Sweet Valley High #14: Deceptions

Front Cover: Has Elizabeth found a new love?

Back Cover: A tangled web...

Elizabeth Wakefield is stunned when Nicholas Morrow asks her for a date. A newcomer to Sweet Valley, Nicholas is fabulously wealthy and extremely handsome. Even though Elizabeth would never cheat on Todd Wilkins, her steady boyfriend, Nicholas is so attractive and sincere that she agrees to go out with him just once.

To make matters worse, Jessica, Elizabeth's scheming twin, announces that Nicholas Morrow is the boy for her. Suddenly Nicholas is the only thing on Jessica's mind. Elizabeth is terrified to think what will happen if Todd or her twin finds out bout her date with Nicholas. But who can keep a secret from Jessica Wakefield?

Omg, this book bothered me so much. First off: Nicholas Morrow. No means no, dude! Like, it was actually kinda creepy how insistent he was on Elizabeth going out with him, and how much in love with her he was. HE LITERALLY JUST MET HER. If they had been older, Nicholas would've been seen as a crazy creep. This would not have gone over well if they were in college or at work. But because it was all like, "You're too young to be tied down to one guy: give me a chance!", it was suddenly played off as acceptable. It's no worse than trying to force someone to be your friend in high school. It just doesn't work like that.

Elizabeth totes should have sat down with her family and told them what was going on. That way, when Jessica goes off on how Nicholas was "hers", Elizabeth could be all like, "LOOK, TAKE HIM, I DON'T WANT HIM." and their parents would have to back her up on it. If they didn't, and were all like, "You really are too young to be tied down to just Todd, give Nicholas a chance." then they'd have to deal with Hurricane Jessica and set her straight. Either way, it would have solved a lot of Elizabeth's problems.

Also solving Elizabeth's problems would have been just being honest with Todd. God these people are stupid!

The subplot in this one was that Jessica was 1) failing math and 2) wanted to learn more about computers to impress Nicholas. It just so happened that the school was updated so that all the grades would be filed electronically, so Jessica sweet-talked computer-nerd Randy Mason into helping her out. Of course, they get caught and poor Randy feels guilty and wants to come clean. Elizabeth manages to get the two out of deeper trouble with their principal. I was happy about that, because Randy didn't deserve to get suspended and have this go on his permanent record, especially since this is the field he wanted to go into as an adult. But I still think Elizabeth should have told their parents what had happened. Ned and Alice need to get on Jessica and put a stop to her shenanigans. I think they let her get away with so much because Elizabeth covers up half the time, so they don't really know to the extent that Jess gets herself into trouble. They just shake their heads bemusedly like, "Oh that Jess. Well, teens will be teens!"

Hook: Is this really the end for Tricia Martin?

Yes, yes it is. We'll get a whole book of her dying, and Steven wanting to be forever devoted to her, and Jessica being like, "Well good riddance! Time to date better!" Eventually Steven will realize that Tricia would want him to keep living his life, but it'll be HIS life, and so he'll tell Jess off and get better.

But not really, because I know in the future there are all these books about him dating girls who remind him of Tricia and trying to replace her and what not. But in the meantime he'll be okay haha

Sweet Valley High #13: Kidnapped!

Front Cover: Elizabeth's nightmare is about to begin...

Back Cover: A living nightmare...

Elizabeth Wakefield never imagined that her evening of volunteer work at Sweet Valley's hospital would turn into the most horrifying night of her life. but when a strong hand clamps a chloroformed rag over her mouth and she is pulled from her car, Elizabeth's hellish ordeal begins.

When she regains consciousness, Elizabeth finds herself tied to a chair in an isolated shack. She has been kidnapped - by Carl, a lonely and disturbed orderly from the hospital. Elizabeth doesn't know what Carl wants from her, but it's clear he's on the brink of insanity. Somehow Elizabeth must escape - before it's too late!

I actually read this a few days ago, but didn't have a chance to blog about it until now, so my feelings are kinda blasé now.

I'm really confused about Carl. In some ways, he's portrayed as an innocent mentally disabled person, who doesn't know how to act/treat people. Elizabeth is nice to him, so he thinks that must mean she loves him, so obviously he wants to love her, and when people are in love they run away to be together forever, so he can take care of her and live happily ever after. That's the kind of thing that would get him caught in a heartbeat. Elizabeth would've only been kidnapped for a few hours. She might not have been kidnapped at all: Carl might have just gone around telling everyone about his "new girlfriend Elizabeth", and people would've figured out what was going on and put a stop to it right away. But then they have him chloroforming her, and he's careful to keep going to work so as not to arise suspicions, and he knows not to buy stuff from the hospital itself. This sounds much more like a mentally capable creepy adult man, who wants Elizabeth for his own nefarious means. You can't really have it both ways, and I'm kinda pissed that they tried.

I want to know how long Elizabeth's been volunteering for. I know the last book took place over the span of like, a week. So is this next week? Has Carl only been watching Elizabeth for two weeks? Cuz if so, I can see why she hadn't said something. But has she been volunteering for a month? Cuz a month of Carl being creepy is definitely cause for concern.

Again, I hate Jessica. She had no real reason to lie to Todd about where Elizabeth was. All she had to say was, "I don't know! I'm not my sister's keeper! Maybe she got held up at the hospital or at Max's. Why don't you try calling those places?" Then afterwards, Todd would have a serious case about why they should be concerned about Elizabeth's whereabouts and Jessica could either be mature or immature.

Hook: Will Elizabeth leave Todd for Nicholas?

I'm guessing no, but she'll probably go on a few casual dates with Nicholas, trying to play it off all innocent like, "We're just friends; I'm allowed to hang out with guys, aren't I?" all the while knowing full-well that she hasn't made things clear to Nicholas. She'll probably feel guilty about it, but when confronted, she'll get all defensive, like she's done absolutely nothing wrong. It's a fine line, and theoretically it'd be possible for her to go out with Nicholas without her violating her relationship with Todd, but I'm guessing she'll cross the line and yeah. But everything will work out cuz she's a Wakefield haha

What I can't figure out is why Nicholas is so gaga over Elizabeth. Like, wtf, that escalated quickly. My guess is that he's smitten with their looks, but realizes that Jessica is too immature and vapid and irresponsible: so let's try the mature twin that Jessica's been singing the praises about!