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Sweet Valley University Thriller Editions #6
The Roommate
When a stranger moves in...
Isabella Ricci has found the perfect roommate. Quiet, clean, and considerate, Lisa Fontaine is totally interested in Isabella's life. But maybe she's a little too interested...
Lisa starts to dress and talk like Isabella, and instantly hits it off with all her Sweet Valley friends... especially Isabella's best friend, Jessica Wakefield.
But Lisa crosses the line when she takes Isabella's clothes, cuts and dyes her hair just like Isabella's, and sneaks into Isabella's boyfriend, Danny Wyatt's, room.
Suddenly Isabella is scared. Lisa seems dead set on taking her friends, her identity... maybe even her life.
Isabella Ricci has found the perfect roommate. Quiet, clean, and considerate, Lisa Fontaine is totally interested in Isabella's life. But maybe she's a little too interested...
Lisa starts to dress and talk like Isabella, and instantly hits it off with all her Sweet Valley friends... especially Isabella's best friend, Jessica Wakefield.
But Lisa crosses the line when she takes Isabella's clothes, cuts and dyes her hair just like Isabella's, and sneaks into Isabella's boyfriend, Danny Wyatt's, room.
Suddenly Isabella is scared. Lisa seems dead set on taking her friends, her identity... maybe even her life.
281 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1996
1 person is currently reading
220 people want to read
About the author
Francine Pascal
1,139 books1,845 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 - 16 of 16 reviews
August 20, 2016
Welcome to "Single White Female Redux" or SVU Super Thriller #6, "The Roommate."
I mean, I don't need to snark this one. Because the ghost writers gave me nothing original to snark. It is, literally, a novel reenactment of the movie Single White Female starring Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh. I haven't seen the movie, so I thought maybe they changed some things for the book. Nope. I read an extended plot summary on IMDB, and it's exactly what happens in this book. Girl with a history of mental disturbance (in this case, Lisa Fontaine) rooms with a normal girl and tries to turn her into her long lost twin she killed when she was younger (in this case, Rosie Mueller to her Helen Mueller). Isabella even gets the Bridget Fonda haircut at the beginning of the novel, and Lisa quickly follows suit. Lisa begins with the stringy brown hair of Jennifer in the movie. The only difference is that there is a cat, and not a dog, like in the movie. BUT, in the 2011 remake of SWF, The Roommate, with Leighton Meester and Minka Kelly, they have a cat. As in every horror movie and/or novel, the cat does not survive. I hate that. It's such a cheap gag to kill an animal.
So, yeah, Isabella survives this nonsense, but I don't know why she'd want to, because Jessica and Danny, her boyfriend, are awful to her. Danny was a dick ass in the cruise ship books too. I'm sensing a pattern here. Basically, they both easily fall for Lisa's manipulations after knowing her what, a week, tops? ... Versus knowing Isabella much longer. Jessica's new boyfriend, Josh, once dated Isabella in high school for ten months, and Lisa plays this up for all it's worth to make Danny and Jessica insecure.
Also, this book spoiled the end of the Professor Miles trilogy for me. Way to go, SVU.
Quotes:
"Lisa felt like a walking garbage heap spreading ugliness wherever she went."
-Because she's not a Wakefield.
"'What's gotten into you, anyway? Jessica Wakefield is rarely insecure.'"
-Please, insecurity is what drives her sociopathy.
"But even Jessica had to admit it wasn't cool to take advantage of Lisa."
-Since when??
