Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews

56 reviews

eyrechrysalis's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

5.0

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Content Warnings

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

Moderate: Violence and Gaslighting

ekmoore11's review against another edition

dark slow-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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Toxic relationship, Blood, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Abandonment

bookrecsanddnfs's review against another edition

slow-paced

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

2.0

At first, after seeing that my library only had the first book on Libby and not the entire series, I was sad. I wanted to re-read the entire series that I loved so much at 11 years old. 

After re-reading the first book as an adult, I am very grateful that my library only had the first book on Libby. 

Marked safe. 2 stars for nostalgia.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Misogyny, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Torture, Blood, and Medical content

bitchesgottaread's review against another edition

dark emotional 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? Yes

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Child death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Gaslighting

Minor: Animal death

greatexpectations77's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

This was a really interesting book to read and imagine young gals reading this years ago. Because god, is it intense. I was prepared for the incest, but not for the

assault </>, and I think it's really interesting to consider the author kind of excusing it and the time and ideas in which she was raised. I'm probably going to keep reading this book series, but def f Christopher. He can fall off a cliff.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Child abuse, Confinement, Incest, Rape, Toxic relationship, Religious bigotry, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Cancer, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Terminal illness, Grief, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body shaming, Physical abuse, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Blood, Excrement, Medical content, Murder, Pregnancy, and Alcohol

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

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

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

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

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

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

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