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Sweet Valley High #95
The Morning After
Could the twins be split forever? A terrible accident has changed the Wakefields' lives forever. Will Jessica Wakefield ever come to terms with the tragedy?Bruce Patman has finally opened his heart to Pamela-but will he be able to ignore the malicious gossip about her wild past?When all of Sweet Valley finds out that Lila Fowler has lied about her guidance counselor, her life goes into a tailspin. Finally, Lila's desperate father brings home someone special to help Lila--the mother she never knew! But is it too little, too late?... and three thousand miles away, a troubled young woman heads west on a journey that will, change Sweet Valley forever!
118 pages, Kindle Edition
First published July 1, 1993
53 people are currently reading
391 people want to read
About the author
Francine Pascal
1,139 books1,848 followersFrancine Paula Pascal was an American author best known for her Sweet Valley series of young adult novels. Sweet Valley High, the backbone of the collection, was made into a television series, which led to several spin-offs, including The Unicorn Club and Sweet Valley University. Although most of these books were published in the 1980s and 1990s, they remained so popular that several titles were re-released decades later.
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Displaying 1 - 26 of 26 reviews
May 15, 2010
Five stars of ridiculousness... I have to read this whole "mini-series." It's crazy to me that these books were ever marketed to young readers. These characters are insane. Utterly void of sense and irredeemable in their actions. I can't get enough!
July 22, 2011
Margo is headed to Sweet Valley - and her body count in this book is one. Even though it's Jessica's fault (more or less) that her boyfriend, Sam, is dead, she is blaming Liz and not letting up for the next 6 books of this miniseries. This book was all right, but the rest of the miniseries is golden - if, for nothing else, because of Margo who, to be honest, is truly no more of a psychopath than Jessica is.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
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November 26, 2023It's been years since I re-read the books leading up to The Evil Twin, which is a yearly re-read. Part of this is because it's a serious time commitment, even though the books do fly by quickly, and part of it is because I'm not a big fan of arcs where the twins aren't speaking to one another. A lot of the charm of SVH rests on the twins and their bond, so when it's severed the books suffer.
That being said, that is the POINT of this arc and it makes sense why Jessica is keeping her distance from Elizabeth and why Elizabeth can't bring herself to try more than the weakest of efforts to bridge the gap. It's funny, but for an arc that is definitely THE jump the shark moment of the series, it's also got a fair amount of realism to ground it. Maybe that's why it's the best of the mini series books. Sad for SVH since it's also the first of the mini series format and we've got, what, 40+ more regular books to go before the series ends?
Anyway. The Morning After opens with Liz at Secca Lake and thinking she's seeing her sister, only to realize this is someone so much more dangerous than Jessica. Also, it's a dream that we're gonna repeat a lot in this arc so get your dream journals ready for that.
I tried to figure out how far out we are from the Jungle Prom and Sam's death, and at best I think we're actually at the following Wednesday, which means Sam got buried QUICK, as we skip his funeral much as Jessica did. I get why we did, as it'd probably be very hard to incorporate that into what else is going on in The Morning After but also it helps keep things topsy turvy and unfinished on any level. Neither of the twins are really speaking to each other and both are due to guilt. Elizabeth feels terrible that not only did she somehow wind up drunk driving but that she KILLED her sister's boyfriend (and her own friend!) and can't remember a damn thing about it beyond flashes. Jessica hides her guilt behind a wall of simmering anger at her sister for killing her boyfriend and she refuses to look any further than this because she knows the second she does, she's going to find herself at fault far moreso than anyone else... and she's not ready to face that particular demon. So she shuts her sister out completely and moves through the rest of her life like a ghost of her former self. Again, it's been a few days so uh, that's to be expected.
To keep this from being too painfully somber, we've got a few sideplots. There's Bruce Patman, gift of the tennis gods himself falling all over a mystery girl from rival Big Mesa and I alternated between absolutely HATING Bruce and laughing at his utter arrogance. It tickles me to no end that his fantasies involving Pamela seem to revolve around her serving him cliche rich people food that he pushes aside in order to make out with her instead. Hysterical the way he gets hot and bothered by the idea of her spreading caviar on a cracker. Also hysterical is him being absolutely certain that two nobodies from Big Mesa must know who he is, not because he's richer than fuck, but because he's such a good tennis player.
In his quest to find/properly meet Pamela, Bruce is oblivious to the various snide comments everyone makes about her, chalking them up to jealousy for the most part. It's not until he's already gone on an actual date with her and is discussing her at school that Amy lets him know just what kind of reputation Pamela has. Let the record state that Amy Sutton of all people has NO room to talk and Bruce? Has no room to judge. But judge he does when he goes to Pamela's and finds her coming home from a rowdy date with someone else. Oh noes, not!Regina isn't the angel that fandom remembers Regina to be. It's weird how similar looking Regina and Pamela are described as being, and yet Bruce brushes aside Regina's memory even as the story wants us to believe that Bruce's recent douchebaggery is a result of his guilt over Regina's untimely death. Which, btw, I'm all for, but having him think of Regina and then immediately decide that Pamela, someone he doesn't even KNOW at this point, is so much better? Fuck off with that noise, Patman. This is why no one likes your ass. (Btw, ghosty? I'd never consider Bruce and Ken close friends. Like... ever.)
So, basically Bruce is making an ass of himself over a girl and trying desperately not to deal with his own guilt and rage.
Then there's Olivia. You remember Olivia, right? The artsy one who is sometimes on the outside of the SVH incrowd, sometimes on the inside depending on what the story needs? Well, she's broken up with her latest boyfriend and is on the lookout for a new one. In the meantime, her artwork is getting attention from her teachers, classmates, and apparently a buyer willing to shell out $1000 for one of her paintings. To the surprise of absolutely none of the readers, the buyer is the classmate who keeps giving her puppy dog eyes in class. I vaguely remember this guy but had totally forgotten how they got together, so that's fun.
Because Liv got coupled up real quick, we need to loop in someone else. Enter Nicholas Morrow, tragically dead Regina's older brother and basically the anti-Bruce Patman. He and Andrea have broken up (which is a good thing since she spent the entirety of A Night to Remember being Bruce's doormat) and he's feeling lonely since no one else in town seems to be giving him a second glance. I really wish the series had figured out something to do with Nicholas because I've had a soft spot for him for entirely too long. Instead, Liv signs him up for the popular dating show Hunks and hilarious hijinks are sure to ensue in the coming books.
I'm going to take a moment to point out that for all the times Todd is mentioned this book, we don't really see him on page. It's particularly jarring given how close he and Liz normally are and how he was acting in the previous book. Even going with the assumption that he's weirded out by drunk!Liz inadvertently killing Sam after maybe, possibly kinda cheating on Todd (with what, Toddles, a hug? At a dance?) it's still very odd since Todd was practically being given Sainthood in ANTR.
Then there's Lila. Lila's subplot isn't any less heavy than the twins' and it's probably handled as best as SVH is ever going to handle it. I'm not sure I really buy that her father hasn't heard anything about John's attemped date rape, but damned if these books don't stick to that. Even as they have him called in to school to discuss her allegations against her counselor, no one thinks to mention John? Really? Fucking weird, Chrome Dome. Also, I know it's 1993, but the idea of having to tell your side of the story in front of the party you're accusing of attempting to take advantage of you is just the biggest of yikes. The book does think to comment on how it's a bunch of dudes and Lila in a room and how weird that is, but not the "so tell us all what this dude right here allegedly did to you. In detail. Right in front of him. K?" aspect. Since Nathan didn't actually do anything, we get Lila realizing this and breaking down as she wonders what the hell's wrong with her and how will she ever be anything close to normal again.
With the subtlety of a sledgehammer, Lila wishes for her mother because of course her mother could make everything okay. I mean... you haven't seen her in like eight years but okay. George Fowler comes to the same conclusion and makes arrangements for Grace fucking Fowler to finally return to Sweet Valley after a mysterious comment about how he sent her away before. Dun dun DUN.
Kid!me was all over the idea of meeting Lila's mother. Would she be amazing? Would she be terrible? Would she magically heal the hole in Lila's heart?! I could not wait to find out. Adult!me is a little iffy on the whole "look, we can fix some serious trauma just by bringing Mommy home. It's gonna be FANTASTIC." angle.
Before we get to the reason we're all here, I should mention that Liz spends the whole book feeling super, super guilty to the point that she's sure the law is gonna figure out just how guilty she is. I mean, Sam's DEAD and he's not Jessica's boyfriend that defies death so there will be consequences. Everyone tries to assure Elizabeth that's just her misplaced guilt talking, to the point that Liz and Steven have a heart to heart about this right before he leaves to head back to SVU and almost as soon as he's out of town, the cops do indeed come a knockin' with questions.
My favorite part of this whole book is how it deals with Jessica. She's cold and aloof and still simmering with rage anytime she's reminded that Sam died while with Elizabeth. There's a brief moment in the beginning of the book where you might be tempted to wonder if Jessica's slipped completely over to psychotic twin status and forgotten her role in this whole mess but we quickly realize nope. Her rage and anger at her sister are all so she doesn't have to take a moment to look beyond that and deal with the part she played in Sam's senseless and tragic death. Jessica keeps up her anger at Elizabeth because it's easier than aiming that pain at the Wakefield twin that really deserves it. Even with her breakdown at Sam's grave being the teaser at the start of the book, it's still heartbreaking when she finds herself unable to show up at the big bike race Sam was training for prior to his death and instead goes to the cemetery to visit him for the first time. Seriously, heartbreaking.
