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Dollanganger #1-4
The Dollangangers
This eBook boxed set contains the previously published bestselling Dollanganger series by V.C. Andrews, including: Flowers in the Attic, Petals on the Wind, If There Be Thorns, and Seeds of Yesterday.
1500 pages, Kindle Edition
First published December 17, 2012
855 people are currently reading
2208 people want to read
About the author
V.C. Andrews
370 books9,111 followersBooks published under the following names - Virginia Andrews, V. Andrews, Virginia C. Andrews & V.C. Endrius. Books since her death ghost written by Andrew Neiderman, but still attributed to the V.C. Andrews name
Virginia Cleo Andrews (born Cleo Virginia Andrews) was born June 6, 1923 in Portsmouth, Virginia. The youngest child and the only daughter of William Henry Andrews, a career navy man who opened a tool-and-die business after retirement, and Lillian Lilnora Parker Andrews, a telephone operator. She spent her happy childhood years in Portsmouth, Virginia, living briefly in Rochester, New York. The Andrews family returned to Portsmouth while Virginia was in high school.
While a teenager, Virginia suffered a tragic accident, falling down the stairs at her school and incurred severe back injuries. Arthritis and a failed spinal surgical procedure forced her to spend most of her life on crutches or in a wheelchair.
Virginia excelled in school and, at fifteen, won a scholarship for writing a parody of Tennyson's Idylls of the King. She proudly earned her diploma from Woodrow Wilson High School in Portsmouth. After graduation, she nurtured her artistic talent by completing a four-year correspondence art course while living at home with her family.
After William Andrews died in the late 1960s, Virginia helped to support herself and her mother through her extremely successful career as a commercial artist, portrait painter, and fashion illustrator.
Frustrated with the lack of creative satisfaction that her work provided, Virginia sought creative release through writing, which she did in secret. In 1972, she completed her first novel, The Gods of the Green Mountain [sic], a science-fantasy story. It was never published. Between 1972 and 1979, she wrote nine novels and twenty short stories, of which only one was published. "I Slept with My Uncle on My Wedding Night", a short fiction piece, was published in a pulp confession magazine.
Promise gleamed over the horizon for Virginia when she submitted a 290,000-word novel, The Obsessed, to a publishing company. She was told that the story had potential, but needed to be trimmed and spiced up a bit. She drafted a new outline in a single night and added "unspeakable things my mother didn't want me to write about." The ninety-eight-page revision was re-titled Flowers in the Attic and she was paid a $7,500 advance. Her new-generation Gothic novel reached the bestseller lists a mere two weeks after its 1979 paperback publication by Pocket Books.
Petals on the Wind, her sequel to Flowers, was published the next year, earning Virginia a $35,000 advance. The second book remained on the New York Times bestseller list for an unbelievable nineteen weeks (Flowers also returned to the list). These first two novels alone sold over seven million copies in only two years. The third novel of the Dollanganger series, If There Be Thorns, was released in 1981, bringing Virginia a $75,000 advance. It reached No. 2 on many bestseller lists within its first two weeks.
Taking a break from the chronicles of Chris and Cathy Dollanganger, Virginia published her one, and only, stand-alone novel, My Sweet Audrina, in 1982. The book welcomed an immediate success, topping the sales figures of her previous novels. Two years later, a fourth Dollanganger novel was released, Seeds of Yesterday. According to the New York Times, Seeds was the best-selling fiction paperback novel of 1984. Also in 1984, V.C. Andrews was named "Professional Woman of the Year" by the city of Norfolk, Virginia.
Upon Andrews's death in 1986, two final novels—Garden of Shadows and Fallen Hearts—were published. These two novels are considered the last to bear the "V.C. Andrews" name and to be almost completely written by
Virginia Cleo Andrews (born Cleo Virginia Andrews) was born June 6, 1923 in Portsmouth, Virginia. The youngest child and the only daughter of William Henry Andrews, a career navy man who opened a tool-and-die business after retirement, and Lillian Lilnora Parker Andrews, a telephone operator. She spent her happy childhood years in Portsmouth, Virginia, living briefly in Rochester, New York. The Andrews family returned to Portsmouth while Virginia was in high school.
While a teenager, Virginia suffered a tragic accident, falling down the stairs at her school and incurred severe back injuries. Arthritis and a failed spinal surgical procedure forced her to spend most of her life on crutches or in a wheelchair.
