Compound: DeeDee made it out of the dungeon after a lengthy stay. She unfortunately did not bring the dog out with her.
#releasethedogorweriot
{{{Note from future me: We slide from head to head in this one without changing chapters which is a massive pet peeve of mine. There’s also some weird formatting with the kindle edition that makes it a little hard to read in places but I will persevere. For you.}}}
We begin with Liz and Todd at a SVH football game. The team is behind and everyone is very dramatic about it because Ken is having a record-making season and no one wants to see that put in jeopardy.
I’m so confused about the timeline in this universe. How is it football season again? How many autumns have they had in their junior year because I think it’s been at least three.
The team calls a time out or something and ghostie takes this opportunity to give us the twin descrips. It’s pretty typical as far as the physical stuff goes but this time they add in “clear complexions” just to make all those preteen girls reading feel inadequate for having pimples. Liz is described as “serious, dedicated and hardworking” and someone who “would do anything for a friend and always keeps her promises”.
Hey, Jeffrey, would you like to comment?
Jess gets painted with a harsh brush this time. It starts out pretty normal with ghostie commenting on how she’s easily bored and likes to change things up but then she gets called scheming and thoughtless.
Wow. Shots fired. I’m so tired of this ‘Liz is perfect, Jess is horrible’ narrative. They’re both assholes but at least Jess owns it.
Amy seems upset as she cheers with the squad and Todd notices which is unusual for his self-absorbed ass. He asks Liz what’s wrong and she says that Amy has a massive crush on Ken and is probably worried SVH will lose when he’s being scouted for scholarships.
I don’t think he should worry. They’ve been in their junior year for at least six years already. He’s got a long way to go before he graduates. He’ll probably be too old to play by then.
There’s a lot of boring descriptions of game play which makes me think that ghostie has never seen a football game in their entire life and then SVH wins at the last second because of course they do. #allhailSweetValley Afterwards, we get a lot of cameos from cast members celebrating the victory. Shelley the basketball star is there with Kristin the tennis pro for some reason and John the sports editor is nearby with his girlfriend Jennifer.
We do a sneaky slide into Terri’s head right in the middle of a paragraph. She’s the assistant statistician for the team which basically means that she sits on the sidelines and records stats. She also has a massive crush on Ken but figures he’ll never notice her as more than the person who keeps track of his pass yardage. Or whatever it’s called.
Amy bounces over to invite everyone to celebrate the victory at her house. Terri is nervous about going because Ken will be there and her brain might short-circuit if she gets too near him. Shelley, Kristin, John and Jennifer act like the party won’t be fun unless this random character who has never existed before this page comes. Then another random character named Zack runs up to ask if Terri is going to the party. Zack is a sophomore bench warmer and he has a crush on someone named April. He wants to ask April out at the party and needs Terri there for moral support.
THAT’S THREE NEW NAMES FOR MY SPREADSHEET! I’m sick of all these temporary characters, Pascal. Use the ones you already have!
Terri agrees to go to the party. She’s both secretly hoping to have an encounter with Ken and dreading one because she’s too shy around him.
Relatable.
We skip to the party and start bouncing around a lot of heads. We see a lot of the cast there including but not limited to: Cara, Jean, Sandra, Enid, Hugh, Lila, Winston, Maria, Jim, Robin, Bruce and Aaron. Oh, and someone named Skip that I have to add to the spreadsheet because he’s there with Jess. If you’re keeping track, counting Liz and Jess, we’ve seen 22 characters so far in this book and we’re only like 2-3 chapters in. It’s ridiculous.
And where exactly is Jeffrey? His best friend is there. He’s a sports guy. Why isn’t he at the party?
To be fair, I would also spend all my time and energy avoiding Liz.
Ken arrives and everyone claps. Amy walks right up and kisses him. He doesn’t seem upset about it, just a little embarrassed that she did it in front of so many people. Terri is crushed but realizes she probably didn’t stand a chance with Ken anyway.
We sneaky slide into Jess’ head briefly. Everyone keeps telling her how lucky she is to be there with Skip because he’s an amazing dancer. She loves the attention but doesn’t love Skip because he never stops talking about himself. When you’re too narcissistic for Jess, there’s a problem.