And now the reason we're all here. Enter Margo. You either know damn well who she is or you're gonna find the fuck out because she's a force to be reckoned with. Does the ghosty hit the crazy cliche buttons hard? Yup. Did it work? Yup. It's been thirty years and I still remember Margo choosing, time and time again, to set her little foster sister Nina up with a faulty toaster and a metal butter knife, in a kitchen doused in kerosene. There's a brief moment, after Margo's decided to leave her life of neglect behind and strike out on her own, where she considers either taking Nina or just not killing her (or having Nina set the spark that'll ultimately doom her)... and then the moment passes and Margo sets that kid up for an awful, terrifying death.
Margo makes her way to Ohio where she manages to sweet talk her way into being a nanny for a very rich little boy named Georgie. Good luck, kid. You're gonna need it.
It's interesting to see how many of these sideplots aren't even a thing by the end of the arc and yet how much time they take up here.
That being said, that is the POINT of this arc and it makes sense why Jessica is keeping her distance from Elizabeth and why Elizabeth can't bring herself to try more than the weakest of efforts to bridge the gap. It's funny, but for an arc that is definitely THE jump the shark moment of the series, it's also got a fair amount of realism to ground it. Maybe that's why it's the best of the mini series books. Sad for SVH since it's also the first of the mini series format and we've got, what, 40+ more regular books to go before the series ends?
Anyway. The Morning After opens with Liz at Secca Lake and thinking she's seeing her sister, only to realize this is someone so much more dangerous than Jessica. Also, it's a dream that we're gonna repeat a lot in this arc so get your dream journals ready for that.
I tried to figure out how far out we are from the Jungle Prom and Sam's death, and at best I think we're actually at the following Wednesday, which means Sam got buried QUICK, as we skip his funeral much as Jessica did. I get why we did, as it'd probably be very hard to incorporate that into what else is going on in The Morning After but also it helps keep things topsy turvy and unfinished on any level. Neither of the twins are really speaking to each other and both are due to guilt. Elizabeth feels terrible that not only did she somehow wind up drunk driving but that she KILLED her sister's boyfriend (and her own friend!) and can't remember a damn thing about it beyond flashes. Jessica hides her guilt behind a wall of simmering anger at her sister for killing her boyfriend and she refuses to look any further than this because she knows the second she does, she's going to find herself at fault far moreso than anyone else... and she's not ready to face that particular demon. So she shuts her sister out completely and moves through the rest of her life like a ghost of her former self. Again, it's been a few days so uh, that's to be expected.
To keep this from being too painfully somber, we've got a few sideplots. There's Bruce Patman, gift of the tennis gods himself falling all over a mystery girl from rival Big Mesa and I alternated between absolutely HATING Bruce and laughing at his utter arrogance. It tickles me to no end that his fantasies involving Pamela seem to revolve around her serving him cliche rich people food that he pushes aside in order to make out with her instead. Hysterical the way he gets hot and bothered by the idea of her spreading caviar on a cracker. Also hysterical is him being absolutely certain that two nobodies from Big Mesa must know who he is, not because he's richer than fuck, but because he's such a good tennis player.
In his quest to find/properly meet Pamela, Bruce is oblivious to the various snide comments everyone makes about her, chalking them up to jealousy for the most part. It's not until he's already gone on an actual date with her and is discussing her at school that Amy lets him know just what kind of reputation Pamela has. Let the record state that Amy Sutton of all people has NO room to talk and Bruce? Has no room to judge. But judge he does when he goes to Pamela's and finds her coming home from a rowdy date with someone else. Oh noes, not!Regina isn't the angel that fandom remembers Regina to be. It's weird how similar looking Regina and Pamela are described as being, and yet Bruce brushes aside Regina's memory even as the story wants us to believe that Bruce's recent douchebaggery is a result of his guilt over Regina's untimely death. Which, btw, I'm all for, but having him think of Regina and then immediately decide that Pamela, someone he doesn't even KNOW at this point, is so much better? Fuck off with that noise, Patman. This is why no one likes your ass. (Btw, ghosty? I'd never consider Bruce and Ken close friends. Like... ever.)
So, basically Bruce is making an ass of himself over a girl and trying desperately not to deal with his own guilt and rage.
Then there's Olivia. You remember Olivia, right? The artsy one who is sometimes on the outside of the SVH incrowd, sometimes on the inside depending on what the story needs? Well, she's broken up with her latest boyfriend and is on the lookout for a new one. In the meantime, her artwork is getting attention from her teachers, classmates, and apparently a buyer willing to shell out $1000 for one of her paintings. To the surprise of absolutely none of the readers, the buyer is the classmate who keeps giving her puppy dog eyes in class. I vaguely remember this guy but had totally forgotten how they got together, so that's fun.
Because Liv got coupled up real quick, we need to loop in someone else. Enter Nicholas Morrow, tragically dead Regina's older brother and basically the anti-Bruce Patman. He and Andrea have broken up (which is a good thing since she spent the entirety of A Night to Remember being Bruce's doormat) and he's feeling lonely since no one else in town seems to be giving him a second glance. I really wish the series had figured out something to do with Nicholas because I've had a soft spot for him for entirely too long. Instead, Liv signs him up for the popular dating show Hunks and hilarious hijinks are sure to ensue in the coming books.
I'm going to take a moment to point out that for all the times Todd is mentioned this book, we don't really see him on page. It's particularly jarring given how close he and Liz normally are and how he was acting in the previous book. Even going with the assumption that he's weirded out by drunk!Liz inadvertently killing Sam after maybe, possibly kinda cheating on Todd (with what, Toddles, a hug? At a dance?) it's still very odd since Todd was practically being given Sainthood in ANTR.
Then there's Lila. Lila's subplot isn't any less heavy than the twins' and it's probably handled as best as SVH is ever going to handle it. I'm not sure I really buy that her father hasn't heard anything about John's attemped date rape, but damned if these books don't stick to that. Even as they have him called in to school to discuss her allegations against her counselor, no one thinks to mention John? Really? Fucking weird, Chrome Dome. Also, I know it's 1993, but the idea of having to tell your side of the story in front of the party you're accusing of attempting to take advantage of you is just the biggest of yikes. The book does think to comment on how it's a bunch of dudes and Lila in a room and how weird that is, but not the "so tell us all what this dude right here allegedly did to you. In detail. Right in front of him. K?" aspect. Since Nathan didn't actually do anything, we get Lila realizing this and breaking down as she wonders what the hell's wrong with her and how will she ever be anything close to normal again.
With the subtlety of a sledgehammer, Lila wishes for her mother because of course her mother could make everything okay. I mean... you haven't seen her in like eight years but okay. George Fowler comes to the same conclusion and makes arrangements for Grace fucking Fowler to finally return to Sweet Valley after a mysterious comment about how he sent her away before. Dun dun DUN.
Kid!me was all over the idea of meeting Lila's mother. Would she be amazing? Would she be terrible? Would she magically heal the hole in Lila's heart?! I could not wait to find out. Adult!me is a little iffy on the whole "look, we can fix some serious trauma just by bringing Mommy home. It's gonna be FANTASTIC." angle.
Before we get to the reason we're all here, I should mention that Liz spends the whole book feeling super, super guilty to the point that she's sure the law is gonna figure out just how guilty she is. I mean, Sam's DEAD and he's not Jessica's boyfriend that defies death so there will be consequences. Everyone tries to assure Elizabeth that's just her misplaced guilt talking, to the point that Liz and Steven have a heart to heart about this right before he leaves to head back to SVU and almost as soon as he's out of town, the cops do indeed come a knockin' with questions.
My favorite part of this whole book is how it deals with Jessica. She's cold and aloof and still simmering with rage anytime she's reminded that Sam died while with Elizabeth. There's a brief moment in the beginning of the book where you might be tempted to wonder if Jessica's slipped completely over to psychotic twin status and forgotten her role in this whole mess but we quickly realize nope. Her rage and anger at her sister are all so she doesn't have to take a moment to look beyond that and deal with the part she played in Sam's senseless and tragic death. Jessica keeps up her anger at Elizabeth because it's easier than aiming that pain at the Wakefield twin that really deserves it. Even with her breakdown at Sam's grave being the teaser at the start of the book, it's still heartbreaking when she finds herself unable to show up at the big bike race Sam was training for prior to his death and instead goes to the cemetery to visit him for the first time. Seriously, heartbreaking.
And now the reason we're all here. Enter Margo. You either know damn well who she is or you're gonna find the fuck out because she's a force to be reckoned with. Does the ghosty hit the crazy cliche buttons hard? Yup. Did it work? Yup. It's been thirty years and I still remember Margo choosing, time and time again, to set her little foster sister Nina up with a faulty toaster and a metal butter knife, in a kitchen doused in kerosene. There's a brief moment, after Margo's decided to leave her life of neglect behind and strike out on her own, where she considers either taking Nina or just not killing her (or having Nina set the spark that'll ultimately doom her)... and then the moment passes and Margo sets that kid up for an awful, terrifying death.
Margo makes her way to Ohio where she manages to sweet talk her way into being a nanny for a very rich little boy named Georgie. Good luck, kid. You're gonna need it.
It's interesting to see how many of these sideplots aren't even a thing by the end of the arc and yet how much time they take up here.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 10, 2016
The first book in a six part mini series.
Well. This is where they must have decided to do an SVH reboot because this book is quite different – and larger! – than the SVH books that have come before. This was more reminiscent of some of the SVH Thriller specials, but more focused on the drama than the thriller moments.
I unfortunately didn’t have a copy of the book that came before, so missed what happened at the Jungle Prom, but there was a good enough recap for me to follow along quite happily and not feel like I missed much.
