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Sweet Valley Twins #100
If I Die Before I Wake
The conclusion to the Frightening Four miniseries!
On a hill on the outskirts of Sweet Valley sits a beautiful old Victorian house. It stood empty until a few weeks ago, when a big family moved in . . . the perfect clients for Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield's new baby-sitting service . . . .
Identical twins Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield and their friends have learned one thing from baby-sitting for the Riccoli dreams can come true . . . and so can nightmares. When the fire in Andrew Riccoli's dream turned to real flames, the twins took action. They killed the evil creature--half girl, half monster--in the kids' nightmares.
Before she killed them.
Now that the beast is dead, the Riccoli kids will have sweet dreams again. Or so they think. But the creatures has left the kids' nightmares to terrorize them in real life.
And waking nightmares are the scariest of all.
On a hill on the outskirts of Sweet Valley sits a beautiful old Victorian house. It stood empty until a few weeks ago, when a big family moved in . . . the perfect clients for Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield's new baby-sitting service . . . .
Identical twins Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield and their friends have learned one thing from baby-sitting for the Riccoli dreams can come true . . . and so can nightmares. When the fire in Andrew Riccoli's dream turned to real flames, the twins took action. They killed the evil creature--half girl, half monster--in the kids' nightmares.
Before she killed them.
Now that the beast is dead, the Riccoli kids will have sweet dreams again. Or so they think. But the creatures has left the kids' nightmares to terrorize them in real life.
And waking nightmares are the scariest of all.
245 pages, Paperback
First published October 1, 1996
About the author
Francine Pascal
1,151 books1,859 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 - 13 of 13 reviews
July 6, 2025
While everyone was reading about Elizabeth and Jessica's adventures with boys and cheerleading practice, I was reading about the time they faced a homicidal little girl in their dreams.
Also, Jessica Wakefield >>> Elizabeth Wakefield.
Just for the record.
Also, Jessica Wakefield >>> Elizabeth Wakefield.
Just for the record.
December 10, 2017
So the miniseries has finally arrived at Halloween. Like the other three books, this one could have been a lot shorter and gotten to the point much sooner. So once again Steven busies himself with scaring the girls. He really needs to get a life. Meanwhile, the book begins with Jess, Liz, Todd, Amy, and Winston all trapped in the Riccoli roof with revenge-seeking Eva Sullivan, who is determined to kill them all. Unfortunately for her, as Liz is about to fall Liz pulls her arm and this somehow wakes up her and the others. Everyone is fully freaked and has resolved never to go near the house again. Except that Mrs. Riccoli asks the twins if they can babysit on Halloween. Ruh roh. This means Jess will miss the party of the year at Lila’s house, and since when has she ever cared about children more than the Unicorns? Anyway, Jess decides she will somehow do both. She will dress as Marilyn Monroe and Liz will go as Jane Austen.
At this point the twins are still denying that the monster of their and the kids’ dreams is real. But Jess and Liz finally talk to one another and admit they all see the same person: a girl with a bunny slipper, teddy bear, and a white nightgown with daisies printed on it. With Halloween approaching, Eva has decided to begin to torment the twins in their WAKING lives. The twins see her all around their house, though, to be fair, one time it is Steven in his quest to be as authentically real to Eva’s form as possible.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Wakefield is still fiercely avoiding the past. I just assumed it was a fire that killed Eva, because she’s constantly setting fires. When Mrs. Wakefield does finally recall that Halloween night babysitting for Eva 25 years ago, we finally get the truth: Eva was a chronic sleepwalker. Mrs. W said she could wear one slipper to bed that fateful night so she (Mrs. W) could still hear Eva walking and make sure she wasn’t going out on her balcony. Let’s pause for a moment here. You know your child sleepwalks, yet you don’t move her to another room WITHOUT a balcony? Okay unpause. Anyway, the parents of Winston, Amy, and Todd decide to come over to scare Mrs. W, but she’s upset and concerned they will frighten Eva... until she realizes they didn’t shut the balcony door! Alice gets there just in time to see Eva plummet to her death. And, because of this, everyone is traumatized and refuses to ever speak about Halloween and this accident ever again.