Virginia excelled in school and, at fifteen, won a scholarship for writing a parody of Tennyson's Idylls of the King. She proudly earned her diploma from Woodrow Wilson High School in Portsmouth. After graduation, she nurtured her artistic talent by completing a four-year correspondence art course while living at home with her family.
After William Andrews died in the late 1960s, Virginia helped to support herself and her mother through her extremely successful career as a commercial artist, portrait painter, and fashion illustrator.
Frustrated with the lack of creative satisfaction that her work provided, Virginia sought creative release through writing, which she did in secret. In 1972, she completed her first novel, The Gods of the Green Mountain [sic], a science-fantasy story. It was never published. Between 1972 and 1979, she wrote nine novels and twenty short stories, of which only one was published. "I Slept with My Uncle on My Wedding Night", a short fiction piece, was published in a pulp confession magazine.
Promise gleamed over the horizon for Virginia when she submitted a 290,000-word novel, The Obsessed, to a publishing company. She was told that the story had potential, but needed to be trimmed and spiced up a bit. She drafted a new outline in a single night and added "unspeakable things my mother didn't want me to write about." The ninety-eight-page revision was re-titled Flowers in the Attic and she was paid a $7,500 advance. Her new-generation Gothic novel reached the bestseller lists a mere two weeks after its 1979 paperback publication by Pocket Books.
Petals on the Wind, her sequel to Flowers, was published the next year, earning Virginia a $35,000 advance. The second book remained on the New York Times bestseller list for an unbelievable nineteen weeks (Flowers also returned to the list). These first two novels alone sold over seven million copies in only two years. The third novel of the Dollanganger series, If There Be Thorns, was released in 1981, bringing Virginia a $75,000 advance. It reached No. 2 on many bestseller lists within its first two weeks.
Taking a break from the chronicles of Chris and Cathy Dollanganger, Virginia published her one, and only, stand-alone novel, My Sweet Audrina, in 1982. The book welcomed an immediate success, topping the sales figures of her previous novels. Two years later, a fourth Dollanganger novel was released, Seeds of Yesterday. According to the New York Times, Seeds was the best-selling fiction paperback novel of 1984. Also in 1984, V.C. Andrews was named "Professional Woman of the Year" by the city of Norfolk, Virginia.
Upon Andrews's death in 1986, two final novels—Garden of Shadows and Fallen Hearts—were published. These two novels are considered the last to bear the "V.C. Andrews" name and to be almost completely written by
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 85 reviews
November 13, 2012
I read these books when I was a teenager, so that was just a couple years ago...(ok..Kiddin;) ) but I will always remember this series as it was the first BIG series books I read..( I was a big time Sweet Valley High addict around that time to ;)
This book had exposed me to things I didn't really think ever could or would happen in this world. Sadly, I was being exposed to fiction that mirrors some realities, and at the age I was I only realized it to be a haunting story and that the family was cursed and many of the things that happened after their time in the attic affected everything in their life their after. I didn't know what to think of Cathy and her brother Chris, but it was a love story nonetheless, and as the books went on, I had a hard time picturing her older with children,eventually 'married' to her brother and so on. I still seen her as the teenage girl stuck in the attic, surviving. Maybe its my own issues, and its been a long long time since I have read these books, to be fair in this review I am only going by my teenage memory. Maybe I will reread and see what I see now that I am alittle ;) bit older.
I liked the series, and often looked for her other books, but never got into any of them like this one.
This book had exposed me to things I didn't really think ever could or would happen in this world. Sadly, I was being exposed to fiction that mirrors some realities, and at the age I was I only realized it to be a haunting story and that the family was cursed and many of the things that happened after their time in the attic affected everything in their life their after. I didn't know what to think of Cathy and her brother Chris, but it was a love story nonetheless, and as the books went on, I had a hard time picturing her older with children,eventually 'married' to her brother and so on. I still seen her as the teenage girl stuck in the attic, surviving. Maybe its my own issues, and its been a long long time since I have read these books, to be fair in this review I am only going by my teenage memory. Maybe I will reread and see what I see now that I am alittle ;) bit older.
I liked the series, and often looked for her other books, but never got into any of them like this one.