So this was very dramatic, and had a much darker feel to it with the twins and Lila all being in pretty bad places. My favourite part of the book, to be honest, were actually the Bruce and Pamela parts – it kinda lightened the book a bit and also it held the charm of when Bruce fell for Regina earlier in the series.
Definitely a meatier read than the SVH books that have come before and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the mini series to see how it all pans out.
Well. This is where they must have decided to do an SVH reboot because this book is quite different – and larger! – than the SVH books that have come before. This was more reminiscent of some of the SVH Thriller specials, but more focused on the drama than the thriller moments.
I unfortunately didn’t have a copy of the book that came before, so missed what happened at the Jungle Prom, but there was a good enough recap for me to follow along quite happily and not feel like I missed much.
So this was very dramatic, and had a much darker feel to it with the twins and Lila all being in pretty bad places. My favourite part of the book, to be honest, were actually the Bruce and Pamela parts – it kinda lightened the book a bit and also it held the charm of when Bruce fell for Regina earlier in the series.
Definitely a meatier read than the SVH books that have come before and I’m looking forward to reading the rest of the mini series to see how it all pans out.
November 20, 2023
What I remember most about this book: being SUPER EXCITED to finally meet Lila's mother! In fact, I'm pretty sure that the first SVH book I bought after I gave away my original collection was #98, but we'll get to that when we get to that.
First of all, let me say that I'm still pretty damned impressed with the writing in this book. It is just as strong as A Night to Remember, which is no small feat, because that book was pretty impressive on its own and hard to follow up. But this one picks up right where the last one left off, even if the title is a complete and utter misnomer.
By my count, there at least six plots happening at the same time, so let's dig right in, starting with the happiest of the bunch:
(1) Olivia Davidson is probably the only person at SVH who's not under the collective cloud of depression after the disastrous Jungle Prom. This is likely because she actually has outside interests that she can turn to, in order to get away from the surreality of it all. She is taking a night class in watercolors at Forester Art School, a class she had to be selected for on the strength of her portfolio. One evening, she learns that her work (out of the entire class) has been chosen for a school-wide art exhibit. Then she receives even better news: someone wants to buy her painting for $1,000! The buyer has requested that she give a speech at a gathering of the Coastal California Art Foundation, which is apparently located in a residential section of Bridgewater. Olivia arrives, only to discover that she's meeting the buyer of her artwork, a fellow student named Harry Minton. He'd thought up this elaborate ruse so that he could speak to her alone instead of just, like, saying something to her in class. Olivia forgives his creepiness because she thinks he's cute and funny, but IDK. Maybe it's because I am An Old, but I didn't find this nearly as meet-cute as it was apparently supposed to be. But hey, good for Olivia! Apparently she hasn't dated since her boyfriend moved to Paris to study art (a plotline that has completely escaped my memory), so good on her for getting some happiness in this otherwise gloomy world!
(2) Olivia and Nicholas Morrow are apparently good friends, and they spend some time in this book commisterating over their lack of a social life. I'd also forgotten that Nicholas and Andrea Slade were A Thing, but now they're over and Nicholas is wondering what he's doing wrong because he can't get a date to save his life. After Olivia shares her happy meet-cute story with him one morning at breakfast, she spies an ad for a new dating game called HUNKS, which is casting about for contestants ages 18-25. Nicholas told Olivia he'd take even a bizarre way to meet a new girl, so she takes him at his word and decides to sign him up. Steven Wakefield is also aware of HUNKS, having mentioned it earlier in the book and that they were advertising at SVU to rustle up contestants, so obviously this is going to be our ongoing comic relief plotline in this miniseries. My question is, why did they have to pick on poor Nicholas for this??
(3) Bruce Patman is on the look out for the dream girl that saved him from getting his head bashed in during the riot after the Jungle Prom. He finally deduces that she's likely a Big Mesa student, so he actually goes to the high school and hangs around, hoping for a glimpse of her. He learns her name after asking some students about her, including that she's on the tennis team (swoon!). She's actually at a tournament at the start of the book, so he has to wait a whole week to meet her, but when he finally does, she's just about everything he could've ever dreamed of. She's gorgeous, sleek, beautiful, modest, and a great tennis player. The two go out a couple of times and enjoy themselves, but Bruce soon starts hearing some rather snide remarks about Pamela's reputation, including a downright nasty accusation from Amy Sutton. He tries to dismiss these from his mind, but unfortunately comes up against it when he shows up unannounced at Pamela's house one morning, only to see her drive up in a gold Trans Am with her clothes and hair mussed, and some other dude grabbing her and kissing her. This little display has sealed Easy Pammy as The Slut in Bruce's mind and he stomps off before she can offer an explanation (but not before she declares her love for him after three dates).
(4) Lila is in real trouble after making her false accusation against Nathan Pritchard. Apparently the meeting between Lila, Nathan, Chrome Dome, and her father is the first that Mr Fowler has heard about any of this, and he is supremely confused. Lila didn't tell him about her trouble with John Pfeifer or that she was seeking counseling, and she has drawn even further away since she admitted that he didn't attack her at the prom. Lila has stopped going to school, talking to her friends, showering, or do anything other than sitting at her bedroom window and contemplating jumping into the swimming pool at Fowler Crest. She feels lost, helpless, and confused, and wishes nothing more than to have a mother she could confide in. George independently comes to the same conclusion and Makes the Call to Paris to get in touch with his ex-wife about their daughter. Lila is so happy when he tells her that Grace is coming back that she flies into his arms and cries. George cries, too. It's all very sweet, but I did not miss the part where George muses that he sent Grace away when Lila was a baby. Why did he do this??
(5) If Lila is depressed, Jessica is in deep mourning. She couldn't bear to attend Sam's funeral, and backs out at the last minute from going to the memorial services being held at the big dirtbike rally in Sam's honor. She visits his grave for the first time and just comes completely apart. She is incredibly sad, and also incredibly guilty. She acknowledges that she is ultimately responsible for Sam's death, as much as she wants to blame Liz, because she spiked the punch. She knows what she did, and she watches her parents stand by Liz and feels like if they knew the truth, they'd hate her for what she did to their 'good' daughter. The passages about Jessica are absolutely heart-wrenching to read. She, too, has withdrawn from her friends and her family - the only person who seems to care is Todd, but she hasn't recognized this...yet.
(6) Liz has absolutely no memory of what happened at the prom, or after. She's having nightmares about the accident, and is out of school for a week. Jessica is no longer speaking to her, and neither is Todd. Liz feels hurt, alone, and confused. She knows that she is responsible for Sam's death, and is expecting the law to eventually come down on her, too. She doesn't know why Todd has turned away from her, but his silence hurts, on top of everything else. At the end of this book, the police arrive to question her. They tell her that both her and Sam's blood alcohol levels were well above the legal limit, and that it's obvious from the position of his body at the crash site, that Liz was driving the Jeep. They put her under arrest for involuntary manslaughter, but because she is a Wakefield (her father being a prominent and well-respected attorney) and an honor student, the police agree to let her father drive her to the station for the booking, making the cover of the next book a life. Jessica is strangled with guilt and grief during this meeting (convinced that the police are there for her, because they know she spiked the punch), but says nothing.
The Wakefield family has completely fallen apart, with only Steven, home on weekends, still trying to hold everyone together. Mr and Mrs Wakefield are, perhaps naturally, at a loss of what to do for their daughters, who refuse to speak to each other or much to them. Perhaps this is realistic at this point - they don't want to take sides when the wounds are still so raw for both girls and risk isolating one or both of them. Liz's arrest, however, is going to bring this to a head.
Liz is also having a disturbing, recurring dream about meeting her twin at Secca Lake, only this twin has long dark hair, ice cold eyes, and is wielding a knife at her.
(7) We are introduced to Margo in this book, as a sullen teen living in the basement of a ramshackle house on Long Island with her foster family, whom she despises. She's been in foster care all her life and is extremely cynical about it. No one has ever cared about her and she's hardened her heart accordingly. She wants nothing more than to escape and forge her own path in life, and she's been slowly building up a cache of money by stealing from her current guardians. She has a little six-year-old foster sibling, Nina, who at turns adores and is terrified of her. Margo also gets nasty headaches and hears a raspy voice in her head, urging her to get out. She momentarily contemplates taking Nina with her but quickly squashes the notion. Instead, she lives Nina alone and hungry one night with a malfunctioning toaster and a butter knife. Margo disguises herself, locks all the doors from the outside, and walks away as the house erupts in flames. She sticks around long enough to figure out if anyone will miss her (they only found the charred remains of the little girl, not the teenager), then takes the bus to Cleveland for the next step in her plan.
In Cleveland, she is hired as a baby-sitter/au pair for little Georgie Rossi. Margo spins a sob story about losing her parents and moving to Cleveland to live with a sister, and needing the money for community college. Mrs Rossi is a complete pushover, and gives her money in advance. Margo also filches a ring from the wealthy Shaker Heights home. She scares Georgie into submission on the first afternoon, and makes a decision to stay away from Georgie's cute bad boy older brother, Josh. At the end of the book, she hears a train whistle, and the raspy voice tells her to head for California. Southern California, where it's warm and the beaches are golden, and she vows to do just that.
That's a lot of plot to pack into 3 1/2 weeks of time and a 215 page book. All of the plot strands are given equal time in the forefront, and it's just really nicely done. Whoever planned this series really put some thought into it, which is perhaps why it is TGMOAT =)
First of all, let me say that I'm still pretty damned impressed with the writing in this book. It is just as strong as A Night to Remember, which is no small feat, because that book was pretty impressive on its own and hard to follow up. But this one picks up right where the last one left off, even if the title is a complete and utter misnomer.
