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.