Luckily for us, Eva sends a long rambling note to Mrs. W that causes her to finally face up to the tragedy all these years later. This is where we learn the biggest shocker of all: Eva is not actually dead. It turns out that when she fell off the balcony she was presumed dead, but she ended up surviving and was taken to a rehab center. From there she escaped and left things down by a nearby river, causing everyone to assume she had drowned. Instead, she went back to her house and lived in her old bedroom ... never telling her parents, mind you, that she was all right. In typical Sweet Valley fashion, none of this really makes any sense. Naturally, Eva lets Alice know in the letter that her falling off the balcony was all Alice’s fault. She also lets Alice know that her (Eva) never revealing herself to her parents again was also her (Alice’s) fault. Um, okay. This is also completely ignoring the fact that there is no way Eva’s parents were stupid enough not to notice her in the house (yet apparently they were). Aside from all this, most bizzaro of all is the lack of explanation for how a living person got into five people’s dreams at the same time! Also how Mrs. W was apparently not sued for her part in Eva jumping off the roof.
The final showdown with the twins, friends, and Eva has her trapping them all in a room near her old bedroom. Fortunately for all of them, Steven is to the rescue! He had a tussle in the alley with Eva and now believes the twins 100 percent. Also, she told Steven they were all going to die by midnight. So Steven barges into the Riccoli household on a mission. He hears screams upstairs and finds everyone in the room. Naturally, he still looks like Eva and so they hilariously think there are two of her. Oh, and Eva made herself look like a hideous monster with makeup to exaggerate her scars. Steven tells them all to get out (duh), but Jess reminds him about the children and how they cannot be left behind. She has a point. They manage to get a running start and wake up all of the Riccoli children. However, as they are about to leave out the front, Eva starts another one of her fires. So they all have to go upstairs to where there is an outside opening. The Riccoli kids all get down and run to alert Mrs. W as to what is happening. Meanwhile, Eva is choking Jess until Steven manages to hit her and knock her aside with his baseball bat. Of course, no explanation is given for how someone who never left her room could have super-human strength in the first place, or how it could conveniently disappear when the twins need to get away. Twins and friends and Steven head upstairs to where the balcony used to be in Eva’s room. Eva thinks she has the twins, and pushes them into a wall... which gives way, leaving the twins to plummet down onto the mattress the firefighters have laid out on the ground. Todd, Amy, and Winston all then jump through the new hole in the wall, and the twins realize Steven is still inside. Since he still looks like Eva, they all at first think Eva is jumping down, but they soon remember their mistake. But shortly after Steven makes it the twins watch in horror as the roof collapses on Eva and she dies inside the fire of her own making.
The book ends with Alice and the twins visiting Eva’s grave, where Alice vows to never forget Eva. I am quite confident that this statement alone means Eva is already forgotten in Wakefield-land.
Quotes:
“Jessica felt just a teeny bit jealous of her sister’s wounds. Elizabeth was certainly getting a lot of attention. For a brief moment Jessica wished she’d been the one to get pushed off the widow’s walk.”
If only.
Jessica’s thoughts: What if I’m missing the greatest party of my life? What if the Unicorns cut me dead?
If only.
At this point the twins are still denying that the monster of their and the kids’ dreams is real. But Jess and Liz finally talk to one another and admit they all see the same person: a girl with a bunny slipper, teddy bear, and a white nightgown with daisies printed on it. With Halloween approaching, Eva has decided to begin to torment the twins in their WAKING lives. The twins see her all around their house, though, to be fair, one time it is Steven in his quest to be as authentically real to Eva’s form as possible.
