All Night Long

Throwback Books is a theme centered around books in a series from a decade or more ago. To join TBB, choose a throwback series (for example, The Hardy Boys) and have fun reliving the past! Don’t forget to link back to A Simply Enchanted Life and Jami’s Words.

Note: Kristin reads and reviews both Christian and secular fiction on A Simply Enchanted Life. Out of respect for my readers, I am including a content review. This content review will help you decide whether this book is suitable for you.

Christian or Secular: Christian
ASEL Rating: mild language, mild romantic, suggestive scenes but no descriptions or details
Suggested Age: 15+
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Profanity: Mild
Sex: Suggestive scenes include Scott untying Jessica’s top, putting his hand down the back of her bikini and attempting to rape her.
Violence:
Drugs & Alcohol: Mild drug and alcohol use by underage teens.
Trigger Warning: As stated above, Scott gets a little aggressive with Jessica.
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All Night Long (Sweet Valley High #5) by Francine PascalContent Rating:

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Series: Sweet Valley High #5
Published by St. Martin’s Press on September 1st, 1984
Genres: Contemporary Women, Fiction, General, Social Themes, Young Adult
Pages: 250

Is Jessica as grown-up as she thinks she is?

Elizabeth Wakefield knows her beautiful twin is more than a match for almost any guy out there. Most guys easily fall prey to Jessica’s seductive charms. But Scott Daniels, Jessica’s latest love, may be more than she bargained for. He’s much older and much more experienced than anyone Jessica’s ever dated.

When Jessica sneaks off to a college beach party with Scott, Elizabeth’s afraid of what might happen. And when her twin sister isn’t back by morning, Elizabeth fears the worst. Where is Jessica? Why has she stayed out all night long? All Night Long is an original Sweet Valley High story by Francine Pascal.

Well, the title of this book should have been a big tip-off that things weren’t going to be any better for this series. Things continue to go awry for Jessica as she makes one bad decision after another. This time she decides that it’s a great idea to start dating a college guy. Side note—and not that it matters—but he happens to look like Jeff Gillooly which creeped me out just a little bit.
Back to the book…

Now, I’m not victim blaming here but my goodness, Jessica is incapable of making good decisions. Her parents hated Scott. Her sister hated Scott. Did Jessica care? Nope. She lied and snuck off to spend the night with Scott.

Here’s where I have to once again scratch my head in wonder. How is it that Elizabether—the smart one—decides to cover for Jessica rather than go tell mom and dad that her 16-year-old sister is spending the night with a college guy that looks like Jeff Gillooly? Criminy…these sisters are gonna be the death of me.

Anyway, of course, Jessica is sipping beer and trying to convince everyone that she’s all grown up. But, at the end of the night when she says NO…Scott doesn’t get the picture. Creep. Totally not realistic that she managed to push him off of her and make him angry enough to leave her alone but thankfully it didn’t progress any further than some forceful kissing and Jessica panicking.

And what is Jessica thinking during this whole ordeal? She’s sitting there stewing in anger at Elizabeth. Because how dare Elizabeth! Elizabeth didn’t stop her…this whole thing is Elizabeth’s fault. Really? Come on, Jess! I mean, yes, Elizabeth could have (and should have) told mom and dad but Jessica was determined to have her way.

I’m totally not putting Scott’s actions on Jessica. He’s a sleazy creep who was taking advantage of a High School girl. Ugh.

All said and done, Elizabeth goes on to continue lying for Jessica. Pretending to be her so mom won’t know that Jessica didn’t come home all night.

Once again a boy in Sweet Valley gets by with nearly sexually assaulting someone. These kids have absolutely no adult supervision. No one is paying attention to the disaster that they are making of their lives. From shoplifting to attempted rape…Sweet Valley High is a school that wouldn’t want to attend.

About Francine Pascal

Francine Pascal is the creator of the Sweet Valley High series and one of the world’s most popular fiction writers for teenagers and the author of several bestselling novels, My Mother Was Never A Kid (Hanging out with Cici), My First Love and Other Disasters, as well as the series Fearless. Her adult novels include, Save Johanna! and If Wishes Were Horses (La Villa) and the non-fiction, The Strange Case of Patty Hearst. Pascal is on the Advisory Board of The American Theatre Wing. Her favorite sport is a monthly poker game. She lives in New York City and France

Posted By: Kristin Filed Under: Book Reviews, Francine Pascal, Sweet Valley High Tagged With: book review, General, Social Themes, SVH, Sweet Valley, tbb, TBTB, young adult