This was the second Sweet Valley High book that I read when I was a teen.
I enjoyed this book.
Suzanne has the perfect personality, and everyone falls in love with her. Too late, Elizabeth begins to suspect that Suzanne is not what she seems. Unfortunately, the damage has been done, and Sweet Valley may never be the same.
I overall enjoyed this book. I enjoyed the last half of the book more than the first half.
In Sweet Valley High #12, When Love Dies, Steven's girlfriend, Tricia Martin, has broken up with him. Jessica is thrilled, since the Martin family is trashy. Mr. Martin is drunk all the time, and Tricia's sister, Betsy, has a terrible reputation. Jessica decides to set Steven up with her friend, Cara Walker. Steven isn't ready to forget about Tricia, and Jessica's manipulation has terrible results. Meanwhile, Elizabeth discovers the grim truth about Tricia's health.
Jessica also spends her time plotting how she can get television personality Jeremy Frank to invite her on his show. Jessica's plot blows up in her face.
Here, the series begins to evolve into including a fun Jessica subplot in most books. The Jessica subplots are my favorite part of the Sweet Valley High series.
Here, the series begins to evolve into including a fun Jessica subplot in most books. The Jessica subplots are my favorite part of the Sweet Valley High series.
I like this story, but I don't like how the Martin family is depicted. It's typical of Sweet Valley High to use harsh terms to describe characters who fall outside of the Wakefields' perfect world, but "trashy" seems a bit much. My perception of life is quite different now than when I was young, so I consider the Martins to be underprivileged and troubled, not trashy.
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As to the 'trashy' depiction of the Martins. Because it was through the eyes of Jessica, I always thought that was part of her character. Elizabeth was much more sympathetic to them. It's part of the reason Jessica was troubling to me. She was haughty and cruel sometimes. It makes her a more complicated character, but also more difficult for me to love. Some people in the world think that way. While many people understand there is something more going on, self absorbed people, especially young people who have been sheltered a bit from life, like Jessica was, don't necessarily understand there often are reasons beyond people's control. They want a nice life, but sometimes life doesn't work out that way and everyone copes differently with that. Could that aspect of Jessica's character been left out? Yes. But without her self absorbed judgement, Jessica wouldn't be nearly as interesting a character.
'When Love Dies' is the first book I remember reading in the series. Made me cry. Much more complicated and realistic than many books written at the time for that audience level. Realistic, yet not a sob-fest.
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