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Sweet Valley University #39
Elizabeth ♥ New York
If she can make it there...
When Elizabeth Wakefield wins a summer fellowship to produce her own play in New York City, no one is more surprised than she is. It's an offer Elizabeth can't refuse, even though she and Tom Watts vowed to spend the summer together. So Tom gives up his prestigious summer internship to be with her! Will Elizabeth have to give up something in returnand make a sacrifice she's not yet ready for?
Jessica Wakefield is embarking on a wild, adventurous, and totally butt-kicking journey this summerto a training camp in Florida for her specialized security agents! Hand-to-hand combat, stunt driving, hot guys in uniform... this place has it all. Will she submerge herself in total excitement? Or will Jessica end up over her head in trouble?
When Elizabeth Wakefield wins a summer fellowship to produce her own play in New York City, no one is more surprised than she is. It's an offer Elizabeth can't refuse, even though she and Tom Watts vowed to spend the summer together. So Tom gives up his prestigious summer internship to be with her! Will Elizabeth have to give up something in returnand make a sacrifice she's not yet ready for?
Jessica Wakefield is embarking on a wild, adventurous, and totally butt-kicking journey this summerto a training camp in Florida for her specialized security agents! Hand-to-hand combat, stunt driving, hot guys in uniform... this place has it all. Will she submerge herself in total excitement? Or will Jessica end up over her head in trouble?
233 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published May 11, 1998
3 people are currently reading
193 people want to read
About the author
Francine Pascal
1,139 books1,851 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 - 5 of 5 reviews
September 16, 2017
Elizabeth is having wild, wild, wild. Wild, wild, wild thoughts about Tom. And Tom, of course, is also having a lot of thoughts about his "needs." Just like Todd, however, Tom is in for a rude awakening. Liz comes from the Mean Girls school of sex education: "Don't have sex, because you will get pregnant and die!"
It's just so hysterical to me that Liz is with Todd and Tom FOREVERRRR and yet refuses to have sex with either of them. But then she goes to London for one hot minute and immediately gives it up to some British dude. Granted, Todd and Tom are assholes. Tom especially. In this book one minute he's doting and fawning all over Liz, and the next minute he's storming off pissed that he gave up "everything" to be with her and yet she doesn't seem to care and won't have sex with him. So... maybe Liz DOES have a point about not sleeping with him. But it just gets so tiring having Liz resist and resist and resist. Jessica isn't dead from sex, Liz. You'll survive.
So Liz initially starts out at a hilarious summer job in a bookstore, while Tom has an amazing internship at a local news station. You'd think Liz would orgasm every time she walked into the bookstore but - no. Instead she glares at all the customers who are just demanding SO much from her. Then she gets pissed when Tom calls about how amazing his day is.
But don't worry, kids! We can't have a Wakefield be down on her luck for long. Liz gets a random call at the bookstore one day telling her she's won the Miller Huttleby Fellowship - whatever that is. Apparently her FRESHMAN YEAR play made some execs piss themselves in delight and she now has an opportunity to spend all summer in New York City!
But woe is Liz! She and Tom have vowed to spend the entire summer together. She can't let him go now! And, being the awesome boyfriend Tom is, he is immediately decidedly NOT happy for Liz's turn of fortune. What a fuckhead. If Liz knew all the stuff that Tom thinks, she would dump him on the spot.
But Tom decides he will put aside his pride and go with Liz to NYC. Yes, that's right. He gives up his apartment and job for Liz. Liz finds out from her mother that she can stay with her mother's college roommate, Tish. And - wouldn't you know! - Tish has an extra bedroom available for Tom! Well, this might end up being a problem. Liz is not really sure what to think about all this. If Tom's giving up all this for her... maybe she has to give up something for him? He definitely makes her feel that way. Once they both get to New York it's just a series of Tom wanting sex, Liz weaseling out of it, and Tom storming off and then coming home to apologize to Liz. That's really it.
Also, everyone hates Liz's play because it's not pretentious enough. Oh, the irony. She wants to quit, because of course she does unless everyone is kissing her ass, but famous actor Vince Klee convinces her to stay. Unfortunately, he got cast in Claire's play and not hers. And, speaking of Claire's play, on the very last page we have the Fellowship winners (of which Claire is one) going over the blocking for their plays. Liz comes in to see the beginning of Claire's play about "nothingness" and also... nekkid people. Lots of them. The whole cast, in fact. Including Vince Klee. Too bad Liz didn't actually bump uglies with Tom, because I'm sure these are the first penii she has ever seen.
