A review by taracalaby
Sweet Valley High: Academic All-Star by Andres Genolet, Katy Rex
I think my biggest issue with this is that it just doesn't feel like Sweet Valley. I think it's partially the fact that it mostly uses SVTwins canon, with a touch of SVH thrown in (Tricia Martin) and some really weird changes (Mrs. Wilkins and her label obsession and that bizarre "hipping and hopping" line), but it's more than that. Elizabeth doesn't feel like Elizabeth at all, but rather a kind of caricature of someone who is a community minded good student. Jessica is more Jess-ish, but almost not extreme enough. You know the real Jess would've tried a lot harder to nab her TA!
The weirdest part for me is that you basically needed to already know who Liz and Jess are for this to make sense from the beginning, and the people who DO know them are the ones wishing this graphic novel had a better understanding of its ancestral roots.
I think it's time for the powers that be to stop trying to reboot Sweet Valley, and I say this as a huge fan of 30 years. For the people who are the right demographic for it, it's the series their parents read, which is a real turn-off when you're a teen. For those of us who still hold great love for it, the reboots don't hit the mark, because they're too focused on modernisation and not enough on the soul of the originals.
The weirdest part for me is that you basically needed to already know who Liz and Jess are for this to make sense from the beginning, and the people who DO know them are the ones wishing this graphic novel had a better understanding of its ancestral roots.
I think it's time for the powers that be to stop trying to reboot Sweet Valley, and I say this as a huge fan of 30 years. For the people who are the right demographic for it, it's the series their parents read, which is a real turn-off when you're a teen. For those of us who still hold great love for it, the reboots don't hit the mark, because they're too focused on modernisation and not enough on the soul of the originals.