Flowers in the Attic (Audioworks)

Rating:
Summary: Really, not that bad
Review: First, I consider myself an educated and intelligent person. I realize that V.C. Andrews' work will probably not be regarded as classic and will not become part of the canon. It's not meant to be. But that hasn't stopped me from enjoying and appreciating her work.
These books are for fun. Uncomfortable, awkward fun, but fun. To read them requires willing suspension of belief. That's what fiction is for. Okay, Flowers in the Attic has a slow beginning, a predictible middle, and an unrealistic ending. But that's okay once in a while. Really.
Read Flowers in the Attic if you're looking for a quick, suspenseful, entertaining read--it's all of those things. Take it to the beach, on a road trip, or to the doctor's waiting room. However, if you're looking for something more realistic and every bit as disturbing, read Sybil.
Don't be afraid to have fun with books once in a while, and everything needn't be taken seriously--V.C. Andrews is one of those authors to enjoy guiltily but not solemnly.
ktm

Rating:
Summary: Stacey N. Miller Place, NY
Review: Yeah, ok, so this book was a little far from my tastes. I mean, I am not really into this stuff. Actually, male/on/male stuff is my personal favorite.

But this was not bad. Kathy and Chris had no choice really, being locked up like that for years, and teenage boys can get horny and girls can get lonely and there you have it. BOOM! Full blown incest. Being young and gulible can have great consequences but I never thought that it could be this serious.

Throuhout the book sometimes you get the feeling that they should get together, even if it's just to spit in the face of their retarded aunt/grandma. Nevermind morality; let's go screw our own relatives. Interesting concept. Doesn't agree with my views, but what the hell? It was food for thought.

Rating:
Summary: Asinine plot and inane writing, not usually a winning combo.
Review: I saw this book on a table at the public library under "Recommended Reading." Recommended by whom, those with a belief that the National Enquirer is hard-hitting news, Clay Aiken can sing "soul music", and the Paris Hotel in Vegas is just as good as the original?

Literally, from the first three paragraphs I knew how bad this book was going to be. I can get past the absurd notion that this book is based on the story of children locked in an attic because Momma wanted to inherit a fortune. Ok, I'll bite as fiction is meant to be just that.

But, how can you possibly completely suspend your belief that this child would willingly stay in the situation - locked in an attic with an amorous sibling - when years later, little Cathy remembers comments like:

"It's that all-American, wholesome, devastatingly good-looking face and charming manner that does them in. Great God in heaven, Chris, what sensible person could resist a fella like you?" (Who talks like that except a really bad writer trying to create dialogue?)

or "Momma!" I exclaimed in shock. "Is it legal to change your name, and put that fake name on our birth certificates?"

So, little Cathy would willingly get locked in an attic but she is perceptive enough to know Momma's committing forgery? She remembers word for word her Father's bosses dinner table conversations but buys into this "lock me in an attic and we'll be RICH" notion. One person on this board commented the "realism" of the plot! If this type of plot represents anyone's "reality" then this world is clearly long-overdue for some type of flood, plague or good old fashioned "turn us all into Salt" action from the Almighty.

After the first chapter, I continued to read this book as an exercise in trying to understand how shockingly bad an author can be. I have to say, my expectations were far to low. Andrews is a significantly more inane writer than I had anticipated. I must admit though, I didn't finish the book as there was only so much of this that I could take. As this is was her first book, I can only assume she was paid by the word, as that would explain why she used fifty-five words to convey a thought, rather then ten she could have used. (I am curious to know what this reference to using other writers is all about. I know books continue to come out well after she'd died. Hundreds of years from now will society question what she wrote, versus what her name was attached to. You know, just like with Shakespeare? Nah.)

Perhaps I'm being overly harsh. I highly RECOMMEND this book for those of you who love soap operas, believe the only election that matters is "American Idol", and that people really would take their Italian born grandfather to the Olive Garden.


Rating:
Summary: Loneliness
Review: "Flowers in the Attic" is about four children who have everything that they could have wanted, but one day they lost it all. Chris (the oldest son), Cathy (the oldest daughter), and the twins, Carrie and Cory. Their father died in a car accident on the night of his 40th birthday. His name was also Chris. His wife and kids were going to throw him a surprise party, but they found out what had happened to their dad. A few months after their dad's accident, they had to go move in with their grandparents. The children had to stay locked in the attic room, so that no one would find out that they were there. After two an a half years of being locked in the room, they escaped (all except Cory).

"Flowers in the Attic" was an awesome book. Once you start reading the book you won't want to put it down! You feel what the characters feel in the story. I believe the book is for any reader who likes adventure and romance.


Rating:
Summary: A Haunting Tale
Review: I first heard of this series when I was a kid, and my sister had these books. I first read one years later, picking it up while at someone else's house, waiting on some friends I was giving a ride home to. Truly a gripping tale, as the Dollanganger children's father dies in a tragic accident.

This picture-perfect family now must come crawling back to the house of their grandparents, whom their mother had moved away from years ago, as their late father never worried about saving money, thinking he would have time to do it later. However, their grandfather never forgave their mother for marrying her half-uncle, and in order to court his favor in the hopes of inheriting his vast fortune upon his death as he is in ill health, mother Corrine locks her four children in the attic until such time as she can publicly reveal their existence.

The four are locked up for over three years in the attic, waiting for their grandfather to die so they can come down from the attic when they learn the true nature of their mother and grandparents.

In the attic, the children grow and mature in front of each other, and with no freedom or anything else to guide them in their emotional, physical, and mental growth, it is up to these children to learn for themselves what is "right" and "wrong".