Special Christmas

Sweet Valley High Super Editions #2

by Francine Pascal (Creator)

Deck the halls of Sweet Valley High...

The Wakefield twins and their friends at Sweet Valley High are in festive spirits. It's Christmas vacation, the annual parade is just days away, secret Santas are busy buying surprise gifts, and everyone's talking about the holiday dance at the Patmans' mansion. Jessica Wakefield is determined to be named Miss Christmastime, and Elizabeth is counting the days until she's reunited with her faraway boyfriend, Todd Wilkins.

It seems nothing can spoil Jessica and Elizabeth's holiday - until Mr. and Mrs. Wakefield announce the arrival of an unwelcome houseguest. Now it looks as though this Christmas might be the worst ever!

Catch the holiday spirit with Elizabeth and Jessica Wakefield and the rest of the Sweet Valley gang. You'll never forget this Special Christmas!

UK reissue of ISBN 0553253778

Genres: Young Adult, Christmas, Fiction, Childrens, Romance, Teen, Collections

233 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1985

About the author

Francine 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.

Reviews

[Grace Chan · Rating 4 out of 5]

*** SPOILERS I'M SORRY BUT I JUST HAVE TO GET IT OUT OF MY SYSTEM***

So Suzanne Devlin the Devil is back in town, that evil bitch from SVH #11 "Too Good To Be True"!! The one wretch who stole Elizabeth's cherished necklace, tried to seduce Mr. Coliins and then accused him of trying to assault her, and generally backstabbed and steamrollered everyone in Sweet Valley 😅

But THIS TIME, she's CHANGED and wants to make amends! But everyone hates her and is mean to her and gves her effed up Secret Santa presents to tell her to get lost. Meanwhile, little does Elizabeth know that her long-distance boyfriend Todd, who's back in Sweet Valley on holiday, fell for this bitch when he ran into her while skiing in Vermont 🤣😱

So Todd has been acting a fool in front of the Devil bitch because he secretly is in love with her. But after the bitch mixes her meds with champagne, crashes the Fiat, and ends up in the hospital, Todd finally admits his feelings for the Devil to Elizabeth and somehow SHE'S OK WITH IT??! I mean, Liz has been feeling like "the magic is gone" in her relationship with Todd but STILL!! These evolved 16 year olds are WAY more emotionally mature than me because I would be like GET THEE BACK, DEVIL WENCH AND SCREW YOU TOO, TODD!! 🤣

OH and then its revealed that bitch has Multiple Sclerosis, but didn't want to tell anyone because she wanted everyone to forgive her for realz instead of pity her! But PSYCH!! Its a Christmas miracle and the doctors tell her just kidding you dont!! 🤣🤣

4 out of 5 good tidings and cheer for the holiday season in Sweet Valley. I guess the moral of the story is....everyone deserves a 2nd chance....even if they come back to your town and steal your man 🤣🤣🤣❤

[Tara · Rating 4 out of 5]

4.5 stars. I loved this to death, it was definitely one of my favorites so far, just batshit adorable. And I actually think Liz might even be my new fave twin after what happened in this one, I mean she totally put the gal in gallant, amirite?

[Pastel Paperback · Rating 4 out of 5]

An all-time great Sweet Valley High and one of the best super specials.

Suzanne Devlin's return was inspired. She's truly one of the worst SVH villains from the early run and it was fun to watch her come back to Sweet Valley and be a changed person.

There's just so much in this book. Secret Santas! Todd! Misdiagnosed illnesses! A Christmas Parade! Lila as a green elf! Party at Bruce Patman's! Casual teen drinking! Car accidents! Just seasonal enough and tons of campy fun moments. One of my favorites to re-read.

[Kris (My Novelesque Life) · Rating 4 out of 5]

I want to reread this series from my childhood, hopefully will review this then.

[Cate Marsden · Rating 5 out of 5]

I had forgotten what a soap opera these things were. That was fantastic, ghostwriter. So much fun.

[Jenn · Rating 4 out of 5]

Am I actually reviewing a Christmas book in March? Yes, I am, because I wrote it that long ago and I suck but I really wanted to get this review up still.

Before Reading: I was pretty excited to read a Christmas special *at* Christmas time. I've never read this one either, so it was all new to me! I always picture the twins with long (at least waist length) hair so the covers always throw me off.

The Main Plot in 50 Words or Less: It's Christmas time. Everyone is excited. Until the evil Suzanne Devlin shows up and ruins everything. Or does she?

