Book Review: Sweet Valley Confidential – Better Than An Actual Class Reunion

Around this time ten years ago, I was a high school senior surrounded by talks of prom, college admissions, graduation, and gossip concerning the latest obstruction of social norms in the school. And quite possibly, I was reading the latest Sweet Valley novel that was released at the time, being oblivious to all the ‘teen worries’ listed above.

Fast forward to the present, where prom musings have been replaced with preparations for my first class reunion that is around the corner and college applications have swapped with the worry of trying to lock a nice paying job.

And yet, I just finished reading a Sweet Valley novel. Some things never change…

Last week marked the release of Sweet Valley Confidential – Ten Years Later, the follow-up novel to the teen book series Sweet Valley High, which featured the adventures of identical twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield and their friends in the fictional town of Sweet Valley, California. The books have become staples in pop culture and have sold million of copies around the world since it debuted in 1983. Sweet Valley High also spawned off eight spin-offs novels and a TV series starring twins Cynthia and Brittany Daniel (The Game) as Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield, respectively.

Francine Pascal, who created the world of Sweet Valley, decided to return to the small California town to give fans a look on what’s going on in the lives of the Wakefield twins after they left high school. And boy has a lot went down…

The twins are not speaking to each other due to a pretty messed up event that will have/has fans spinning, because it is so unforseen that I couldn’t help but feel a bit perturbed myself after the reveal. The event pushed Elizabeth to take up residence in New York City, where our story starts, and immediately you are dying to know what exactly transpired to send Elizabeth, aka the “good twin,” to the other side of the continent. Elizabeth has been pissed at Jessica numerous times before in the old series, but this time took the cake and smeared it all over the rose-colored glasses of the Sweet Valley characters, leaving a social destruction in it’s wake. If I utter another word, I will be spoiling the first big surprise of the book. Yes. I said ‘first.’

The other surprises come at you like an unexpected right hook to the face. Jessica and Elizabeth’s friends and how the years have treated them since either the end of the original Sweet Valley High series and/or Sweet Valley University have had their ups and downs as well, which are revealed as if you were in the middle of a class reunion, being filled in by a former classmate with all the gossip. Winston Egbert is doing what now?! Lila Fowler is with who?! Cara Walker did what (and who)?!?!? It’s questions like these which make Sweet Valley Confidential a welcoming experience for every fan, young and old, and will satisfy them with a more coherent sense of closure that we didn’t get when the series ended back in 2002.

Despite the characters being mostly 27-year-old professionals now, the people you come in contact with in the book are more mature, yet still possess the angst that drenched the book series like ranch dressing on a salad. The characterization is not soggy to the point of being tasteless or over the top. You have a more head strong Elizabeth, but the bitterness towards her sister is like poison to the sweet girl we once knew. You can feel the fever emanating from Elizabeth’s anger to the point that you wonder if it will totally consume her whole, with no point of return readily available if needed. On the flip side, Jessica is more caring and more aware of those around her. But that doesn’t necessarily mean a good thing for her, which turns our once queen bee into a fragile, insecure young woman. In some instances, you can’t help but not feel for her. However like in the past books, Jessica dug herself into the hole she’s in when at the start of this novel and it’s not going to be a walk in the park for her to get out of this time.

The book is told in both past and present, with the past being told in different chronological order from the perspective of different characters. This way, Pascal guides you to fill in the blanks as to what happened to lead the twins to be in a bitter war in the first place. Some people have claimed it to be a jarring piece of storytelling, but it really isn’t. If you pay attention to which character is leading the chapter, then you will know who is narrating the first person sections of the past. If you watched LOST, then this isn’t rocket science to you. It’s an interesting way to get all the details from the people involved in the drama, which also helps in trying to decipher is was wrong then, and who is most definitely in the wrong now. It isn’t your conventional Sweet Valley, but a more modern and fresh take on the series. To me, it works and it works damn well.

If you are looking for high art or the next great novel, Sweet Valley Confidential is not for you. Heck, the entire world of Sweet Valley wasn’t for you, if that’s the case. What Francine Pascal gives in this update is a chance to look back at your childhood/teen years by commenting on how much change has happened between now and then. The nostalgic factor is in an all time high here and with Diablo Cody of Juno fame prepping for a movie adaptation of the series (to be set in the 80s when the books debuted), it is safe to say that Sweet Valley might be primed for a comeback. And if that is in the stars for the series, then let’s hope another sequel novel is headed our way.

Thank you, Francine Pascal, for the much needed trip down memory lane. If I had to pick between my own class reunion or a chance to revist Sweet Valley again, the California town will always win out. Do not judge me.

A