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Sweet Valley University #5
A Married Woman
No turning back...
Jessica Wakefield is now Mrs. Michael McAllery. But her husband still hasn't changed his troubling ways. Everyone warned her he was bad news. Whom can she turn to now?
Elizabeth Wakefield is determined to find the leader of the evil secret society that attacked her friend Nina Harper. Her only lead is a cryptic message from Tom Watts: The leader is closer than Elizabeth thinks.
Todd Wilkins is about to get busted in an athletics scandal. His college fantasy is turning into a nightmare. Will Elizabeth be there for him when he needs her?
Jessica Wakefield is now Mrs. Michael McAllery. But her husband still hasn't changed his troubling ways. Everyone warned her he was bad news. Whom can she turn to now?
Elizabeth Wakefield is determined to find the leader of the evil secret society that attacked her friend Nina Harper. Her only lead is a cryptic message from Tom Watts: The leader is closer than Elizabeth thinks.
Todd Wilkins is about to get busted in an athletics scandal. His college fantasy is turning into a nightmare. Will Elizabeth be there for him when he needs her?
240 pages, Paperback
First published June 28, 1993
About the author
Francine Pascal
1,151 books1,856 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 - 12 of 12 reviews
April 26, 2012
Welcome to "WTF?!" or SVU #5, "A Married Woman."
When SVH made its brilliant (sarcasm) move into making each book part of a trilogy, it was widely noted how pointless the second book of each series was. I thought this one was the first or third, but it seems I have stumbled onto a second one, because I have no fucking clue what was going on. Okay, that's a lie. This book is quite a far cry from being a brain teaser. But still, SVH gave way more explanation and backstory. This one throws you into the story with characters you don't give a shit about unless you've been reading the series forever. And even then you don't give a shit about them, because Elizabeth and Jessica are such stupid fucks.
When I was a pre-teen I read "The Return of William White: Part 1" over and over, because it was about virtual reality and that seemed so cool to me. I had no idea William was an integral part to the beginning of the series (though the "return" part should have given that away). I assumed that all of the early SVU books were intriguing, but that is false. This one is boring as fuck. I figured with William White AND Celine Bodreaux that we couldn't go wrong... false.
Already in book 5 too much has happened that you just need to read books 1-4 to understand it all. I have heard certain things about the early books, so I am piecing together that knowledge with what I read in this one.
Tom Watts and Liz are not dating (yet). This is because Liz's insufferable roommate, Celine, is after Tom and William "Stalker" White is after Liz.
Apparently there is some racist secret society that Tom used to belong to that he and Liz are trying to uncover for a story. William takes Liz out to dinner and basically tells her point-blank that it's him, but she must have never heard the saying "It's always the quiet ones...", so she ignores him. She somehow gets it into her head that Tom and Celine are heads of the society since they have tried to warn her off the story. She also believes it's Mike McAllery, Jessica's husband.
You read that correctly. Jessica is married to a guy with an extremely volatile temper. I have no shock for her crazy ways anymore. Instead, I'm starting to believe that being a sociopath is the normal practice in society. Clearly, I am doing something wrong by not becoming one. Jessica, being married, gets a personality implant and decides to take responsibility for her actions. The book finds her constantly trying to be "the good wife" despite all her fights and craziness with Mike. She has not told anybody that she is married, with the exception of Liz. Not even her friends. Steven hates the guy, and Jessica is trying desperately to keep her family from finding out. Such a stellar start to a marriage, don't you think?
According to "Home for the Holidays," SVU #8, Jessica apparently finally has sex when she gave it up to Mike McAllery. I guess the whole living together thing was supposed to be a tip-off. I personally think it's super awesome how all these chaste characters have sex within the first five books of SVU. Apparently Todd & Enid/Alex lose it to each other in a night of drunken debauchery and pissed-off-ness at Liz, who refuses to do the nasty even at 18 years old.
Speaking of which, there are copious amounts of underage drinking in this book. It is absolutely absurd. I guess the ghostwriters assume that they've always made Jess & Liz act older than they are, so we probably are forgetting that they are 18 all the time anyway. But what an awful message to send. Jessica and Liz are sipping beer on every other page. They are in college now, so I guess age is irrelevant.
Can I just say that this book suffered from a severe lack of Lila Fowler??
And I'm totally done with this non-review... I hope Jessica's upcoming freedom from Mike and subsequent almost rape are far more entertaining. Maybe William White and Celine Bordreaux will start to perk up as well.
When SVH made its brilliant (sarcasm) move into making each book part of a trilogy, it was widely noted how pointless the second book of each series was. I thought this one was the first or third, but it seems I have stumbled onto a second one, because I have no fucking clue what was going on. Okay, that's a lie. This book is quite a far cry from being a brain teaser. But still, SVH gave way more explanation and backstory. This one throws you into the story with characters you don't give a shit about unless you've been reading the series forever. And even then you don't give a shit about them, because Elizabeth and Jessica are such stupid fucks.