The Second Plot in 20ish Words or Less: Liz can't wait to see Todd, who moved away to Vermont. (I haven't gotten to that plot yet, obviously.) Jessica wants to be Miss Something-or-Other Sweet Valley and so does Lila.

Happenings in SV: It's Christmas time in Sweet Valley and the twins are ready to have "the best Christmas ever". Although they never really say how or why it's going to be the best? Elizabeth is in charge of passing out Secret Santa partners. Every. person. in. the. school. gets a Secret Santa. How does that possibly even work?? It would have been way more believable if it was just their grade or even just their English classes. Yeah, no way.

Todd is coming back from Vermont for 2 whole weeks and Liz is ecstatic. But the visit turns kind of weird and awkward. Suzanne Devlin is also back in town, but she wants to make amends for her last visit. The twins don't believe it for a second and are determined to make her visit miserable. Suzanne is hiding a big secret though and eventually wins over everyone, even Jessica, just in time for Christmas.

Jessica and Lila both want to be Miss Christmastime in the parade and scheme and connive their way thru the season, as usual. Jessica's Secret Santa gives her amazing gifts and she's convinced it's the hot new foreign exchange student, Hans. It, of course, turns out to be nerd boy Winston Egbert.

Other Thoughts: It was a little weird reading this one, because it's ahead of where I am in the books. I've only read up to #19, I think, and I totally didn't remember Todd moving away! I haven't read about Suzanne yet either, but she sounded horrid. I have to say though...the whole "I have multiple sclerosis" "oh wait, no you don't, you just had mono all this time!" thing was kind of ridiculous. I still teared up. Whatever.

Read my full review at Give a Hoot Read a Book.

[Alex · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is just all kinds of ridiculous.

I hate when I'm diagnosed with MS and it turns out to just be mono, don't you?

However, these crazy plots are why I fell in love with Sweet Valley as a kid - and why they are just so darn fun to re-read as an adult.

[Kristen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I love the special editions.

[kylajaclyn · Rating 3 out of 5]

My final book of 2016, just in the nick of time!!

So I didn't read the original Suzanne Devlin book yet, but she sounds like an awful beast. Or was. SV recaps everything in detail though, so I didn't miss much. Basically Suzy comes to Sweet Valley for Christmas to make up for her previous behavior in Too Good to Be True. But she's also hiding a secret - she's sick with M.S. and doesn't want the twins to know. Hijinx ensue, mostly involving Jess trying to make Suzy's life a nightmare to pay her back for how she treated Liz last time. Then Jess thinks Todd and Suzanne are a thing and Suzy has come there to steal him... oh boy. But this is the end of Liz and Todd, for now. Props to Liz for how she gracefully handles realizing that Todd IS in love with Suzanne. The parts between Todd and Liz breaking up were very moving, and I was quite surprised.

"Guess Who's Back? Back Again..." /

Suzy is sick, right? /
Congrats, no M.S. exists! /
Bye-bye, Liz and Todd. :(

Quotes:

Liz: She really is thinner. I wonder how she did it.
Jess: Probably by being crafty, evil, and manipulative. That'll make you lose weight any day.
(So Jess should be ten pounds then, am I right?!)

Jess: She's going to realize she can't just stomp back in here and do whatever she pleases!
(Only Jess can do that, obviously.)

[Jamie · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars. So Suzanne is back in the Valley and everyone expects trouble. Jessica, naturally is ready for it and in on the path to put her in her place! She is full of vengeance in this one! Does she scheme- of course! Do they backfire? Naturally! Do I blame her? Not so much this time. Steven acted immature at first (bad big brother!) but mellows out. And Liz is the same ol' Liz. Too sweet for her own good. Todd I was disappointed in and Winston yet again he is never given the credit he deserves and even if barely there, is still a favorite character of mine. I loved the Secret Santa goings on in this. Would love to be a part of something so festive, and creative. Past Secret Santas Ive done were nothing so personal and meaningful. Or playful!

[Jodie · Rating 4 out of 5]

My holidays always included the Wakefields. As they should....I loved reading about their Christmases and Thanksgivings and New Years' celebrations. I looked forward to the new books as soon as I finished one.

[Kristin · Rating 1 out of 5]

Snooze fest. This wasn’t even Christmasy. I wasn’t interested in the Suzanne plot. She was such a wet blanket. It sounded like she was much more interesting in her last book. Get ready for the most unrealistic portrayal of not MS.

[Jesska · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5, Jess coulda been a LITTLE nastier. Christmas spirit got in the way, I guess.

