And we don't care about the old folks
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the_oracleThe Parent Plot
August 1990
Scheming Sisters...
Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield's father is running for mayor of Sweet Valley. The twins are hard at work on his campaign-but they're taking opposite sides in an even bigger contest: a contest to bring romance into their parents' lives.
Even though Mr. and Mrs. Wakefield separated only recently, Jessica thinks it's time for them to start dating other people-and she's going to make sure that's exactly what happens.
But Elizabeth is just as determined to get her parents back together. She's thinking up some romantic schemes of her own. It's Jessica versus Elizabeth-may the best twin win!
Alright, whose brilliant idea was it to do a three-parter and then wait two years between parts 2 and 3? Also, wow. Two years? Damn, I suck. In my defense, I'm not the only one to suck. I partially blame Photobucket for their massive suckitude that made me just not want to bother since half the fun of these, for me anyway, is the variant covers. But mostly it's me. I'm so very sorry to the like, three of you who read these. Please forgive me?
The Parent Plot is part three of the Wakefield family drama trilogy. You know, the one where Ned and Alice sorta breakup, Ned moves out, and Jessica manages to look like a complete and utter sociopath when she decides that welp, her parents have broken up for good because everyone knows that's what a trial separation means, and now they should date other people because it's been like a month, guys. That's more than enough time to mourn a twenty-year marriage. Dragging the past around, that's what sick! That last part might be a direct quote. You'll never know.
So Ned moved out last book and in this book the twins are helping out at his campaign office after school. We're about three weeks out from the election when we start the book, and Liz is still very much upset about the state of Ned and Alice's marriage. Steve's gone back to SVU and Jessica's accepted that her family is breaking up. Liz, as always, refuses to accept that she can't save this relationship. Alas, Jessica's decided that if her parents aren't getting back together, she'll just help them move on by finding better partners. She makes a comment about pretty Amanda Mason and Liz immediately figures out Jessica's scheme before Jess has finished hatching said scheme. She makes her twin promise not to meddle, and we get a cute promise from Jessica invoking some childhood secret promise gesture (cross your heart and snap twice) that I have no idea if it's a link to the Kids books or not but cute nonetheless.
With that promise secured, Liz immediately begins to meddle when they get home, going on and on about what a wonderful mayor Ned will be. Alice leaves her daughters poolside and heads back inside because she doesn't want to talk about Ned. Jessica snarks a good job and Liz's takeaway from this is that she'll have to think more like Jessica to make this work.
None of her matchmaking attempts work. She calls Ned and plays the "bad connection during an important conversation" card in an effort to get him to call back so Alice will answer, but when she does, they get into a fight in record time. She drags Alice to the mall to bump into Ned after a campaign speech, only there were technical difficulties so Alice hears a speech she kinda hates ("I want, I want, I want!") and they leave the mall without the gift they were supposed to be shopping for in the first place.
Jessica, on the other hand, assumes that her father and Amanda Mason will totally work out because, I dunno, attorneys and agreeing on most, if not all, of his election promises? I dunno. But when she attempts to let Amanda know that Ned has noticed her, if you know what I mean (yes, let's open that potential harassment can of worms with a lawyer, Jessica), Amanda lets it slip that she's got a boyfriend, errr- fiancé , and there he is!
She shifts her attention to Alice and debates eligible bachelors for her mother. Jeremy Frank? Nah, he's got a stunning fiancée. Mr. Fowler? She's delighted before realizing that this will mean living with Lila if things work out, and I cackle just a bit at this. She settles on Mr. Collins when she gets a D on an essay, and it sorta works? At the parent/teacher conference she wrangles everyone into, Collins asks Alice out, as a friend, and she accepts. As a friend.
As these things always do, they wind up at the same restaurant that Ned has decided to take the twins to and... the family has a nice dinner together when Ned refuses to be weirded out by Alice and Mr. Collins dining together. Collins takes Alice to the movies afterward, but this is probably one of the nicer moments Ned and Alice have had in awhile and they (and Liz) have Jessica to thank for it. Seriously, Liz, you're out gunned here. Let it go.
I do love that Jessica could've told Liz that she's acting so weird about Chez Sam (why is always Chez -Something- in the Valley?) because of the date but doesn't because, I dunno, she figures Liz will yell or maybe find a way to break up the date or something but it's still a failure as far as Jessica's concerned.