By my count, there at least six plots happening at the same time, so let's dig right in, starting with the happiest of the bunch:
(1) Olivia Davidson is probably the only person at SVH who's not under the collective cloud of depression after the disastrous Jungle Prom. This is likely because she actually has outside interests that she can turn to, in order to get away from the surreality of it all. She is taking a night class in watercolors at Forester Art School, a class she had to be selected for on the strength of her portfolio. One evening, she learns that her work (out of the entire class) has been chosen for a school-wide art exhibit. Then she receives even better news: someone wants to buy her painting for $1,000! The buyer has requested that she give a speech at a gathering of the Coastal California Art Foundation, which is apparently located in a residential section of Bridgewater. Olivia arrives, only to discover that she's meeting the buyer of her artwork, a fellow student named Harry Minton. He'd thought up this elaborate ruse so that he could speak to her alone instead of just, like, saying something to her in class. Olivia forgives his creepiness because she thinks he's cute and funny, but IDK. Maybe it's because I am An Old, but I didn't find this nearly as meet-cute as it was apparently supposed to be. But hey, good for Olivia! Apparently she hasn't dated since her boyfriend moved to Paris to study art (a plotline that has completely escaped my memory), so good on her for getting some happiness in this otherwise gloomy world!
(2) Olivia and Nicholas Morrow are apparently good friends, and they spend some time in this book commisterating over their lack of a social life. I'd also forgotten that Nicholas and Andrea Slade were A Thing, but now they're over and Nicholas is wondering what he's doing wrong because he can't get a date to save his life. After Olivia shares her happy meet-cute story with him one morning at breakfast, she spies an ad for a new dating game called HUNKS, which is casting about for contestants ages 18-25. Nicholas told Olivia he'd take even a bizarre way to meet a new girl, so she takes him at his word and decides to sign him up. Steven Wakefield is also aware of HUNKS, having mentioned it earlier in the book and that they were advertising at SVU to rustle up contestants, so obviously this is going to be our ongoing comic relief plotline in this miniseries. My question is, why did they have to pick on poor Nicholas for this??
(3) Bruce Patman is on the look out for the dream girl that saved him from getting his head bashed in during the riot after the Jungle Prom. He finally deduces that she's likely a Big Mesa student, so he actually goes to the high school and hangs around, hoping for a glimpse of her. He learns her name after asking some students about her, including that she's on the tennis team (swoon!). She's actually at a tournament at the start of the book, so he has to wait a whole week to meet her, but when he finally does, she's just about everything he could've ever dreamed of. She's gorgeous, sleek, beautiful, modest, and a great tennis player. The two go out a couple of times and enjoy themselves, but Bruce soon starts hearing some rather snide remarks about Pamela's reputation, including a downright nasty accusation from Amy Sutton. He tries to dismiss these from his mind, but unfortunately comes up against it when he shows up unannounced at Pamela's house one morning, only to see her drive up in a gold Trans Am with her clothes and hair mussed, and some other dude grabbing her and kissing her. This little display has sealed Easy Pammy as The Slut in Bruce's mind and he stomps off before she can offer an explanation (but not before she declares her love for him after three dates).
(4) Lila is in real trouble after making her false accusation against Nathan Pritchard. Apparently the meeting between Lila, Nathan, Chrome Dome, and her father is the first that Mr Fowler has heard about any of this, and he is supremely confused. Lila didn't tell him about her trouble with John Pfeifer or that she was seeking counseling, and she has drawn even further away since she admitted that he didn't attack her at the prom. Lila has stopped going to school, talking to her friends, showering, or do anything other than sitting at her bedroom window and contemplating jumping into the swimming pool at Fowler Crest. She feels lost, helpless, and confused, and wishes nothing more than to have a mother she could confide in. George independently comes to the same conclusion and Makes the Call to Paris to get in touch with his ex-wife about their daughter. Lila is so happy when he tells her that Grace is coming back that she flies into his arms and cries. George cries, too. It's all very sweet, but I did not miss the part where George muses that he sent Grace away when Lila was a baby. Why did he do this??
(5) If Lila is depressed, Jessica is in deep mourning. She couldn't bear to attend Sam's funeral, and backs out at the last minute from going to the memorial services being held at the big dirtbike rally in Sam's honor. She visits his grave for the first time and just comes completely apart. She is incredibly sad, and also incredibly guilty. She acknowledges that she is ultimately responsible for Sam's death, as much as she wants to blame Liz, because she spiked the punch. She knows what she did, and she watches her parents stand by Liz and feels like if they knew the truth, they'd hate her for what she did to their 'good' daughter. The passages about Jessica are absolutely heart-wrenching to read. She, too, has withdrawn from her friends and her family - the only person who seems to care is Todd, but she hasn't recognized this...yet.
(6) Liz has absolutely no memory of what happened at the prom, or after. She's having nightmares about the accident, and is out of school for a week. Jessica is no longer speaking to her, and neither is Todd. Liz feels hurt, alone, and confused. She knows that she is responsible for Sam's death, and is expecting the law to eventually come down on her, too. She doesn't know why Todd has turned away from her, but his silence hurts, on top of everything else. At the end of this book, the police arrive to question her. They tell her that both her and Sam's blood alcohol levels were well above the legal limit, and that it's obvious from the position of his body at the crash site, that Liz was driving the Jeep. They put her under arrest for involuntary manslaughter, but because she is a Wakefield (her father being a prominent and well-respected attorney) and an honor student, the police agree to let her father drive her to the station for the booking, making the cover of the next book a life. Jessica is strangled with guilt and grief during this meeting (convinced that the police are there for her, because they know she spiked the punch), but says nothing.
The Wakefield family has completely fallen apart, with only Steven, home on weekends, still trying to hold everyone together. Mr and Mrs Wakefield are, perhaps naturally, at a loss of what to do for their daughters, who refuse to speak to each other or much to them. Perhaps this is realistic at this point - they don't want to take sides when the wounds are still so raw for both girls and risk isolating one or both of them. Liz's arrest, however, is going to bring this to a head.
Liz is also having a disturbing, recurring dream about meeting her twin at Secca Lake, only this twin has long dark hair, ice cold eyes, and is wielding a knife at her.
(7) We are introduced to Margo in this book, as a sullen teen living in the basement of a ramshackle house on Long Island with her foster family, whom she despises. She's been in foster care all her life and is extremely cynical about it. No one has ever cared about her and she's hardened her heart accordingly. She wants nothing more than to escape and forge her own path in life, and she's been slowly building up a cache of money by stealing from her current guardians. She has a little six-year-old foster sibling, Nina, who at turns adores and is terrified of her. Margo also gets nasty headaches and hears a raspy voice in her head, urging her to get out. She momentarily contemplates taking Nina with her but quickly squashes the notion. Instead, she lives Nina alone and hungry one night with a malfunctioning toaster and a butter knife. Margo disguises herself, locks all the doors from the outside, and walks away as the house erupts in flames. She sticks around long enough to figure out if anyone will miss her (they only found the charred remains of the little girl, not the teenager), then takes the bus to Cleveland for the next step in her plan.
In Cleveland, she is hired as a baby-sitter/au pair for little Georgie Rossi. Margo spins a sob story about losing her parents and moving to Cleveland to live with a sister, and needing the money for community college. Mrs Rossi is a complete pushover, and gives her money in advance. Margo also filches a ring from the wealthy Shaker Heights home. She scares Georgie into submission on the first afternoon, and makes a decision to stay away from Georgie's cute bad boy older brother, Josh. At the end of the book, she hears a train whistle, and the raspy voice tells her to head for California. Southern California, where it's warm and the beaches are golden, and she vows to do just that.
That's a lot of plot to pack into 3 1/2 weeks of time and a 215 page book. All of the plot strands are given equal time in the forefront, and it's just really nicely done. Whoever planned this series really put some thought into it, which is perhaps why it is TGMOAT =)
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April 17, 2025The Morning After
Liz has a dream she’s at Secca Lake but everything is eerily still. There’s a figure in the distance that at first she thinks is Jessica, but as she turns to face her, the girls eyes are cold. There’s something in her right hand. It’s a knife and she whips off her hat and it’s midnight black. The girl starts to come at Liz and she screams and wakes up.
Then we get some background. Sam Woodruff is now dead. Liz planned their prom to have a Jungle theme as a way to benefit “Save the Rainforest”. She and Jessica were going at it hard over who’d be Prom Queen. Liz really can’t remember the accent all that well. When the police showed up she was wandering around and Sam was dead. At the funeral, Liz really doesn’t say anything to anyone. She thinks Sam’s parents are probably accusing her. She’s rigid with her friends and Enid and Todd gives her a brief greeting and hurries away.
Jessica was the first at the accident and had needed sedation. She didn’t even attend the funeral. Now there’s a huge riff between the twins. Jessica hasn’t spoken to her since the accident and Liz doesn’t really blame her. Liz tries to talk to Jessica but she shuts the connecting bathroom door they share and she goes back into her room. For a brief second, Jessica feels bad because Liz’s suffering is getting worse. They could be helping each other get through this but no. She quickly decides she doesn’t need Liz’s help and Liz doesn’t deserve to feel better. She killed Sam!
Bruce is fantasizing about the perfect day at Secca Lake-having a picnic with a beautiful girl- but a horn brings him out of his daydream. Then he starts to think about the song playing and following Big Mesa out. Then he thinks about Sam. He didn’t know him well but he seemed to be a nice guy. Then his thoughts turn to Lila and her accusations against the school conselor and how no one knows that to make of it. By the time a teacher found her screaming in a classroom, Bruce was unconscious on the football field.