Meanwhile, in Jessica-land, she is quite happy to be away from Liz this summer. By that I mean she doesn't even think about it, which is odd. No, Jess has it in her head that she is destined to be the next Bond girl. She is all of a sudden in love with action movies and thinks that becoming a police woman or security guard is this super glamorous thing that she must pursue. Well, the police academy turns her down, and no doubt they dodged a bullet there. But they did send her a letter of recommendation to the Florida Specialized Security Academy. I don't have to tell you that Jessica immediately wants to go. But do you want to know why? She thinks Florida only consists of Miami. I am not kidding. I guess she never heard about Disneyland's better half growing up. So she thinks training will be a piece of cake, and she can go clubbing at night.
Anddd I also don't have to tell you that Jess is, as usual, completely wrong. They are actually in the panhandle of Florida. Jessica thinks they mean actual panhandling when she hears that, and I'm shocked Jessica even knows what that is. Then the spot where they end up is seeing rain day and night. Jess's black catsuit gets drenched. And, of course, the HBIC is out to get Jess. She calls her Princess on every page and makes fun of her in front of everyone. Jessica naturally uses her beauty products to get her and her teammate out of a situation involving a snake and then, because they have to in this universe, more or less, they come around to Jessica's side. So then they are all targeted by Pruitt, the HBIC. Jessica wants to put her in her place and makes the mistake of saying so just as Pruitt walks in the room. She basically challenges her to a boxing duel.
I can see everything will end fabulously for Jess, Tom, and Liz. Buttt I won't find out til next summer! Sorry, guys. My summer books are officially done for this round!
Quotes:
Lila: All's fair in love and dinner reservations. When my blood sugar is low, the claws come out. I'm only human.
-We all know it, but Lila is fantastic.
"But I can't just move to New York', [Liz] concluded. After all, she was the responsible, stable twin. Jessica was the one prone to impulsively dropping everything to pursue some new scheme."
-Oh, for fuck's sake.
"'Liz, you're not looking at the whole picture,' Tom said, his voice taking on the infuriatingly condescending tone he occasionally used at WSVU."
-Occasionally?!
"When she'd broken the news, [Tom] wanted to be angry or at the very least say something to make her feel guilty."
-Stand up boyfriend right here!
"I'm going to New York! Elizabeth cheered silently, suppressing the urge to bounce up and down in her seat like a little kid. After all, she was supposed to be the levelheaded twin."
-I think I'm going to put my head through a wall.
"Come to think of it, [Jessica] didn't really recall reading anything about Miami. Maybe she just assumed it. What else WAS there in Florida anyway?"
-*facepalm*
Tom's thoughts: Back in Sweet Valley she was totally inflexible on the subject of sex. And now... now it looks like she's really wavering. Maybe she'll come around to my way of thinking after all!
-I hate to break it to you, Tom...
"It was unimaginably wonderful to know that for once [Tom] wouldn't be going back to his room alone and frustrated."
-I hate to break it to you, Tom...
"But the fact that last night [Liz] had almost convinced herself she was ready for sex... well, that was enough to make her think she should hail a cab and head straight for Bellevue."
-Liz. Dramatic much?!
Here is one of the most genuinely funny quotes I've ever seen in a Sweet Valley book:
"Land ho!" Sunshine shouted triumphantly.
What did she just call me? Jessica wondered, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
Liz's thoughts: Fellowship or no fellowship, I can't take these personal attacks. I'm quitting!
-Liz is trying to fix her pride, but that shit's broken.
It's just so hysterical to me that Liz is with Todd and Tom FOREVERRRR and yet refuses to have sex with either of them. But then she goes to London for one hot minute and immediately gives it up to some British dude. Granted, Todd and Tom are assholes. Tom especially. In this book one minute he's doting and fawning all over Liz, and the next minute he's storming off pissed that he gave up "everything" to be with her and yet she doesn't seem to care and won't have sex with him. So... maybe Liz DOES have a point about not sleeping with him. But it just gets so tiring having Liz resist and resist and resist. Jessica isn't dead from sex, Liz. You'll survive.
So Liz initially starts out at a hilarious summer job in a bookstore, while Tom has an amazing internship at a local news station. You'd think Liz would orgasm every time she walked into the bookstore but - no. Instead she glares at all the customers who are just demanding SO much from her. Then she gets pissed when Tom calls about how amazing his day is.
But don't worry, kids! We can't have a Wakefield be down on her luck for long. Liz gets a random call at the bookstore one day telling her she's won the Miller Huttleby Fellowship - whatever that is. Apparently her FRESHMAN YEAR play made some execs piss themselves in delight and she now has an opportunity to spend all summer in New York City!