September 10, 2016
FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC :
~ Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? Isaiah 45:9
~ There is a reason for everything and a solution for every problem.
~ Real beauty radiates from the inside out.
~ Love doesn't always come when you want it to. Sometimes it just happens, despite your will.
~ The creative genius begins in the idle moment, dreaming up the impossible, and later making it come true.
~ Great men are not always wise. Job 32:9
~ If you don't set your goals firmly in mind, and strive always to reach them, then you never do.
~ God gives people extra strength and abilities in the time of great stress.
PETALS ON THE WIND :
~ If there's once chance we poor humans have of reaching godliness, it's in learning to forgive and forget.
~ Beauty thinks it needs no talent and can feed on itself, so it soon dies.
~ A dancer without fire is no dancer at all.
Secret of living happy : Look around and see who needs you most and you won't go wrong.
IF THERE BE THORNS :
~ Money can't buy the most important things.
~ You can trust a few some of the time, and most none of the time.
~ God works in mysterious ways.
~ Clever is not letting people suspect just how smart you are.
~ The world belongs to those who know how to speak well, and fortunes are made by those who write well.
~ Do unto others as you would have done unto you.
~ Sympathy is an emotion you feel when you understand the troubles of others. When you want to help, but there's nothing youc an do. The best kind of sympathy moves one into action to solve problems.
~ The Lord helps those who help themselves.
~ Love--no matter what its form, or how it comes wrapped, is worth the price, no matter how high.
~ Seek and you shall find.
SEEDS OF YESTERDAY :
~ LOVE -- It grows from day to day from having contact with that other person who understands your needs, and you understands theirs. It starts with a faltering flutter that touches your heart and makes you vulnerable to everything beautiful. You see beauty where before you'd seen ugliness. You feel glowing inside, so happy without knowing why. You appreciate what before you'd ignored. Your eyes meet with the eyes of the one you love, and you see reflected in them your own feelings, your own hopes and desires, and you're happy just to be with that person. Day by day, minute by minute, second by second, and from moment to moment you anticipate that one person, knowing you won't be disappointed, knowing that person will be faithful, and dependable. There's trust, contentment, peace happiness when you have genuine love. To be in love is like turning on a light in a dark room. All of a sudden everything becomes bright and visible. You're never alone.
~ There's nothing like a baby of your own to hold in your arms to put in your heart. The sweetness of a baby, the thrill of having one small, tiny bit of humanity entirely dependent on your to shape and mold.
~ Hold tight to your dreams, don't abandon them, for life offers many chances at happiness.
~ Shall the clay say to him that fashioneth it, What makest thou? Isaiah 45:9
~ There is a reason for everything and a solution for every problem.
~ Real beauty radiates from the inside out.
~ Love doesn't always come when you want it to. Sometimes it just happens, despite your will.
~ The creative genius begins in the idle moment, dreaming up the impossible, and later making it come true.
~ Great men are not always wise. Job 32:9
~ If you don't set your goals firmly in mind, and strive always to reach them, then you never do.
~ God gives people extra strength and abilities in the time of great stress.
PETALS ON THE WIND :
~ If there's once chance we poor humans have of reaching godliness, it's in learning to forgive and forget.
~ Beauty thinks it needs no talent and can feed on itself, so it soon dies.
~ A dancer without fire is no dancer at all.
Secret of living happy : Look around and see who needs you most and you won't go wrong.
IF THERE BE THORNS :
~ Money can't buy the most important things.
~ You can trust a few some of the time, and most none of the time.
~ God works in mysterious ways.
~ Clever is not letting people suspect just how smart you are.
~ The world belongs to those who know how to speak well, and fortunes are made by those who write well.
~ Do unto others as you would have done unto you.
~ Sympathy is an emotion you feel when you understand the troubles of others. When you want to help, but there's nothing youc an do. The best kind of sympathy moves one into action to solve problems.
~ The Lord helps those who help themselves.
~ Love--no matter what its form, or how it comes wrapped, is worth the price, no matter how high.
~ Seek and you shall find.