[Susan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I don't think I ever read this one as a kid, which was like a little gift I didn't even know I wanted (and a figurative gift, since I got this giant stack of SVH paperbacks with all these Super Editions for Xmas and I'm LOVING having mindless things to read before bed- so much easier to not have nightmares or insomnia when I'm reading cheesy nostalgic garbage pulp fiction- one of my joys in life). At any rate, it's Christmas time in Sweet Valley and there are Secret Santas and Todd is coming to visit (apparently, Jeffrey hadn't shown up in town yet in this book), and California sunshine with Xmas spirit and then....dun dun DUN- the Wakefields find out Suzanne Devlin of the "Mr. Collins tried to rape me!" drama is coming to spend Christmas with the twins. And nobody's happy about it. Well, maybe I AM. So she shows up in Sweet Valley, and something's clearly up, as she seems to want to be friends, Ned and Alice are all about the kids forgiving and forgetting all the shit she pulled last time she was in town, AND she keeps getting busted taking gobfuls of pills and getting dizzy and needing naps. Jessica of course goes straight to "She's an anorexic druggie" and continues with her plans to torture Suzanne till she goes home (Merry Xmas!), but Liz and Steven start wondering what's wrong. Oh, AND, COINCEDENTALLY, Todd ad Suzanne totally hung out at some ski resort in Vermont but nobody mentioned this to Liz, who isn't really all that into Todd anymore, but isn't sure how to break it to him. So without spoiling, I'll just say this book was "super edition" fun-- hijinks and drama and Christmas and Wakefields Wakefielding- this one is a gem of an SVH book. 3 stars. One of the best.

[Kari Costa · Rating 5 out of 5]

SPOILER:

How do I NOT REMEMBER reading this book?? My heart is BREAKING for Liz! Did I just tune out this breakup? I almost want to cry! 😢

[anolinde · Rating 3 out of 5]

The return of Suzanne Devlin! I vaguely remembered this book but I completely forgot that Todd falls in love with Suzanne and winds up dating her at the end?! Wtf?! Also wow @ that "jk you don't have MS, psych!" twist so Suzanne can have her happy ending.

I had so many questions about the school-wide Secret Santa... does each grade do their own? Do they have guidelines on how much to spend? Are high schoolers actually motivated enough to deliver gifts to one another during school vacation? idk.

[Tiffany Spencer]

Special Christmas (Sweet Valley Super Edition)
It’s the day before Christmas vacation, and there’s about to be a big Christmas party in the gym. Liz will be handing out Secret Santa. Steve will be coming home and Todd will be returning to Sweet Valley. Liz is so into her thoughts about Todd, she doesn’t notice the class has been dismissed until Olivia tells her. Jessica comes over to then and Olivia asks why they’ve dressed alike. Do they plan to pull a prank? But Jessica sees her flavor of the week Hans-a German student who's there to improve his English- and she takes off and leaves Liz to answer. Liz says that after school, she and Jess are going to the photo studio have pictures taken as presents for Ned and Alice. When they were kids they dressed in similar outfits and thought it would make a great gift..

This year the dance before the reveal of the Santa’s will be held at the Patman’s mansion. Jessica appears in the gym with Hans and gives Liz a look that says I want Hans to pull my name. But instead he’s pulled Lila’s. On the way home from the studio, Liz learns that Jess and Lila are once again at it over both wanting to be Miss Christmastime (who leads the Christmas parade). The decision will be announced the next day. Jessica’s S.S is Bruce. Liz is Aaron. Steven is home early. He has some bad news. Suzanne Devlin will be spending two weeks with them.

Ned and Alice just say that she’s been through a lot and instead of wanting to go to Europa with her own parent’s, she wants to come to SV to prove she’s changed. Mr. Collin’s is for the idea. Liz just does not trust that she doesn’t have an ulterior motive. Later, Jessica tells Liz to call her and tell her that everyone there hates her so she won’t come. But it doesn’t work, because as always Liz is WAY TOO SOFT. So, Jessica thinks that the “Terrible Trio” will just have to make her visit HELL!