But woe is Liz! She and Tom have vowed to spend the entire summer together. She can't let him go now! And, being the awesome boyfriend Tom is, he is immediately decidedly NOT happy for Liz's turn of fortune. What a fuckhead. If Liz knew all the stuff that Tom thinks, she would dump him on the spot.
But Tom decides he will put aside his pride and go with Liz to NYC. Yes, that's right. He gives up his apartment and job for Liz. Liz finds out from her mother that she can stay with her mother's college roommate, Tish. And - wouldn't you know! - Tish has an extra bedroom available for Tom! Well, this might end up being a problem. Liz is not really sure what to think about all this. If Tom's giving up all this for her... maybe she has to give up something for him? He definitely makes her feel that way. Once they both get to New York it's just a series of Tom wanting sex, Liz weaseling out of it, and Tom storming off and then coming home to apologize to Liz. That's really it.
Also, everyone hates Liz's play because it's not pretentious enough. Oh, the irony. She wants to quit, because of course she does unless everyone is kissing her ass, but famous actor Vince Klee convinces her to stay. Unfortunately, he got cast in Claire's play and not hers. And, speaking of Claire's play, on the very last page we have the Fellowship winners (of which Claire is one) going over the blocking for their plays. Liz comes in to see the beginning of Claire's play about "nothingness" and also... nekkid people. Lots of them. The whole cast, in fact. Including Vince Klee. Too bad Liz didn't actually bump uglies with Tom, because I'm sure these are the first penii she has ever seen.
Meanwhile, in Jessica-land, she is quite happy to be away from Liz this summer. By that I mean she doesn't even think about it, which is odd. No, Jess has it in her head that she is destined to be the next Bond girl. She is all of a sudden in love with action movies and thinks that becoming a police woman or security guard is this super glamorous thing that she must pursue. Well, the police academy turns her down, and no doubt they dodged a bullet there. But they did send her a letter of recommendation to the Florida Specialized Security Academy. I don't have to tell you that Jessica immediately wants to go. But do you want to know why? She thinks Florida only consists of Miami. I am not kidding. I guess she never heard about Disneyland's better half growing up. So she thinks training will be a piece of cake, and she can go clubbing at night.
Anddd I also don't have to tell you that Jess is, as usual, completely wrong. They are actually in the panhandle of Florida. Jessica thinks they mean actual panhandling when she hears that, and I'm shocked Jessica even knows what that is. Then the spot where they end up is seeing rain day and night. Jess's black catsuit gets drenched. And, of course, the HBIC is out to get Jess. She calls her Princess on every page and makes fun of her in front of everyone. Jessica naturally uses her beauty products to get her and her teammate out of a situation involving a snake and then, because they have to in this universe, more or less, they come around to Jessica's side. So then they are all targeted by Pruitt, the HBIC. Jessica wants to put her in her place and makes the mistake of saying so just as Pruitt walks in the room. She basically challenges her to a boxing duel.
I can see everything will end fabulously for Jess, Tom, and Liz. Buttt I won't find out til next summer! Sorry, guys. My summer books are officially done for this round!
Quotes:
Lila: All's fair in love and dinner reservations. When my blood sugar is low, the claws come out. I'm only human.
-We all know it, but Lila is fantastic.
"But I can't just move to New York', [Liz] concluded. After all, she was the responsible, stable twin. Jessica was the one prone to impulsively dropping everything to pursue some new scheme."
-Oh, for fuck's sake.
"'Liz, you're not looking at the whole picture,' Tom said, his voice taking on the infuriatingly condescending tone he occasionally used at WSVU."
-Occasionally?!
"When she'd broken the news, [Tom] wanted to be angry or at the very least say something to make her feel guilty."
-Stand up boyfriend right here!
"I'm going to New York! Elizabeth cheered silently, suppressing the urge to bounce up and down in her seat like a little kid. After all, she was supposed to be the levelheaded twin."
-I think I'm going to put my head through a wall.
"Come to think of it, [Jessica] didn't really recall reading anything about Miami. Maybe she just assumed it. What else WAS there in Florida anyway?"
-*facepalm*
Tom's thoughts: Back in Sweet Valley she was totally inflexible on the subject of sex. And now... now it looks like she's really wavering. Maybe she'll come around to my way of thinking after all!
-I hate to break it to you, Tom...
"It was unimaginably wonderful to know that for once [Tom] wouldn't be going back to his room alone and frustrated."
-I hate to break it to you, Tom...
"But the fact that last night [Liz] had almost convinced herself she was ready for sex... well, that was enough to make her think she should hail a cab and head straight for Bellevue."
-Liz. Dramatic much?!