When I was a pre-teen I read "The Return of William White: Part 1" over and over, because it was about virtual reality and that seemed so cool to me. I had no idea William was an integral part to the beginning of the series (though the "return" part should have given that away). I assumed that all of the early SVU books were intriguing, but that is false. This one is boring as fuck. I figured with William White AND Celine Bodreaux that we couldn't go wrong... false.
Already in book 5 too much has happened that you just need to read books 1-4 to understand it all. I have heard certain things about the early books, so I am piecing together that knowledge with what I read in this one.
Tom Watts and Liz are not dating (yet). This is because Liz's insufferable roommate, Celine, is after Tom and William "Stalker" White is after Liz.
Apparently there is some racist secret society that Tom used to belong to that he and Liz are trying to uncover for a story. William takes Liz out to dinner and basically tells her point-blank that it's him, but she must have never heard the saying "It's always the quiet ones...", so she ignores him. She somehow gets it into her head that Tom and Celine are heads of the society since they have tried to warn her off the story. She also believes it's Mike McAllery, Jessica's husband.
You read that correctly. Jessica is married to a guy with an extremely volatile temper. I have no shock for her crazy ways anymore. Instead, I'm starting to believe that being a sociopath is the normal practice in society. Clearly, I am doing something wrong by not becoming one. Jessica, being married, gets a personality implant and decides to take responsibility for her actions. The book finds her constantly trying to be "the good wife" despite all her fights and craziness with Mike. She has not told anybody that she is married, with the exception of Liz. Not even her friends. Steven hates the guy, and Jessica is trying desperately to keep her family from finding out. Such a stellar start to a marriage, don't you think?
According to "Home for the Holidays," SVU #8, Jessica apparently finally has sex when she gave it up to Mike McAllery. I guess the whole living together thing was supposed to be a tip-off. I personally think it's super awesome how all these chaste characters have sex within the first five books of SVU. Apparently Todd & Enid/Alex lose it to each other in a night of drunken debauchery and pissed-off-ness at Liz, who refuses to do the nasty even at 18 years old.
Speaking of which, there are copious amounts of underage drinking in this book. It is absolutely absurd. I guess the ghostwriters assume that they've always made Jess & Liz act older than they are, so we probably are forgetting that they are 18 all the time anyway. But what an awful message to send. Jessica and Liz are sipping beer on every other page. They are in college now, so I guess age is irrelevant.
Can I just say that this book suffered from a severe lack of Lila Fowler??
And I'm totally done with this non-review... I hope Jessica's upcoming freedom from Mike and subsequent almost rape are far more entertaining. Maybe William White and Celine Bordreaux will start to perk up as well.
September 19, 2008
This book is complete trash but strangely captivating. definitely aedquate for a communting book.
the biblio equivalent of enjoying a lifetime movie. jessica wakefield (the popular outgoing one) is secretly married to a biker asshat and trying to keep it from her family.. Need i say more?
the biblio equivalent of enjoying a lifetime movie. jessica wakefield (the popular outgoing one) is secretly married to a biker asshat and trying to keep it from her family.. Need i say more?
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
February 13, 2026
With this book a lot of the longer arcs for individual characters started to become apparent and honestly many of the plot points that irked me in the first three books now actually make sense and feel like they had a real point.
Jessica's storyline with Mike does a good job at showing "battered wife syndrome" because we can now clearly see how a controlling narcissist like him can manipulate women into giving up the things that mattered to them for the sake of staying in a relationship. Also how social desirability and the need to be constantly moving forward makes all of us vulnerable to this.
Elizabeth's storyline was mostly 90's diet culture again... but hey, it gives us a snapshot of this era (mid-90's) and forces us to reexamine the tightrope we all walk between body positivity, beauty, and health. Perhaps the behaviour itself is only problematic if you are doing it for the wrong reasons. Beyond this, Elizabeth proves that moving slow-and-steady might mean that you don't adjust to the new very easily but in the long run that steadiness and stability is a very powerful, albeit more quiet, strength to have.
I will say this... these books could have benefitted from stronger backstory or structure surrounding the sororities and fraternities. I didn't know that at many Universities the freshmen don't move into the houses because of their dorm contracts with the school. I also didn't know that many sororities either have NO live-in requirement or only need you to live in the house for at least 1 year (usually junior or senior). This information is the ONLY thing that makes the housing situation at SVU make any sense! I really did not get how Izzie and Denise are both Theta Alpha Theta but still live in the regular campus dorms with Jess and Winston!?!
One last thing... I could have sworn that Jessica was working as a waitress at a restaurant off campus, somewhere close to her apartment... but in this book she is somehow a waitress at the coffeehouse on campus? No? Just me? Okay.
PS: I hope Lizz and Tom end up together, they are such a good couple... and DEATH to the vampire queen!
