Book Review: If There Be Thorns (Dollanganger #3) by V.C. Andrews

If There Be Thorns by V.C. Andrews
Series: Dollanganger (#3)
Genre: Gothic, Drama, Thriller
Read Reviews: Goodreads
Synopsis
Out of the ashes of evil Chris and Cathy made such a loving home for their splendid children...
Fourteen-year-old Jory was so handsome, so gentle. And Bart had such a dazzling imagination for a nine year old.
Then the lights came on in the abandoned house next door. Soon the Old Lady in Black was there, watching their home with prying eyes, guarded by her strange old butler. Soon the shrouded woman had Bart over for cookies and ice cream and asked him to call her "Grandmother."
And soon Bart's transformation began...
A transformation that sprang from "the book of secrets" the gaunt old butler had given him... a transformation fed by the hint of terrible things about his mother and father... a transformation that led him into shocking acts of violence, self-destruction and perversity.
And now while this little boy trembles on the edge of madness, his anguished parents, his helpless brother, an obsessed old woman and the vengeful, powerful butler await the climax to a horror that flowered in an attic long ago, a horror whose thorns are still wet with blood, still tipped with fire....

Review

I never thought I would enjoy these kind of novels. I thought I would stick with chick-lit and historical romance, but as it may seem, apparently I cannot control my urges to find something screwed up to read.

There is something about this series that has a way of luring the reader in. This is definitely the strongest book that lured me into the gardens. I was so engrossed into the novel that I would do nothing else but just sit and listen to the audiobook that was narrated by Donada Peters. She did an amazing job portraying the characters. She kept everything in place and organized. By the looks of the chapters, the book seemed like a difficult book to narrate since there were many confusing dialogues, but Donada did a tremendous job in the whole narration. 

If there be thorns is an engrossing novel – if you're into the little screwed up family kind of drama with a little morbidity – that is a great addition the the first two Dollanganger series. Andrews writes with so many emotions that got me wanting more but feeling lost at times when things got rough. I was so into the book that when the characters began to feel remorse, I would feel remorse. When they would feel depressed, I would fall towards the dark shadow of depression and then snap out of it after I realize it was the book, and not really me. 

I love this book, screwed up family drama and all. I still am not a huge fan of the incest – because that's just gross – but it made the book twice as interesting. 

A highly recommended series for those who enjoy indulging in their inner craving for something much more screwed up than their own lives. It is a book that will make you go "WAW" "WHAT?" "OMG PLOOOT TWIST!" and "GASP!"

 
Would ya'll read a book that's much more screwed up that your life?

 

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Book Review: Bully (Fall Away #1) by Penelope Douglas

Bully by Penelope DouglasSeries: Fall Away (#1)
Genre: Young Adult, Romance,
SynopsisMy name is Tate. He doesn't call me that, though. He would never refer to me so informally, if he referred to me at all. No, he'll barely even speak to me.
But he still won't leave me alone.
We were best friends once. Then he turned on me and made it his mission to ruin my life. I've been humiliated, shut out, and gossiped about all through high school. His pranks and rumors got more sadistic as time wore on, and I made myself sick trying to stay out of his way. I even went to France for a year, just to avoid him.
But I'm done hiding from him now, and there's no way in hell I'll allow him to ruin my senior year. He might not have changed, but I have. It's time to fight back.

I'm not going to let him bully me anymore. (Goodreads)

Review

There may be spoilers in this review.

Bully has been on my shelf for a year, maybe more than a year. I've always been meaning to read it during the summer of 2013, but never really got around to it since I would come up with excuses not to, like "mmm don't feel like reading angst today" or "I'll read this laaater" but later never came. 

Now Bully revolves around a girl named Tate who gets bullied by her used-to-be-best-friend Jared. Throughout the entire book, I; much like everyone else, wondered why in Zeus' name would a used-to-be-best-friend suddenly bully the other. What happened? How did it happen? Was betrayal involved? For most of the novel, these questions were rumbling around in my head trying to figure out the situation. 

Sad to say that the reasons for Jared bullying Tate was completely immature. I mean, I understand he had to let out his anger towards his mom and dad but seriously. You don't have to bully your best friend to the point of making her cry. I honestly don't understand it. Why would someone bully the person they loved to the point of degrading the other? That's just wrong on so many levels of morality. 

