Celeste by V.C. Andrews review

This is the first VC Andrews book I've read and I have yet to read one as trippy as this one. As with most of these books, Celeste deals with a big family secret. Something about this secret in the Atwell family is just a little more drastic than usual.

First, the story starts with a typical 4 member family, a mom, dad and twins, Noble and Celeste. The mom is very spiritual, to the point of almost being crazy, but the dad is the rock of the family, keeping them normal. Then, as is so typical in these books, a parent dies. The father in this case. With his death, the normal part of the family dies. Now the mother, Sarah Atwell is spiritual to the point where she sees spirits and even claims to talk to them. This sounds crazy, yes, but at no point in the story is it said that she is just delusional and out of her mind. Perhaps because it is written in first person (from the point of view of Celeste), but all of the claims of seeing spirits and bad energy get to be slightly believeable (in the context of the story). Even Celeste herself starts to see spirits. The only sane one in the family appears to be Celeste's twin brother, Noble. Noble doesn't see spirits. He just wants to play outside, he wants to go to public school and he wants to have friends. Unfortunately, he gets none of this because he dies before he gets to really experience life. And this is the point in the book when it starts to get twisted. Noble was always the favorite and after he dies, instead of accepting the fact that she no longer has a son, Sarah Atwell makes her daughter pretend to be Noble. Its a little more than pretend. They bury "Celeste" (which is Noble in Celestes clothes) and Celeste is made to dress and act as her brother. It really is as strange as it sounds. This goes on for years. Celeste has to put on weight to hide her curves and she wraps herself up to flatten her breasts. Celeste is unhappy but continues to go along with the facade. She eventually meets a boy and gets pregnant. I'll spare you the details but I will say that it is worth a read.

April Shadows by V.C. Andrews review

Released in 2005, April Shadows, it says on the cover, is the "first in the new series that dares to break all the rules!" Well, I must say that that is a lie. This story breaks no rules. It's like a dead end. You read chapter after chapter, expecting a major conflict or character evolution and it just never happens.

The situation that the story starts off in is okay. It's a first person account of the main character, April, telling us about how her father, once a loving family man, turned into a mean "Mr.Hyde". The reason for the change in his behavior is kind of weak, in my opinion.

Then the story more or less focuses on the relationship between April and her older sister Brenda. It is obvious in the story that Brenda is a lesbian, it just takes April entirely too long to come to terms with it. The sexual preference of Brenda seems to devastate April for some reason that's not really justified. It's just annoying.

When I think about this book, one of the biggest problems I have are with April herself. She's a wimp. She's confused and whines about most of her situations. I kept waiting for her to toughen up and that never happened.

This book also had a tendency to have unnecessary details. For example, April was learning how to play chess and the book went on pages with a dialogue of actual chess lessons that added nothing to the story.

This novel was more like a story trying to be like V.C Andrews, rather than an actual V.C Andrews. There is a second book in the series, Girl in the Shadows, but I doubt I will waste my time reading it.

Garden of Shadows by V.C. Andrews

Garden of Shadows by V.C. Andrews is the fifth book written in the Dollanganger series (you know, Flowers in the Attic...), however the events in the book take place before Flowers in the Attic. A prequel to the series, if you will.

So, the main character is Olivia Foxworth. A tall, domineering woman who is in a loveless marriage. The word heartless could be used to describe her, her actions certainly reflect that, but it goes a little deeper than that.

In the beginning of the novel, she was a younger woman and full of hope about love. Like many women, she wanted a happily ever after. She didn't think it would ever happen to her, until she met Malcolm. The only man to ever show interest in her, she was overjoyed that she actually found a man that seemed to like her. It wasn't until her wedding day (which was more like a business deal) that she realized that he didn't love her. And shortly after she moved in with him, a secret was revealed about his mother and at that moment, Olivia knew that she would never be loved by her husband. Talk about a harsh reality.

I think that's pretty sad. She built up a wall after that and turned into a somewhat steel woman. She had a couple of kids, both of whom her husband showed no interest in, even though he was the father. Then, her husband slept with his much younger step-mother, who ended up pregnant with a baby girl, who Olivia pretended was a daughter. It was a little more than pretend though, the only ones who knew the truth were Olivia, Malcolm and the step-mother.

The book only gets more crazy and twisted. It's an easy and addicting read, which I enjoyed getting into because drama is much more enjoyable in a book, rather than in real life.

Have you read Garden of Shadows? What did you think?

V.C. Andrews Fever

Thanks to the rack of free books at the public library, I've been on a V.C Andrews kick. I love the family sagas, and these books are so twsited and addicting, I cannot get enough. I have a few of them in my collection, so I am going to restart my blog with a review of some of her books. I have a mix of different books, some that will not get read until I can get the earlier ones in the series. Until then, iwe can discuss the ones that I have read. Let's go!

Destiny's Chickens Review

Have you ever read a book that, after you finished it, you realized it was a different book than you originally thought? That's how this book was for me.
Destiny's Chickens by Francis Irby Gwaltney is a novel about a redneck and a gentleman, set in 1950's Arkansas. It tells the story of Orval Pierce, a redneck back from the war, and his life as he makes money and gets married three times. It also tells the story of Grover Sands, the president of the local college. As you read, you may wonder how these two characters, who have nothing in common, are related. The author successfully brings these characters together in a way that makes sense.
I've read hundreds of books in my life, and I've never read a book like Destiny's Chickens. The story had me engaged and all the characters were simple, yet complex, and very unique. There were also somewhat prevalent sexual tones to the book.
I want to say more, but doing so would probably ruin the end. The book ended in an unexpected way for me, although maybe if I had paid better attention I wouldn't have been caught so off guard. I liked Orval Pierce, the simple redneck, through out the book. Then in the end his actions had ME questioning why would I like such a character. It kind of stayed with me for a few days.
I definitely RECOMMEND you read this book and we can talk about it!