Sweet Valley High: Academic All-Star by Katy Rex, Andres Genolet
Release: July 9th 2019
Format: Ebook
Publisher: Dynamite Entertainment
Source: Netgalley
Sweet Valley High Synopsis:
When Jessica falls in love with her Shakespeare teacher, she begins to act like her studious twin sister Elizabeth to impress him. Now it’s up to Elizabeth to make sure that all’s well that end well – but with Jessica playing her role, will anyone be able to tell which twin is which?
The treasured series that has entertained generations and sold over 60 million books returns! Fans of the over 600 classic novels and spinoffs and the TV show will adore this charming graphic novel from rising star writer Katy Rex (Charmed Magic School, Jade Street Protection Services) and artist Devaki Neogi (The Skeptics, Curb Stomp). Sweet Valley High is also in development as a major motion picture.
Review:
A big thank you to NetGalley and Diamond Book Distributors for sending me an advanced e-copy of “Sweet Valley High: Academic All-Star” in exchange for my review.
I have to admit, Sweet Valley High used to be a guilty pleasure when I was growing up. Even though I have not read all the books in the original series, I have read quite a few to know the characters and the situations. Having said that, this comic revamp was a lot of fun to read and does not disappoint!
The characters still have the same personalities, but they are updated for the present world of social media. Jessica and Elizabeth are still the same beautiful twins going through the perfect life with turbulent friendships and boyfriend drama. Jessica’s story-line of falling for the teaching assistant was much more interesting than Elizabeth’s drama with Todd. It was a little creepy to see the lengths at which Jessica would go to get what she wants.
I thought the illustrations were average. I felt like the sisters did not look really beautiful and came off as a bit trashy, even Elizabeth. The colors also did not feel vibrant enough for the book to stand out. I think the book would have been perfect if they illustrations were crisper. However, I liked the angles in which the panels were drawn, like showing the dialogue through chat windows.
As always, the book ends with a beginning of a new story-line, which makes me want to read the next book once it is published. Overall, I loved reading this for the most part and think it is a great way to restart the series. It gave me the nostalgic feeling of reading the old series, but made it fresher for new generation of readers to relate to. I think this series will go a long way and it would be interesting to see how it turns out.
