Twisted

I wish I'd been doing my book reviews when I still had a ton of Point Horror. I'm tempted to buy lots on ebay just to revisit those old days of reading these when they came out but...nah. Let's settle for I'll buy them in a thrift store if I see them. 

I can't remember which was my very first Point Horror, but it's quite possible it was the Thrills, Chills and Nightmares boxed set that contained this book by R.L. Stine, both Slumber Party and Weekend by Christopher Pike, and The Lifeguard by Richie Tankersley Cusick. The Lifeguard was so forgettable that even after reading a review/summary of it, I can't remember it. I know I owned this set so obviously, I read it, but nope, can't recall a thing. 

Anyway, the two Pike books are my two favorites of his hands down. I still have my original copies. Twisted wasn't bad but it ended up donated or sold, whatever I did with my collection of these things. 

I recently felt the whim to read it again. Why? I can't remember. But I ordered a copy on ebay and it arrived today. I was picky about it. It had to have the right cover. Or almost the right cover. 

This thing comes in at least these three variants. The middle one is newer and therefore unaccceptable. Heh. I think the red title one was the one that came in the set. I settled for the orange title version because it at least had the right cover art. 

Not that the cover art really looks like Abby, the main character, but whatevs. Nostalgia. 

So the plot is that Abby is pledging for the Tri Gams. She's actually not high school age. Many of these Point Horror are high schoolers. So it's a little refreshing that these girls are in college. Freshman but still, college. The problem is that pledging alongside Abby are her childhood friend Nina (they grew apart AKA: Abby is a snob and thought Nina stayed childish too long) and her enemy Leila. Leila stole Abby's boyfriend Gordon in a situation that is actually never, ever fully revealed. It's likely Gordon dumped Abby for Leila but Abby makes it into this whole big thing that really fucked her up. So much that she had to be taken out of school for a year. 

Yeah, it's pretty obvious from the get go that Abby is The Villain and her "sister" Gabriella is her other personality. Mental health issues were not discussed the same way back when these were written. 

The pledges are taken to a house in a beach town that's basically deserted because it's fall. They're supposed to do a crime to bond them together, because Tri Gams are sisters for life. The crime? Rob an old lady's antique store.

I'll do quick cast blurbs.

Abby: Main character. Clearly has mental issues. Still into Gordon even though it's been over a year. Obsessed with getting into Gamma Gamma Gamma.

Gabriella: Her snarky "sister." 

Nina: Abby's childhood friend. She's supposed to be immature but honestly, she's not that bad. She's just very emotional and takes the entire series of events the hardest. 

Leila: The blonde minx who stole Gordon from Abby AND is Abby's former BFF. Leila is used to getting her way and she's got a horrible temper. She's also calm, cool and collected most of the time. Clearly sexually active with Gordon, which is a bit of a Point Horror rarity outside of Pike's books. 

Andrea: President of the Tri Gams. A bit authoritative. 

Jessie: Only pledging because she's a younger sister. Very loud, casual, obsessed with food, over the top personality that doesn't fit with the "coolest girls on campus" vibe of the sorority. 

Rebecca: Super tall redhead with a squeaky voice.

Emily: Very excited about everything and hard to talk to for long because she's too exuberant. She's pretty far in the background. 

Ruby: "Dark and exotic." I have no idea where Stine was going with this except that she might not be white? Ruby chooses to not take part in the crime after seeing the scene of it and she wears "long dangling earrings." If she's meant to add diversity, she fails. 

Gordon: Dating Leila. Came to see Abby once and ended up making out with her right before this trip. Ends up at the house with the girls, even though these are the days before cell phones and there is no phone in the house, which is a major plot point. I'm guessing he just followed the bus but still. That's creepy, Gordon. 

Mrs. Driftwood: Owner of the antique mall. Assures you that's her real name. 

The driver: Anonymous bus driver who has to be in on this whole situation. 

Okay, so the girls go do their heist but Mrs. Driftwood has a heart attack and Jessie proclaims her dead. Everyone freaks out and flees back to the house. Remember, it's a dead vacation town. There was no one around to see them do anything. The girls fight over what to do. Ruby and Andrea want to contact the cops and Andrea starts going on about how she had nothing to do with it because she was outside the whole time. Bitch, you set this up. You are too in on it. Jessie fights with almost everyone but mostly Andrea. They all go upstairs. Jessie and Nina go outside. They hear a gunshot. Shortly after, everyone discovers Andrea is dead. Jessie once again is the one to say so. (Suspicious yet?) The girls once again fight over everything and then Gordon shows up. They shut him in one of the bedrooms because some girls think he did it, some think Jessie did it. 

During all of this Abby is slowly crumbling. Gabriella comes out of hiding and if it isn't clear that Abby IS Gabriella, it really should be by now. 

Gabriella takes the opportunity to go after Leila but Gordon stops her. The other girls come running to the rescue too and Gordon explains that Gabriella is Abby's other personality. So he went to her room willingly before this trip KNOWING she was fucked up. Dick. Gabriella isn't able to hurt anyone. 

Then Andrea comes down the stairs followed by Mrs. Driftwood. As Jessie hinted at, the entire thing was a set up. A gleeful Mrs. Driftwood says they do it every year. Jessie, being a legacy, knew about it and was in on it. (My only real question about this book was how much of Jessie's wacky personality was real and how much was she putting on for the show?) Leila is rightfully furious and says she's quitting. Nina will join but vows to get this hazing abolished. With the ambulance coming for her, we all know Abby and Gabriella will be in for another "year off school," though hopefully longer to get her the help she needs.

It was an okay book, but there wasn't really a character that I liked or cared about much. That's what's so much better about Pike's books. I even care about the assholes in his stories. At least in Weekend and Slumber Party. We'll get there.