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LuxKen27 ([personal profile] luxken27) wrote2023-11-09 06:55 pm

2023 Nostalgia Re-readathon | SVH Magna Edition #3: A Night to Remember




After tonight, nothing will ever be the same in Sweet Valley...

Identical twins Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield have worked together to create the most perfect prom Sweet Valley has ever seen - but when a jealous conflict turns deadly, the twins' lives are changed forever!

Since the death of his girlfriend, Regina Morrow, wealthy Bruce Patman has kept his heart closed to love. Then a mysterious girl steps into his life, and Bruce must decide if it's worth the pain to love again.

When Lila Fowler thinks her guidance counselor is interested in more than her schoolwork, she puts his career and reputation on the line.

Will the truth come out before disaster strikes and changes the lives of everyone in Sweet Valley forever?


This year, [personal profile] impy and I decided to prolong our annual nostalgia re-readathon beyond Halloween. We chose to re-read The Evil Twin storyline from SVH, also known as THE GREATEST MINISERIES OF ALL TIME (TGMOAT). This is the arc that bridged the gap between classic SVH canon (books #1-94) and the two-to-six book self-contained mini arcs hereafter, to the end of the original series.

I remember very vividly reading this miniseries when it was originally released in 1993, and just how crazy it was. This was no ordinary (albeit escapist) storyline in SVH. This was the jump-the-shark, bat-shit, bananapants crazy arc that left behind any idea of innocence or realism in the Sweet Valley universe. So much happens during TGMOAT, and it all starts here: Magna Edition #3, a double-length book that sets up all the storylines. Let's touch on the subplots first:

(1) School Rivalry between SVH and Big Mesa: Big Mesa has traditionally been SVH's biggest rival, and here things are cranking up to 11. The Big Mesa kids raid a SVH beach party at the beginning of the book; their school paper is trashing The Oracle on the regular; they have major competitions coming up in all sports (tennis, track, and basketball); the Big Mesa students cover the SVH student parking lot in shaving cream one random afternoon. Tensions are building, kids are getting excited, and each sports competition just ratchets everything up, climaxing at the big basketball game the night before the Jungle Prom.

Bruce Patman is at the center of the maelstrom, leading his buddies from the disbanded Club X (SVH #86) in various mischief, as well as the big bout at the end. Bruce is incredibly on edge for no discernable reason, but a brief run-in with his late girlfriend's brother at the marina apparently re-opens a gaping wound. We're supposed to believe that Bruce's emotions have been bottling up since her death back in the 40s, and is only now manifesting? Uh, okay. Tragically Dead Regina! (JUSTICE FOR REGINA!)

(2) Lila's ongoing trauma from attempted rape: This is a storyline that has been ongoing since #90, the infamous Don't Go Home With John. I think John Pfeiffer is the only character that has ever truly been ostracized from the canon. Is he ever seen again after #90? I don't think so. Anyway, Lila is still going to counseling at Project Youth and hiding her trauma from her friends and family. One day she runs into her counselor, Nathan, at the beach while she's there with Jessica. Jessica points out that Nathan is very cute, and suddenly Lila starts to notice him as a man in addition to being a preternaturally calm counselor who usually irritates her. Lila's spirits lift as she begins to look forward to her sessions with Nathan, but things escalate during the riot after the Jungle Prom, and Lila ends up accusing Nathan of trying to assault her. He did no such thing, but the police on the scene don't know that, so they put him in handcuffs and take him to the police station, with Lila going to make a formal complaint against him.

The main plot is, of course, the Jungle Prom/War Between the Twins. Liz and Jess are joking around at the beginning of the book about Tarzan, and Liz throws out the idea of having a jungle-themed dance at school, sponsored by the local Environmental Alert organization. Jess jumps on board the idea of a school dance, and the two of them hint at it during the aforementioned beach party. Liz also has a moment of regression to #63 The New Elizabeth when she decides that she's tired of alternatively worrying about her twin and being in Jessica's shadow, so she decides to start asserting herself, starting with planning the Jungle Prom.

She gets permission from Chrome Dome to hold the dance in two weeks(!), and the Environmental Alert organization is beyond on board with sponsoring the thing. They even come up with a lavish gift: an all-expenses paid trip to Brazil, and a year-long ambassadorship with Environmental Alert for the girl named Prom Queen. (Why only prom queen? Because EA quite conveniently just brought a high school aged boy on board from a different school, and are now looking to compliment it with a girl). Both Liz and Jess are excited about the prize, and both get stuck in to win that Prom Queen crown. Jessica is natural PQ material, but The New Elizabeth decides that she, too, is worthy of the crown and the prize.

Liz ends up organizing the whole prom by herself (with her loyal Prom Committee - Jessica is the co-chair, but only attends 1 meeting the entire two weeks). Jessica gets a fair amount of attention, too, especially as the rivalry between SVH and Big Mesa heats up. As head cheerleader, she's in the middle of it all - and so is Todd, Liz's boyfriend, the basketball superhero who wins the game on the last shot the night before the prom.

Todd is a shoo-in for King, and who better to accompany him as his Queen than his actual girlfriend? Jessica's jealousy starts to skyrocket, especially as momentum picks up for her sister. Jess starts ignoring her boyfriend (and even denigrating him, which was hard to read!), refuses to speak to her sister, and is making all attempts to win that crown and that trip to Brazil. She really gets nasty during the dance - after abandoning Sam at the door, she schmoozes with her schoolmates and accepts a cup of liquor from a Big Mesa attendee, which she pours into LIz's cup of island punch. She watches Liz take a couple of sips, but leaves before she sees Liz pour half of it into Sam's empty cup.

Soon Liz and Sam are making a spectacle of themselves on the dance floor, and everyone around them realizes that they're roaring drunk. (What was that liquor, anyway, 125 proof Everclear or something??) Todd is up on stage handling his Prom King duties, so he can't get near them, and Jessica is raging at Liz for hanging around her man. (Why Jess? You're the one who practically dumped him at the door!). Jessica also feels guilty, because she's the one who spiked the punch, and its obvious Sam and Liz have no idea why they're suddenly so giggly.

Liz's behavior means that of course Jessica is crowned Prom Queen. She doesn't feel the rush of glory and triumph, however, especially when she learns that Liz dropped out of the race at the last minute. That's when all hell breaks loose.

There's a heated debate about whether or not to allow Big Mesa kids to attend the Jungle Prom, thanks to the rivalry. Some kids date Big Mesa students (like Enid), so they'd be stuck in the middle. Jessica proposes to make the dance SVH-only, even though her own boyfriend attends a different school, but she's unanimously voted down by the entire student body. So, of course some Big Mesa students buy tickets and show up. They're allowed in, but then more of them start coming, looking for trouble. The boys at the dance decide to fight, sending a contingent to the football field to beat each other senseless (the SVH crowd is lead by Bruce). The girls are also getting catty, and students start to leave the gym in droves.

Liz and Sam are among them. They head to the Jeep and take off, with Jess and Todd trying to follow them. Jessica won't fess up to what she did, but she knows Liz shouldn't be driving and is desperate to stop her before something terrible happens.

Which, of course, it does: two minutes from the school, Todd and Jessica pull up to a crash site already swarming with emergency personnel. The Jeep has flipped over, and the police are talking about how no one could survive such a scene. As the book closes, Jessica is wading into the fray, wailing for her sister and her boyfriend. A night to remember, indeed.

I really enjoyed this re-read. I'd forgotten quite a few things (the trip to Brazil, the school rivalry), so that was fun to re-discover. I also enjoyed the throwbacks into classic canon. Besides those storylines already mentioned (#63, #86, #90), we get some ultra-rare cameos from former Wakefield boyfriends: Jeffrey French has a scene in the Oracle office, when Liz anonymously receives copies of the Big Mesa school paper and reads the trashy articles out loud; AJ Morgan plays a pivotal role during the big basketball game before the prom. I'd definitely forgotten those appearances!