I mean, I don't need to snark this one. Because the ghost writers gave me nothing original to snark. It is, literally, a novel reenactment of the movie Single White Female starring Bridget Fonda and Jennifer Jason Leigh. I haven't seen the movie, so I thought maybe they changed some things for the book. Nope. I read an extended plot summary on IMDB, and it's exactly what happens in this book. Girl with a history of mental disturbance (in this case, Lisa Fontaine) rooms with a normal girl and tries to turn her into her long lost twin she killed when she was younger (in this case, Rosie Mueller to her Helen Mueller). Isabella even gets the Bridget Fonda haircut at the beginning of the novel, and Lisa quickly follows suit. Lisa begins with the stringy brown hair of Jennifer in the movie. The only difference is that there is a cat, and not a dog, like in the movie. BUT, in the 2011 remake of SWF, The Roommate, with Leighton Meester and Minka Kelly, they have a cat. As in every horror movie and/or novel, the cat does not survive. I hate that. It's such a cheap gag to kill an animal.
So, yeah, Isabella survives this nonsense, but I don't know why she'd want to, because Jessica and Danny, her boyfriend, are awful to her. Danny was a dick ass in the cruise ship books too. I'm sensing a pattern here. Basically, they both easily fall for Lisa's manipulations after knowing her what, a week, tops? ... Versus knowing Isabella much longer. Jessica's new boyfriend, Josh, once dated Isabella in high school for ten months, and Lisa plays this up for all it's worth to make Danny and Jessica insecure.
Also, this book spoiled the end of the Professor Miles trilogy for me. Way to go, SVU.
Quotes:
"Lisa felt like a walking garbage heap spreading ugliness wherever she went."
-Because she's not a Wakefield.
"'What's gotten into you, anyway? Jessica Wakefield is rarely insecure.'"
-Please, insecurity is what drives her sociopathy.
"But even Jessica had to admit it wasn't cool to take advantage of Lisa."
-Since when??
June 25, 2023
2
"Sweet Valley University: The Roommate" is a novel in the Sweet Valley University series by Francine Pascal. The book follows the story of Elizabeth Wakefield, a college student who is assigned to share an apartment with her new roommate, Denise Hadley. At first, Elizabeth is excited to have a roommate, but things quickly become complicated.
Denise is very different from Elizabeth - she is messy, disorganized, and has a very different outlook on life. As the two girls struggle to coexist in their shared space, tensions rise, and they begin to clash over everything from music to cleaning schedules.
As the story unfolds, Elizabeth and Denise must learn to navigate their differences and find a way to live together peacefully. Along the way, they both learn important lessons about communication, compromise, and the value of friendship.
"The Roommate" is a relatable and engaging story about the challenges of sharing a living space with someone who is very different from you. It's a great read for anyone who has ever had a roommate or struggled to get along with someone in close quarters.
3
My favourite chapter/part of the book is Chapter 7 titled "The First Real Fight." In this chapter, Elizabeth Wakefield and Denise Hadley have their first major argument. The argument begins when Denise's boyfriend, Kurt, comes over and starts playing loud music, disturbing Elizabeth's studying. When Elizabeth asks Kurt to turn down the volume, Denise becomes defensive and accuses Elizabeth of being too uptight and controlling.
The argument escalates, with both Elizabeth and Denise expressing their frustrations with each other. Elizabeth feels that Denise is disrespectful and inconsiderate, while Denise feels that Elizabeth is too rigid and judgmental. As the fight comes to a head, Denise suggests that they may need to find a way to live separately.
Throughout the chapter, the tension between Elizabeth and Denise is palpable. The argument highlights the differences in their personalities and the challenges of living with someone who has a very different lifestyle and worldview.
"Sweet Valley University: The Roommate" is a novel in the Sweet Valley University series by Francine Pascal. The book follows the story of Elizabeth Wakefield, a college student who is assigned to share an apartment with her new roommate, Denise Hadley. At first, Elizabeth is excited to have a roommate, but things quickly become complicated.
Denise is very different from Elizabeth - she is messy, disorganized, and has a very different outlook on life. As the two girls struggle to coexist in their shared space, tensions rise, and they begin to clash over everything from music to cleaning schedules.
As the story unfolds, Elizabeth and Denise must learn to navigate their differences and find a way to live together peacefully. Along the way, they both learn important lessons about communication, compromise, and the value of friendship.