We sneaky slide over into Ken’s head. People keep acting like he and Amy are a couple and he’s confused because they aren’t. He wonders if she’s been telling people that they’re together. This bothers him because it isn’t true and because he’s not ready to be in a serious relationship with anyone. He’s too focused on football.
I don’t know, Ken. They probably think you guys are a couple because she kissed you in front of everyone.
This one might have taken one too many hits to the head.
Ken and Terri end up in the same vicinity and start talking about his football stats. Fortunately this is a topic they can both yammer on about for hours. We sneaky slide into Amy’s head mid-paragraph and she’s annoyed that they’re spending so much time together. She walks up and kisses Ken again.
Terri runs off and ends up crying in the bathroom. No one notices. We sneaky slide back into Ken’s head as Winston and Maria come up to tell him that they’re leaving. Winston has to get home early because his uncle is taking him on a fishing trip or something early the next morning. He mentions that they have to catch the bus because his car is in the shop and Ken offers to drive them home. Amy is pissed.
We sneaky slide back into Terri’s head as she leaves the bathroom. She sees Winston and Amy putting on their coats and she runs over to see if she can get a ride home since she only lives a few blocks from Winston. He happily tells her ‘yes’ even though it’s not his car and he should have checked with Ken first. Luckily Ken doesn’t mind. Terri is a little angsty about being in the car with Ken but doesn’t know how to gracefully back out of the situation.
It starts to rain as they drive down the hill toward town. I don’t know why Amy suddenly lives in a remote location but whatever.
Maria gets out at Winston’s house because his dad is home and Winston can use his car to drive her home. By the time they get to Terri’s house, it’s raining so hard that Ken can barely see the road. She invites him to come inside and wait the storm out but he says he has to get back to the party. I don’t know why when he wasn’t having fun there and keeps getting sexually harassed.
The rain gets worse as he drives back to Amy’s suddenly remote location on top of a very twisty hill. Suddenly a car appears out of nowhere and it’s in Ken’s lane! {{{Gasp}}} Ken swerves to miss it and runs into a tree at a pretty high rate of speed.
We sneaky slide over to Jess’ head again. She notices Amy flirting with some random football player named Scott who just poofed into existence and now I have to add ANOTHER person to my fucking spreadsheet. I’m tired.
For the record, this is the second time Pascal’s used the name ‘Scott’ in this series. The first was a college dude who sexually harassed and/or assaulted Jess many, many books ago. There are a lot of names out there, Pascal. You don’t have to keep using the same ones over and over.
Jess is over listening to Skip talk about how amazing he is, so when she sees Liz and Todd getting ready to leave, she asks to ride with them. It’s conveniently stopped raining so Pascal’s favorite character isn’t in any danger. As they drive, they see a bunch of ambulances and police cars on the side of the road along with a car they recognize as Ken’s. For some reason, these idiots decide to pull over and get out of the car to approach the scene.
Arrest them. Immediately.
It’s chaos. The car is badly damaged with obvious indications that Ken either hit or went through the windshield. There’s a man sobbing that he never saw Ken and never meant to run him off the road. The man is clearly drunk. Paramedics are trying to get Ken into the ambulance to get him medical attention and our three assholes are just sauntering over to ask what happened. I hate these people. After a cop yells at them for being there, he tells them that “it doesn’t look good” for Ken. They decide to go back to Amy’s to announce it to the whole party.
We skip to the next morning and hop around Jess' and Amy’s heads for awhile. They go to the hospital to check on Ken but Amy is nervous about going inside. She asks Jess to go and report back. Before she can, they see Ken’s parents leaving. Ken’s mother tells them that he can’t have visitors in the ICU. She says there’s a long road ahead but Ken is expected to survive.
We skip to Monday and end up in Terri’s head. She has no idea that Ken was in an accident and I call #bullshit. I know social media wasn’t a thing back then but there’s no way someone wouldn’t have called her. She’s kind of part of the team and several people at that party knew she had a crush on Ken. She gets into school and sees everyone consoling Amy who is playing the part of a grieving girlfriend for all she’s worth. Terri overhears Amy blaming her for Ken’s accident and she’s crushed.
