A review by iffer
Sweet Valley High: Academic All-Star? by Devaki Neogi, Katy Rex
2.0
On impulse, I requested this from Netgalley, so I read this as an advanced reader ebook. The copy had horrendous resolution, so I can say that the art seemed canned, but I can't tell definitively because of the publisher's decision to discourage pirating by making the image quality poor.
This was okay, but not for me. As a caveat, I didn't grow up reading the Sweet Valley High books. I was a little bit too young to read them when they were at peak popularity, but I did enjoy the Sweet Valley Kids series when I was in elementary school. It could be that I'm now too old to enjoy this title, and I don't have nostalgia to make this title more appealing.
Both Elizabeth and Jessica were annoying, and this didn't seem particularly woke or relevant for 2019. The only update seems to be that there are smartphones and social media. Other than that, it still pushes traditional gender roles (except some comments about gender binaries when Jessica is in her Shakespeare class, and Jessica quoting "Teen Femme," which was probably supposed to be a stand-in for "Teen Vogue," that felt like the author's demand for a woke cookie). While some people might say that worrying about outfits, boys, and gaining weight are normal preoccupations of teen girls, this felt ick to me. Plus, I don't really need a title in my life that is about twin white wealthy cishet teenage girls with peak privilege, complete with vapid brand name-dropping.
I haven't read any of them yet, but I suspect (from reading her previous books) that Raina Telgemeier's graphic novel reboot of The Babysitter's Club is probably better. Also, Disney Channel has been doing a better job of telling more inclusive, but family-friend and child-appropriate programming, for years...
This was okay, but not for me. As a caveat, I didn't grow up reading the Sweet Valley High books. I was a little bit too young to read them when they were at peak popularity, but I did enjoy the Sweet Valley Kids series when I was in elementary school. It could be that I'm now too old to enjoy this title, and I don't have nostalgia to make this title more appealing.
Both Elizabeth and Jessica were annoying, and this didn't seem particularly woke or relevant for 2019. The only update seems to be that there are smartphones and social media. Other than that, it still pushes traditional gender roles (except some comments about gender binaries when Jessica is in her Shakespeare class, and Jessica quoting "Teen Femme," which was probably supposed to be a stand-in for "Teen Vogue," that felt like the author's demand for a woke cookie). While some people might say that worrying about outfits, boys, and gaining weight are normal preoccupations of teen girls, this felt ick to me. Plus, I don't really need a title in my life that is about twin white wealthy cishet teenage girls with peak privilege, complete with vapid brand name-dropping.
I haven't read any of them yet, but I suspect (from reading her previous books) that Raina Telgemeier's graphic novel reboot of The Babysitter's Club is probably better. Also, Disney Channel has been doing a better job of telling more inclusive, but family-friend and child-appropriate programming, for years...