Sweet Valley University #41: Escape to New York

Apparently the events of the last book have completely wiped Jessica out and now she can’t handle doing anything. Liz asks her to take over the main role in her play, which just so happens to be based on her and Tom and conveniently, Jess helped her run lines and knows all the words. Jess won’t do it though because she says she needs time to sleep, rest and relax. Of course that doesn’t stop her from going out every single night with Vince.

It’s actually kind of funny because Vince takes her out for these long nights and they go out constantly, but he doesn’t kiss her until way into the book. Liz tries to convince her twin to slow down, but Jess won’t because she says that she’s fine. She’s also “in love” so she can’t be bothered with stuff.

Tom is in desperate need of a job and the only one he can find is a reviewer for a theater magazine. Vince and Liz walk him through all the pretentious words that no one really understands and gets him ready for his interview. He basically repeats what they said, without any thought and lands the job, but is asked to review the college plays, including Liz’s play.

Liz auditions a new group of actresses, but no one wants the role. They all apparently wanted to hang around and catch a glimpse of Vince, who was naked in the other play he dropped out of. She gets one person sticking around and gives her the job, only to learn that she’s Hildy (the bitchy actress who dropped out)’s sister.

It also turns out that Marie is a horrible actress and sleeping with the theater director. Ted snuck her name onto Liz’s callback sheet because no one else would hire her. Her lead actor decides that he can’t stand working with a hack and quits, but luckily Vince is there to step into the role. That sets Tom off because he thinks Vince wants Liz and Liz has to reassure him that she’s still in love.

Jessica and Vince go to a club she ends up passing out. Then she picks up some horrendous outfit. Seriously, they describe it as a spacesuit/aluminum foil and later Jess says that it’s hip hugging silver pants and a silver jacket with an orange fur trim. Is that not horrible? She wears it on a date out clubbing and Vince can’t stop panting over how good she looks. Once again, she passes out, but this time the WHOLE club copies her because they think it’s a new dance. Really guys?

The next day Jess runs into Bev, one of her friends from boot camp. It turns out that Bev is actually an FBI agent who went undercover at the camp. She takes Jess in for questioning and keeps pushing her for information or evidence. Jess points out that the camp leader had juvenile records and somehow that breaks the case, even though Bev already knew about the records!

Vince asks Jess to do the play, but she turns him down. She does come to the rehearsal the next day and starts flipping through the play. She realizes that she remembers the lines and when Marie quits, she decides to take her place. She also makes time to go shopping for Liz and finds a gorgeous dress that she loves, but can’t afford.

Tom loses the review when his boss discovers that he goes to the same school as Liz. The new reviewer is some hardasss and of course no one knows what to do. The night before the play, no one can sleep and they all sit around moping over what might happen because this review could break their career. Really? Is Liz actually planning on writing Broadway plays for her career?

I also want to point out that this play is extremely lame. It’s supposedly about Liz and Tom uncovering the big sports scandal, but there are all these lines about how you need to nurture each other. The other plays are these really intellectual, weird things that everyone seems to hate. Yet all three plays were picked as the best in the country so this need to make Liz great, really doesn’t make sense.

Vince shows up with a present for Jess, which turns out to be the dress she wanted. The reviewer walks out after the first two shows, but then Tom convinces him to stay. Everyone naturally loves Liz’s play and major theater producers fawn all over Jess at the after party. She learns that she can go back to boot camp, but decides to just see what happens. Liz finds out that the reviewer liked her play and her play alone, but decides that she has the rest of her college career to decide what to do. I really wish my life was this easy.