The next day Steven and Liz discuss the confusion Liz feels over where they stand as a couple. Then Jess comes downstairs dressed as an elf and says Cara talked her into being a Santa’s helper at the mall. She was supposed to but ‘came down with a cold” Jessica says Cara told her it wouldn’t interfere with her Miss Christmas time appointment. Jess gets her first SS present (a jewelry bo) and thinks it’s from Hans. At 2:15 Jessica finds out there’s no replacement and it was all a trick by Lila to make sure she wouldn’t come to the appointment. Santa says that she can ride on his float as one of his elves. But then she thinks of a way to get even with Lila and agrees. She tells Liz she plays to steal Lila’s dress and crown and leave her elf suit in its place. Alice comes in and tells Jessica Suzzane will have her room and she’ll share with Liz. So, she and Liz plan ways to use the room to make Suzanne’s visit miserable.

At the Dairi Burger, the twins meet up with their classmates. Jessica is supposed to meet Hans. Winston asks if Jess got anything from her SS (It’s immediately clear that its him) and they all start talking about what they got so far. The twins drop the news that Suzzanne is coming. No one is happy about this! Aaron offers to help if they need it. Enid and Ken ask about Todd but Liz is noticeably quiet. Jess poses the question on the way home what would she do if she found out Todd was dating someone else in Vermont? Liz doesn’t answer not knowing how she’d feel.

Mrs. Wakefield picks up Suzanne and notices she’s thinner and paler. She tries to warn her and says she and Ned would do what they could, but Suzzane says no. *She* has to do this. When she gets to the Wakefields, Jessica acts like she has amnesia. She acts like she’s forgotten Suzzane was coming and where she’s from. There’s tension after Steven comes down and speaks. They talk about how boring SV is and then Jessica mentions Pete. Suzanne suddenly excuses herself to go get cleaned up. Liz tells Jessica to let up. She says she can take it and says Liz needs to have more backbone.

Later, they talk about her Steve says she seems nice and it’s kinda hard to be mean to her. He thinks they should leave her alone and give her a chance. Jessica says they’re both soft Jess and Steve go back and forth. Liz is distracted and thinks of Todd. Then he calls. He’s surprised to hear Suzanne is there. But what he doesn’t tell Liz is that he saw Suzzane previously at a ski resort and how while having a conversation with her there was a moment he thought he might have feelings for her.

Todd just plans to keep it quiet and will tell Suzzanne to do the same. Liz catches Suzzanne putting pills in her robe the next morning. She attempts to apologize to Liz, but she hits a nerve when she mentions Mr. Collins. Then Jess comes down and starts saying her new blouse is missing. Suzzane says she hasn’t seen it. Liz in disgust leaves and Jess starts up again with how boring it there and then tries to make her feel bad about Pete. Jessica receives another gift (daisies). Jess throws the flowers in Suzanne’s face (figuratively). Liz calls Jess over and says she has to get ready to see Todd. Jessica asks if she told Suzanne Todd is coming and Lz says she forgot. Jess says it won’t be long before Suzanne is gone and then starts talking about all the pills she has in her makeup case. Jessica accuses her of being a “pill popper (drug addict) which gets Liz to thinking maybe this is why she’s so thin.

Then Todd shows up. She takes one look at him, drops the flowers (in the vase), and runs out crying. Suzzanne calms down and explains it as a headache. Liz goes to change (she and Todd will be going to Winston’s). Todd pulls Suzzane into the kitchen. He tells Suzzane he didn’t mention to Liz he ran into her and maybe it’s best they don’t mention it. She agrees but Jessica overhears. She only hears “I’ll do whatever you think is best”. But she comes to the conclusion they want each other. So, she goes to Aaron and Winston and gets them to agree to be Suzanne’s “BAD” Secret Santa.

Todd and Liz don’t really get any alone time that day. They spend the day with friends and their family and a surprise party. Liz hasn’t felt “the magic” yet. Suzzane gets a red envelope that tells her to go home. It’s written like a ransom note. She shows it to Liz. She and Liz have a talk. Typical story. Rich girl feeling neglected and acts out. She’s going to call Aaron and ask him to lunch. Liz doubts he’ll forgive her but she says that’s a start. Liz tells Jess later she thinks Suzanne is sick. But Jess is more interested in her and Todd. Aaron calls to return Suzzanne’s call and Jessica gets mad because she assumes that Suzzanne wants to break up Aaron and his girlfriend Even though Liz tells her it’s not like that and Suzanne just wants to be his friend.

