History YMMV / SweetValleyHigh

* DesignatedHero: Elizabeth is purported to be the good twin who is nice to everyone - but, more often than not, she comes off as a meddling, sanctimonious hypocrite. As such, many find her to be even worse than the allegedly bad twin, Jessica. In fact, she pulls several stunts that are just as cruel as anything Jessica has ever done, yet it's somehow okay because it's Elizabeth doing it.

* DesignatedVillain: Conversely, Jessica is consistently portrayed as a bitch, even though she [[JerkassHasAPoint actually has a point]] on several occasions. Elizabeth blasts her for being horrible to Winston Egbert and not giving him a chance, but Jessica has made it abundantly clear that she does not reciprocate his feelings for her. And instead of accepting this and moving on, he persists in pursuing her. Who wouldn't be annoyed at that?

* DesignatedHero: Elizabeth is purported to be the good twin who is nice to everyone - but, more often than not, she comes off as a meddling, sanctimonious hypocrite. As such, many find her to be even worse than the allegedly bad twin, Jessica.
** In fact, she pulls several stunts that are just as cruel as anything Jessica has ever done, yet it's somehow okay because it's Elizabeth doing it.

* AcceptableTargets: Good ''lord'' does Sweet Valley hate the overweight. They're portrayed as dumpy, shuffling, pathetic nerds who only want to be accepted by the Beautiful People who hate them. The worst example of this is Robin Wilson, who's tormented by the cheerleaders and is only accepted after losing a ton of weight, only to develop an eating disorder.

* ValuesDissonance: The series' unflattering portrayals and mocking attitudes toward overweight characters can be uncomfortable to read nowadays, as a result of the public backlash against fat-shaming in the [=2010s.=]

* ValuesDissonance: The series' constant mocking of overweight people can be uncomfortable to read nowadays, as a result of the public backlash against fat-shaming in the [=2010s.=]

* SnarkBait: Even many hardcore fans of the series are more than willing to admit that the books are not without their flaws.
** The members of the wonderful [[http://1bruce1.livejournal.com 1bruce1]] community on Website/LiveJournal have snarked nearly every book and TV episode.

* EarWorm: From the opening tunes of the TV series: ''Look right down in the crowded hall, you'll see there's a beauty standing...''. And its refrain: ''Sweeeeeeeet Valley, Sweeeeeeeet Valley High...''.

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome:
** Emily Mayer has spent the entirety of the book ''Nowhere To Run'' being verbally and emotionally abused by her stepmother Karen. Now, her baby half-sister Karrie is choking and her hysterical mother won't let go of her so that Emily can help her. Emily recalls that when someone is hysterical, the best thing to do is slap them in the face--and she does just that. Ostensibly, this was to save her little sister's life, but most readers chose to hope that deep down, Emily was enjoying getting a little revenge on her bitchy stepmother.
** In ''Memories'' Elizabeth is going on about how Steven shouldn't date Jessica's friend Cara when Steven basically tells her to shut up. For readers sick of Elizabeth's sanctimonious lecturing, that moment is a thing of beauty.
** In ''Outcast'', a secondary character tells Elizabeth to "shove it". ''Also'' a thing of beauty for those sick of her self-righteousness.
** And yet another beautiful moment in one of the super editions when Jessica blasts Elizabeth for her rudeness towards a new male character, telling her she's " the worst kind of reverse snob", truthfully pointing out that just because the guy is rich, it doesn't automatically make him a bad person.
** In "The Stolen Diary", a guy Elizabeth briefly dated tells Enid and Todd that she told him all their secrets. When he tries to pull the same thing with Jessica, unlike the other two, she refuses to believe for a second that Elizabeth would violate her privacy like that and warns the guy that she'll make his life hell if he doesn't stop trying to ruin Elizabeth's. He's genuinely scared and backs off. Even better, Jessica persists in trying to find out how the guy could have learned these things, learns that he stole Elizabeth's diary, tells Enid and Todd this and blasts them for being so stupid as to think that Elizabeth would blab about their private business to a stranger and practically drags them off to apologize to her.

* MarySue: The twins are, in their separate ways, canon examples.

* KeepCirculatingTheTapes: all of the books in The Verse (save for SV Confidential and The Sweet Life) have been out of print for years. The first 12 books of SVH are available in e-book format.
** Likewise, only the TV series' first season has been released on DVD.

* EarWorm: "Look right down in the crowded hall, you'll see there's a beauty standing..." You're welcome.

* CrowningMomentOfAwesome: Emily Mayer has spent the entirety of the book ''Nowhere To Run'' being verbally and emotionally abused by her stepmother Karen. Now, her baby half-sister Karrie is choking and her hysterical mother won't let go of her so that Emily can help her. Emily recalls that when someone is hysterical, the best thing to do is slap them in the face--and she does just that. Ostensibly, this was to save her little sister's life, but most readers chose to hope that deep down, Emily was enjoying getting a little revenge on her bitchy stepmother.

** Sweet Valley Confidential also has broken the base, since it's revelations about the current status of several major characters (most notably Winston and Todd/Jessica) was not what most fans wanted to see happen.

* DesignatedVillain: Conversely, Jessica is consistently portrayed as a bitch, even though she [[JerkassHasAPoint actually as a point]] on several occasions. Elizabeth blasts her for being horrible to Winston Egbert and not giving him a chance, but Jessica has made it abundantly clear that she does not reciprocate his feelings for her. And instead of accepting this and moving on, he persists in pursuing her. Who wouldn't be annoyed at that?

** The members of the wonderful [[http://1bruce1.livejournal.com 1bruce1]] community on LiveJournal have snarked nearly every book and TV episode.

** The members of the wonderful [[http://1bruce1.livejournal.com 1bruce1]] community on LiveJournal have snarked nearly every book and TV episode.

* BrokenBase: Some laud the Junior High and Senior Year series for showing a more realistic portrayal of teenage life - while others condemn the series as being boring, compared to the earlier series. Still others think that they might be perfectly fine YA series on their own, but with [[PutOnABus a lot of the major characters from the original series gone]], and [[ReplacementScrappy a whole host of new characters (who would never show up in any of the later series)]], they just [[InNameOnly weren't Sweet Valley anymore]].