Despite my disapproval of the idea behind all that bullying for so many years, the book was quite intriguing and engrossing but I didn't really feel it much on the good levels. It would be on my mind every so often but as much as I would like to be completely agreeable and into the storyline, I'm just not. 

Nonetheless, I am pretty happy with how it all turned out. Despite the reasons, I am happy that it turned out well in the end. A nice happy ending that contradicts the title. I love it! 

A recommend series to those who are over at least 17 years since it has quite a bit of sexual content, and to those who enjoy teenage angst. This could be the series for you! 

 

 

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Book Review: Petals on the Wind (Dollanganger #2) by V.C. Andrews

Petals on the Wind by V.C. Andrews
Series: Dollanganer (#2) 
Genre: Classic, Gothic
Synopsis
They were such brave children to withstand such suffering. Such clever children to escape such terror!
For Carrie, Chris and Cathy, the attic was a dark horror that would not leave their minds, even while they built bright, promising new lives. Of course mother had to pretend they didn't exist.
And Grandmother was convinced they had the devil in them.
But that wasn't their fault. Was it? Cathy knew what to do.
She now had the powers she had learned from her beautiful mother. She knew it in the way her brother still yearned for her, in the way her guardian touched her, in the way all men looked at her.
She knew it was time to put what she knew to the test. To show her mother and grandmother that the pain and terror of the attic could not be forgotten... Show them.
Show them—once and for all.

Review

Spoiler - read on if you wish, but you've been warned - *fades into the shadows*

They were free, free from that dark attic, free from that old grandmother, and free from their mother who once loved them so dearly. 

We meet the three (née four) children; Christopher (Chris), Catherine (Cathy), Carrie and once Cory, on a bus to freedom. As the hours on the bus passed on, Carrie was getting worse with the arsenic poison inside her and was in need of a doctor. They were greeted by a kind black woman who cannot speak but can hear and use sign language or a notepad and pencil to communicate. Henny. Henny took the three children to the doctor she works for, Paul Sheffield. 

Paul takes the three children in as his own, by nursing Carrie to health, buying them new clothes, toys, etc, and enrolling them in school. Now as time passes, Paul gets attracted to the 15 year old Cathy and Cathy has the same intimate attraction towards Paul (he is like 30 or 40 by the way), so she seduces him until he gives in. This scene was definitely not my favorite, I was so grossed out that I would force myself to continue on listening until it ended. (Since I listened to the first half of the audiobook and continued reading the other half of the book).

I don't hate this book, and I don't love it either. It was the time when I was eager to know whether the books were just like the two movies.

As the book follows Cathy and her life with her abusive dance partner, Julian, who later on becomes her husband who she doesn't love but later finds out that she does love him while on his deathbed. This woman has major issues. Like seriously.

Years pass and Cathy has been keeping track of her mother and her whereabouts, and secretly plans her revenge against the mother she once loved.
Part one of revenge plan, seduce stepfather (Bart Winslow, her mothers husband)
Part two of revenge plan, impregnate oneself with stepfathers baby
Part three of revenge plan, confront mother in front of guest at Christmas party.

Smart girl that Cathy. Using her beauty and her body to get her revenge on her mother, who no longer looks as good as she did 12 years go.

As I was reading this book at around 2am in the morning, I suddenly felt goosebumps as the mother; Corrine, turns out to loose her mind and go crazy. I never thought these kind of simple scenes would scare me a little but it did. I was definitely scared. With that being said, I have a feeling that Cathy is going to become as crazy as her mother. Despite all that love gives and receives from her brother and sons, she's slowly turning into her mother.

Petals on the Wind is a compelling second edition to the Dollanganger series. It's filled with every detail of what goes on in that crazy little mind of Cathy's, and how she can love just anyone, even if they rape her.

It's a recommend series to those who enjoy this gothic feel of abuse, rape, incest, death, and indecisive love affairs.

I'm looking forward to reading the next book of the series very soon.