We skip ahead some more. Amy goes to visit Ken and we slide between her head and his. His face is completely covered in bandages other than a “small slit for his mouth”. This sounds incredibly dangerous and is probably grounds for a malpractice suit. How is he supposed to eat or drink if he can’t fully open his mouth? Why would they compromise his airways like that? Seriously, Pascal. Think these things through.
Ken seems to be in good spirits. He jokes around with Amy a bit until the nurse comes in to tell her she has to leave because he needs a blood test. I’m not sure why Amy couldn’t stay while they draw his blood but whatever. Ken asks when the bandages will be removed and the nurse says soon.
Amy is elated as she leaves the hospital. She thinks that Ken has a “romantic tone” whenever he talks to her and that must mean they are destined to be the next power couple of SVH. She imagines what it will be like when he returns to school and wonders if her picture will be in the paper as his doting girlfriend.
We sneaky slide into Ken’s head as the doctor comes in to remove his bandages. We learn this is the first time they’ve done this which means they haven’t been checking the wounds for infection this entire time. This place really should be shut down.
Ken thinks the doctor forgot to remove the bandages over his eyes because he can’t see. The doctor explains that Ken has “significant swelling” of the brain and that has caused him to go blind. He might recover his sight when the swelling goes down but it’s too early to tell.
Um, Pascal? Do you know how serious ‘significant swelling’ of the brain is? I know Google didn’t exist when you wrote these things but surely there was a way you could do some research?
In the very next breath, after just telling us about this significant swelling that is causing a neurological event, the doctor says Ken is well enough to be released and recommends a rehab for the blind.
You’re just letting him go? With significant brain swelling? How does this doctor still have a license?
Ken is devastated. He will never play football again and no one will ever love him or want to be his friend.
I would say something about him being dramatic here but this is Sweet Valley. He’s probably right.
But it’s also a Sweet Valley High book which means he’ll probably regain his sight by the end of the book.
Then again, Regina DID die. So anything’s possible if you’re not a Wakefield.
Almost immediately Liz and Jess come to visit and we slide around everyone’s head. Ken tries to pretend he isn’t blind but he’s forced to tell them when they insist he read the card they brought. Jess flips out and they send her to the cafeteria to get drinks. Liz isn’t much better. She acts like Ken is dying which isn’t really helpful.
Jess is returning to the floor with the three cups of Coke in a paper bag for some reason when she runs into Amy. Amy is excited to see Ken again until Jess tells her about the blindness. Amy goes pale and runs off.
We immediately skip to the next day (I think?) and land in Terri’s head. She still feels guilty about Ken’s accident and it doesn’t help that Amy continually tells her it was all her fault. Amy comes into the school and dramatically announces Ken’s blindness to the shocked crowd. Terri is devastated. She runs into Liz and wails that she needs to see Ken to apologize to him for blinding him. Liz says he’s in a rehab now and she isn’t sure he’s supposed to have visitors. Terri begs her to call Ken’s parents to arrange a visit.
We immediately just skip to Liz and Terri standing outside the rehab. Pascal isn’t bothering with transitions in this book. Segues are for suckers. Liz waits outside while Terri goes in to visit Ken. She immediately bursts into tears and wails that this was all her fault. Helpful, Terri.
Ken reassures her that he doesn’t blame her for what happened. He takes full responsibility for being stupid enough to drive in that weather. He gives her a hug but then his therapist appears and tells Terri she needs to leave so Ken can rest. I don’t think Ken needed the rest. The therapist probably just thought having a hysterical teenage girl around wasn’t conducive to his recovery.
Pascal just fucking skips an entire month. Football season should be about over by now. Ken is getting ready to be released from rehab. He’s learned a lot about how to navigate the world without seeing but he’s nervous about returning to school.
I would be too. The people there are idiots.
He tells us that several people have written to him while he was there. Amy only wrote twice and both letters came the first week he was there. She hasn’t written since. He acts like they were dating which is weird because they definitely weren’t. Not only that, but he was continually telling us that he didn’t want a serious relationship at all.
Keep track of your story, Pascal.
We skip ahead several days to Ken’s first day back at SVH. Winston is helping him get from class to class until he memorizes the layout. You’d think he’d be grateful but Ken resents Winston and is a general dick to him. Classes don’t go well. Ken finds it hard to focus on what the teachers are saying and feels like his blindness is a distraction to everyone else.