Her final attempted match is Ramon Valdez who is handsome and single (she's learning) but also very into his cats and pardon me, but I need to time travel back to fictional 1990 SV, thanks.
It kills me that Ramon and Collins both seem to initially doubt Jessica's assertations that Alice is thrilled her marriage is over and Jessica doesn't see anything wrong with assuring them that no, no, it's fine. Ramon happens to like being single so he shrugs it off, but Collins is still very much "suuuuuuuuuuuuure, if you say so" about the whole thing. Meanwhile, Jessica comes off looking worse than usual. Good job, Wakefield.
Time to shift gears, I suppose. At the start of the book, Winston finds Liz and when she notices how down the class clown seems, he admits it's because Maria's still down. You know, because her father's still under a cloud of suspicion for possibly taking a $10,000 bribe and then having to drop out of the mayoral race because that's not Ned Wakefield's law specialty. When he mentions how much Maria enjoyed working on her father's election campaign, Liz brightens and asks if he thinks Maria would appreciate being asked to work on Ned's.
The way she asks, and the way Winston responds, keeps this from being one of those Oh, Come On! moments because both acknowledge it could be weird and awkward, but it could also be something Maria would legitimately like to do. Eventually Liz works up the courage to ask Maria, who agrees, possibly because she feels like the student body is kinda shunning her due to the scandal. Possibly because in my headcanon, Maria winds up as mayor when she's older... and then the world!
There's a refresher on how slimy James/Jim Knapp is (so slimy his own nephew can't stand being around him!) and how he's obviously pulling the strings for Ned, but Ned can't see that, and I'm going to cut numerous days worth of story and jump straight to Maria finds out that Knapp and Robertson (a real estate dealer who is supporting Ned) were somehow responsible for getting her father into trouble... and also have some oceanfront property deal coming up after the election that they expect Ned to vote their way because he'll feel beholden to them.
Naturally she tells Winston and then they tell Terry Knapp and Liz and a plan is hatched to have Terry... and Maria break into Knapp's office and Liz will be the distraction. Why, exactly, couldn't Terry just say he left something in the office and needs to go get it? Knapp is his uncle, after all. But then we'd be denied the saga of Liz pretending to wait for her mother to pick her up after aerobics class and needing to be in out of the rain, and seriously, it sounds like she's there for an hour and I'm just wondering how bad the security guard is at his job because he doesn't notice two teenagers sneaking in or out of the building, even though you cannot tell me at least one of them didn't have squeaky sneakers due to the rain. I guess maybe there was carpet. Maybe. Still. Twice! And Liz goes to the bathroom and is gone long enough to get stuck in a closet with Terry and Maria while eavesdropping on Knapp who takes the time to make copies of his Sketchy Plans and talk on the phone, have the trio also make copies of the plan, and then sneak back downstairs. Dude.
Anyway, Liz takes the evidence to her father's apartment and Ned feels like a world class idiot for not realizing how easily he's been played. He doesn't know who to trust, so Liz suggests Alice and the two head over to Casa Wakefield where Alice has a brief freakout when she sees a very solemn Ned and Liz and worries that something has happened to Jessica in the storm. Nah, Jess is fine as she plots to break up your marriage. Your husband, however, well... he's kinda in a jam.
Alice listens and then assures Ned that he's still a good, honorable man, and if he lays everything out on the table, voters will realize the same thing about him. Liz excuses herself as she's convinced that this is the moment that will bring her parents back together. They'll work all night and in the morning they'll be good as new.
Oh, Liz. Why not ask the universe what's the worst that could happen?
When she comes back, Ned is letting himself out because what else can they do?
The next day at Secca Lake, Ned outs Knapp (sorta, he doesn't name names) as a sleeze and Knapp tries to literally run away but the cops nab him with Liz on his tail, just to make sure he didn't get away. For someone who had a problem breaking into his office, she has no problem chasing through a crowd after him.
Ned stuns everyone by dropping out of the race and endorsing Peter Santelli, someone who had the guts to figure out he was being played and stood up to the scum immediately.
Santelli wins, Ned and Alice get back together, Todd appears for the first time all book, and everyone is happy... except Dana Larson who announces she doesn't believe in love, just in time for the teaser for the next book. Huzzah! See y'all in two years.
Trivia:
Quote Me:
"Looks like we can't get rid of you!" Mr. Knapp said to her. "Well, now, we know you know how to lose; let's see if you can learn to win!" - Seriously, the fact that he says this to Maria in front of Ned and Ned doesn't immediately call him out on it makes me think infinitely less of Ned Wakefield. p11
Jessica glared at her twin sister. What did Elizabeth think she was doing, playing, "The Dating Game"? Ned, Bachelor Number One was handsome, politically active, concerned about the environment. It sounded like Elizabeth was trying to show him off. - yeah, how dare Liz talk up their father to their mother. p20
"Let's draw mustaches on my dad's posters. He'll love it." - this is the Liz I love. p48
Her mother raised her eyebrows slightly. "With all due respect to your teacher's understanding, it doesn't take a Sigmund Freud to see you don't care about your grades enough to make an effort." - Such sass, Alice. I love you sometimes. p61
"And listen, whatever she says tonight, just ignore her OK? She's acting like an alien took over her brain again."
"Again?" Mr. Wakefield teased. - More of this, please. p71
Bits from Ned's Campaign:
"I want a Sweet Valley with a strong economy," he was saying. "I want a Sweet Valley that knows how to do business. I want a Sweet Valley that can take care of itself, that attracts business and industry, not just from California, but from all over the country.I want a Sweet Valley that will prosper into the twenty-first century." p44/45
"It's what the voters want," Knapp said. "Foolish? Maybe they are. Limited, definitely. But all the surveys show that citizens vote through their wallets, Ned. You just don't understand that fact yet." - why do you keep this gasbag around, Ned? p53
"What are you saying? That I'll lose support if I talk about clean water and clean air?" Mr. Wakefield said in a surprised tone. - Ned, honey, baby doll... that's exactly what he's saying. Run, you fool. p54
In my defense, I always hated the set-up for this book because it makes no fucking sense. Liz wanting to get her parents back together and her plans failing spectacularly? That makes sense. Jessica deciding that her parents are never (ever, ever) getting back together and that they need her help moving on? Does not compute. And this book seems like it's going to split its time between Jessica scheming and Liz scheming, but instead it's Jessica scheming for half, and the other half of the book gets to split the time between Liz trying to scheme and Ned's mayoral race intrigue. In the history of ever, has anyone chosen this arc as their favorite, especially for the election angle? Anyone? Anyone?
But this re-read, it was a little less annoying. Maybe it's because I had two years to completely forget everything that came before (probably not) and maybe it's because I found other, little things to enjoy this go round.
There's genuine affection between the Wakefields and the teasing is easy, light, and just the right amount of snarky. Alice coming to Ned's defense, even after she'd made disparaging remarks about his campaign, is very sweet and something both of her daughters would do in a heartbeat for someone they loved. Lila's got some fantastic snark in the two seconds she appears, and Liz's love of root beer is well remembered throughout the book. It's the little things, and this book excels in those.
The bigger arc isn't something I enjoy, and I do think it's weird that Todd's completely MIA for nearly the entire book even though we cover at least a week in Liz's life and not once does she mention Todd outside the "identical opposites" section at the start. But it's not as bad as I remembered.
The cover of the re-release, however, is god awful. Why is it so orange saturated? Why wasn't this corrected before they printed it, or hell, after the first run because it is ugly. For those playing along at home, the covers shown are the original, the re-release, the UK version, and the Kindle version.
August 1990
Scheming Sisters...
Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield's father is running for mayor of Sweet Valley. The twins are hard at work on his campaign-but they're taking opposite sides in an even bigger contest: a contest to bring romance into their parents' lives.
Even though Mr. and Mrs. Wakefield separated only recently, Jessica thinks it's time for them to start dating other people-and she's going to make sure that's exactly what happens.
But Elizabeth is just as determined to get her parents back together. She's thinking up some romantic schemes of her own. It's Jessica versus Elizabeth-may the best twin win!
Alright, whose brilliant idea was it to do a three-parter and then wait two years between parts 2 and 3? Also, wow. Two years? Damn, I suck. In my defense, I'm not the only one to suck. I partially blame Photobucket for their massive suckitude that made me just not want to bother since half the fun of these, for me anyway, is the variant covers. But mostly it's me. I'm so very sorry to the like, three of you who read these. Please forgive me?
The Parent Plot is part three of the Wakefield family drama trilogy. You know, the one where Ned and Alice sorta breakup, Ned moves out, and Jessica manages to look like a complete and utter sociopath when she decides that welp, her parents have broken up for good because everyone knows that's what a trial separation means, and now they should date other people because it's been like a month, guys. That's more than enough time to mourn a twenty-year marriage. Dragging the past around, that's what sick! That last part might be a direct quote. You'll never know.
So Ned moved out last book and in this book the twins are helping out at his campaign office after school. We're about three weeks out from the election when we start the book, and Liz is still very much upset about the state of Ned and Alice's marriage. Steve's gone back to SVU and Jessica's accepted that her family is breaking up. Liz, as always, refuses to accept that she can't save this relationship. Alas, Jessica's decided that if her parents aren't getting back together, she'll just help them move on by finding better partners. She makes a comment about pretty Amanda Mason and Liz immediately figures out Jessica's scheme before Jess has finished hatching said scheme. She makes her twin promise not to meddle, and we get a cute promise from Jessica invoking some childhood secret promise gesture (cross your heart and snap twice) that I have no idea if it's a link to the Kids books or not but cute nonetheless.
With that promise secured, Liz immediately begins to meddle when they get home, going on and on about what a wonderful mayor Ned will be. Alice leaves her daughters poolside and heads back inside because she doesn't want to talk about Ned. Jessica snarks a good job and Liz's takeaway from this is that she'll have to think more like Jessica to make this work.
None of her matchmaking attempts work. She calls Ned and plays the "bad connection during an important conversation" card in an effort to get him to call back so Alice will answer, but when she does, they get into a fight in record time. She drags Alice to the mall to bump into Ned after a campaign speech, only there were technical difficulties so Alice hears a speech she kinda hates ("I want, I want, I want!") and they leave the mall without the gift they were supposed to be shopping for in the first place.
Jessica, on the other hand, assumes that her father and Amanda Mason will totally work out because, I dunno, attorneys and agreeing on most, if not all, of his election promises? I dunno. But when she attempts to let Amanda know that Ned has noticed her, if you know what I mean (yes, let's open that potential harassment can of worms with a lawyer, Jessica), Amanda lets it slip that she's got a boyfriend, errr- fiancé , and there he is!
She shifts her attention to Alice and debates eligible bachelors for her mother. Jeremy Frank? Nah, he's got a stunning fiancée. Mr. Fowler? She's delighted before realizing that this will mean living with Lila if things work out, and I cackle just a bit at this. She settles on Mr. Collins when she gets a D on an essay, and it sorta works? At the parent/teacher conference she wrangles everyone into, Collins asks Alice out, as a friend, and she accepts. As a friend.
As these things always do, they wind up at the same restaurant that Ned has decided to take the twins to and... the family has a nice dinner together when Ned refuses to be weirded out by Alice and Mr. Collins dining together. Collins takes Alice to the movies afterward, but this is probably one of the nicer moments Ned and Alice have had in awhile and they (and Liz) have Jessica to thank for it. Seriously, Liz, you're out gunned here. Let it go.
I do love that Jessica could've told Liz that she's acting so weird about Chez Sam (why is always Chez -Something- in the Valley?) because of the date but doesn't because, I dunno, she figures Liz will yell or maybe find a way to break up the date or something but it's still a failure as far as Jessica's concerned.
Her final attempted match is Ramon Valdez who is handsome and single (she's learning) but also very into his cats and pardon me, but I need to time travel back to fictional 1990 SV, thanks.
It kills me that Ramon and Collins both seem to initially doubt Jessica's assertations that Alice is thrilled her marriage is over and Jessica doesn't see anything wrong with assuring them that no, no, it's fine. Ramon happens to like being single so he shrugs it off, but Collins is still very much "suuuuuuuuuuuuure, if you say so" about the whole thing. Meanwhile, Jessica comes off looking worse than usual. Good job, Wakefield.
Time to shift gears, I suppose. At the start of the book, Winston finds Liz and when she notices how down the class clown seems, he admits it's because Maria's still down. You know, because her father's still under a cloud of suspicion for possibly taking a $10,000 bribe and then having to drop out of the mayoral race because that's not Ned Wakefield's law specialty. When he mentions how much Maria enjoyed working on her father's election campaign, Liz brightens and asks if he thinks Maria would appreciate being asked to work on Ned's.
The way she asks, and the way Winston responds, keeps this from being one of those Oh, Come On! moments because both acknowledge it could be weird and awkward, but it could also be something Maria would legitimately like to do. Eventually Liz works up the courage to ask Maria, who agrees, possibly because she feels like the student body is kinda shunning her due to the scandal. Possibly because in my headcanon, Maria winds up as mayor when she's older.
There's a refresher on how slimy James/Jim Knapp is (so slimy his own nephew can't stand being around him!) and how he's obviously pulling the strings for Ned, but Ned can't see that, and I'm going to cut numerous days worth of story and jump straight to Maria finds out that Knapp and Robertson (a real estate dealer who is supporting Ned) were somehow responsible for getting her father into trouble... and also have some oceanfront property deal coming up after the election that they expect Ned to vote their way because he'll feel beholden to them.
Naturally she tells Winston and then they tell Terry Knapp and Liz and a plan is hatched to have Terry... and Maria break into Knapp's office and Liz will be the distraction. Why, exactly, couldn't Terry just say he left something in the office and needs to go get it? Knapp is his uncle, after all. But then we'd be denied the saga of Liz pretending to wait for her mother to pick her up after aerobics class and needing to be in out of the rain, and seriously, it sounds like she's there for an hour and I'm just wondering how bad the security guard is at his job because he doesn't notice two teenagers sneaking in or out of the building, even though you cannot tell me at least one of them didn't have squeaky sneakers due to the rain. I guess maybe there was carpet. Maybe. Still. Twice! And Liz goes to the bathroom and is gone long enough to get stuck in a closet with Terry and Maria while eavesdropping on Knapp who takes the time to make copies of his Sketchy Plans and talk on the phone, have the trio also make copies of the plan, and then sneak back downstairs. Dude.
Anyway, Liz takes the evidence to her father's apartment and Ned feels like a world class idiot for not realizing how easily he's been played. He doesn't know who to trust, so Liz suggests Alice and the two head over to Casa Wakefield where Alice has a brief freakout when she sees a very solemn Ned and Liz and worries that something has happened to Jessica in the storm. Nah, Jess is fine as she plots to break up your marriage. Your husband, however, well... he's kinda in a jam.
Alice listens and then assures Ned that he's still a good, honorable man, and if he lays everything out on the table, voters will realize the same thing about him. Liz excuses herself as she's convinced that this is the moment that will bring her parents back together. They'll work all night and in the morning they'll be good as new.
Oh, Liz. Why not ask the universe what's the worst that could happen?
When she comes back, Ned is letting himself out because what else can they do?
The next day at Secca Lake, Ned outs Knapp (sorta, he doesn't name names) as a sleeze and Knapp tries to literally run away but the cops nab him with Liz on his tail, just to make sure he didn't get away. For someone who had a problem breaking into his office, she has no problem chasing through a crowd after him.
Ned stuns everyone by dropping out of the race and endorsing Peter Santelli, someone who had the guts to figure out he was being played and stood up to the scum immediately.
Santelli wins, Ned and Alice get back together, Todd appears for the first time all book, and everyone is happy... except Dana Larson who announces she doesn't believe in love, just in time for the teaser for the next book. Huzzah! See y'all in two years.
Trivia:
- The Wakefield's morning paper boy is Tom.
- Amanda Mason is a pretty, young attorney working on Ned's campaign. She went to law school in DC and wants to run for Congress or governor or "something" in the future. Boyfriend of six years recently proposed. He's tall and studious looking in a three-piece suit when he picks Amanda up at the office.
- Ramon Valdez is described initially as another aide in the campaign who has held several appointed offices in city government. Later we learn he's good looking, single, and the liaison for the Hispanic community. He's also a cat lover, with two Siamese cats named Estrella and Maximillion. ♥
- Terry Knapp originally thought his Uncle Jim was a great guy, but in the last couple of years has learned that his uncle is a jerk.
- James Knapp is pushy, overbearing, tactless jerk who is pals with Hank Patman. He uses his experience in politics to convince Ned to do things his way, opening Ned up to feeling indebted to him after his expected win.
- Jessica considers Jeremy Frank, George Fowler, Roger Collins, and Ramon Valdez as potential matches for her mother. Jeremy's shot down because of his fiancee, George comes packaged with Lila who is good as a friend but Jessica can't imagine living with her, Roger Collins has no spark with Alice on their non-date, and Ramon is too into his cats for Jessica to consider him a viable option.
- Liz tells Jessica not to meddle and then turns around and meddles first.
- Liz mentions that Ned is planning to sleep on the street to better understand the plight of the homeless and Alice says it sounds like a publicity stunt.
- Liz's attempts to parent trap her parents involve talking up candidate Ned (particularly dumb since Alice didn't want Ned to run for mayor in the first place), having Ned call the house and having Alice answer, and taking Alice to the mall under the guise of gift shopping for Penny in the hopes of having her parents run into each other.
- When Liz asks for her advice on Penny's gift, Alice initially suggests Enid and Jessica as better choices and I agree with Enid who probably knows Penny better than Alice does but Jessica? Jessica shopping for Penny? Really?
- When running out for a drink while working at the campaign office, Maria remembers that root beer is Liz's drink of choice. Aww.
- Roger Collins invites Alice to dinner Saturday night at Chez Sam... at the same time Ned has a reservation for dinner with the twins. Jessica tries to get out of it by saying reservations are impossible but Roger manages to do so the day before. Hrmm.
- Jessica suggests The Leeward Isles on Pacific Avenue as an alternate restaurant.
- At Chez Sam, Jessica initially wants lobster tail, caviar, and chocolate mousse for dessert but drops the caviar when Ned says something.
- Ned orders the Caesar salad to go with his scallops in cream sauce and Liz halfheartedly orders the orange chicken.
- Mr. Collins and Alice join the Wakefield trio for dinner but have a movie at 9pm. The dinner dates break up around 8:30, as it's 8:45 when the twins are in the car with Ned.
- Maria has a history test Monday and needs her history book, so she and Winston stop at the campaign office Saturday evening. She runs in to get it and overhears James Knapp's phone conversation with Sy Robertson when she picks up the phone on autopilot.
- Sy Robertson is a real estate dealer that Maria doesn't fully trust well before the conversation of doom.
- James Knapp's office is 415 and he's usually gone by 7pm.
- Knapp's office building has no ladies room on the ground floor apparently, as the guard directs Liz to the second floor. Lucky for her, huh, since she needs to use the stairs to warn Maria and Terry about James showing up unexpectedly after hours.
- The oceanfront deal involves developing Sweet Valley's beach and a boardwalk with shops and arcades are pictured.
- The Sweet Valley News is set to endorse Ned the same day Liz breaks the news about Knapp to her father.
- When a press conference is suggested to expose Knapp's plans for both the oceanfront deal and what he did to Santelli, Ned shoots it down by saying it's an invitation to a slander lawsuit. Except, y'know, slander means what you're saying isn't true. But what do I know.
- Sweet Valley's current mayor has been around for many years and is well liked, but he's retiring to run an orange grove.
- The first precinct calls with 57% support for Peter Santelli. District 3 has 61% for him.
- Todd doesn't show up til two pages from the end of the book and no explanation is offered.
Quote Me:
"Looks like we can't get rid of you!" Mr. Knapp said to her. "Well, now, we know you know how to lose; let's see if you can learn to win!" - Seriously, the fact that he says this to Maria in front of Ned and Ned doesn't immediately call him out on it makes me think infinitely less of Ned Wakefield. p11
Jessica glared at her twin sister. What did Elizabeth think she was doing, playing, "The Dating Game"? Ned, Bachelor Number One was handsome, politically active, concerned about the environment. It sounded like Elizabeth was trying to show him off. - yeah, how dare Liz talk up their father to their mother. p20
"Let's draw mustaches on my dad's posters. He'll love it." - this is the Liz I love. p48
Her mother raised her eyebrows slightly. "With all due respect to your teacher's understanding, it doesn't take a Sigmund Freud to see you don't care about your grades enough to make an effort." - Such sass, Alice. I love you sometimes. p61
"And listen, whatever she says tonight, just ignore her OK? She's acting like an alien took over her brain again."
"Again?" Mr. Wakefield teased. - More of this, please. p71
Bits from Ned's Campaign:
"I want a Sweet Valley with a strong economy," he was saying. "I want a Sweet Valley that knows how to do business. I want a Sweet Valley that can take care of itself, that attracts business and industry, not just from California, but from all over the country.I want a Sweet Valley that will prosper into the twenty-first century." p44/45
"It's what the voters want," Knapp said. "Foolish? Maybe they are. Limited, definitely. But all the surveys show that citizens vote through their wallets, Ned. You just don't understand that fact yet." - why do you keep this gasbag around, Ned? p53
"What are you saying? That I'll lose support if I talk about clean water and clean air?" Mr. Wakefield said in a surprised tone. - Ned, honey, baby doll... that's exactly what he's saying. Run, you fool. p54
In my defense, I always hated the set-up for this book because it makes no fucking sense. Liz wanting to get her parents back together and her plans failing spectacularly? That makes sense. Jessica deciding that her parents are never (ever, ever) getting back together and that they need her help moving on? Does not compute. And this book seems like it's going to split its time between Jessica scheming and Liz scheming, but instead it's Jessica scheming for half, and the other half of the book gets to split the time between Liz trying to scheme and Ned's mayoral race intrigue. In the history of ever, has anyone chosen this arc as their favorite, especially for the election angle? Anyone? Anyone?