"The Roommate" is a relatable and engaging story about the challenges of sharing a living space with someone who is very different from you. It's a great read for anyone who has ever had a roommate or struggled to get along with someone in close quarters.
3
My favourite chapter/part of the book is Chapter 7 titled "The First Real Fight." In this chapter, Elizabeth Wakefield and Denise Hadley have their first major argument. The argument begins when Denise's boyfriend, Kurt, comes over and starts playing loud music, disturbing Elizabeth's studying. When Elizabeth asks Kurt to turn down the volume, Denise becomes defensive and accuses Elizabeth of being too uptight and controlling.
The argument escalates, with both Elizabeth and Denise expressing their frustrations with each other. Elizabeth feels that Denise is disrespectful and inconsiderate, while Denise feels that Elizabeth is too rigid and judgmental. As the fight comes to a head, Denise suggests that they may need to find a way to live separately.
Throughout the chapter, the tension between Elizabeth and Denise is palpable. The argument highlights the differences in their personalities and the challenges of living with someone who has a very different lifestyle and worldview.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 4, 2025
Isabelle Ricci has a light car accident, but the repairs will set her finances back quite considerably. Instead of going to her parents for a loan, she decides to get a roommate to help cover the bill. She settles on mousy Lisa Fontaine. At first it seems fun to have someone like a sister around the place, but Lisa quickly heads into Single White Female territory by borrowing Isabelle's clothes, through to copying her hairstyle and fashion sense. She starts making the moves on Isabelle's boyfriend, Danny Wyatt, and becoming besties with Isabelle's bestie, Jessica Wakefield. Lisa tries capitalising on the fact that Jessica's new boyfriend, Josh Stone, once used to be Isabella's boyfriend, in order to break Isabelle and Danny up. Isabelle becomes frightened over how far Lisa is willing to go to steal her life.
This was complete beat-by-beat retread of, indeed, Single White Female. Some sequences were almost identical! Plagiarism lawsuit, anyone? However, it was a blast to read. I'm not the person to turn to when it comes to picking apart psycho roommate stories - I watch all the movies and TV movies and read all the books with this plot, and I never get tired of it. It's my crack! The Roommate dishes it all up expertly along with some typical Sweet Valley melodrama and relationship trouble, and I found it to be a really fun read. Total trash, but I got the high I was looking for out of it.
This was complete beat-by-beat retread of, indeed, Single White Female. Some sequences were almost identical! Plagiarism lawsuit, anyone? However, it was a blast to read. I'm not the person to turn to when it comes to picking apart psycho roommate stories - I watch all the movies and TV movies and read all the books with this plot, and I never get tired of it. It's my crack! The Roommate dishes it all up expertly along with some typical Sweet Valley melodrama and relationship trouble, and I found it to be a really fun read. Total trash, but I got the high I was looking for out of it.
May 27, 2024
i found this book alongside another one from the same collection at my local thrift store and decided to give them a try. it was decent enough, i read it more for the entertainment aspect of it. it was very reminiscent of a 90s lifetime movie, appropriate since that's when this book came out. the writing was mediocre, nothing exciting about it but the story moves pretty fast and it is a good light read for when you don't want to be heavily immersed.
December 7, 2017
a good one , exciting , bot boring at all.
nothing deep or sophisticated , just for fun xx
nothing deep or sophisticated , just for fun xx
February 16, 2023
Complete rip off to Single White Female.
Lisa was bizarre. Why would she intentionally cause trouble for Isabella when she went out of her way to be nice to Lisa??
Lisa was bizarre. Why would she intentionally cause trouble for Isabella when she went out of her way to be nice to Lisa??
January 28, 2019
Another Thriller Edition for the gang at Sweet Valley University! And, as usual, Laurie John takes a well-known suspenseful movie and turns it into a teen setting to make it accessible to young readers. If you’ve seen Single White Female, you’ll know The Roommate by heart.