Meanwhile, Mrs. Wakefield is still fiercely avoiding the past. I just assumed it was a fire that killed Eva, because she’s constantly setting fires. When Mrs. Wakefield does finally recall that Halloween night babysitting for Eva 25 years ago, we finally get the truth: Eva was a chronic sleepwalker. Mrs. W said she could wear one slipper to bed that fateful night so she (Mrs. W) could still hear Eva walking and make sure she wasn’t going out on her balcony. Let’s pause for a moment here. You know your child sleepwalks, yet you don’t move her to another room WITHOUT a balcony? Okay unpause. Anyway, the parents of Winston, Amy, and Todd decide to come over to scare Mrs. W, but she’s upset and concerned they will frighten Eva... until she realizes they didn’t shut the balcony door! Alice gets there just in time to see Eva plummet to her death. And, because of this, everyone is traumatized and refuses to ever speak about Halloween and this accident ever again.
Luckily for us, Eva sends a long rambling note to Mrs. W that causes her to finally face up to the tragedy all these years later. This is where we learn the biggest shocker of all: Eva is not actually dead. It turns out that when she fell off the balcony she was presumed dead, but she ended up surviving and was taken to a rehab center. From there she escaped and left things down by a nearby river, causing everyone to assume she had drowned. Instead, she went back to her house and lived in her old bedroom ... never telling her parents, mind you, that she was all right. In typical Sweet Valley fashion, none of this really makes any sense. Naturally, Eva lets Alice know in the letter that her falling off the balcony was all Alice’s fault. She also lets Alice know that her (Eva) never revealing herself to her parents again was also her (Alice’s) fault. Um, okay. This is also completely ignoring the fact that there is no way Eva’s parents were stupid enough not to notice her in the house (yet apparently they were). Aside from all this, most bizzaro of all is the lack of explanation for how a living person got into five people’s dreams at the same time! Also how Mrs. W was apparently not sued for her part in Eva jumping off the roof.
The final showdown with the twins, friends, and Eva has her trapping them all in a room near her old bedroom. Fortunately for all of them, Steven is to the rescue! He had a tussle in the alley with Eva and now believes the twins 100 percent. Also, she told Steven they were all going to die by midnight. So Steven barges into the Riccoli household on a mission. He hears screams upstairs and finds everyone in the room. Naturally, he still looks like Eva and so they hilariously think there are two of her. Oh, and Eva made herself look like a hideous monster with makeup to exaggerate her scars. Steven tells them all to get out (duh), but Jess reminds him about the children and how they cannot be left behind. She has a point. They manage to get a running start and wake up all of the Riccoli children. However, as they are about to leave out the front, Eva starts another one of her fires. So they all have to go upstairs to where there is an outside opening. The Riccoli kids all get down and run to alert Mrs. W as to what is happening. Meanwhile, Eva is choking Jess until Steven manages to hit her and knock her aside with his baseball bat. Of course, no explanation is given for how someone who never left her room could have super-human strength in the first place, or how it could conveniently disappear when the twins need to get away. Twins and friends and Steven head upstairs to where the balcony used to be in Eva’s room. Eva thinks she has the twins, and pushes them into a wall... which gives way, leaving the twins to plummet down onto the mattress the firefighters have laid out on the ground. Todd, Amy, and Winston all then jump through the new hole in the wall, and the twins realize Steven is still inside. Since he still looks like Eva, they all at first think Eva is jumping down, but they soon remember their mistake. But shortly after Steven makes it the twins watch in horror as the roof collapses on Eva and she dies inside the fire of her own making.
The book ends with Alice and the twins visiting Eva’s grave, where Alice vows to never forget Eva. I am quite confident that this statement alone means Eva is already forgotten in Wakefield-land.
Quotes:
“Jessica felt just a teeny bit jealous of her sister’s wounds. Elizabeth was certainly getting a lot of attention. For a brief moment Jessica wished she’d been the one to get pushed off the widow’s walk.”
If only.
Jessica’s thoughts: What if I’m missing the greatest party of my life? What if the Unicorns cut me dead?
If only.