Jessica calls Aaron and tells him Suzzane wants to seduce him. She says to call her and tell you’d love to but your busy. But then invite her to a pre-party but then tell her he can’t pick her up and he has a flat time. She says give her a fake address-that one on Forest Lane- a place that suppose to be haunted. Then go to Bruce’s party with his girlfriend

Liz notices how Todd is acting around Suzzane and she tries to talk to him about it but it leads to an argument. Liz feels like something is off. He never mentioned why he was acting that way or say he was going to apologize to Suzzanne. Suzzane gets another package that’s empty. Liz tells Jess to back off because she’s convinced Suzzane is really sick. Jessica sees she’s serious and thinks she better tell the guys to stop with the presents and tell Aaron to call the prank off. But then she overhears Suzanne and Todd on the phone talking about a “special afternoon” in Vermont Liz confesses to End she thinks it’s over with Todd and she’s ok with him seeing someone else. She’s scared though to talk to hm because she doesn’t think he’ll be able to let her go.

Jessica receives from her SS (a menu telling her to pick what she wanted on a date of her choosing). Lila gets one of these too. It’s now Christmas Eve. They have a tradition to pick out what ornaments to put on the tree. Alice encourages Suzy to put a special ornament on the tree, but she feels dizzy and collapses. Mr. Wakefield says she has a problem with muscular control. Alice won’t tell them what’s wrong. There’s some medicine that Suzanne gets sent that’s new that doesn’t have a list of how she should take it. She tries to call the Dr. but he doesn’t answer. She takes it anyway. Late she Steve and the twins have champagne.

The plan goes forth. Suzzane has been drinking and can’t really drive. After she leaves, the Dr. says that the medicine could knock her out or kill her. Jessica breaks down and tells her Dad about the trick. On the way to the Haunted House, Suzzanne becomes disoriented and turns the Fiat over. So all the Wakefields go out to find her. Jessica tells everything. They get to the house it’s deserted. Mr. Wakefield says Suzzane has MS (muscular sclerosis). Jessica thinks back to Liz’s accident and notices the look on Todd’s face. Todd is in love with Suzzanne. The police were behind her and they find out they took her to the hospital. Then Todd realizes it. Todd and Jessica argue. Vermont comes out. Liz gets it. Then Todd confesses. The Dr. says she’ll make it. Todd and Liz, break up at Bruce’s party but agree to remain the best of friends. Winston is her SS. Hans is Lila’s. Mr.Collins (thanks to Jess) suggest some of them be Santas to Suzzanne. Jess gets to be Miss Christmastime and Lila gets stuck being an elf. Suzanne finds out she doesn’t have MS and she and Todd are holding hands in her room with the twins show up. Then her parents show up and in the end, she gets a serenade by Bill and his suffer friends.

My Thoughts: From the beginning, it was just weird how much interest Steve took in getting even with Suzzanne. Steve wouldn’t have a reason to be *this* upset with Suzzanne. She didn’t steal anything from him or do anything to him. From what I remember, she was nothing but helpful when he was around. The only thing that really makes sense is even though he wasn’t close to Mr. Collins, maybe he just was pissed over here was a woman that lied on a man -that he kinda knew- and was claiming rape. In the same way, you can feel disgusted with maybe a celebrity that raped a young girl or female. If you put it *that* way it makes a little more sense. Still, I just thought the wanting to punish her so bad and all the drama over her visit from Steve was misplaced.

I struggled with how I really felt about Suzzanne as much as Liz did. I saw right away she *was* sick, but I was thinking it was gonna be maybe cancer or diabetes. I know a lady that goes to the beauty shop with us that has MS. I tried to relate it to what I knew of her. She does have a problem with balance. I know that her boyfriend is very particular about her. I don’t think she has a problem with cold. The temperature is akin to the Artic in there sometimes and I’m the only one it seems to affect. Everyone else is in short sleeves. I don’t think I’ve ever heard her mention dizziness either or her eyes. All those seem to be things I associate with diabetes. When I think of that now I see why I didn’t connect it with MS and it made sense at the end that the diagnosis was wrong.

But then what kind of doctor is this? I know doctors make mistakes but shouldn’t he have run some more test before he diagnoses her and had her and her family thinking this was MS. I’m not a doctor but a lot of conditions can probably have similar things in common. That’s why you run more tests because you diagnose something as something and it’s wrong. He could have (and probably would have) killed this girl and then Mr. and Mrs. Develin could have taken his behind to court and sued him for every dime he owned.

I’m glad that in the end, Jessica got to be Miss Christmastime. There’s no guarantee. Oh My Bad. Forgot what series I was reading for a hot second. I was gonna say that she would have been picked over Lila but.. Anyway what Lila got was well deserved. I’m not even sure how she won last time considering.