During lunch, Ken goes outside to get some fresh air. He overhears Scott and Skip talking and learns that Scott has taken his place as quarterback AND Amy has been pursuing him. He acts like this is some kind of betrayal even though they weren’t dating and he didn’t seem very interested.
Terri joins them and the two of them spend the rest of the lunch hour talking about football. She gives him all the stats from the SVH games and then tells him how all the other schools are doing. He relaxes for the first time all day and enjoys talking to her. That freaks him out because he doesn’t want to get attached to someone who will just abandon him because he’s blind.
He really needs therapy. Not the physical kind.
The reaction he’s having is a very normal one but he needs help dealing with it before it becomes a problem.
We slide over to Liz’s head and learn that she and Enid are planning a surprise party to welcome Ken back to school. It’s going to be the next day during lunch in the cafeteria.
We immediately skip to the next day. Pascal really isn’t bothering to write this one. Liz and Jess bring a huge cake to school for the party at lunch. Where the hell are they going to store that thing? It won’t fit in a locker. My books barely fit in my locker. Jess admits that she isn’t sure she’s happy Ken is back. She “feels strange” when she sees him walking around with his white cane. Liz is stunned at how insensitive her sister is being.
Did you just meet?
Liz is the most unobservant person on the planet. Jess is frequently insensitive whether she means to be or not.
Liz doesn’t admonish Jess for her statement even though it is “less than inspiring”. Whatever the hell that means. She figures more people feel like that and just haven’t admitted it out loud.
Yeah, because all y’all are assholes.
People are reluctant to attend the party. Bruce is the one who paid for the cake but he makes an excuse about having to go to the dentist. Lila says she doesn’t see the point when Ken won’t even know if she’s there or not.
My point stands.
We slide into Ken’s head. Everyone yells ‘surprise’ when he walks into the cafeteria and then everyone starts kissing his cheeks like he’s their elderly grandmother or something. What’s with all this random kissing, Pascal? Jeffrey is at the party and I’m glad to see he still exists. I wouldn’t put it past Pascal to write him out now that he’s no longer dating her darling. Ken tries to enjoy his party but he feels like everyone is acting weird around him.
Because they are.
We sneaky slide into Terri’s head. She goes home after school and ties a blindfold over her eyes so she can experience what Ken is experiencing. Terri finds navigating her house without her sight to be difficult and terrifying. She has a new appreciation for what Ken is going through. She calls him and invites him to the beach after school the next day. He starts to turn her down because he doesn’t want a pity date. She begs him not to say ‘no’ because she’s never asked a boy out before and she doesn’t want her first experience to be soul crushing. That’s pretty manipulative. Ken agrees to the date.
We slide over to Jess now. I have no idea if it’s the same day or a new day. She’s complaining to Liz that Amy’s being a total bitch. Jess told Amy that she should really talk to Ken about how she’s dating Scott now and Amy freaked out and told her it was none of her business. Why is everyone acting like these two were dating? Did Pascal forget to write a couple of chapters or what?
We skip to the beach date and land back with Terri. She describes things for Ken as they drive to the beach. She gives him distances to things as they walk so he knows when the landscape is about to change. She puts shells in his hand so he can feel them. It’s actually kind of sweet. Ken talks about how much he misses running on the beach and Terri says there’s no reason he can’t. She’ll run with him right now. She hums while they run so he knows where she is. For the first time, Ken feels like a real person.
Okay. That was well done. I'm not so petty that I can't admit that.
Terri invites Ken to the football game on Friday. He’s hesitant so she tells him to think about it.
We skip to Friday. I guess he decided to go to the game because we’re there and he’s sitting with John, Jennifer, Shelley, Jim, Kristin and Terri. Terri gives him play-by-play commentary and he’s enjoying himself. He has felt a little more optimistic lately and that’s all due to Terri and her kindness.
The team loses because Scott makes a stupid decision and throws an interception instead of just letting the clock run out. {{{Did I just football speak? 😱}}} It’s the first loss of the season. Everyone is crushed.