Isabella is in financial straights, and she puts up an advertisement for a roommate to help cut costs. Lisa, the girl she picks, seems great at first: respectful, meek, and insecure. Isabella takes her under her wing and shows her how to dress and introduces her to her friends, but then Lisa’s behavior takes an unexpected turn. . .
Or an expected turn, if you’ve seen the Bridget Fonda movie. It’s pretty close to the movie, but relatively appropriate for teenagers. This might be the scariest Thriller Edition I’ve read, so readers beware. Read this one by candlelight when it’s Halloween time, if you dare!
http://hottoastyrag.weebly.com/svu-23...
Isabella is in financial straights, and she puts up an advertisement for a roommate to help cut costs. Lisa, the girl she picks, seems great at first: respectful, meek, and insecure. Isabella takes her under her wing and shows her how to dress and introduces her to her friends, but then Lisa’s behavior takes an unexpected turn. . .
Or an expected turn, if you’ve seen the Bridget Fonda movie. It’s pretty close to the movie, but relatively appropriate for teenagers. This might be the scariest Thriller Edition I’ve read, so readers beware. Read this one by candlelight when it’s Halloween time, if you dare!
http://hottoastyrag.weebly.com/svu-23...
February 26, 2017
SWEET VALLEY UNIVERSITY
Written by Francine Pascal
General Review for series as I cannot remember each novel.
I read Sweet Valley University when I was in junior high school to high school. While there is sexual content it is very mild (not explicit) compared to teen books today. If you like the Sweet Valley High you will love this series as it continues with the twins' story as they attend University and are away from their parents. I am not sure how they would relate to teens today as this was before cell phones were common and social media. They are fun teen romances with "real-life" situation. I did not complete the series as I started to save for school so I wasn't able to collect them any further (they are out of print). I still have the books I bought and may try to read one again (I did reread the series a few times).
Written by Francine Pascal
General Review for series as I cannot remember each novel.
I read Sweet Valley University when I was in junior high school to high school. While there is sexual content it is very mild (not explicit) compared to teen books today. If you like the Sweet Valley High you will love this series as it continues with the twins' story as they attend University and are away from their parents. I am not sure how they would relate to teens today as this was before cell phones were common and social media. They are fun teen romances with "real-life" situation. I did not complete the series as I started to save for school so I wasn't able to collect them any further (they are out of print). I still have the books I bought and may try to read one again (I did reread the series a few times).
September 6, 2015
I really enjoyed this one, although it is very very predictable. I liked the pacing of the story and the character building for Lisa. Again, this was very predictable, but I still really enjoyed how the story unfolded and how Isabella's ties started unravelling. I really hated Lisa and maybe that's a good thing for the author since she made this character believable and hate-able. I also hated Jessica and Danny, I mean can't you not communicate properly with your partners? If they just listened to Isabella, a person they know for quite some time instead someone they just met, Isabella wouldn't have to go through all that sad stuff.
And why did you have to kill the poor kitten? That made me sad :(
And why did you have to kill the poor kitten? That made me sad :(
July 29, 2016
Wow....I didn't realize how poorly written these were back in the day. But, they were entertaining for their audience.
What I find really interesting is how these books are about the twins at the University level, but they are most definitely written for a high school audience.
What I find really interesting is how these books are about the twins at the University level, but they are most definitely written for a high school audience.
January 30, 2010
my first book on psychopaths
June 21, 2010
love these books
March 14, 2013
OMG I just remembered this book!! I LOVED it! Super creepy and super entertaining!! LOVED IT!!!
May 8, 2013
i really enjoyed it ! I remember when I read the part where Lisa commits suicide I was on a plane , I kept rereading the page and musing out loud everyone thought I was nuts :D
November 30, 2013
I love reading these books. They always take me back to when I was younger. I'm recovering from surgery right now so it was a nice simple relaxing read while I get better.
July 9, 2013
I have read so many of these books I can't remember all of them.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews