Reviews tagging 'Violence'

Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews

29 reviews

rronnniii's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• 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: Physical abuse, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Child abuse, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, Grief, Incest, Rape, Violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Vomit

fe_aye's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

2.5

I have extremely mixed feelings on this one. Andrew’s is clearly a good writer and their skill shows very plainly in the text and was the main reason I read all the way through despite knowing I wouldn’t like where the story was headed. 

There’s a sense of complete bleakness here, no escape just a constant headfirst plunge into the depravity and darkness of the world. Even the lightheaded scenes are tainted with this horrible oppressive feeling, and Chris and Cathy’s ‘relationship’ only makes things worse. I am also not a fan of how Andrews chose to portray any of the relationships in this book beyond the bond the siblings share as siblings. Their family bond was precious to see and kept me going through the slog of selfish decision after selfish decision that the adults around them kept making. 

I am extremely disturbed by how casually incest is portrayed in this, the only person who ever speaks out against the incest is an utter bigot and only revealed to have some semblance of a conscience  right at the very end of this book. The mother is deified for her ‘brave relationship despite all odds’ with her uncle, which is never corrected by any of the children. Chris and Cathy also struggle with this until it escalated to him raping her, and yes he does rape her she is fighting him off, I don’t care what the conversation afterwards says. In that moment she was telling him no. And she blames herself for it too. I think that that whole plot thread really could have been left in the first draft and didn’t need to be here at all.

 

All in all wasn’t an fan and don’t recommend this to people unless they know what they’re getting into. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Torture, Confinement, Death, Abandonment, Animal death, Child abuse, Grief, Incest, and Child death

Moderate: Blood, Sexual content, Violence, Pedophilia, Rape, Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, and Injury/Injury detail

hue's review against another edition

dark

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.25

Well, that was truly something huh. Not sure how I'll melt that but I'm glad I picked it up. One twisted telling of a seemingly perfect family that implodes the moment the Father falls into the hands of death. A lot of topics that aren't easy to melt are delt with in this book, what about child abuse and gaslighting, incest born children doing incesty things, kids being deprived from the contact of other human beings aside from their siblings and their grandmother, as well as an occasional visit from their fairly narcissistic mother. Definitely as horrid as been told.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Medical content, Physical abuse, Sexism, Violence, Abandonment, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Vomit, Domestic abuse, Rape, Religious bigotry, Body shaming, Car accident, Emotional abuse, and Incest

hapikohw's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

 I took my time with this and only extended my grueling stay, felt like I was in the attic suffering with them. I was a prolonged fly on the wall unable to help these poor children but I couldn’t look away either. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Gaslighting, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Incest, Misogyny, Animal cruelty, Car accident, Death, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Suicide attempt, Violence, Child death, Emotional abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Child abuse, Confinement, Murder, and Rape

eyrechrysalis's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Death, Abandonment, Death of parent, and Animal death

Moderate: Gaslighting and Violence

bubblepricks's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Mental illness, Incest, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Death, Child death, Child abuse, and Confinement

bashsbooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Honestly, My Sweet Audrina will always be the darling of my VC Andrews heart. But I still greatly enjoyed Flowers in the Attic, and I completely understand why people love it. Andrews is a master at the gothic novel, and even when she is predictable, it's just so compelling that you have to keep reading. Cathy is a fascinating narrator, and I could write a dissertation on the impact of her first-person perspective alone - and then a whole second one about Christopher's character development.

I am interested to see how much Andrews' writing will hold up outside of a confined space in Petals on the Wind.

Also, what the fuck is up with how Simon & Schuster reprints are marketed? The covers suck and the tagline for this book -"The Classic Story of Forbidden Love" - seems wildly off-target. Yes, there is sibling incest, but I wouldn't say that's the primary thing that this about.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Confinement, Death, Incest, Murder, Physical abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Misogyny, Blood, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Self harm, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Medical content, Sexual harassment, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Abandonment, Ableism, Body horror, Body shaming, Domestic abuse, Excrement, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Minor: Eating disorder, Xenophobia, Alcohol, Cursing, Fatphobia, and Racism

ellilo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Toxic relationship, Terminal illness, Sexual violence, Religious bigotry, Animal death, Vomit, Sexual content, Grief, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Death, Animal cruelty, Murder, Incest, Child death, Torture, Physical abuse, Injury/Injury detail, and Child abuse

manonschuur's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

5.0

I have no words. This book is just disgusting and horrible that at some point I really wanted to puke. It is so traumatizing that I give it 5 stars. I will never forget this book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Suicidal thoughts, Vomit, Confinement, Abandonment, Murder, Physical abuse, Violence, Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Blood, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Rape, and Torture

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

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

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