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Book Review: Flowers in the Attic (Dollanganger #1) by V.C. Andrews

Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews
Genre: Gothic, Classics, Young Adult
Synopsis
Such wonderful children. Such a beautiful mother. Such a lovely house. Such endless terror!
It wasn't that she didn't love her children. She did. But there was a fortune at stake--a fortune that would assure their later happiness if she could keep the children a secret from her dying father.
So she and her mother hid her darlings away in an unused attic.
Just for a little while.
But the brutal days swelled into agonizing years. Now Cathy, Chris, and the twins wait in their cramped and helpless world, stirred by adult dreams, adult desires, served a meager sustenance by an angry, superstitious grandmother who knows that the Devil works in dark and devious ways. Sometimes he sends children to do his work--children who--one by one--must be destroyed....
'Way upstairs there are
four secrets hidden.
Blond, beautiful, innocent
struggling to stay alive....  (Goodreads)

Review

When it comes to books that leave be blank yet wanting more, I find it very difficult to write a review. I've spent 15 minutes staring at my screen trying to write an intro, and 10 minutes aimlessly wandering around the house thinking of how to write the intro to this review.

Flowers in the attic. A disturbingly captivating novel that leaves you feeling shocked and blank all at the same time. What did I just read? Trick question! I listened to the book, not read it.

After watching the lifetime remake of this, I got curious enough about the details of the book that it urged me to start on the series. Instantly, I was sucked into the world of the Dollangangers. I spent all hours of the day with headphones on, walking around looking like a zombie, and attentively listening to every word of the audiobook narrator, so I don't miss or misunderstand anything.

The contents of this book was something I prepared myself to deal with. The choices the mother and grandmother made, the disturbing incest, and gothic feels, and the sad and shocking events that the children in the attic had to deal with. It gave me hope to know that the children put on a brave face as the days, weeks, months then years passed, waiting for their mother to return with good news that they'll be let out. But my head just continues to shake in disappointment at how their mother goes from adoring her loving and perfect children to barely even looking at them and faking her love and adoration. And all this just for money because she is a spoiled brat that thinks of herself before her own children.

It broke my heart as the book went on. Knowing how the children have suffered yet were positive enough to hope that they'll me let out of the attic somehow. That somehow someone will find them, or their grandmother will have pity on them and let them out. All the feels...

Let's not talk about the incest between the two older children, they were curious, so they did stuff. That's that.

Flowers in the attic is a classic. Though it is disturbing, twisted, dark, and kind of haunting, it can be a captivating page turner and a guilty pleasure of mine. I feel bad for liking it this much.

I recommend this to those who don't mind the incest and enjoy the dark and gothic feel of books like these. It is a must read of mine since it's a known classic!

  

 

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Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars by John Green

The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
Genre: Young Adult, Romance
Audiobook Reader: Kate Rudd
Synopsis:Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten. - Goodreads

Review

Oh my goodness! This book!

I listened to the audiobook version of The Fault in Our Stars from, it was read by Kate Rudd, and she did a brilliant job at doing so. Kudos to you Kate!

The fault in our stars is heartwarming, heartBREAKING, funny, romantic, tearjerking (but I did not cry!), and engrossing. It gave me goosebumps with the climax of the novel came through, and it gave me goosebumps when the last lines were read.

There are so many big words in this novel, words that haven't even made it into my vocabulary yet. Green designed his characters to be the independent, hella smart kind of characters, people would want to be like - personality wise.

This is a great YA novel. I just picked it up because the audiobook was sitting there collecting dust. I figured since the movie was already out, might as well finish the book before I go watch it.

I'll be completely honest, I am not a very big fan of books such as these. Books in which a character dying is inevitable. I would try to avoid them as much as possible, but I decided to give this one a chance. AND, I did find out who dies and how they died before even reading the first page, just to prepare myself for all the tears that I predicted would shed. But I did not cry, I held it in.

I did expect the book to give me a whole lot more feels than it initially did, so my feelings towards the fault in our stars are very neutral. It was a good book, worth reading, and highly recommendable to young adults and some adults.

Now, after completing this book, I think I'm ready to watch the movie to hope that it would be just like how I pictured it while listening to the book and give me more feels that it should. I just hope the cinema would be dark enough and the speakers would be loud enough to dial out the sounds of my wailing and the tears that would roll down my face during the film.

