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3.9k reviews for:
Flowers in the Attic / Petals on the Wind / If There Be Thorns / Seeds of Yesterday / Garden of Shadows
V.C. Andrews
3.61 AVERAGE
3.9k reviews for:
Flowers in the Attic / Petals on the Wind / If There Be Thorns / Seeds of Yesterday / Garden of Shadows
V.C. Andrews
3.61 AVERAGE
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
I was fully ready to write a scathing review while reading but now that I’m done, I don’t think my criticisms matter. It felt, at first, a caricature of abuse and perhaps poorly planned with the way the dialogue was long monologues from characters explaining their intentions and feelings in an extremely unrealistic way. Exposition was plentiful in the dialogue in a way that annoyed me.
But as I said, I don’t think those criticisms are that valid now that I’ve finished. It’s a retrospective so of course a narrator would perhaps remember those conversations to be expositive when they might not have been so in the moment. I also think this was utilized to lean into the twisted fairytale aspect of it all. A wicked witch telling you directly she is a wicked witch.
Ultimately, this completely gripped me. I couldn’t put it down. V.C. Andrews somehow managed to be descriptive in all the right ways, while slapping you in the face with themes of generational trauma and the way survival changes a person.
But as I said, I don’t think those criticisms are that valid now that I’ve finished. It’s a retrospective so of course a narrator would perhaps remember those conversations to be expositive when they might not have been so in the moment. I also think this was utilized to lean into the twisted fairytale aspect of it all. A wicked witch telling you directly she is a wicked witch.
Ultimately, this completely gripped me. I couldn’t put it down. V.C. Andrews somehow managed to be descriptive in all the right ways, while slapping you in the face with themes of generational trauma and the way survival changes a person.
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Religious bigotry, Abandonment
Moderate: Child death, Death, Death of parent
Minor: Animal death, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Gaslighting
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
The book that launched my reading career and love of literature. I read this in middle school and I read every V.C. Andrews book in the following months. Thus my obsession with books began!
