Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews

104 reviews

ghast's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.5

fuck chris fr

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Incest, Rape, Sexism, Religious bigotry, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child death and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death

bookshelfhannah's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Incest, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, and Abandonment

hez30's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Grief, Car accident, and Death of parent

violetturtledove's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Well this was a wild ride and I can see why it made such an impression on those who read it as young adults. I thought at first that the YA writing style might be a little grating, the kids are all so annoyingly perfect (golly-lolly!) And i wasn't sure if such a long story (three years with just one setting) might drag. But I was soon gripped.
The writing style and the subject matter are quite a contrast, i wouldn't argue that young teens SHOULDN'T be reading about this stuff, but I do wonder what their parents would think if they realised what their kids were actually reading 😄
I also found the 'morals' of the story interesting (if a little dated now) - incest isn't treated as a big deal, but sex outside of marriage is unthinkable, for instance, plus the idea that women are responsible for 'tempting' men.
Neither of these things are criticisms, YA fiction can should go to dark places, and it's inevitable that a story like this one would have some moral ambiguity, it's nice to have something not clear-cut that makes you think.
There were enough twists to keep it interesting after what i assumed was going to be the main mystery was revealed a couple of chapters in, i felt genuinely infuriated, horrified and heartbroken at the appropriate moments, and I've also started immediately on the sequel which really tells you I liked it.
Maybe I should have started with that?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Incest

Moderate: Gaslighting

Minor: Animal death, Child death, Blood, and Death of parent

reads_eats_explores's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Incest

Moderate: Child death, Car accident, and Death of parent

jessicafacchinigould's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, and Abandonment

mbryo's review against another edition

dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

The author wrote so passionately in defense of incest you'd think they were incestuous themself 😭 VERY well-written though, and a compelling (albeit nauseating) read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Religious bigotry, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Mental illness, Torture, Blood, Cannibalism, Murder, Abandonment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body shaming, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexism, Suicidal thoughts, Excrement, Vomit, Medical content, Car accident, Suicide attempt, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment

marlitharn's review against another edition

dark tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

This book was not good* but I get what Nicole Dollanganger is on about now so that's nice. 
*Not as bad as I was expecting though, and I found the melodrama & ways the characters speak to be kind of endearing rather than annoying like everyone else seems to think. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Drug abuse, Physical abuse, and Death of parent

Minor: Sexism and Murder

jrtiger's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Eating disorder, Incest, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Suicidal thoughts, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death and Cultural appropriation

blacksnakering's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.25

I think this book grapples with a lot of very mature themes, but covers them all very well without being overly graphic. That said though, I would recommend any readers who know themselves to not have a strong stomach for horror to veer away from this story. While the book is not really horror in nature, it carries many elements from the genre. Unlike horror, there is a persistent theme of hope in this story, and of the great determination that these children are able to have. While I would call this somewhat of a survival story though, it is less similar to The Hatchet and more like Lord of the Flies.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Incest, Rape, and Abandonment

Moderate: Body shaming, Self harm, Sexual content, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Misogyny, Death of parent, and Gaslighting