He thinks about all the tension that lead up to it. Someone was standing over him with a baseball bat and then *she* saved his life. He only remembers she had her voice, black hair, and blue eyes. So, he has no idea how to find her and he’s not one to chase girls. He tells himself forget her. It’s not like he’s hurting for female’s attention but he knows he won’t be able to stop thinking of his “Cinderella”. He decides to hang around Big Mesa every day until he finds her. Even if it means he’ll get pulverized by the guy with the bat.
Lila is back at school for the first time since the prom. She wonders if her classmates think she made the whole thing up. She wishes she could call Jessica to take her mind off her problems, but Jessica’s problems right now or worse. She knows her friends believe her but after what happened with John her classmates won’t believe it happened a second time. She writes about how Nathan Pritchett had only tried to help her since John. She wonders if it was a misunderstanding or if it was her fault.
Lila starts to write out her feelings about wishing she could have parents like her friends. Lila meets with Mrs. Cooper and he says he needs to talk with her father. Lila has no idea about the trip he was about to take to Amsterdam but pretends she does and says Wednesday is fine. Then she finds out Mr. Pritchett will also be in attendance. He assures her she’ll have all the help she needs to get through this.
We’re introduced to Margo who lives in a foster home and hates kids. She has a little sister named Nine that looks up to her. Margo’s told her sister that she’d be outside, but she’s in her basement room. Her sister doesn’t even consider she lied to her. She decides a good way to describe herself is as a poisonous snake(although she hates snakes). Then it tells us all the things she’s hated (including foster families). She’s also tired of pretending to be a grateful foster child and being hit. But she says it’s all about to end. She stole 20.00 from her foster mother and bought a bus ticket. She just needs a few missing pieces.
Cleveland is just a temporary stop. She wants to go somewhere sunny and beautiful. Only there’s Nina to worry about. A voice tells her it can’t be helped. Nina spied on her so what happens to her next is on her. Liz goes back to school and is greeted by Enid and approached by Todd. He speaks and then rushes off. Liz thinks about how Todd was mad at her before the dance and how competive she was. Now he hates her because of Sam. Enid says give him time. She rushes into the bathroom and cries.
After unsuccessfully not knowing what to say to Jessica, Amy tells Jessica and Lila Bruce is chasing after some girl that doesn’t know he’s alive. Bruce stops by the table and Amy teases him about the girl he’s got the hots for but Bruce tells her coldly to leave it alone and he storms off. Amy tries to make Lila feel better by suggesting a mall trip but she says she has a meeting. The others are also busy. Annie asks Jessica to give Liz a message about her coming over but Jessica tells her tell her herself. Bruce isn’t having much luck finding the girl. He asks two girls and asks about her. They say it sounds like he’s looking for Pamela Robertson but they say they don’t know where she is. They walk off and start laughing. Bruce thinks it’s because they know he’s from SVH, but no… They probably know him from playing tennis. Another boy says if he finds her let them know.
A boy admires his car and introduces himself as Edwin. Bruce thinks he might be new but maybe he could help him track down Pamela. He asks about Pamela and he says he knows where she is. She’s at an exhibition match and won’t be back for a week. Olivia is taking an art class and her water color is chosen to be in an exhibit. She thinks about what inspired it-a day at Secca Lake- and tries to forget and not get in her feelings while looking at it (but she can’t). Then she notices a cute, sandy haired boy staring at her. While making toast, Margo comes up with a plan involving fire that will allow her to be free.
In Mr. Cooper’s office, Lila tells a story about how when things got out of hand between the football players when Big Messa showed up, Mr. Pritchett grabbed her hand and lead her to a private classroom. He then tried to rip her dress and she screamed. Nathan says he did guide her to the room but after that he didn’t touch her and he apologizes if she thought he’d hurt her. He’d never do that. Lila knows he’s telling the truth and then she apologizes and burst into tears. Her father and she leave the office in silence.
At school, Winston reminds Liz that she doesn’t have to go through this alone she has friends but the only ones she’s concerned with are Todd and Jessica. Saturday, Liz makes another attempt to talk to Jessica after breakfast, but Jessica hops up from the table. Nina is whining and begging Margo to fix her something to eat. She throws her a can (nearly crushing her fingers) but Nina says she can’t cook. She tosses her some bread and tells her to make toast. She tosses kerosene all over the counter and grabs her things. Mago calls out to her that the toast got stuck. Margo heads out after telling her to use a butter knife. Shortly after that there’s a fire.
A little aways from the house, Margo hears the neighbors saying they saw someone take a body out. It had to be the younger one. They say that the parents are gonna be in for it. They neglected the kids and let them run wild. The older one might still be alive. She was sullen and they never knew her name. Her gray eyes just stared right through them. Not knowing it’s her, Margo says Michelle-which is what her new name will be. Some of the neighbors look at her and say no that’s not it. Then one says her name was Margo. But nope! Margo is dead “Michelle” thinks.
Olivia’s painting sells for (I’m actually not sure what since the price changes in two pages) but she tells Nicholas it was a thousand dollars. They both talk about their relationship status. They’re both single. Olivia says the girls at SVH are crazy. I AGREE! Nicholas is perfect. HE REALLY IS! She’ll be looking out to see if she can find him someone. As for herself, she says she’ll either have to be patient of just accept she’ll be single forever. Enid tells Liz Todd won’t talk to her either. She admits to Liz that there have been rumors going around that she hugged Sam-and not just in a platonic way-. Also, that she’d been drinking. Liz says it’s been like her family has been walking around like ghost. She’s tried to talk to Jessica but she has to face it. She’ll never talk to her again. Enid says Jessica and Todd will come around and it’s not her fault. It was an accident. Liz says she killed Sam. There will be reprecussions and she might as well prepare. Enid says the police can tell it was an accident and they don’t even know if she was driving. Liz insist tho that she’s guilty and soon the authorities will be coming for her.
Lila is absent for a week from school. Amy calls and Lila tells her it was the flu. Amy rambles on about some history test and Lila realizes she’s let her appearance go. Amy offers to come over but Lila says she doesn’t think she’ll be feeling well enough to see anyone. After this, Lila’s father tries to talk to her but she can’t tell him about John or how her classmates made her feel. She just wants to talk to her mother.
Pamela and Bruce have their first (well second) date at a nice restaurant. They discover they have a lot (too many) things in common and I’m thinking this girl sounds a little too good to be true, NO ONE is that perfect! Oh wait… By the end of the night, Bruce has fallen in love. Jessica just can’t bring herself to go to the memorial at the big bike race in Sam’s honor. Instead she goes to his grave. We find out she was the one that put the alcohol in Liz’s drink. She then breaks down and tells Sam she misses him thinking of all the memories and that he’ll never be there to bail her out anymore of all her messes.
Before Bruce goes on his second date, Roger tells him to take it slow. Appearances can be deceiving. Bruce has to admit he didn’t find out that much about Pamela on his first date but then shrugs it off and tells himself Roger just has a lot to learn about women. Olivia arrives at the California Fine Arts Foundation and the sandy haired boy is there. She’s there to give the speech that was asked of her when she sold the painting. She finds out the guy Harry lead her there under false pretenses. It’s his home. He tells her he really does want to by her painting and he asks her out to dinner.
Since Lila won’t talk to George, and she won’t see a new councilor, George gives the operator the number of Lila’s mother at her boyfriend’s house and hopes he’s doing the right thing. Margo gets a job babysitting for the Rossi’s son Josh. To show how insane she is in these chapters it says that her head pounds, and she’s constantly hearing voices. It tells her one step closer. Bruce joins the gang at their table. He finally tells them his dream girl’s name is Pamela Robertson and they all make some cryptic comments insinuating she’s easy. Bruce wonders if this time he made the wrong choice.
George tells Lila her mother is coming next week and she cries and thanks him. He cries too. Bruce is so busy thinking about what Amy said he’s distracted on his date. He decides to make it up to her and re-create his fantasy. So, he shows up at her door with a bouquet of red roses and plans to take her on a picnic. When she gets there it’s in the car of another guy. He gets out, pulls her to him, and roughly kisses her. She sees Bruce and says she can explain. His name was Bobby and she was calling it off. She loves him. He doesn’t listen and drives away from her.
Olivia tells Nick she’s fallen in love with Harry. After leaving him she decides to set him up on the game show HUNKS after seeing an ad for the show and Nick says he wouldn’t mind finding someone in a bizzare way like she did. Liz and Steven have a talk. She tells him she’ll have to face the facts that Jessica will never speak to him again. Steven says it scares him that this family is starting to all sound like it’s hopeless. He tells her she has to stop beating herself up about it. Liz tells him she has a feeling that things will get worse and the other shoe is about to drop.
After this two cops pay the Wakefields a visit (Marsh and Perez). Jessica worries that they’re there for her for slipping alcohol into Liz’s punch but they ask to speak to Liz. They inform her that her blood alcohol level was over normal and ask if she brought the alcohol or if someone gave it to them. Liz says she doesn’t drink and doesn’t know anything about the alcohol. Jessica is standing there thinking she should tell about their part in it. Liz insist she doesn’t know anything about the alcohol or the accident happened. They ask did Sam bring it but she says she doesn’t think so. She didn’t see him with any and she’s known him well enough to know he wouldn’t bring alcohol to a dance.
Because she can’t answer any of there questions they put her under arrest for involuntary manslaughter and take her to the station. The only reason they haven’t done it sooner is because of Liz’s reputation as an honor student and Ned’s high status as a lawyer himself.