SEEDS OF YESTERDAY :
~ LOVE -- It grows from day to day from having contact with that other person who understands your needs, and you understands theirs. It starts with a faltering flutter that touches your heart and makes you vulnerable to everything beautiful. You see beauty where before you'd seen ugliness. You feel glowing inside, so happy without knowing why. You appreciate what before you'd ignored. Your eyes meet with the eyes of the one you love, and you see reflected in them your own feelings, your own hopes and desires, and you're happy just to be with that person. Day by day, minute by minute, second by second, and from moment to moment you anticipate that one person, knowing you won't be disappointed, knowing that person will be faithful, and dependable. There's trust, contentment, peace happiness when you have genuine love. To be in love is like turning on a light in a dark room. All of a sudden everything becomes bright and visible. You're never alone.
~ There's nothing like a baby of your own to hold in your arms to put in your heart. The sweetness of a baby, the thrill of having one small, tiny bit of humanity entirely dependent on your to shape and mold.
~ Hold tight to your dreams, don't abandon them, for life offers many chances at happiness.
January 9, 2019
I read this book when I was 12. It had an impact on me and i couldnt grab the other books from this author fast enough. It brought to me my love of gothic novels. I could relate with having a mean mother that screamed from the time she woke up to the time she went to sleep. Her books made me feel not alone in the world.
V.C. Andrews will always be my first favorite author.
Now at present, I read this book again 32 years later and again I would stand up and applaud, give a standing ovation to the author! The ending brought tears to my eyes! Bravo! Just Bravo!
V.C. Andrews will always be my first favorite author.
Now at present, I read this book again 32 years later and again I would stand up and applaud, give a standing ovation to the author! The ending brought tears to my eyes! Bravo! Just Bravo!
May 15, 2014
I read this when I was probably elven years old. When I went to the school library I remember the librarian telling me that they didn't have the book there and I was too young to read it anyway. Thank goodness for the public library!
These books were the begining of my love affair with smutty books.
These books were the begining of my love affair with smutty books.
November 19, 2022
That compendium was 1,458 pages and was often a slog but it was all worth it to see Chris die. Fuck YOU, Chris, you sexist, sanctimonious, patronizing, delusional sack of SHIT.
September 1, 2020
I never realized there was a whole series of these books. I wish I still didn’t know. Book 2 was an absolute train wreck; I can’t force myself to finish the series. Flowers in the Attic should have been a one and done deal.
July 28, 2024
I remember this being one of the first series I read in my early teenage years… I was so enthralled with the abuse and yet resilience of those young children. I think it resonated deeply within me. Reading it now as an adult, it doesn’t quite ring through the same way.
I still enjoyed the story, however, an adult mind sees things from a different perspective. Not as enthralling, not as groundbreaking. Still an enjoyable read.
I still enjoyed the story, however, an adult mind sees things from a different perspective. Not as enthralling, not as groundbreaking. Still an enjoyable read.
December 27, 2023
Better than the movies but just ad weird.
Read
July 21, 2025i will come back to this another time. i am too Anne Rice pilled at the moment, so i can’t focus on another iconic gothic author.
April 22, 2020
Well, considering I'm in the midst of a quarantine, I think this might've been the perfect book. It was entertaining--mostly because it was so horrific in parts that I couldn't look away---it was a good distraction but it also played into my feelings of confinement.
Read
August 18, 2024No stars not because it doesn’t deserve any starts, but I was so genuinely confused the first time I read this book and bewildered too (ofc). But I was still too young the first time I read to this book, when I came back as an adult I could understand things in it a lot better. However I think this book has more than just the incest although sadly it plays a huge part in the story. I feel really sorry for these characters who had to endured such terrible trauma like abuse and manipulation, it could play a huge part and turns in our lives, it affects our thinking process too, which also becomes something that I could learn from this book. These characters look like they’re still in survival mode even after they’re not in that attic anymore. I remembered that I felt so irritated w how they behaved and how they took their decisions sometimes.
On another side, I like the diction of the author although how she wrote the pov doesnt really suit my likeness but I don’t hate it either, it’s just okay to me. I also quite like the wording in this novel as it’s so easy to understand for someone like me who’s English is not my native language.
There are some parts especially near the ending part that touched my heart, but the incest tho, idk how to feel abt it😭 I feel so conflicted it’s so wrong but Chris’ death and near the end of Cathy’s narration was sad and genuine despite how flawed they are as humans, so at the end I tried not to look at the incest part, but to humanize them and what they went through. Still wtf tho-
On another side, I like the diction of the author although how she wrote the pov doesnt really suit my likeness but I don’t hate it either, it’s just okay to me. I also quite like the wording in this novel as it’s so easy to understand for someone like me who’s English is not my native language.