Suddenly we’re at the beach and I have no idea how we got there. Is it the same day? A new day? A little help would be nice, Pascal. That was jarring. Ken and Terri run on the beach again. She asks him to a Droids concert the next day. Ken realizes he very much wants to kiss Terri but he figures she doesn’t feel the same way about him. He thinks she’s only hanging out with him because she still feels guilty about his accident.
We skip to the next day. Ken and Terri are at the concert in the park. Terri confides to John that she’s starting to do badly in her classes because she’s spending so much time helping Ken with his schoolwork. I thought his parents hired a tutor for that? John says he hopes Ken appreciates her help but Terri isn’t sure. Ken has been irritable with her all day, even yelling at her for being five minutes late. She isn’t sure what she did to make him mad.
We skip some time. This is madness. There are no transitions at all in the book. We’re one place and then BAM we’re another. Anyway, I guess we’re in Liz’s head. Terri calls to ask advice. She says that Ken seems to want her around but then treats her coldly when they’re together. Liz suggests Terri confess her feelings to Ken. Then she tells her to stop doing everything for him. We were never told she does everything for him. I mean, she mentioned not having time to study because she was helping him with his homework but Pascal didn’t bother to fill us in on the fact that she was making Ken dependent on her.
We skip directly to Terri and Ken having a milkshake. She tells him that she needs to go home soon because she has homework and he pouts because he wants her to read him his history assignment. He tells her that it’s okay if she’s tired of all this. She says she isn’t. He doesn’t believe her. He knocks all the dishes off the table.
At this point, I’m out. I wouldn’t want to be with someone who breaks things when they get angry. That’s terrifying. Terri yells at him for being so mean to her and asks what she did to make him mad. He admits that she didn’t do anything and he’s just being a jerk. At least he admitted it. And apologized. I’m still out though.
He goes from contrite right back to angry though and asks if she’s done playing “candy striper” now. She tells him she spends time with him because she wants to. He yells at her that she doesn’t understand what it’s like to be blind. She yells that he’s right but it’s not the end of the fucking world. She accuses him of feeling sorry for himself and wanting people to do everything for him.
You know, it would be nice if Pascal had shown us ANY OF THIS. We never saw Ken refusing to do things for himself. We saw him learning to count the steps between his classrooms and learning to use the cane and learning to run on the beach. Pascal didn’t bother to show us any of the parts Terri is talking about and I’m super confused.
Ken yells at her to get out. Terri starts to cry and says she sees now that he was just taking advantage of her kindness and that he never even noticed that she was in love with him. She runs off before he can respond.
This whole fight just feels weird. We didn’t see any of the build up to this so it feels like it came out of nowhere.
We slide into Ken’s head and he tells us that he did quit trying and was perfectly happy to let Terri do everything for him. Sure would have been nice to actually see that part but whatever. He realizes he’s in love with her and decides to go in and call her. He thinks it’s been about fifteen minutes since she left his house so she should be home but her mom says she’s not.
Ken manages to walk to the bus stop and gets on one to the beach. He figures Terri went there to think. Sure enough, when he arrives, he can hear someone crying.
We slide into Terri’s head. She sees Ken on the beach and runs to him. They embrace. He apologizes. She forgives him too easily. They say “I love you” to each other and kiss. Ken realizes he can kind of see the sun. Or at least he detects a brightness in the dark. They celebrate the small sign that he might regain his sight someday.
The next chapter brings us to Patty. I had forgotten she existed. She was DeeDee’s friend and one of the few Black people in Sweet Valley. It’s sometime in the future and she and DeeDee are sitting in the bleachers around the track watching Ken and Terri run for some reason. DeeDee asks her how things are going with Jim and I was confused because Jim is dating Shelley. Then I realized that we have two Jims. Patty’s Jim is in college and he’s been too busy to come home lately. He doesn’t call as much as he used to either.
The next book is set up like so: Jim1 is finally coming home for the weekend and Patty is determined to rekindle their romance.
Riveting.
The book ends there. This one was awful. I think Pascal forgot to write half of it.
We still haven’t gotten proof of life on that dog. I’m starting to get worried.
Coming Up Next: Will Patty and Jim1 be okay?
Probably not. Relationships in Sweet Valley are disposable.
But Prince Albert is NOT. RELEASE THE DOG, PASCAL! THIS IS YOUR LAST WARNING!
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