My Thoughts:
This series just got even more bizarre! I mean it’s always been on the crazy side but it jumped up several notches in this one. This one felt SO abrupt! It almost didn’t seem to fit. When I started it I went back and wondered if I’d skipped a book (and I kept wondering and kept wondering). It really does start the morning after just like the title suggests it does. This throws you off because that books format’s usually start at the beginning of the story. It’s disconcerting to find out in the opening that for some reason we didn’t get from the previous book that Sam’s now dead and Liz had something to do with it-but even she doesn’t know the full details-.
I read this series long enough not to have been surprised that Jessica got her sister drunk and then let her sister get arrested. For what I’m not exactly clear on. We find out later that she won Prom Queen. So, it couldn’t have been for that. I wasn’t surprised about Todd giving her the silent treatment either. Todd’s never really made all that great of an impression on me. But this new insane character Margo? Before I even read this book, I knew somewhere in this series was a psycho clone from reading 1 Bruce 1 but the way it tied into this story was just a little off. Then my mind couldn’t help but wondering was Pamela (fast forwarded Margo). Or was she Margo’s twin. All in all this was just STRANGE and DISTURBING! I really wasn't ready for this leap!
Rating: 6
Liz has a dream she’s at Secca Lake but everything is eerily still. There’s a figure in the distance that at first she thinks is Jessica, but as she turns to face her, the girls eyes are cold. There’s something in her right hand. It’s a knife and she whips off her hat and it’s midnight black. The girl starts to come at Liz and she screams and wakes up.
Then we get some background. Sam Woodruff is now dead. Liz planned their prom to have a Jungle theme as a way to benefit “Save the Rainforest”. She and Jessica were going at it hard over who’d be Prom Queen. Liz really can’t remember the accent all that well. When the police showed up she was wandering around and Sam was dead. At the funeral, Liz really doesn’t say anything to anyone. She thinks Sam’s parents are probably accusing her. She’s rigid with her friends and Enid and Todd gives her a brief greeting and hurries away.
Jessica was the first at the accident and had needed sedation. She didn’t even attend the funeral. Now there’s a huge riff between the twins. Jessica hasn’t spoken to her since the accident and Liz doesn’t really blame her. Liz tries to talk to Jessica but she shuts the connecting bathroom door they share and she goes back into her room. For a brief second, Jessica feels bad because Liz’s suffering is getting worse. They could be helping each other get through this but no. She quickly decides she doesn’t need Liz’s help and Liz doesn’t deserve to feel better. She killed Sam!
Bruce is fantasizing about the perfect day at Secca Lake-having a picnic with a beautiful girl- but a horn brings him out of his daydream. Then he starts to think about the song playing and following Big Mesa out. Then he thinks about Sam. He didn’t know him well but he seemed to be a nice guy. Then his thoughts turn to Lila and her accusations against the school conselor and how no one knows that to make of it. By the time a teacher found her screaming in a classroom, Bruce was unconscious on the football field.
He thinks about all the tension that lead up to it. Someone was standing over him with a baseball bat and then *she* saved his life. He only remembers she had her voice, black hair, and blue eyes. So, he has no idea how to find her and he’s not one to chase girls. He tells himself forget her. It’s not like he’s hurting for female’s attention but he knows he won’t be able to stop thinking of his “Cinderella”. He decides to hang around Big Mesa every day until he finds her. Even if it means he’ll get pulverized by the guy with the bat.
Lila is back at school for the first time since the prom. She wonders if her classmates think she made the whole thing up. She wishes she could call Jessica to take her mind off her problems, but Jessica’s problems right now or worse. She knows her friends believe her but after what happened with John her classmates won’t believe it happened a second time. She writes about how Nathan Pritchett had only tried to help her since John. She wonders if it was a misunderstanding or if it was her fault.
Lila starts to write out her feelings about wishing she could have parents like her friends. Lila meets with Mrs. Cooper and he says he needs to talk with her father. Lila has no idea about the trip he was about to take to Amsterdam but pretends she does and says Wednesday is fine. Then she finds out Mr. Pritchett will also be in attendance. He assures her she’ll have all the help she needs to get through this.
We’re introduced to Margo who lives in a foster home and hates kids. She has a little sister named Nine that looks up to her. Margo’s told her sister that she’d be outside, but she’s in her basement room. Her sister doesn’t even consider she lied to her. She decides a good way to describe herself is as a poisonous snake(although she hates snakes). Then it tells us all the things she’s hated (including foster families). She’s also tired of pretending to be a grateful foster child and being hit. But she says it’s all about to end. She stole 20.00 from her foster mother and bought a bus ticket. She just needs a few missing pieces.
Cleveland is just a temporary stop. She wants to go somewhere sunny and beautiful. Only there’s Nina to worry about. A voice tells her it can’t be helped. Nina spied on her so what happens to her next is on her. Liz goes back to school and is greeted by Enid and approached by Todd. He speaks and then rushes off. Liz thinks about how Todd was mad at her before the dance and how competive she was. Now he hates her because of Sam. Enid says give him time. She rushes into the bathroom and cries.
After unsuccessfully not knowing what to say to Jessica, Amy tells Jessica and Lila Bruce is chasing after some girl that doesn’t know he’s alive. Bruce stops by the table and Amy teases him about the girl he’s got the hots for but Bruce tells her coldly to leave it alone and he storms off. Amy tries to make Lila feel better by suggesting a mall trip but she says she has a meeting. The others are also busy. Annie asks Jessica to give Liz a message about her coming over but Jessica tells her tell her herself. Bruce isn’t having much luck finding the girl. He asks two girls and asks about her. They say it sounds like he’s looking for Pamela Robertson but they say they don’t know where she is. They walk off and start laughing. Bruce thinks it’s because they know he’s from SVH, but no… They probably know him from playing tennis. Another boy says if he finds her let them know.
A boy admires his car and introduces himself as Edwin. Bruce thinks he might be new but maybe he could help him track down Pamela. He asks about Pamela and he says he knows where she is. She’s at an exhibition match and won’t be back for a week. Olivia is taking an art class and her water color is chosen to be in an exhibit. She thinks about what inspired it-a day at Secca Lake- and tries to forget and not get in her feelings while looking at it (but she can’t). Then she notices a cute, sandy haired boy staring at her. While making toast, Margo comes up with a plan involving fire that will allow her to be free.
In Mr. Cooper’s office, Lila tells a story about how when things got out of hand between the football players when Big Messa showed up, Mr. Pritchett grabbed her hand and lead her to a private classroom. He then tried to rip her dress and she screamed. Nathan says he did guide her to the room but after that he didn’t touch her and he apologizes if she thought he’d hurt her. He’d never do that. Lila knows he’s telling the truth and then she apologizes and burst into tears. Her father and she leave the office in silence.
At school, Winston reminds Liz that she doesn’t have to go through this alone she has friends but the only ones she’s concerned with are Todd and Jessica. Saturday, Liz makes another attempt to talk to Jessica after breakfast, but Jessica hops up from the table. Nina is whining and begging Margo to fix her something to eat. She throws her a can (nearly crushing her fingers) but Nina says she can’t cook. She tosses her some bread and tells her to make toast. She tosses kerosene all over the counter and grabs her things. Mago calls out to her that the toast got stuck. Margo heads out after telling her to use a butter knife. Shortly after that there’s a fire.
A little aways from the house, Margo hears the neighbors saying they saw someone take a body out. It had to be the younger one. They say that the parents are gonna be in for it. They neglected the kids and let them run wild. The older one might still be alive. She was sullen and they never knew her name. Her gray eyes just stared right through them. Not knowing it’s her, Margo says Michelle-which is what her new name will be. Some of the neighbors look at her and say no that’s not it. Then one says her name was Margo. But nope! Margo is dead “Michelle” thinks.
Olivia’s painting sells for (I’m actually not sure what since the price changes in two pages) but she tells Nicholas it was a thousand dollars. They both talk about their relationship status. They’re both single. Olivia says the girls at SVH are crazy. I AGREE! Nicholas is perfect. HE REALLY IS! She’ll be looking out to see if she can find him someone. As for herself, she says she’ll either have to be patient of just accept she’ll be single forever. Enid tells Liz Todd won’t talk to her either. She admits to Liz that there have been rumors going around that she hugged Sam-and not just in a platonic way-. Also, that she’d been drinking. Liz says it’s been like her family has been walking around like ghost. She’s tried to talk to Jessica but she has to face it. She’ll never talk to her again. Enid says Jessica and Todd will come around and it’s not her fault. It was an accident. Liz says she killed Sam. There will be reprecussions and she might as well prepare. Enid says the police can tell it was an accident and they don’t even know if she was driving. Liz insist tho that she’s guilty and soon the authorities will be coming for her.
Lila is absent for a week from school. Amy calls and Lila tells her it was the flu. Amy rambles on about some history test and Lila realizes she’s let her appearance go. Amy offers to come over but Lila says she doesn’t think she’ll be feeling well enough to see anyone. After this, Lila’s father tries to talk to her but she can’t tell him about John or how her classmates made her feel. She just wants to talk to her mother.
Pamela and Bruce have their first (well second) date at a nice restaurant. They discover they have a lot (too many) things in common and I’m thinking this girl sounds a little too good to be true, NO ONE is that perfect! Oh wait… By the end of the night, Bruce has fallen in love. Jessica just can’t bring herself to go to the memorial at the big bike race in Sam’s honor. Instead she goes to his grave. We find out she was the one that put the alcohol in Liz’s drink. She then breaks down and tells Sam she misses him thinking of all the memories and that he’ll never be there to bail her out anymore of all her messes.