Here is one of the most genuinely funny quotes I've ever seen in a Sweet Valley book:
"Land ho!" Sunshine shouted triumphantly.
What did she just call me? Jessica wondered, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
Liz's thoughts: Fellowship or no fellowship, I can't take these personal attacks. I'm quitting!
-Liz is trying to fix her pride, but that shit's broken.
August 5, 2024
This 39th installment of the Sweet Valley University series is fantastic! It is definitely one of my favorites; I loved it so much, I actually read it twice before moving on to the next book. It’s so funny, with great situational comedy set up in nearly every scene. Elizabeth’s play she wrote based on her relationship with Tom gets accepted to a summer workshop in New York City, and Jessica spends all her parents’ money on bodyguard training boot camp in Florida. Right away, you’re laughing, right? With Liz, she gets a front row seat at how strange, egocentric, and micro managerial “theatre people” are. The characters are such characters! Having a background of show biz myself, I couldn’t stop laughing at the accuracy.
Jessica’s comedy of errors start from Day One. The boot camp isn’t at all what she’d pictured, as a creepy van picks her up at the airport and drives her to the middle of the swamplands instead of Miami Beach. A tough drill sergeant can’t stand her, and she’d much rather paint her nails than chip them in the mud.
Add in Tom’s spontaneous decision to join Elizabeth in New York to be a supportive boyfriend, and you have a third set of drama and hilarity. He’s determined to find an equally important summer job, grow closer to Elizabeth, and perhaps take their relationship to the next level – but in this funny book, you can expect the worst, not the best! Whatever you do, don’t skip this one.
https://hottoastyrag.weebly.com/svu-3...
Jessica’s comedy of errors start from Day One. The boot camp isn’t at all what she’d pictured, as a creepy van picks her up at the airport and drives her to the middle of the swamplands instead of Miami Beach. A tough drill sergeant can’t stand her, and she’d much rather paint her nails than chip them in the mud.
Add in Tom’s spontaneous decision to join Elizabeth in New York to be a supportive boyfriend, and you have a third set of drama and hilarity. He’s determined to find an equally important summer job, grow closer to Elizabeth, and perhaps take their relationship to the next level – but in this funny book, you can expect the worst, not the best! Whatever you do, don’t skip this one.
https://hottoastyrag.weebly.com/svu-3...
Want to read
January 14, 20201-84
June 4, 2011
After my jump in Sweet Valley-ness at my sister's a few weeks back, I had the urge to pick up more. They stock a few SVU books at the library and this one caught my eye. Hello NY!! Let's see how lame this can be! Whoo! The lamer the better! And this one was!
Liz is stuck working at a bookstore in Sweet Valley for the summer because an internship she was supposed to have, fell apart and this was the only job left at that point. Her boyfriend landed an awesome internship though. At the last second, she finds out that one of her professors submitted her one act play to a competition and she won! The prize is a summer in NYC to direct and produce her play off-Broadway (because they let armatures do that all the time!) and since she has nothing going for her at home, she takes her. And like a lame dude, her boyfriend drops his awesome internship to follow her. LAME! They debate sex all summer and at the end of the book, they still haven't done it yet. Her boyfriend tries to look for a job in NYC, but of course, duh, it's hard!
Jessica, on the other hand, decides she wants to work in security and ends up at some academy in FL to train all the summer and the women in charge decides to have it out for her and the book ends with them going to box it out.
Entertaining and lame at the same time. Total trash. I wish they had the next book at the library, but they don't at this branch and it costs money to move it and I am not a member anyway. So I'll never find out how it ends! Oh well.
Grade: C-
Liz is stuck working at a bookstore in Sweet Valley for the summer because an internship she was supposed to have, fell apart and this was the only job left at that point. Her boyfriend landed an awesome internship though. At the last second, she finds out that one of her professors submitted her one act play to a competition and she won! The prize is a summer in NYC to direct and produce her play off-Broadway (because they let armatures do that all the time!) and since she has nothing going for her at home, she takes her. And like a lame dude, her boyfriend drops his awesome internship to follow her. LAME! They debate sex all summer and at the end of the book, they still haven't done it yet. Her boyfriend tries to look for a job in NYC, but of course, duh, it's hard!
Jessica, on the other hand, decides she wants to work in security and ends up at some academy in FL to train all the summer and the women in charge decides to have it out for her and the book ends with them going to box it out.
Entertaining and lame at the same time. Total trash. I wish they had the next book at the library, but they don't at this branch and it costs money to move it and I am not a member anyway. So I'll never find out how it ends! Oh well.
Grade: C-
June 22, 2013
I remember the cover but just not the story
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews