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.