There are some parts especially near the ending part that touched my heart, but the incest tho, idk how to feel abt it😭 I feel so conflicted it’s so wrong but Chris’ death and near the end of Cathy’s narration was sad and genuine despite how flawed they are as humans, so at the end I tried not to look at the incest part, but to humanize them and what they went through. Still wtf tho-
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 3, 2018
Flowers in the attic is quite an interesting book. It is about children who lost their father and their mother took them to live with their grandmother. The kids had to live in the attic while their mother tries to gains her father respect because if he finds out that she has kids he will not let them stay there. The reason her father doesn’t respect her is that his daughter married his half-brother. Eventually, the kids start to wonder if their mother will ever get her father’s respect but she said he must die. However, their kids get abused by there grandmother and have to stay in the attic. There locked up in the attic.
I would recommend this book to young adults and older because to has incest and other adult things. I would recommend reading the whole series because it is super good. This book reminds me of the real world because there are governments that control what you do just like the kids have to stay in the attic. It also reminds me of books with child abuse. I really enjoyed this book and excited to read the whole series.
I would recommend this book to young adults and older because to has incest and other adult things. I would recommend reading the whole series because it is super good. This book reminds me of the real world because there are governments that control what you do just like the kids have to stay in the attic. It also reminds me of books with child abuse. I really enjoyed this book and excited to read the whole series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 3, 2014
I read this serie like 5 years ago and, even when Im a "big saga girl" and I'm always reading, nothing'll compare to this book. Christopher and Cate show me what true love mean. Even when everything around you says "this is not for you", when its love... nothing can beat it. At my short 21years old... best books I've ever read.
June 12, 2017
Thank God that's over. Reread after reading as a teenager and it has (surprising) stood the test of time but Jeeeze does it go on and on and on when you read all four books back to back. Recommendations for HAPPY short novels now being taken.
Read
September 22, 2013of course I read this series growing up! who didn't? probably read it way before I should have. I loved it then. now I don't know if I would feel the same. lol
November 18, 2016
One of my initial reads. It was more or less fun. The complexities in the series were appealing. The brother-sister relation, mother-child relation were all twisted.
March 16, 2016
Twisted but entertaining.
December 23, 2016
Love this series! My mom bought this series for me for Christmas when I was a teenager and I devoured it. Became a fan of V.C Andres since then
February 21, 2023
Read this when I was kid and re read this a few years ago.
Always recommend this book.
It dosnt matter how old it is it always holds all my attention.
Always recommend this book.
It dosnt matter how old it is it always holds all my attention.
May 29, 2022
I absolutely loved this series. I've seen several comments that it's not worth reading beyond the first book, FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC, but after having read all 4 books, I highly disagree. The first story is really just the beginning and it all comes full circle if you read all 4 books in this series. It had me in tears at the end. I simply loved it.
I've seen comments that this is really a 5 book (or even more) series set. I will caution that it is NOT A 5 BOOK SERIES. Any books you see published beyond these 4 titles in the Dollangangers series is written by a ghostwriter, not V.C. Andrews herself, who unfortunately passed away several decades ago of breast cancer. Do not be fooled. The 5th book people refer to, GARDEN OF SHADOWS, is a prequel that was written by a ghostwriter who is rumored to have possibly written the book from an outline V.C. Andrews left behind when she passed way. However, that is pure speculation to my knowledge. What we do know with 100% certainty is that it was written by Andrew Neiderman, and NOT V.C. Andrews.
A simple google check on V.C. Andrews herself as well as taking a look at the publication dates of these books that literally skip decades between release in some cases will tell you the full truth of the matter. The other titles, in my opinion, are nothing more than a shameless money grab.
Having said that, whoever published this book series clearly didn't bother to spring for proofreading. I'm old enough that I recall V.C. Andrews books being EVERYWHERE! She was extremely popular back in the '90s. Back then there was no self publishing in which books were regularly coming out with very poor editing/proofreading. They were generally flawlessly edited. So I was shocked to find so many errors contained in books that I know had to have been originally edited and proofread to near perfection (if not perfection). For a book that costs over $30, I would expect this thing to be proofread, sincerely.