     

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Book Review: Pressed Pennies by Steven Manchester

Pressed Pennies by Steven Manchester 
Genre: Romance
Synopsis: Rick and Abby grew up together, became best friends, and ultimately fell in love. Circumstance tore them apart in their early teens, though, and they went on to lives less idyllic than they dreamed about in those early days. Rick has had a very successful career, but his marriage flat-lined. Abby has a magical daughter, Paige, but Paige's father nearly destroyed Abby's spirit.
Now fate has thrown Rick and Abby together again. In their early thirties, they are more world-weary than they were as kids. But their relationship still shimmers, and they're hungry to make up for lost time. However, Paige, now nine, is not nearly as enthusiastic. She's very protective of the life she's made with her mother and not open to the duo becoming a trio. Meanwhile, Rick has very little experience dealing with kids and doesn't know how to handle Paige. This leaves Abby caught between the two people who matter the most to her. What happens when the life you've dreamed of remains just inches from your grasp?
Pressed Pennies is a nuanced, intensely romantic, deeply heartfelt story of love it its many incarnations, relationships in their many guises, and family in its many meanings. It is the most accomplished and moving novel yet from a truly great storyteller of the heart. - Goodreads | Amazon | Barnes & Noble

Review

About a few weeks ago, Steven Manchester emailed me asking if I would like to review his novel, Pressed Pennies, and without hesitation I said yes. 

Pressed Pennies is another wonderful, heartwarming, and romantic novel. And when I say romantic, I literally mean extremely romantic, with the words, the gestures, the kisses. There were scenes in the book where I would think that the romance between Rick and Abby got a little too much, and gave me the urge to say "Oh okay, that's enough with all this talk about love".

Despite the overwhelming romance between Rick and Abby, pressed pennies was heartwarming enough to make the reader go "aww". The idea of pressing a penny down by the railroad for good luck is something I've never heard of, and it intrigued me to the point where I wondered if people actually did that. If they did, then it's a fun way to use the placebo effect to get good luck. I love it! 

Steven Manchester has warmed my heart once again with his deep meaningful writing. Pressed pennies was another page turner, that showed the love not only between a man and a woman, but also between a mother and her daughter. 

I highly recommend this wonderful novel to those who enjoy reading about heart warming flashbacks, overwhelming romantic words and gestures, and reading about how the lives of three people changed with the power of love.

Thank you Steven for giving me this wonderful opportunity to read and review you marvelous novel! 

Have a great day everyone! 

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The Wallflowers #4: Scandal in Spring by Lisa Kleypay Book Review

Scandal in Spring by Lisa Kleypas
Series: The Wallflowers - Book 4
Genre: Historical Romance
Pages: 312
Synopsis: After spending three London seasons searching for a husband, Daisy Bowman's father has told her in no uncertain terms that she must find a husband. Now. And if Daisy can't snare an appropriate suitor, she will marry the man he chooses--the ruthless and aloof Matthew Swift.
Daisy is initially horrified. A Bowman never admits defeat, and she decides to do whatever it takes to marry someone . . . anyone . . . other than Matthew.
But she doesn't count on Matthew's unexpected charm . . . or the blazing sensuality that soon flares beyond both their control.
But right at the moment of sweet surrender, a scandalous secret is uncovered . . . one that could destroy both Matthew and a love more passionate and irresistible than Daisy's wildest fantasies.

Review

The last standing wallflower, Daisy Bowman, needs to find a husband of her own before her father chooses one for her; the ghastly and said scrawny, Mr. Matthew Swift.

This is such a good book, and it being so good is one of the reasons why I purposely took forever to finish it. I wanted to savor the deep feelings I felt towards the book. The book made me feeeeel. 

Daisy has the wonderful mind of most of the young and some old girls out there. Filled with fantasies of being swept off the feet by a knight in shinning armer, and going through massive adventures with your true love, or going thought those adventures and then finding true love. And she got her fairytale story, kind of.

The details in the book are immensely descriptive. The type of flowers, the colors, the scents, it's like I was there experiencing it all. It was all so beautifully described. It made the book twice as good.

Although, despite the praise for the book, I do wish that it ended with Matthew and Daisy instead of Lilian and Westcliff. It is, after all Daisy's story, not the Westcliffs. I was disappointed to find that the last pages of the final chapter did not end with the leading couple as I mostly hoped for, but there is always room for something different.

The big question that's been hovering above my head is; did I enjoy Scandal in Spring as much as The Devil in Winter? They are definitely on the same ranking, and as much as I love the spring weather, and despise the cold, I enjoyed the Devil in Winter much more than Scandal in Spring. It was a lot more exciting, dark and in some ways very thrilling, while Scandal in Spring was a lot more sweet, simple, and adorable, regardless of Daisy being the youngest wallflower.

Scandal in Spring is a great read, unputdownable, funny, romantic, and sweet. I definitely recommend this series to those who enjoy swooning over hot men, the descriptive nature, reading sweet and romantic novels with a bit of spice here and there.

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