10 April, 2015

Book Review: Sweet Valley Confidential Ten Years Later


From GoodreadsNow with this striking new adult novel from author and creator Francine Pascal, millions of devoted fans can finally return to the idyllic Sweet Valley, home of the phenomenally successful book series and franchise. Iconic and beloved identical twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield are back and all grown up, dealing with the complicated adult world of love, careers, betrayal, and sisterhood.  

Thoughts: When this came through the return chutes at work I knew I had to read it. I was a massive Sweet Valley High fan, although I never read the Sweet Valley University books. I also knew it would be cheesy, unbelievable and ridiculous. 
And it was, but it was fun! At no point did I expect anything else.  At the very end Pascal gives a potted history of all our favourite Sweet Valley characters and it's amazing how many people were "as cute as ever" or "had retained their good looks." Not surprisingly  everyone was still either stunningly gorgeous or at least cute.
The funniest thing about this book for me however was the reviews on Goodreads. The number of people who seem surprised at how bad it was. Really? Surely you realise you are reading pulp fiction from your teenage years. To complain about poor writing, unbelievable story lines and poor character development is ridiculous. As much as I loved the books as a pre teen/ teen, I know that's exactly what the original books were like. Any one who thought they would get anything more from them was delusional to begin with.

Ten Years Later gets 2 stars , with one being for the trip down memory lane.

 *        Did not like it
**       It was OK
***      Liked it
****    Really liked it
*****   It was amazing