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Post by morbiddadestiny on Oct 29, 2007 19:22:04 GMT -5
^ that's true. i can't believe i forgot to mention them. but at least SV books don't constantly hit you over the head that the theme of the book is some elite power clique of nasty girls.
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Post by morbiddadestiny on Oct 29, 2007 19:22:22 GMT -5
also, jessica wakefield is seriously a straight up sociopath in the first few sweet valley high books.
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Post by sotypical42483 on Oct 29, 2007 19:48:15 GMT -5
Jessica is psychotic and manipulative throughout the entire series. And she's surrounded by enablers. Of course I thought she was super dibble when I was young(er)
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Post by sweetvalleygirl99 on Oct 29, 2007 20:15:45 GMT -5
i liked the friends that mal made at the school, they seemed right up her alley and really supportive. I loved the friends that Mal made there too; Sarah and Smita were awesome . So was Jen . I wish there could've been another Mal book so that we could've seen how much she adjusted since this book. Better yet, they could've done a spin-off series about Mal at Riverbend .
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Post by aln1982 on Oct 29, 2007 23:41:39 GMT -5
^ I would have liked seeing more of her friends but I don't know about a spin-off. That would have meant a change from the BSC, which I'm just not ready to accept. ;D I'm not sure how the friends could have been incorporated, though, otherwise.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Oct 30, 2007 12:22:10 GMT -5
I just read this one for the first time last night, and I thought the same thing about a spin-off. I don't suppose it would have been all that practical, but I would have at least liked to see ONE more book about Riverbend. I'm glad Mallory got a happy ending, but it felt like I was JUST starting to get into the whole "Riverbend" frame of mind, and then it was over.
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
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Post by macca on Oct 30, 2007 17:28:10 GMT -5
Jessica is psychotic and manipulative throughout the entire series. And she's surrounded by enablers. Of course I thought she was super dibble when I was young(er) Nah... I think Jessica mellowed out a LOT as the series progressed. Once SY started, she was virtually just another Elizabeth. Re-reading SVH as an adult, I realise more how inappropriate they really are for tween girls. They're completely classist (rich people are stuck up snobs, poor people are drug-addicted white trash), appearances are The Most Important Thing Ever (Francine and her ghost writers HATE fat people!), having a boyfriend is the answer to everything, girls cry rape when rejected by a love interest (Jessica in Double Love, Suzanne in Too Good To Be True) and boys are attempted date-rapists (anyone read Dear Sister?!) and it's never even acknowledged or spoken of again!
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Post by morbiddadestiny on Oct 30, 2007 17:44:56 GMT -5
^ suzanne, now THAT was a sociopathic character. all signs point to a person with absolutely no conscience.
i remember when my friends and i spent a really boring class passing notes back and forth that basically wrote a parody of the opening of the SVH books. actually, the first paragraph wasn't a parody at all. we were still able to recite it word for word though. it went basically like this:
both twins were blessed with genuine, all-american good looks--they shared the same sun-streaked blonde hair, eyes the color of the pacific ocean, perfect size six figures, and were basically alike right down to the lavaliers they wore around their necks. the lavaliers had been presents from their parents on the twins' sixteenth birthday. but in personalities they couldn't have been more different. (for example, elizabeth is white and jessica is black, but that doesn't matter to anyone)
(oh, did anyone mention that they were pretty age-ist as well)? alice, their mother, could easily be mistaken for the twins' older sister. their father and older brother stephen both shared the same tall, dark, good looks.
the rest of the parody was about how the perfect wakefield family was harboring a horrible secret: stephen was gay. yes, stephen, the gorgeous, popular captain of the football team didn't really like the girls who hung around him. i don't remember the rest, but i know we sprinkled in loads of hints of how good-looking jessica was: "jessica slid into her sports car, the leather felt cool against her tan, slim, hairless legs".
vomit.
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
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Post by macca on Oct 30, 2007 18:56:31 GMT -5
^ hahahaha, that's disturbingly accurate. Except the perfect Wakefields wouldn't have a gay member of the family!
I'll never forget the description of Jessica in Double Love - "there stood the most perfect, the most dazzling, the most beautiful 16 yr old girl imaginable" cue description of the flawless creamy skin that glowed with a healthy California tan (that's another thing, the SV girls were always working on their tans. Would never be accepted in today's cancer-concious society) etc etc.
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Post by sweetvalleygirl99 on Oct 30, 2007 20:22:28 GMT -5
I just read this one for the first time last night, and I thought the same thing about a spin-off. I don't suppose it would have been all that practical, but I would have at least liked to see ONE more book about Riverbend. I'm glad Mallory got a happy ending, but it felt like I was JUST starting to get into the whole "Riverbend" frame of mind, and then it was over. That's how I felt too.
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Post by sotypical42483 on Nov 6, 2007 15:51:54 GMT -5
I think a spin off w/ Mal at Riverbend would've been interesting, but not very popular. Mal was the girl a lot of readers related to, but did they want to read about her all the time? I don't think she could carry a whole series, even with her friends. I actually thought her friends were really annoying, if I knew them in real life I would be like "dudes, take it down a notch, plz"
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macca
Sitting For The Newtons
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Post by macca on Nov 6, 2007 16:00:09 GMT -5
I think a spin off w/ Mal at Riverbend would've been interesting, but not very popular. Mal was the girl a lot of readers related to, but did they want to read about her all the time? I don't think she could carry a whole series, even with her friends. I actually thought her friends were really annoying, if I knew them in real life I would be like "dudes, take it down a notch, plz" I dunno, I think I would've loved a Riverbend series! But I get your point - I don't think Mal was a very popular character and I don't think the books would've done that well. Considering Stacey seemed to be the universal reader favorite, obviously the fans went for the "coolness" factor instead of the realistic aspect.
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Post by aln1982 on Nov 6, 2007 16:28:36 GMT -5
I actually don't know if a spin off about just one of the girls would have gone over as well. I know the reason I read the series was because of the whole group - the friendship they shared gave me what I didn't have and let me live vicariously. A new group of friends for the girls might have been okay but it would have been a lot differetn.
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Post by greer on Nov 6, 2007 16:29:43 GMT -5
^what about ca diaries??
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Post by aln1982 on Nov 6, 2007 16:31:12 GMT -5
^ I haven't read them so you're probably right that it would go over okay. I guess I just wouldn't like it. ;D
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