Review: "Playing With Fire: Sweet Valley High #3"

Playing With Fire: Sweet Valley High #3 by Francine Pascal
2 out of 5 stars

You all know by now that I love rereading books from my childhood and teen years. SVH was one of my favorite guilty pleasures, although you know, not guilty because I don't feel guilty about any of my books lol. I still have about a dozen of my own copies, mostly the Sagas (can't wait to get to those!!) and the arc of books around Senior Prom and the big accident and the evil twin and stuff (books 95-100ish?)...ugh, so good! :) But I hadn't been able to find many at Half Price (some of the only books I've never had luck with, somebody is hoarding a huge collection of SVH books in their attic!) so I figured I'd never get to do a big reread like the Baby-Sitters Club. When I found some a few months ago at a school sale, I was pretty excited, but they've just been sitting there since then. Well, I decided last week that I needed some good old trash reading so I grabbed the first one that I had, which turned out to be #3. This isn't going to be in a normal review format though and I'm not going to super-analyze it like the BSC books, but just have some fun with it and see what happens (and feedback is always welcome & appreciated)! So let's get started!

Before Reading: I don't remember this one at all. The copyright date is 1983, which is like whoa! My book was presented to a Baptist church library by The International Order of Rainbow Girls. (Which I now wish I belonged to.) I would think this is the type of book the Baptist Church would want to keep OUT of their library, but that's just me.

The Main Plot in 50 Words or Less: Jessica wants Bruce Patman. She gets him but has to change her entire personality to keep him. Elizabeth disapproves. Jessica learns her lesson, dumps Bruce. Sassy pants is back.

The Second Plot in 20 Words or Less: Droids go big, then don't. Chubby girl moves to town, worships Jessica.

Opening Line: "Well if it isn't her royal highness herself." -Todd Wilkins
Closing Line: But they all deserved the pressure, Elizabeth told herself, not realizing the chaos she was about to create.
Best WTF Line: "I get nervous around people who eat all the time." -Winston Egbert

Happenings in SV: The Fifth Annual Rockin' Dance Party Contest opens the book, which Jessica & Winston are Queen & King of; Ken (Matthews?) has a party at his lakeside home; Bruce wins the Sun Desert Road Rally which is some kind of drag-racing thing; The Droids play at a dive-bar called Sand Pines; Bruce has a big 18th birthday bash at the country club.

Fashion Icons: Dressed in a bright blue, skin-hugging mini-dress and matching tights, Jessica was an eye-catching sight. The outfit accented her long shapely legs and brought out the blue in her sparkling aquamarine eyes. Across the room, Elizabeth, in her stylish but more casual wheat-colored pants and tan, striped shirt, also eyed her twin with admiration. Blessed with the same all-American blond good looks, the sisters appeared as alike as identical twins possibly could, but Elizabeth sometimes envied what she felt was her sister's more dramatic flair. If Elizabeth envied her twin so much, maybe she shouldn't dress like a mom running for the PTA President. Also, these outfits were for the dance.

Twin Hijinks: None, although Jessica does buy Elizabeth-esque clothing to impress Bruce and Elizabeth borrows some clothes to go to a club.

Other Thoughts: This didn't feel like a real SVH book to me, maybe because Jessica wasn't her usual conniving self. Also, Bruce seemed odd. I remember him being a player, sure, but not so controlling. He doesn't want Jessica to be a cheerleader? I mean, come on. Most of the people are announced by their full name, even Lila Fowler (who barely had an appearance boo). Winston is a big old nerd and should be happy anyone likes him, even a "butterball" like Robin Wilson. Apparently s-e-x doesn't exist in SV, because even though Bruce untied Jess' bikini top and they had several heavy make-out sessions, nothing else happened.

The Next Book*: Can Liz outwit her scheming twin and make Robin a Pi Beta? Find out in Sweet Valley High #4: POWER PLAY.

*(not necessarily what I'll be reading)