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A review by lawbooks600
Sweet Valley Twins: Best Friends by Francine Pascal, Nicole Andelfinger
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
Representation: Black and Asian characters
Score: Six points out of ten.
Best Friends by Nicole Andelfinger was circling my recommendations for a while and when I saw that a library has this one, I seized the opportunity to get it. Eventually, I picked it up and read it, but when I finished it, I was underwhelmed. There were so many flaws I had to lower Best Friends to three stars.
It starts with the first two characters I see, Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield who both go to the same school, Sweet Valley. They are identical but their passions are nowhere near that as Elizabeth wants to write the school newspaper and Jessica wants to join the Unicorn Club. The novel's strengths lie in its immersion because I could never stop reading Best Friends and the setting looks contemporary. However, it has flaws that are most prominent in the characters. Jessica was insufferable to read since she irritated her sister and she got worse when she bullied people when she was in the Unicorn Club. The portrayal of Black and Asian characters rubbed me the wrong way for two reasons: it felt like tokenism and the depiction wasn't outstanding. Why are the white people the protagonists and the Black and Asian people bullies and antagonists? At least Jessica had character development, but that left a sour taste. I might read the second instalment in the series when the library gets it.
Score: Six points out of ten.
Best Friends by Nicole Andelfinger was circling my recommendations for a while and when I saw that a library has this one, I seized the opportunity to get it. Eventually, I picked it up and read it, but when I finished it, I was underwhelmed. There were so many flaws I had to lower Best Friends to three stars.
It starts with the first two characters I see, Jessica and Elizabeth Wakefield who both go to the same school, Sweet Valley. They are identical but their passions are nowhere near that as Elizabeth wants to write the school newspaper and Jessica wants to join the Unicorn Club. The novel's strengths lie in its immersion because I could never stop reading Best Friends and the setting looks contemporary. However, it has flaws that are most prominent in the characters. Jessica was insufferable to read since she irritated her sister and she got worse when she bullied people when she was in the Unicorn Club. The portrayal of Black and Asian characters rubbed me the wrong way for two reasons: it felt like tokenism and the depiction wasn't outstanding. Why are the white people the protagonists and the Black and Asian people bullies and antagonists? At least Jessica had character development, but that left a sour taste. I might read the second instalment in the series when the library gets it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying