Elizabeth wakes up from a coma after disobeying her parents and riding a motorcycle with her boyfriend, and of course getting in an accident. Jessica is so relieved to have her sister back, but something seems off about Liz…(view spoiler)[The responsible and observant Wakefield parents take note of their daughter's apparent personality change and slipping grades, and wisely take her back to the doctor to see if this might have something to do with her head injury. Also, Jessica realizes what it's like to deal with a selfish, irresponsible sister and resolves never to be selfish or irresponsible again. The End!. . .wait for it. . .. . . Sigh. No, not really.Here's what actually happens: Trigger warning - there is an attempted-rape scene near the end.Jessica and the doctor recite lines from pick-your-least-favorite-medical-soap-opera until Liz wakes up. Suddenly she's interested in fashion and gets flirty with the doctors, but Jessica can't put her finger on what's different about her sister. Oh well, it's probably nothing. I mean, it's a bit out of character for Lizzie to want to throw a pool party the weekend after she's out of the hospital, and then leave all the work to Jessica while she goes to the mall to buy a new swimsuit. And then flirt with every guy at the party except for her boyfriend, whom she now seems to hate. But it's not really anything to worry about. Well, ok, it's definitely weird for Elizabeth to blow off homework, and connive to steal another girl's boyfriend, and cheat on a term paper…Meanwhile, the Wakefield parents are busy with their jobs and stuff, but make sure to pay extra attention to Elizabeth after she's released from the hospital -- just not enough to notice anything different about her behavior, compared to how she's behaved for the past sixteen years. So they are SHOCKED to hear about the plagiarism, and Liz is so grounded. Except, ok, she can go to Lila Fowler's hook-up party as long as she promises to do her homework later. Surely Jessica will keep an eye on her at all times.But Jessica fails to keep an eye on Liz at all times, and suddenly Liz is flirting with the school's biggest player, who is thrilled to be able to take advantage of the girl who always snubbed him. He gets her very drunk and drives off with her on his motorcycle, but Todd goes after them and forcibly removes Liz from the motorcycle (remember, motorcycles are death machines) and drives her home. But another night she decides to meet up with the wicked Bruce at his place, and he prepares to get her drunk again and then to rape her.But while Bruce steps out of the room for a moment, Liz trips and hits her head on a table, which immediately resets her personality back to its normal settings, and she runs away down the beach and into the waiting arms of Todd.Oh yeah, and Jessica does resolve to never be selfish or irresponsible again. But then she remembers her duty to the SVH formula and must nobly sacrifice her dream of character development in favor of maintaining her role as the bad sister. The End. (hide spoiler)]
This was literally one of my favorite books growing up. It starts out with Elizabeth Wakefield glamorously coma-struck following a motorcycle accident. I was probably 10 when I read this book, and OH MY GOD how I wanted to be in a coma. My in-depth medical knowledge told me that it was like sleeping, but with all kinds of dramatics like hospitals and doctors and stuff. Also, when you wake up and start acting just like your identical twin sister – and polar opposite – Jessica, no one really blinks an eye. Your parents totally buy you a sexy nightgown and a new green bikini and other neat outfits. Also, you have permission to be a sudden slut and plagiarist and ignore all your responsibilities and use your gossip column in the school newspaper to forward your suddenly slutty agenda. Who else could use a little Sweet Valley High coma right now? But I digress. While Elizabeth is whoring around the school, ignoring her nerdfriends and super-loyal boyfriend Todd, our resident sociopath Jessica is forced into performing household chores! It doesn’t stop there, either! Apparently there is some kind of Sweet Valley city ordinance stating that only one Wakefield twin at a time can be slutty and self-obsessed. This cruel twist of fate forces Jessica to pretend to care about someone other than herself and *gasp* wear conservative outfits!Comas are all kinds of fun until someone gets hurt, aren’t they??The true message in this story is one of balance. For every slut who wears a low-cut blouse and allows herself to be groped drunkenly by Bruce Patman, another girl must cover her breasts, abstain from alcohol and chastely perform household chores. There cannot be two drunken sluts at any given time. Ok, just kidding. The cast of Jersey Shore totally disproved THAT theory! Anyhow, everything turns out OK. We learn the time-tested cure for blunt force trauma-induced personality disorders… You know, another smack on the head reverses it. Also, to protect the fragile virgin mind of Elizabeth Wakefield, she totally doesn’t remember how she was about to do the nasty with Bruce Patman! She also doesn’t remember that drinking is fun. Bummer. I loved this book, and you will too!
What do You think about Dear Sister (1984)?
I didn't really like this one. Obviously Elizabeth wasn't ever going to die. I like the twist that the bump in the head/PTSD has turned her irresponsible, and has her not acting like herself, but I wish they would've done more with it. Had more people concerned with her or questioning her or something. What I hate most is that the next book will probably not address it at all. I would've liked to see Elizabeth having to deal with the fallout. Even if the doctors explained it away and everyone easily forgave Liz, I would've like for her to have to had a few confrontations/apologies with people.Ned and Alice are easily the worst parents ever. At first, I was like, "How can they not notice that they're daughter is acting very very very wrong??" But then I realized that they were probably just so relieved at her being alive and awake in the first place, that they probably didn't care/glossed over any changes for now. I'm sure if this had persisted for months instead of just weeks, they might have eventually clued in.But then it's like, okay, but then how do you explain them leaving so soon after Elizabeth's accident?? You'd think they'd never want to let her out of their sight! I'm not entirely sure if her parents left, or if they were just busy with work or what not, but yeahhhh....There weren't any subplots in this one really. Jessica had to baby-sit for these 11 year old twins a bunch of times, and eventually she went out on a date with Bill Chase, who thought she was Elizabeth. That was mostly to tie-in with the next book.
—star_fire13
Ahhh, the Paper Cup Seduction Technique. Reading this book at 30 is a bit horrifying, because the last bit features Bruce trying to rape a drunk Elizabeth. Yeah. Of course, the book never uses the word "rape", but that's what happens.Even worse? Nobody calls the police. Since Elizabeth had been behaving in a flirtatious manner, I guess they thought Bruce should get off scot-free.NNNNGH!
—Sarah B
There's good news and bad news...The good news: Lovely Liz is no longer in that pesky coma that was caused by a single act of disobedience. (She rode on the back of boyfriend Todd's motorcycle of death against her parents' explicit wishes.)The bad news: Liz has experienced a dramatic personality switcheroo, becoming more like her slutty twin Jessica.In fact, Liz "out-Jessica's" Jessica. She dumps steadfast beau Todd Wilkins, goes on a boyfriend-stealing rampage, publishes false gossip and plagiarizes a paper. Yikes!She even sneaks out to hang with grody Bruce Patman, letting him touch her *gasp* breast. Luckily for her (and unluckily for me because I was looking for a more exciting plot), she hits her head on a coffee table and comes to her senses before she does anything too dirty. She's back to her old self faster than you can say "Perfect Size 6!"
—Laura