January 19, 2010
it was an awesome book First I thought that elizabeth,jessica and their frnds weren't going 2 survive but at last they did.The story behind all this was amazing.I will recommend all the readers that if they r looking 4 horror they should read this book.
November 4, 2020
I read this four-part miniseries of the Sweet Valley books when I was in third grade, so this takes me WAY, way back. I believe they were some of the first non-picture books I read as well. Reading thicker, chapter books about middle school characters when I was eight made me feel so grown up and mature =) These books intrigued me because the cover scared me as a child xD And from there I began reading some of the other Sweet Valley books, as my sister had an entire bookshelf of them. So there's much nostalgia to be regained. I wish I hadn't given them away, but I'm sure those books and I will meet each other again someday...
This four-book story involves the age-old scenario of babysitting, in a creepy mysterious house that people in town are quite hush-hush about. You can tell they're hiding a deep dark secret. While the twins are the main characters, Eva Sullivan is the main subject/mystery. As her story and history unravels further and further each book, culminating in a conclusion in the last one, it gets darker, and more twisted. Spiraling down like the staircase in the mansion (okay, that was a corny simile). It was actually more tragic than I'd remembered, a different outcome than what I expected. I'd thought it was . Even though Eva was a pretty horrible person, I couldn't help but feel a little bit of aching sympathy for her. There was just something WRONG with her from the start, even before . She was always a scared child, and I wish they would've gone more into depth about that. But even though she had an evil side, she also had a childlike side too, with her teddy bear, storybooks, dolls, etc. If I'm being honest, the ending and big reveal and "explanation" did feel a bit rushed and didn't make a whole lot of sense. So that's why I bumped this down to 4 stars instead of 5, even though it is still one of my favorite stories ever.
I could've done without Steven's side stories of trying to be a lawnmower king, even if it did add some comedic relief.
This four-book story involves the age-old scenario of babysitting, in a creepy mysterious house that people in town are quite hush-hush about. You can tell they're hiding a deep dark secret. While the twins are the main characters, Eva Sullivan is the main subject/mystery. As her story and history unravels further and further each book, culminating in a conclusion in the last one, it gets darker, and more twisted. Spiraling down like the staircase in the mansion (okay, that was a corny simile). It was actually more tragic than I'd remembered, a different outcome than what I expected. I'd thought it was . Even though Eva was a pretty horrible person, I couldn't help but feel a little bit of aching sympathy for her. There was just something WRONG with her from the start, even before . She was always a scared child, and I wish they would've gone more into depth about that. But even though she had an evil side, she also had a childlike side too, with her teddy bear, storybooks, dolls, etc. If I'm being honest, the ending and big reveal and "explanation" did feel a bit rushed and didn't make a whole lot of sense. So that's why I bumped this down to 4 stars instead of 5, even though it is still one of my favorite stories ever.
I could've done without Steven's side stories of trying to be a lawnmower king, even if it did add some comedic relief.
Read
August 28, 2023This book terrified me as a child. Yet, I couldn't stay away, and reread it all the time. 😂 I'm not even sure if I realized that it was the final book in a 4-part series, because I don't remember the other books at all.
May 31, 2019
love this book
Read
March 21, 2020Scared myself to death with this miniseries when I was in middle school, and frankly it was still a little creepy as an adult.
May 6, 2023
I am sooo glad I finally got to read this "Nightmare on Elm Street" mini series, but I must say... this ending was ridiculously convoluted and disappointing.
September 7, 2007
hahaha..this was highschool. But the book was good. =)
April 29, 2009
Oh god, how are these books for real?! I love how crazy the Sweet Valley books were compared to the BSC - their adventures were at least realistic! (Apart from the whole never-aging part, that is.)
June 22, 2013
I remember the cover just not the story.
December 14, 2016
Loved this mini series until the end when it became more and more clear they had no way of explaining anything and this was a nightmare on elm st rip off
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 7, 2020
Disappointed by the ending :/
Displaying 1 - 13 of 13 reviews