But this re-read, it was a little less annoying. Maybe it's because I had two years to completely forget everything that came before (probably not) and maybe it's because I found other, little things to enjoy this go round.
There's genuine affection between the Wakefields and the teasing is easy, light, and just the right amount of snarky. Alice coming to Ned's defense, even after she'd made disparaging remarks about his campaign, is very sweet and something both of her daughters would do in a heartbeat for someone they loved. Lila's got some fantastic snark in the two seconds she appears, and Liz's love of root beer is well remembered throughout the book. It's the little things, and this book excels in those.
The bigger arc isn't something I enjoy, and I do think it's weird that Todd's completely MIA for nearly the entire book even though we cover at least a week in Liz's life and not once does she mention Todd outside the "identical opposites" section at the start. But it's not as bad as I remembered.
The cover of the re-release, however, is god awful. Why is it so orange saturated? Why wasn't this corrected before they printed it, or hell, after the first run because it is ugly. For those playing along at home, the covers shown are the original, the re-release, the UK version, and the Kindle version.
no subject
Date: 2019-05-29 06:10 pm (UTC)Just think of it as having a life instead of sucking. These recaps take work, dammit! Mad respect that you're still working on this project eons after you started it. That's dedication!
(Also? I totally squealed when I received notification of this post. SO THERE.)
Jessica, on the other hand, assumes that her father and Amanda Mason will totally work out because, I dunno
Let's be real: its because they are both good-looking. (Jessica reverted to being shallow in record time after the end of her relationship with AJ.)
Mr. Fowler? She's delighted before realizing that this will mean living with Lila if things work out, and I cackle just a bit at this.
It would be great to be related to Lila, right up until it wasn't. Credit to Jess for not getting too far into this fantasy before realizing that, LOL.
Her final attempted match is Ramon Valdez who is handsome and single (she's learning) but also very into his cats and pardon me, but I need to time travel back to fictional 1990 SV, thanks.
Get in line, sister!!
you cannot tell me at least one of them didn't have squeaky sneakers due to the rain. I guess maybe there was carpet. Maybe. Still. Twice! And Liz goes to the bathroom and is gone long enough to get stuck in a closet
DYING, DYING!!!
Ramon is too into his cats for Jessica to consider him a viable option.
Like I said: shallow *shakes head*
Liz mentions that Ned is planning to sleep on the street to better understand the plight of the homeless and Alice says it sounds like a publicity stunt.
*snickersnort* She's prolly right but still - why so cynical, Alice?
I do think it's weird that Todd's completely MIA for nearly the entire book even though we cover at least a week in Liz's life and not once does she mention Todd outside the "identical opposites" section at the start.
Obviously Liz can only manage one man at a time in her life. Since her dad is in need of management in this book, Todd gets the short end of the stick. Maybe he was off with Dana, and she decided that she could do better?
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Date: 2019-05-30 01:31 pm (UTC)The shallowness is true, but it's also why I find it so hard to believe that Jess would be completely fine with her family breaking up. Given how hard the Wakefields are pushed as the perfect family, you know Jessica believes it. Both mommy and daddy taking Jessica's fabulous dating advice would've looked like a terrible midlife crises on both sides. On some level, I kinda think eventually Jess would've realized that, much like she realized being Lila's stepsister would suck.
Get in line, sister!!
Only if you get the time travel figured out. ;)
I figure Alice's cynicism is partly due to really not liking the higher ups on Ned's campaign and feeling like it was probably one of their ideas and also because at that point anything Ned said, did, or thought was annoying to her. Which amuses me highly.
I was all set to type something about Todd/Dana and then my brain went, but that's a thing. Only it's not the same thing because that's SVU!Dana and she's an entirely different character. But I can't really see Todd and SVH!Dana as a couple. And yeah, she could totally do better. But let's hook her up with someone and then in however many books, we'll hook her up with a prince! Matchmaking!