Addictive. I grew up with the Sweet Valley twins and I'm so glad to have become reacquainted. ( )

I felt like this was just Sweet Valley High with cuss words. Not adult at all. ( )

It really wasn't bad. Definately better than the Sweet Valley Confidential. It reminded me more of the Sweet Valley University series. (oh yeah, I read 3 Sweet Valley Twins books a week in elementary school, and kept right on going with the Sweet Valley High in middle school, and Sweet Valley University in high school as they came out.) I'm going to keep reading it. I want to see what Todd's need to be "the man" gets him, and if Lila figures out there's something bigger than stardom. I gave it 4 stars instead of 3 because I read the whole novella in one morning. ( )

I had huge problems with "Sweet Valley Confidential" and I definitely said so in my review of that novel last year. I grew up adoring the Sweet Valley series. In fact I read those books religiously far too long! I can remember things that happened when I was growing up and remember exactly which Sweet Valley book I was reading at the time. Basically, these books just plain meant a lot to me. They are a part of MY history. I was devastated by the inconsistencies in Confidential and by the utter turnaround in the character's personalities. But I am a sucker for all things Sweet Valley. (I even bought the horrible modernized versions of the first couple books that came out a couple years back). So it was only to be expected that I would pre-order this new e-serial for my Kindle. So what did I think?

There are some positives believe it or not. It was immediately clear that the glaring errors from "Confidential" had been fixed. George Fowler got his proper name back for instance. I loved this format for the books. We are left with a tantalizing dangle that leads to the next installment, much like in the original series. I also absolutely loved Lila's story! It was so... authentic Lila! She is thinking only about herself and wanting to be the star of a new show called True Housewives of Sweet Valley. I also enjoyed that the twins actually are getting along again in this book after the ugly and insane things that happened in "Confidential". I am okay with Elizabeth and Bruce being together. I always liked the kinder, gentler Bruce we saw several times in the various Sweet Valley series. I am intrigued by the storyline here where Bruce is accused of sexual assault on a young intern. I hope that Bruce ends up being innocent but in this new, twisted version of Sweet Valley, that is no guarantee. In fact, the entire plotline of "A Sweet Life" is more entertaining than "Confidential". It is no Sweet Valley of its glory days but still is an improvement.

Now for the not so good points: I will never get over Jessica and Todd being married. Never. I will never get over the fact that Jessica betrayed her sister in this way. Yes she was devious and manipulative but she always was there in the end for Elizabeth. She would never pick any man over her sister. Jessica also annoyed me with every scene involving her two year old son. She talks about loving him so much but she is constantly handing him over to the nanny. Let's see Jessica loving her son, ok? And the silliest, most random and insane part of "Confidential" unfortunately didn't get chalked up to a bad dream or hallucination....Steven is still gay and in a partnership with Aaron. I'd love to see a good gay storyline in Sweet Valley but to take a character who has always screamed straight is just unbelievable.

To summarize: This is still a bit of a joke but I do think that Pascal and company have acted on the displeasure resulting from "Confidential". It does feel a bit more true to Sweet Valley but don't expect a return to its former glory. It is an enjoyable trip down memory lane but I still mourn for what could have been had this reemergence of Sweet Valley been executed with the same type of love and fondness its readers have for the franchise. ( )