Before Bruce goes on his second date, Roger tells him to take it slow. Appearances can be deceiving. Bruce has to admit he didn’t find out that much about Pamela on his first date but then shrugs it off and tells himself Roger just has a lot to learn about women. Olivia arrives at the California Fine Arts Foundation and the sandy haired boy is there. She’s there to give the speech that was asked of her when she sold the painting. She finds out the guy Harry lead her there under false pretenses. It’s his home. He tells her he really does want to by her painting and he asks her out to dinner.
Since Lila won’t talk to George, and she won’t see a new councilor, George gives the operator the number of Lila’s mother at her boyfriend’s house and hopes he’s doing the right thing. Margo gets a job babysitting for the Rossi’s son Josh. To show how insane she is in these chapters it says that her head pounds, and she’s constantly hearing voices. It tells her one step closer. Bruce joins the gang at their table. He finally tells them his dream girl’s name is Pamela Robertson and they all make some cryptic comments insinuating she’s easy. Bruce wonders if this time he made the wrong choice.
George tells Lila her mother is coming next week and she cries and thanks him. He cries too. Bruce is so busy thinking about what Amy said he’s distracted on his date. He decides to make it up to her and re-create his fantasy. So, he shows up at her door with a bouquet of red roses and plans to take her on a picnic. When she gets there it’s in the car of another guy. He gets out, pulls her to him, and roughly kisses her. She sees Bruce and says she can explain. His name was Bobby and she was calling it off. She loves him. He doesn’t listen and drives away from her.
Olivia tells Nick she’s fallen in love with Harry. After leaving him she decides to set him up on the game show HUNKS after seeing an ad for the show and Nick says he wouldn’t mind finding someone in a bizzare way like she did. Liz and Steven have a talk. She tells him she’ll have to face the facts that Jessica will never speak to him again. Steven says it scares him that this family is starting to all sound like it’s hopeless. He tells her she has to stop beating herself up about it. Liz tells him she has a feeling that things will get worse and the other shoe is about to drop.
After this two cops pay the Wakefields a visit (Marsh and Perez). Jessica worries that they’re there for her for slipping alcohol into Liz’s punch but they ask to speak to Liz. They inform her that her blood alcohol level was over normal and ask if she brought the alcohol or if someone gave it to them. Liz says she doesn’t drink and doesn’t know anything about the alcohol. Jessica is standing there thinking she should tell about their part in it. Liz insist she doesn’t know anything about the alcohol or the accident happened. They ask did Sam bring it but she says she doesn’t think so. She didn’t see him with any and she’s known him well enough to know he wouldn’t bring alcohol to a dance.
Because she can’t answer any of there questions they put her under arrest for involuntary manslaughter and take her to the station. The only reason they haven’t done it sooner is because of Liz’s reputation as an honor student and Ned’s high status as a lawyer himself.
My Thoughts:
This series just got even more bizarre! I mean it’s always been on the crazy side but it jumped up several notches in this one. This one felt SO abrupt! It almost didn’t seem to fit. When I started it I went back and wondered if I’d skipped a book (and I kept wondering and kept wondering). It really does start the morning after just like the title suggests it does. This throws you off because that books format’s usually start at the beginning of the story. It’s disconcerting to find out in the opening that for some reason we didn’t get from the previous book that Sam’s now dead and Liz had something to do with it-but even she doesn’t know the full details-.
I read this series long enough not to have been surprised that Jessica got her sister drunk and then let her sister get arrested. For what I’m not exactly clear on. We find out later that she won Prom Queen. So, it couldn’t have been for that. I wasn’t surprised about Todd giving her the silent treatment either. Todd’s never really made all that great of an impression on me. But this new insane character Margo? Before I even read this book, I knew somewhere in this series was a psycho clone from reading 1 Bruce 1 but the way it tied into this story was just a little off. Then my mind couldn’t help but wondering was Pamela (fast forwarded Margo). Or was she Margo’s twin. All in all this was just STRANGE and DISTURBING! I really wasn't ready for this leap!
Rating: 6
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 14, 2023
Was good again!
April 7, 2024
Well. I've jumped back in eighty or ninety books down the line, because I remember this mini-series about Margot the Psychopath (as opposed to Jessica the Sociopath), and...I don't have a lot of readerly self-control. So here we are. Spoilers below, if you're worried about, you know, spoilers for book 95 of a series published thirty years ago.
The Morning After opens not too long after a terrible prom-night car accident that may or may not have taken place in a previous book. (I can't find mention of it in the previous books' descriptions, but you never know—Sweet Valley is absolutely enough of a soap opera setting that it's possible that a new-stepsister-for-a-side-character could be a main plot and a car accident that kills Jessica's One True Love could be the B plot.) It's not entirely clear what happened, just that Elizabeth might or might not have been driving, and now Sam is dead, and Jessica blames Elizabeth wholeheartedly...even though Jessica knows things about that night that even Elizabeth doesn't know.
No, Jessica told herself. Don't think about Liz. Elizabeth had been driving the Jeep that night. What happened before they got in the car didn't make any difference. It was Elizabeth who killed him. (107)
Guys. Jessica does not even speak up to tell the truth when Elizabeth is arrested for manslaughter. Partly because she's scared of the consequences, but also because she's still mad at Elizabeth for "stealing" Jessica's boyfriend—read: for leaving the dance with him. Is there any evidence that Elizabeth and Sam were romantically involved? Nope. Would anyone who's ever met Elizabeth reasonably think her capable of trying to "steal" Jessica's boyfriend without perishing of guilt? Nope. Would anyone, including Elizabeth, doubt that trying to do so anyway would result in Jessica promptly shoving Elizabeth into a busy highway? Nope. Has Jessica repeatedly tried to steal Elizabeth's boyfriend? Of course. (Elizabeth's boyfriend Todd, incidentally, is as usual inclined to believe the worst of Elizabeth and has been avoiding her instead of, oh, showing any sympathy for the fact that she was just in a deadly car accident and may or may not have been behind the wheel.)
Anyway. Side plots abound: Lila is still very traumatized from attempted rape in what looks like book 90, but when she is further traumatized, the general opinion at school is...well. Bruce suspected she had made the whole thing up; Lila had always been a tease (9). Honestly, the slut-shaming and trauma-shaming in this series is unreal; later, when Amy hears who Bruce is "in love" (in the most 1990s teenaged sense of the word) with, this is her reaction: "Do I know her? Everybody knows Pamela, if you know what I mean!" She winked at Maria, who rolled her eyes (93). This is extremely on-brand for the series (remember book 1, when Jessica let everyone think that Elizabeth had gone out with a Bad Boy and come home in a police car, and everyone—including Todd—decided Elizabeth was a slutty slut who deserved every bad thing that came her way?), but good god. Never mind that Bruce is perfectly happy to sleep around himself, or that he has only been on about two dates with this girl—when he hears that she's not pure as driven snow, he casts her off as another slutty slut and spends the rest of the book (and at least half of the next one; stay tuned) feeling butt-hurt about it.
Sigh.
And then we get Margot. Margot, who is a pretty minor part of the book but the whole reason I am rereading this little mini-series. I'd actually forgotten that the A plot here is about Elizabeth being arrested for manslaughter—what I remember is Margot smirking as she encourages her foster sister to dig a butter knife into the toaster and thus set the house on fire. This is not a girl you want to mess with, because Margot wants what she wants...and she's willing (nay, happy) to kill to get it.
The Morning After opens not too long after a terrible prom-night car accident that may or may not have taken place in a previous book. (I can't find mention of it in the previous books' descriptions, but you never know—Sweet Valley is absolutely enough of a soap opera setting that it's possible that a new-stepsister-for-a-side-character could be a main plot and a car accident that kills Jessica's One True Love could be the B plot.) It's not entirely clear what happened, just that Elizabeth might or might not have been driving, and now Sam is dead, and Jessica blames Elizabeth wholeheartedly...even though Jessica knows things about that night that even Elizabeth doesn't know.
No, Jessica told herself. Don't think about Liz. Elizabeth had been driving the Jeep that night. What happened before they got in the car didn't make any difference. It was Elizabeth who killed him. (107)
Guys. Jessica does not even speak up to tell the truth when Elizabeth is arrested for manslaughter. Partly because she's scared of the consequences, but also because she's still mad at Elizabeth for "stealing" Jessica's boyfriend—read: for leaving the dance with him. Is there any evidence that Elizabeth and Sam were romantically involved? Nope. Would anyone who's ever met Elizabeth reasonably think her capable of trying to "steal" Jessica's boyfriend without perishing of guilt? Nope. Would anyone, including Elizabeth, doubt that trying to do so anyway would result in Jessica promptly shoving Elizabeth into a busy highway? Nope. Has Jessica repeatedly tried to steal Elizabeth's boyfriend? Of course. (Elizabeth's boyfriend Todd, incidentally, is as usual inclined to believe the worst of Elizabeth and has been avoiding her instead of, oh, showing any sympathy for the fact that she was just in a deadly car accident and may or may not have been behind the wheel.)
Anyway. Side plots abound: Lila is still very traumatized from attempted rape in what looks like book 90, but when she is further traumatized, the general opinion at school is...well. Bruce suspected she had made the whole thing up; Lila had always been a tease (9). Honestly, the slut-shaming and trauma-shaming in this series is unreal; later, when Amy hears who Bruce is "in love" (in the most 1990s teenaged sense of the word) with, this is her reaction: "Do I know her? Everybody knows Pamela, if you know what I mean!" She winked at Maria, who rolled her eyes (93). This is extremely on-brand for the series (remember book 1, when Jessica let everyone think that Elizabeth had gone out with a Bad Boy and come home in a police car, and everyone—including Todd—decided Elizabeth was a slutty slut who deserved every bad thing that came her way?), but good god. Never mind that Bruce is perfectly happy to sleep around himself, or that he has only been on about two dates with this girl—when he hears that she's not pure as driven snow, he casts her off as another slutty slut and spends the rest of the book (and at least half of the next one; stay tuned) feeling butt-hurt about it.
Sigh.
And then we get Margot. Margot, who is a pretty minor part of the book but the whole reason I am rereading this little mini-series. I'd actually forgotten that the A plot here is about Elizabeth being arrested for manslaughter—what I remember is Margot smirking as she encourages her foster sister to dig a butter knife into the toaster and thus set the house on fire. This is not a girl you want to mess with, because Margot wants what she wants...and she's willing (nay, happy) to kill to get it.
May 29, 2021
1. Jessica manages to be both in mourning and STILL willing to throw Elizabeth under the bus rather than admit her own involvement in the car accident at the Jungle Prom in the previous book. 2. Single and ready-to-mingle Olivia Davidson hangs out with Nicholas Morrow and then gets somewhat stalked by an older art student in her night class. She thinks this is hot instead of super creepy. 3. Lila is a PTSD-mess who is refusing to talk to her dad about why she's terrified of men. 4. Margo is an insane foster child who is a terrifying criminal and while at one point we do read that she eventually plans to get to California, in this book all she does is some arson and murder and head off to Cleveland with her gray eyed self. And finally 5. Bruce Patman falls for the Big Mesa town tramp and he doesn't seem to be cool with that, despite everything about the girl being awesome except for her reputation (fictional southern California sure was a judgemental, conservative place in the early 90s). I like having no idea what thw rest of this series holds, but damn- this read more like a soap opera than a kids book.
April 16, 2022
It's a very bad time for the Wakefields. Elizabeth is recovering from an auto accident that she seems to have caused with the passenger in the car dying. It was Jessica's boyfriend so now Jessica wants nothing at all to do with Elizabeth.
Bruce Patterson is after one girl in particular while Lila seems to be falling apart.
A separate story concerns a girl named Margo who appears to be rather insane.
We also learn there are repercussions for an auto accident and Liz may be entering the worst time of her life.
It's a very dark story (part of a trilogy) and there's a major question of whether or not the bonds between sisters may be totally broken forever. Very tense, very good story.
Bruce Patterson is after one girl in particular while Lila seems to be falling apart.
A separate story concerns a girl named Margo who appears to be rather insane.
We also learn there are repercussions for an auto accident and Liz may be entering the worst time of her life.
It's a very dark story (part of a trilogy) and there's a major question of whether or not the bonds between sisters may be totally broken forever. Very tense, very good story.
December 31, 2022
Ugh..
Forgot about Margo. She’s a certified psycho.
Also, why does Bruce care Pamela gets around? He’s been a man-whore since Book 3.
Also, it infuriates me that Jessica takes zero responsibility for this cluster.
Yes. Liz killed your boyfriend. Driving drunk. From the punch YOU spiked.
Get real. Quit whining. Elizabeth had the gun, but Jessica pulled the trigger.
Normally I find Elizabeth insufferable, but damn.
Also, who is this dude and Olivia? Didn’t she die in the eathquake? Killed by a wayward fridge? Was that a different series? I don’t even know at this point.
Gotta throw Regina’s death in there though. Drugs are baaaad.
Yikes, and this is is a SIX part series? How?!
Forgot about Margo. She’s a certified psycho.
Also, why does Bruce care Pamela gets around? He’s been a man-whore since Book 3.
Also, it infuriates me that Jessica takes zero responsibility for this cluster.
Yes. Liz killed your boyfriend. Driving drunk. From the punch YOU spiked.
Get real. Quit whining. Elizabeth had the gun, but Jessica pulled the trigger.
Normally I find Elizabeth insufferable, but damn.
Also, who is this dude and Olivia? Didn’t she die in the eathquake? Killed by a wayward fridge? Was that a different series? I don’t even know at this point.
Gotta throw Regina’s death in there though. Drugs are baaaad.
Yikes, and this is is a SIX part series? How?!
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 19, 2019
This book is absolutely brilliant. I first read this one about 5 years ago when I decided to read all the SVH books i never read "back in the day" and I remember that I was utterly shocked that a young child died - to be honest I'm still as shocked now! I mean, this is a Sweet Valley High book, they're supposed to be scheming and stealing each other's boyfriends and being "perfect size sixes and utterly gorgeous and charming". All I can say is, this is certainly a departure and a somewhat welcome one at that.
Brilliant.
Brilliant.
February 27, 2024
A pointless and vapid entry, where, right after the shocking death, the plot treads water for the entire book, deciding to go off on side-tangents such as: will Olivia ever find love, and - more importantly - why should I care?; meanwhile Bruce (thanks, I hate him) meets a girl and a day later they're saying "I love you". The plot that "the morning after" relates to... does absolutely nothing.
Also, there's Margo.
Also, there's Margo.
September 30, 2020
How did I forget about Margo?
But also my memory of these books is inextricable linked to the SVH board game so I am consistently confused about why Jessica is not dating Bruce.
And did I know that they had a brother?
But also my memory of these books is inextricable linked to the SVH board game so I am consistently confused about why Jessica is not dating Bruce.
And did I know that they had a brother?
September 25, 2022
Highly recommend
Awesome book! Very descriptive and imaginative writing that pulls you into the story. Deals with tough, real-life crises that can afflict the youth, as well as adults.
Awesome book! Very descriptive and imaginative writing that pulls you into the story. Deals with tough, real-life crises that can afflict the youth, as well as adults.
August 31, 2017
My face reading this at about 14 years of age in the 90s 😱😱😭😱😱. My face reading this as a 36 year old in 2017 😂😂😂😏😏 but still a tear for Sam - 😰
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August 27, 2020I still want to slap Jessica. OMG, these books!
July 28, 2022
These are so wonderfully terrible. 😆😆
August 2, 2024
It's very annoying that Jessica just allows Elizabeth to take the blame and feel guilty. I have no idea how this storyline will be resolved
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 9, 2012
This had so much drama and turmoil never stopped--unlike any of the other books in the Sweet Valley High series. The events actually made it seem like it was taking place somewhere else since a lot of the events bordered on the unbelievable.
Foremost was of course the inclusion of Margo Black: How can it be that there is someone out there who looks exactly like the Wakefield twins but isn't a blood relative? She just has to be a part of the triplets. But I guess in Sweet Valley anything can happen.
Sam Woodruff is probably the only person who keeps Jessica grounded (we all know Liz just gives in and forgives her for whatever scrapes she gets herself into) but Sam isn't an enabler. To have Pascal kill him off and ruin (well, almost) the twins' bonds is going a bit too far. And still, Jessica hasn't changed, not one bit; she still needs a scapegoat in order to blame anyone else but herself for her own wrongdoings.
As a side story, Bruce's life is saved by Pamela Robertson when the Big Mesa guys crashed the Jungle Prom. But instead of just falling for her (even if it's because of a life debt) he decides that he ignore the malicious gossip about her wild past. Double standard much?
More of Purplycookie’s Reviews @: http://www.goodreads.com/purplycookie
Book Details:
Title: The Morning After (Sweet Valley High, #95)
Author: Francine Pascal
Reviewed By: Purplycookie
Foremost was of course the inclusion of Margo Black: How can it be that there is someone out there who looks exactly like the Wakefield twins but isn't a blood relative? She just has to be a part of the triplets. But I guess in Sweet Valley anything can happen.
Sam Woodruff is probably the only person who keeps Jessica grounded (we all know Liz just gives in and forgives her for whatever scrapes she gets herself into) but Sam isn't an enabler. To have Pascal kill him off and ruin (well, almost) the twins' bonds is going a bit too far. And still, Jessica hasn't changed, not one bit; she still needs a scapegoat in order to blame anyone else but herself for her own wrongdoings.
As a side story, Bruce's life is saved by Pamela Robertson when the Big Mesa guys crashed the Jungle Prom. But instead of just falling for her (even if it's because of a life debt) he decides that he ignore the malicious gossip about her wild past. Double standard much?
More of Purplycookie’s Reviews @: http://www.goodreads.com/purplycookie
Book Details:
Title: The Morning After (Sweet Valley High, #95)
Author: Francine Pascal
Reviewed By: Purplycookie
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May 3, 2015Here's the thing: When you are reading a series of books sequentially you expect them to build on previous books in the series. Not so with Sweet Valley High #95, or: 'book that is based entirely on events that took place in a "magna edition" without regard to the fact that the magna editions and super thriller editions have never before factored into the plots of the series books (or even been mentioned)'. I guess the 'author' thought "the morning after" had a better ring to it.
December 31, 2023
I will be rating all of these "Margo" books with 5 stars, not because of their literary merit but because they are ABSOLUTELY INSANE and amazing. These books started my love affair for Sweet Valley, and re-reading them while sick has been so much fun.
Also, Bruce sucks.
Also, Bruce sucks.
June 20, 2012
We I liked reading the Lila plot- not too much to say about Elizabeth and Jessica.... Without too much spoilers. If you read jungle prom then it's worth reading the arc.
I just can't get over the fact they are sixteen!! How many proms and dances have they had on one year!! Lol
I just can't get over the fact they are sixteen!! How many proms and dances have they had on one year!! Lol
September 30, 2016
Think of #95-100+RET as Sweet Valley's equivalent of Lord of the Rings,with a lavaliere as the Ring,Margo as Sauron,Nora as Saruman (?),Liz as Frodo,and Jess as Sam,and you'll have the basic idea behind this miniseries.
July 8, 2013
I have read so many of these books I can't remember all of them.
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September 12, 2017jessica is a sociopath
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