Speaking of appearances: Sam and Jessica started dating in SVH #80, but I don't believe he ever graced a book cover. So the picture on the stepback of this book has always been my mental image of him. It was a bit jarring to read about his "blond curls" (which put me in mind of NSYNC-era Justin Timberlake, *shudder*). Sam was definitely one of the best Jessica boyfriends in the series (he's in my top two, along with her first serious boyfriend, AJ Morgan), and the way she ends up treating him here is absolutely atrocious. Her last thoughts of him (before and during the dance) are snide and angry. Of course she didn't know what was going to happen (though if she'd been reading along with us, she would've seen that incredibly obvious foreshadowing looming like a black cloud over everything), but still. She didn't deserve him by the end, and it really saddened me to see that.

As much as I love the Evil Twin arc, I hate that it starts with Sam's death. He deserved better, and even preteen me thirty years ago felt this way. So the tagline for TGMOAT? JUSTICE FOR SAM!
impy: Pretty Little Liars Emily holding a coffee mug, looking super sweet. (PLL: Emily Sweet)

[personal profile] impy 2023-11-10 12:47 pm (UTC)(link)
I'll be back to finish reading your thoughts (eee!) after I finish reading the last couple of chapters (almost there- Jessica's just realized OHSHIT, Toddles is gonna be Prom King so of course everyone's gonna vote Liz to be his queen) but two things that have little to do with the book and thus I'll forget:

Pretty sure Sam's supposed to be the dude giving Jess the "what gives" look on Kidnapped By The Cult! cover. I refuse to envision Sam as anything like Timberlake (gag!) and my god, the only person to look reasonably good on the cover of ANTR is Liz. Wtf happened to everyone else? Todd and Jessica should sue. And why is Jessica the same in both photos? What is your issue with Jessica, cover artist? Booo. Uh, sorry.

And John Pfeifer does show up again, at least for one more arc and it's a doozy. It's the 135-137 Inferno arc that's best known as the one where Lila and Steve hookup and also the arc where friggin' Devon shows up. Blergh.

JUSTICE FOR SAM! JUSTICE FOR REGINA!
impy: tori from jackie's strength video (Default)

[personal profile] impy 2023-11-10 03:17 pm (UTC)(link)
I don't think Cult!Same has the curls, which is why I'm only pretty sure that's meant to be him. But I'll take Cult!Sam over this cover!Sam any day. I'm just picturing the artist laboring day and night over Liz because she had to be perfect and then going "fuuuuuuuuuuuuuuck" and just winging it on everyone else. Must've hated Jess, too. I'm too lazy to check, but the cover artist on this one wasn't James or uh...the other guy whose name I'm blanking on but I'm pretty sure he did a good chunk of the non-Jimmy art. So different take entirely on Todd and Sam.

Well, that explains my ignorance, then - I stopped reading around book #116 during the original run of the series.
Truly a wise move, all things considered. I only remember John popping back up because I asked about Pamela at some point in one of the LJ communities and while I cannot for the life of me remember the answer, I do remember the reminder of what became of John. I shall not spoil you lest you one day decide to give it a go, but neither of the descriptions I gave are how I remember that arc now. :p Well. Not entirely, anyway.
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[personal profile] impy 2023-11-11 02:36 pm (UTC)(link)
About the only thing this Todd has going for him is the fact that he looks like he might actually be about 16. But uh, yeah, no way would Jessica have thrown down for that version of Todd. :p

I was gonna say stepback Sam isn't actually terrible (he's not) but he just doesn't look like Sam to me and then I remembered that in my head, Sam's always kind of been hard for me to fully conjur a mental picture. Like I get essence of Sam (that sounds gross, oops) but not a clear mental picture... though he definitely leans closer to Cult!Sam than this guy. Which is odd because I guarantee I've looked at this cover more often.