Jessica's storyline with Mike does a good job at showing "battered wife syndrome" because we can now clearly see how a controlling narcissist like him can manipulate women into giving up the things that mattered to them for the sake of staying in a relationship. Also how social desirability and the need to be constantly moving forward makes all of us vulnerable to this.
Elizabeth's storyline was mostly 90's diet culture again... but hey, it gives us a snapshot of this era (mid-90's) and forces us to reexamine the tightrope we all walk between body positivity, beauty, and health. Perhaps the behaviour itself is only problematic if you are doing it for the wrong reasons. Beyond this, Elizabeth proves that moving slow-and-steady might mean that you don't adjust to the new very easily but in the long run that steadiness and stability is a very powerful, albeit more quiet, strength to have.
I will say this... these books could have benefitted from stronger backstory or structure surrounding the sororities and fraternities. I didn't know that at many Universities the freshmen don't move into the houses because of their dorm contracts with the school. I also didn't know that many sororities either have NO live-in requirement or only need you to live in the house for at least 1 year (usually junior or senior). This information is the ONLY thing that makes the housing situation at SVU make any sense! I really did not get how Izzie and Denise are both Theta Alpha Theta but still live in the regular campus dorms with Jess and Winston!?!
One last thing... I could have sworn that Jessica was working as a waitress at a restaurant off campus, somewhere close to her apartment... but in this book she is somehow a waitress at the coffeehouse on campus? No? Just me? Okay.
PS: I hope Lizz and Tom end up together, they are such a good couple... and DEATH to the vampire queen!
May 24, 2024
These books are kind of a refreshing mix of melodrama and familiar characters. Jessica married a seriously abusive hottie mechanic because-- of course she did- I mean Sweet Valley twins must get married if they're sleeping with their boyfriends, right? This dude is bad news- everyone told her, but apparently she's still an idiot who always knows best. And Elizabeth has spent the first few books trying to take off the freshman fifteen she packed on in the first couple months of college after Todd dumped her for not being willing to sleep with him after years, Enid started calling herself Alex and joined a snotty sorority and dating a basketball player and dropped Elizabeth like a gross kleenex, and Jessica ditched her as a roommate within days of arriving on campus. But fear not! Journalism saves her, as she breaks stories about athletic scandals, hazing, and then goes to work on a story about a racist ass secret society on campus. She likes her student boss at the TV station, but is dating a creepy poet dude who continuously seems like the douchiest douche of all time because he has icy husky dog eyes. These books have some new characters who are kinda fun, and they're easy, mindless reading, and decidedly less awful than the last 80 or so of the SVH books were. 3 stars because I'm enjoying them.
September 1, 2021
Really like Winston as a character but I'm sick of William... .
And That ending though!!!! OMG!
And That ending though!!!! OMG!
July 14, 2024
Good series
December 19, 2024
SV just got really heavy.
May 5, 2017
Okay, the title kind of gives away the plot in this one. Three guesses who becomes "a married woman" and the first two don't count.
Still, that event occurs early on, and the majority of the book deals with the aftermath of her rash decision. This was one of my favorite books in the series; it's exciting, romantic, dramatic, and the cliff-hanger is one for the books. Pun intended.
Seriously, this cliffhanger will consume you. I loved this book. Some people might find Jessica tedious or immature, but I have a great deal of sympathy for her character. She's been coddled and enabled her whole life, so of course she's immature and overly emotional. Suddenly thrust out on her own (of her own doing) and involved in a very adult world (of her own creation) she takes a crash course in Growing Up. It's not a pleasant course, but she handles it the best way she can.
To understand what I'm even talking about, go out and read the books! (In order please) You can find them on Amazon or Thriftbooks.
http://hottoastyrag.weebly.com/svu-5-...
Still, that event occurs early on, and the majority of the book deals with the aftermath of her rash decision. This was one of my favorite books in the series; it's exciting, romantic, dramatic, and the cliff-hanger is one for the books. Pun intended.
Seriously, this cliffhanger will consume you. I loved this book. Some people might find Jessica tedious or immature, but I have a great deal of sympathy for her character. She's been coddled and enabled her whole life, so of course she's immature and overly emotional. Suddenly thrust out on her own (of her own doing) and involved in a very adult world (of her own creation) she takes a crash course in Growing Up. It's not a pleasant course, but she handles it the best way she can.
To understand what I'm even talking about, go out and read the books! (In order please) You can find them on Amazon or Thriftbooks.
http://hottoastyrag.weebly.com/svu-5-...
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).
June 21, 2013
I remember the cover just not the story.
September 19, 2015
If there were 1/2 points I would rate this 3.5. Fast paced story with a good cliffhanger at the end. Will be straight on to the next one.
January 31, 2016
Another quick and easy read, looking forward to reading the best because of the cliffhanger at the end, I actually can't remember what happens.
Displaying 1 - 12 of 12 reviews