Liz and Todd’s break-up didn’t particularly surprise me because I never really *felt the magic* Liz was trying so hard to feel. Maybe because Liz was wondering where the “old Todd” was but I was like he’s standing right in front of you. He’s the same Todd he's always been. Maybe *the magic* was just blinding you.

And did Bruce seem a little too.. “un Brace-like”. He’s never quite this *happy*. He’s always kind of *smug* Maybe it’s just the holiday season.

Jessica should just give Winston a chance. He seems to have as much class as what she thinks Han does.


Rating: 6

[Theresa Wade · Rating 4 out of 5]

Score one for nostalgia! I found this at goodwill and decided to read it. I actually barely remembered it from junior high 30+ years ago. It was not bad. Maybe a little cheesy. Typical Sweet Valley perfection, Jessica shenanigans, and Elizabeth goody-goody self. The only odd part was Poot devilish Devlin getting MS, oh wait, just mono. Ummm, I’m not a dr, but as an ms sufferer, it isn’t that simple SVH ghostwriter. It was nice trip down cheesy YA memory lane.

[Hil · Rating 3 out of 5]

Much better than the first Super Edition! I like how you don't really know whether Suzanne is genuinely there for good or bad reasons until towards the end, so you don't know which side to take.

[Marna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was happy to find a story involving a character I had read about in a previous book (as I am not really that far into the series). Why am I reviewing these? Everything is predictable and there is a tragedy that is not life threatening yet serves to bring everybody closer together. You know what? I bet for every time that happens a random person in the sweetvalleyverse dies a horrible death because all the medical resources are being used up on car accidents that seem dramatic but in which no one is injured in any lasting way. I wanted to read something xmas-y having watched very nearly all the xmas-y things already. Um...If this helps at all I have made it almost 300 pages into my Emily Dickinson biography which is like 600 pages and though I cannot keep track of any of her family even using the tree in the appendix, I can sort of almost keep track of what her interior is generally, no matter how long it may take me to read! I'm hoping by the end of the year! That sounds so much better than in 26 days! I can do it!

[Sabrina Frang · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book plays out like a teenage holiday movie that you would see on Neflix. It is predictable, fun but ultimately forgettable. I waffled between giving it 3 or 4 stars because I was never bored, and I love spending time with the Wakefield twins. You also get a Christmasy-vibe with a secret Santa gift exchange and a Christmas party. The problem is I am a little 50/50 on the ending. I know it is a popular trope for Christmas movies, but it also cheapens a potentially poignant story line. Nevertheless, this is a SVH book, so they are only supposed get so deep.

[Fiona Byrne · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoy having a light festive read however what irritated me about this plot is that Suzanne was sick and they revealed it was MS Multiple Sclerosis which is a pretty damn serious illness and then at the end her doctor showed up and said whoops guess what turns out you had mono.
I just found it trivialised MS. I don’t think you would get misdiagnosed with something so debilitating.

[Carrie · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was going through books from my childhood and found my SVH books. I decided to pick one out to read. As an adult they are definitely cheesy but I can understand why my younger self enjoyed these so much. They have some adventures, suspense, and romance. I would likely recommend these to 11-13 year olds which would have been when I loved these so much.

[Stephanie · Rating 3 out of 5]

SVH Christmas super edition?! Yes, sign me up for this cheesy holiday read! Minus points for evil Suzanne Devlin coming back on her apology tour to not only have (SPOILER ALERT) Todd fall in love with her, but to also not even have MS to begin with, which was the whole reason we were feeling sorry for her. Only in Sweet Valley!!

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

I had never read this one before and I actually quite enjoyed it. Maybe it's because I'm just in a schmaltzy mood for Christmas, what can I say? It definitely still has its corny moments, but it is a Sweet Valley book after all. Ah, high school memories...

[Ted McKnight · Rating 2 out of 5]

Uhhhh not a whole lot to say other than this was fun. Lots of John Hughesesque cheese filled holiday goodness. This was my first adventure with the Sweet Valley High gang and I’m sure I’ll be back… after a few well written books.

[Laura Miller · Rating 5 out of 5]

Fun and fast reread from my high school years. This book gave me nostalgia and I enjoyed spending time with Jessica and Elizabeth again.

[Kimberly Lucas · Rating 3 out of 5]

I love a nostalgic read...one of my middle school favorites!

[Lizzie the Book Hoarder · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5

[Christine B · Rating 5 out of 5]

Really good Christmas special. But why the sudden addition of all the using of the Lord’s name in vain? Sadly lessened the enjoyment of the book.