I have wondered for YEARS why there's a tv!Steven when he was never a thing on the show. He got more booktime on the foreign covers and I was fascinated... and then forgot he'd shown up on ours, too, until I double checked the arc for the John answer.

*cackles* Liz goes out in one very bright blue blaze of glory. (Am I the only one who really liked the haunting visual painted in the book when Jessica catches sight of Liz and Sam for the last time as they head through the parking lot?) But yes. Liz has moments of goodness but basically after this arc, she's the absolute worst, and it's really highlighted in parts of this one.

Todd in general also takes a nose dive in the arcs, so yeah, maybe it's best Sam avoided that fate. But today's conspiracy theory is that they offed Sam to keep Sam and Jess from having sex, especially given how often those two are at the beyond hot and heavy, gotta have a crowd around so they don't go too far point. A little drinking is bad PSA and behold, the second most remembered death in the series.
impy: tori from jackie's strength video (Default)

[personal profile] impy 2023-11-13 12:58 am (UTC)(link)
Aw, I thought Jess went after Toddles because he was popular and handsome. But maybe after 100+ books of Liz swooning over her own boyfriend (so long as she's not cheating on him in that book) I got confused.

Honestly, this book is probably why I'd forgotten Sam was meant to be blond for awhile. Curse you, ANTR!

And as far as I know, Winston is the only main character to never get a regular SVH book cover. Which has always been weird to me, especially once they did the TV covers. Like STEVEN gets a tv!cover and Winston doesn't?

And yup, it's a recurring theme in the Sam/Jessica relationship. Welcome aboard the conspiracy theory!

But yeah, no way was anyone getting busy at the end of this prom. But if you kill Sam at this prom, you don't have to worry about ~real prom~ later on. Woo?
impy: tori from jackie's strength video (Default)

[personal profile] impy 2023-11-13 02:27 am (UTC)(link)
I can just see the absolute confusion on early!Jessica's face when presented with the thought that boys have feelings/personalities/etc and are more than what they can do for you socially. Would not compute.

True on Winston. They pretty much nailed him, probably moreso than anyone else, which maybe could be because he didn't have any cover art but I like to think that for once Winston just got to win. Huzzah!
TV!Steven not being ON THE SHOW but existing for bookcovers will be the thing to drive me bonkers this week, and every time I think about it for the rest of forever, as per tradition.

You ever wonder if the neighboring areas are like, "Look, SVH is throwing yet another party and you know that means the odds of shit going down is high. Stay home, stay safe."?
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[personal profile] mkrobinson 2023-11-21 05:42 am (UTC)(link)
Ooh where are these foreign covers?
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[personal profile] impy 2023-11-21 09:08 am (UTC)(link)
Shameless plug, but for eons I posted them along with my reviews here:
https://the-oracle.dreamwidth.org/tag/book+list (the list hasn't been updated in awhile)

You can also find a fair number these days on the book's Goodreads or Librarything listing. Going through other country's versions of ebay will also turn up a fair number, depending on what's available at the time. I will forever mourn the death of the computer I used when I was actively updating my SVH reviews, as I had a ton of covers saved for when I got around to them. RIP, Erik. RIP.
impy: Pretty Little Liars Emily holding a coffee mug, looking super sweet. (PLL: Emily Sweet)

[personal profile] impy 2023-11-11 02:25 pm (UTC)(link)
And here's my long-winded ramble!
A Night to Remember certainly lives up to its title. It's been *checks* 30 years (holy shit) and certain things about the book still stand out in my memory as clear as day. The feud between the twins over something so absolutely trivial. Lila's lingering trauma courtesy of John. Bruce being his absolute worst self. Sam. Jessica spiking her sister's drink and Liz sharing that same drink with Sam. Sam.

Then there are the things time has wiped or worn away. How the feud started with Elizabeth realizing that maybe she's a little over protective and that perhaps being a little more assertive wouldn't be the worst thing ever... and then spirals rapidly out of control because the twins fixate like nobody's business.

Todd being presented as this shining beacon of a perfect boyfriend to the degree that for all fandom likes to mock Liz as Saint Elizabeth, this book has definitely leaned into the Saint Todd side of things. Perhaps to make up for his cover art. Sue, Wilkins. Sue. But anytime he's on page there's at least one reminder of what a good, kind, thoughtful and attentive boyfriend and friend he is.

Bruce is an incredible asshole this book, but it's presented as his guilt and sorrow over Regina's death having festered into something dark and ugly, looking desperately for an outlet. And it makes sense that an exceptionally spoiled rich white boy is gonna go looking for trouble in an effort to feel something, anything again. I liked his moments around Nicholas and how we ever so briefly see Bruce realize on some level what a garbage bag of a human being he's become. I fucking hate his reaction to seeing Pamela for the first time though.
Someone even more beautiful and rare.
Well, Regina's fucking dead, Bruce, so I'd say she's pretty fucking rare. You asshole, I hope that concussion you're bound to experience helps shake a few things loose in your head because at this point I'm rooting for Big Mesa. This on top of his intentionally goading Lila about John? Yeah. I'm rooting for the skull stomp.

May I say that my absolute hatred of SVH!Amy Sutton feels even more justified each time I re-read any of these books? She's well into her Project Youth arc and her reaction to Lila's date rape near miss is to wonder when Lila's going to just get over it? Fuck you, Amy. Jessica's only marginally better but I'm saving my annoyance with her for later in the book.

I do wonder why Lila was paired up with Nathan as her counselor in the first place given how jittery she is around pretty much every guy... until Jessica comments on how cute Nathan is. Words. I do not have them. Trauma does weird things, I guess.

It's been thirty years and I still do not understand why or how this was a prom and not just a school dance. I mean, I know it was so they could push the whole prom queen angle, but Prom is kind of a singular event each year. You don't traditionally have more than one per school year (at your own school, anyway), do you?

When I first started this re-read, I thought that oh, hey, the prom queen fight actually makes some sense, given Liz wanting to spread her selfish wings and the whole trip to Brazil as a prize... but it very quickly turns over the top even in the book. I will say I don't really remember younger!me thinking it was quite as dumb as any version of me who read it after knowing how it ends though, so at least on first read it probably hit just the right note of drama.
But damn, the book really did have both twins get more than a little paranoid, huh? Jessica definitely comes off the worst here, given how the book ends (Sam!) but even before taking that into consideration, she's a raging bitch for about half the book. There's a brief moment in time where she's just the right amount of self absorbed... and then it goes to hell. Basically the last third of the book has Jessica in the wrong at EVERY turn. It's exceptionally painful to read, knowing what's coming right at us.
Sam.

...there's a damn good reason no one noticed the Margo switches right off the bat, huh? Liz being such an absolute nightmare makes some of Margo's later slipups seem like nothing in comparison. Liz going in on Enid over Hugh at the basketball game is so far beyond what Liz is normally like, even on her worst days. :/ What's even worse is there are momentary glimpses of my favorite Liz: the first few books of the series Liz. She who is popular but not Jessica levels of popular. A little snarky but not cruel, a little in awe of managing to get Todd as her boyfriend, content to move in her own very small circle with Enid and company... and then she goes all in on Prom Queen and again, it all goes to hell. Well, that and everyone going on and on and on about how she'd be the perfect Prom Queen.

Gonna assume Liz has never been drunk or had much more than like, wine here and there given how she immediately gets plastered and doesn't even realize it. I'm a little surprised Sam didn't notice the punch being spiked, even after all these years. I'd forgotten how bad I felt for Todd when he sees Sam and Liz together... but that's nothing compared to how sad I feel watching/reading Sam really let loose and knowing this is the last we get of him. (We're not thinking about the Diaries, okay?)

