Nice nostalgic journey. I used to read this series when I was younger and I’m glad it is still around for new generations to enjoy.

I really like the Sweet Valley Twins graphic novels. I have read them all and look forward to the next one. The stories are ones that others can relate to and they are easy to read. I do feel that this book, the illustrations weren't as clear as the others. They seemed fuzzy. I also feel that these books are more for middle grade girls. I am not too sure a boy would like these books.
Each book goes along with its title and there is always a lesson that can be learned. Even though the girls are identical twins, they are different in their likes and interests and things that they do.
I have suggested these books and will suggest this one also to the kids at my school.

Thank you to Netgalley for the free Arc!

This book is a cute remake of the books I remember reading when I was a kid! Based on the preview of the next book, I can tell that these books are an adaptation of the originals and not a modern remake. The next. book includes a scene where one of the girls talks about using the family computer and printing out something for school!

Another excellent rendition of the Sweet Valley twins books. Updated for more modern times but still keeping with the classic themes.

This was such a fun trip down memory lane to a series I loved so much as a young girl, the way the graphic novels have revitalized this series is honestly incredible, bringing it into the modern world seamlessly, while still staying true to the spirit of the original books. It's been such a joy being able to share these stories from my childhood with my own daughters, and The New Girl is another great installment. Such vibrate art work that really portrays Jessica and Elizabeth so beautifully, and with a twist of modernism blended in seamlessly, it's a really fun and great graphic novel! I will absolutely be purchasing this one for my daughter upon release!

Sweet Valley Twins: The New Girl

TW: Bullying

Note: This is my first graphic novel from the Sweet Valley Twins series I have read. I read this series back in the 80s and 90s. I don’t remember Jessica and Elizabeth being this mean, but for this book, they were the bullies.

If you’re a teacher or a mom of pre-teens, this is probably a very relatable theme or one you may want to avoid with the complexities of pre-teen emotions.

Brooke, a new girl, has just moved to San Diego with her ultra busy, movie producing dad from LA. Her mom is starting a new family of her own and Brooke is just feeling down. She doesn’t feel seen by her parents and she’s not willing to accept new friends at her school from a previous bad experience. Unfortunately, she’s just downright mean to the kids her age from day one. She’s guarded and takes it out on others.

Jessica’s first interaction with Brooke (yelling at her neighbor’s sweet dog) has her writing off Brooke letting her whole family know she’s the meanest.

Jessica and Elizabeth find out that their mom’s new client is Brooke and her dad and they’ve been invited over to meet each other. Jessica is livid and plans all the ways to not be there and fakes the stomach flu. But once again, mom swoops in and lets the twins know that Brooke will be walking with them to school.

Brooke’s first day at school keeps up with the theme, she has a pretty bad attitude toward everyone and accidentally ruined Jessica’s book fair poster she worked all night on.

After the first day, the twins and their friends come up with a plan to humiliate Brooke. In a long scheme, they have “Jennifer” , the triplet to Jessica and Elizabeth befriend Brooke and get information from her.

In the end, Jessica and all of Sweet Valley Middle School humiliate Brooke in her birthday. It was a really hard read seeing how everyone was a bully to her and even with doubts, continued their plan.

It’s a good read for kids to read and learn the bullying behaviors that can have long term consequences. I would definitely recommend reading with your pre-teens or any kids that seem to be on the giving or receiving end of bullying.

The illustrations are great and I’d recommend for preteens and up! Turning the series into a graphic novel is always a great way to entice readers.

Thank you @NetGalley and @RandomHousePublishers for the advanced digital copy.

The Sweet Valley Twins books circulate pretty regularly in my library, but they do not have the rabid fanbase that BSC, Click, and Cupcake Diaries do. I think The New Girl is emblematic of why. I was not a reader of the original series, so I don't know if this was the case in the chapter books, but Jessica is kind of a jerk. She has been since the first book, and there are sometimes consequences for her actions, but the way she and Elizabeth treat Brooke is not cute or funny. It's just plain mean. There doesn't seem to be any updates to the plot from the original book, and the "maybe she's just mean because she's having a hard home life" doesn't really fly in 2025. Faking a triplet is mean because it's MEAN, not because they find out that Brooke might actually be nice. There needs to be some consideration given to updating the behaviors in these adaptations going forward.

Still will purchase for my library because the students will read it. 3.5 stars, due to the art and sentence-level writing.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I read Sweet Valley High growing up, though Nancy Drew and BSC were more my jam. I think I just couldnt relate to the Sweet Valley characters a lot because they lived such different lives than I did. And there wasn’t enough of that mystery I was obsessed with at the time to keep me reading. This is my first time with a graphic novel version aimed at a slightly younger audience, and it definitely felt much more approachable.

The biggest issue that I could not get over was how mean Jessica comes across, like truly cruel. I understand misjudgment, quick anger, and wanted to defend yourself, your family, and your friends, all normal things that should be talked about! But this is definitely someone my middle school self would have avoided like the plague… so I guess there’s still some of that leftover from the original series. I also am such a sensitive person, I cannot imagine hearing someone absolutely destroy you and your entire family and friends (of which many are actually not that great anyway in my humble opinion but that’s besides the point) constantly. And then just magically getting over it.

All that being said, the actual message of the book is a great one, emphasizing the harm of quick judgments and not taking the time to give others a chance, and even sometimes a second chance. However, I feel like all the cruel bashing was kind of just dismissed like it was okay since there was a “reason”. And that doesn’t sit right with me. I also don’t like that the cruelty exhibited by the friend group was so quickly brushed off.

The art was stellar though and my favorite part. I loved seeing such a classic series transformed in this colorful, engaging format, and, even more so, to see a story I remember as being particularly out of touch with a variety of interesting and (more) diverse characters. Even though I didn’t LOVE the story and some of the characters, overall I enjoyed this update and am looking forward to reading the others in this series. I would recommend this for anyone who loved the original books and like graphic novels, or maybe, like me, thought the originals were okay and wanted to see what this new version had to offer. Older kids who want a more contemporary-based graphic novel may also enjoy these, though there are others I’d likely recommend first.