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A review by billyraymcevoy
Petals on the Wind by V.C. Andrews
2.0
Honestly, the first book was very engaging and I liked it. The way that the events of the book pan out give the reader a feel of repetitiveness in a clever way that makes the reader empathise with the children. However, Petals on the Wind is not written to the same outcome.
This book is horribly boring and it took me weeks and weeks and weeks to finish. I just couldn't bare to read it for much longer than half hour at a time. I kept on reading as I was so intrigued by the original story and the revenge plot with her mother and grandmother, but does it take a long time to get there? It does.
Cathy herself, the protagonist of the book, is awful. Every decision she makes is more stupid and senseless than the last and her choice in men is more disturbing than the incest rape in the first book. Not to worry though as this book has its fair share of rape and abuse - which Cathy is very quick to forgive and forget, despite her clearly stating "I never forgive and I never forget".
The story is just one man after another, sex here and there and men wildly falling for Cathy. Every man she meets falls madly in love with her. Another point, the things men say in this book are so ridiculously theatrical they could have been directly plagiarised from a Shakespearean play. Her brother say "Oh how I love you so" and such, please... Writing made to pander to the stereotypical fantasy and yet with such disgusting characters that it falls completely flat on its own face.
The only reason to read this book is for the revenge plot which finally comes to fruition in the end, when Cathy finally confronts not only her grandmother and her mother, but also the bedroom and attic space her and her siblings were imprisoned in - this was a beautiful scene, Cathy ascending into the attic - The confrontation with her mother in the great hall was particularly satisfying after reading this whole book and that is what it was all building up to.
All-in-all I found this to be a terrible book. A boring story with a slow pace, disgusting characters, a main protagonist with questionable decision making skills and a big disappointment after reading the first book, Flowers in the Attic. However, a very climatic ending which felt satisfying to read after the trauma left on me by the events in the first book.
This book is horribly boring and it took me weeks and weeks and weeks to finish. I just couldn't bare to read it for much longer than half hour at a time. I kept on reading as I was so intrigued by the original story and the revenge plot with her mother and grandmother, but does it take a long time to get there? It does.
Cathy herself, the protagonist of the book, is awful. Every decision she makes is more stupid and senseless than the last and her choice in men is more disturbing than the incest rape in the first book. Not to worry though as this book has its fair share of rape and abuse - which Cathy is very quick to forgive and forget, despite her clearly stating "I never forgive and I never forget".
The story is just one man after another, sex here and there and men wildly falling for Cathy. Every man she meets falls madly in love with her. Another point, the things men say in this book are so ridiculously theatrical they could have been directly plagiarised from a Shakespearean play. Her brother say "Oh how I love you so" and such, please... Writing made to pander to the stereotypical fantasy and yet with such disgusting characters that it falls completely flat on its own face.
The only reason to read this book is for the revenge plot which finally comes to fruition in the end, when Cathy finally confronts not only her grandmother and her mother, but also the bedroom and attic space her and her siblings were imprisoned in - this was a beautiful scene, Cathy ascending into the attic - The confrontation with her mother in the great hall was particularly satisfying after reading this whole book and that is what it was all building up to.
All-in-all I found this to be a terrible book. A boring story with a slow pace, disgusting characters, a main protagonist with questionable decision making skills and a big disappointment after reading the first book, Flowers in the Attic. However, a very climatic ending which felt satisfying to read after the trauma left on me by the events in the first book.