Oh, Sam. I'm glad you had fun with Liz but I'm sorry your last week or so with Jessica was filled with Prom Queen drama. Prior to all that kicking into high gear, Sam and Jessica reminded me why he's the best of her boyfriends. He gets that she's shallow at times but knows that's not all she is. The chemistry for them is off the charts... to the point that I do wonder if that's part of why he got offed. You get an anti-drunk driving/anti drinking PSA and don't have to worry about how to break up Jessica and Sam without going over old territory because if you keep them together, they're gonna wind up having sex and we can't have that!

Eh, probably not, but lemme have my conspiracy theories.

I'd forgotten how little we see of the other Wakefield family members, which is a bit odd given we usually get their bewilderment when the twins are at each other's throats. I guess the next five and a half books will make up for that though. That said, oh, how I cringed during the picture taking scene. The agony!

Now. Who do we think Jessica voted for for Prom King?
impy: tori from jackie's strength video (Default)

[personal profile] impy 2023-11-13 01:20 am (UTC)(link)
Agreed. Todd is definitely good stuff in this book (Liz isn't worthy, especially after she gets really fixated on the crown and starts putting down her own friends).
Honestly, this is probably the best Todd's looked (on paper, not cover) in awhile. It's such a whiplash moment reading the next book because this Toddles? Would never.


it's been 50+ books since Regina died and Bruce has had Major Storylines since then, but nothing (IIRC) this dark and ugly. It's been too long to make Regina's death the *sole* reason for his garbage behavior.
I know he's just as 'charming' during his Club X days, but I'd have to go back and pay special attention to anything else to see if there's another spark. I'd wonder if maybe they decided Bruce needed an edge, over-corrected in Club X and then decided to course correct again with Pamela only there's no correction to be had here. Just raging asshole. Regina's death is a nebulous time which is both so far away in the series and still fresh as can be. One could argue that Bruce bottled his feelings and after Regina's Legacy and Amy of all people finding a happily ever after, maybe he started to spiral but that would require me to have more faith in the writers than I could truly argue is possible.

Lila's retort about his lack of a date, however, was absolute *chef's kiss* perfect.
Still laugh (or snort) out loud funny after all this time. You, Miss Fowler, are a classic.
The Bruce dig really does feel out of place given how for a moment they do seem to be in their normal antagonistic groove and then he oversteps and doesn't even care or notice. Jackass.

You already have an HS boy on board, apparently completely voluntarily, so you just need a girl? I mean, really?
You can't be sending two HS boys to Brazil, what would people think?! Think of the pearl-clutchers! But this is definitely one of those things I didn't catch the first time around and by now it's like "yeah, that makes Sweet Valley sense." Hard agree on the two weeks BS. No way, no how. Not even Saint Liz and her crew of magicians could pull off such magic. Not and have it look as magical as described. To be fair, I went to my junior prom and I don't remember it being all that ~magical~ but a trip to Brazil wasn't on the line there.

Why did she have to think such horrible things about Sam when he came to pick her up?? D:
To break our hearts! And to set up her extra guilt for the rest of the arc. But still, when she turns her head to keep from kissing him. You fool, Jessica! Cherish that boy, dammit!

Who do we think Jessica voted for for Prom King?
AJ? :D

ACCEPTED! Since she won't vote for Toddles and she can't vote for Sam, I accept that Jessica would totally see her other significant ex as the right choice.
impy: tori from jackie's strength video (Default)

[personal profile] impy 2023-11-13 02:32 am (UTC)(link)
I'm working on The Morning After since I have an eye appointment tomorrow morning and thus will be blind after, and this whole Bruce part of the arc is gonna make me miss Regina something fierce.

You can do your re-read for the new year. Bam, resolutions done already and it's not even December. You're welcome.

My superpower is finding just the right explanation for SVH fuckery and shenanigans. I really should've held out for a power that paid. :p

Jessica totally would, too. I do wonder who came in second on the vote.