Sweet Valley High #85 Soap Star, The Wakefield Legacy, and #86 Jessica Against Bruce

In Sweet Valley High #85, Soap Star, Jessica is excited when she learns that the soap opera, The Young and the Beautiful, is auditioning sets of twins for a one-week story.  Unfortunately, Liz is not interested, so Jessica has to come up with a scheme to get Liz to show up for the audition.

Jessica gets caught up in a romance with soap star Brandon Hunter and neglects her boyfriend, Sam.  Will Jessica lose the boy she loves for what is likely a temporary fling?

On page 78, Lila comments that Jessica is really hung up on Brandon.  Jessica replies, "Not hung up, exactly.  Not yet.  I just see the possibilities.  Not only is he cute, and nice, and single, but right now he's my ticket to being seen in Hollywood."


This is the first time that Jessica has ever been honest about how she romances boys and men solely as a means to an end.

Each episode of this soap opera is filmed on the morning of the day it airs.  That's not how soap operas are done.  Of course, this one is done that way so that a problem on the final day will cause Jessica's final appearance to be done in a live show, so that Jessica can create a scene.

I enjoyed this book.

I did not enjoy the first Wakefield saga, so I knew that I wouldn't like The Wakefield Legacy.  I skimmed a little bit of the story, then I abandoned it.  Now, let's continue with the next book.

In Sweet Valley High #86, Jessica Against Bruce, Bruce forms an exclusive club known as Club X.  Each member gets to wear a leather jacket with an X on the back.  Jessica is annoyed that the club is open only to boys, and Bruce claims that Jessica doesn't have what it takes to be a member.  Jessica insists upon joining.

At Club X meetings, members spin a roulette wheel that has their names on it.  If the wheel stops on a member's name, then that member has to complete a dare.  Strangely, the wheel almost always stops on Jessica's name.  Jessica's dares become increasingly dangerous.  If Jessica stays in the club, she might end up risking her life.

The dares are extremely dangerous, and in one dare, Jessica is nearly killed.  While these books still have the canon Sweet Valley High premise, the series gradually becomes edgier as it moves closer to the upcoming changes to the series.

I enjoyed this book.