Having said all that, I will seek out the remaining titles written by THE REAL V.C. Andrews (of which there are only 7 books written by the author herself). I missed these great books back in my teen days, but am so glad that I've decided to read this series now and am really looking forward to reading the remaining titles written by this amazing author, MY SWEET AUDRINA, HEAVEN, and DARK ANGEL.
Very enjoyable series. Highly recommended.
I've seen comments that this is really a 5 book (or even more) series set. I will caution that it is NOT A 5 BOOK SERIES. Any books you see published beyond these 4 titles in the Dollangangers series is written by a ghostwriter, not V.C. Andrews herself, who unfortunately passed away several decades ago of breast cancer. Do not be fooled. The 5th book people refer to, GARDEN OF SHADOWS, is a prequel that was written by a ghostwriter who is rumored to have possibly written the book from an outline V.C. Andrews left behind when she passed way. However, that is pure speculation to my knowledge. What we do know with 100% certainty is that it was written by Andrew Neiderman, and NOT V.C. Andrews.
A simple google check on V.C. Andrews herself as well as taking a look at the publication dates of these books that literally skip decades between release in some cases will tell you the full truth of the matter. The other titles, in my opinion, are nothing more than a shameless money grab.
Having said that, whoever published this book series clearly didn't bother to spring for proofreading. I'm old enough that I recall V.C. Andrews books being EVERYWHERE! She was extremely popular back in the '90s. Back then there was no self publishing in which books were regularly coming out with very poor editing/proofreading. They were generally flawlessly edited. So I was shocked to find so many errors contained in books that I know had to have been originally edited and proofread to near perfection (if not perfection). For a book that costs over $30, I would expect this thing to be proofread, sincerely.
Having said all that, I will seek out the remaining titles written by THE REAL V.C. Andrews (of which there are only 7 books written by the author herself). I missed these great books back in my teen days, but am so glad that I've decided to read this series now and am really looking forward to reading the remaining titles written by this amazing author, MY SWEET AUDRINA, HEAVEN, and DARK ANGEL.
Very enjoyable series. Highly recommended.
August 12, 2021
The Flowers in the Attic book was given to me when I was in the 5th grade right before I went into middle school. It was in early summer. My dads sisters were visiting us from Michigan. We are in Texas. Before she left she gave me the book. I was on punishment for one thing or another so I couldn't use the phone. I started the book that day. By the next night I was done and I was hooked. I begged my mom for a week to take me to B Dalton books for the rest of the series. From that point on I was hooked. I read everything by V. C Andrews that I could find. My mom had over a thousand books in a home library so she thought it was awesome and would buy the entire series at a time so I could read. Little did she know I grew up entirely to fast reading about all the tings in those novels! Incest, sexuality, death, abuse.....So much.. Last year 2020 during Quarantine I showed my mom the lifetime movies that were made out of the books. She nearly fainted at the movies so when I told here these were the books she was buying me in 6th grade she threw a book at me! lol I told her the books were so much more detailed and thanks for buying them. She said she was going to read them. The next week I brought the original copy my aunt gave me from the 80's. Not only was she surprised I still had the book she started reading it the same night. Two days later she was screaming in my phone that she was going to spank my legs... I am 45 now. this was last year!
June 16, 2020
16 again!
For those of you who may be a stranger to this series, I hope you will take my advice and check your expectation of great literature at the door.
I was 16 when I read these books for the first time and absolutely loved them! I forgive myself because I was 16 and loved the stories for their salaciousness! They were so shocking to a teen from a strict Southern Baptist upbringing.
I decided to reread them because my husband saw the movie “Flowers” offered on Netflix. After 35 years, I will say the only surprise came when I realized how badly written and downright silly they are.
My teenaged self would give them five stars. Now, I’d give them a one. So we will compromise at a three. It was great to reminisce... thanks for the memories!
For those of you who may be a stranger to this series, I hope you will take my advice and check your expectation of great literature at the door.
I was 16 when I read these books for the first time and absolutely loved them! I forgive myself because I was 16 and loved the stories for their salaciousness! They were so shocking to a teen from a strict Southern Baptist upbringing.
I decided to reread them because my husband saw the movie “Flowers” offered on Netflix. After 35 years, I will say the only surprise came when I realized how badly written and downright silly they are.
My teenaged self would give them five stars. Now, I’d give them a one. So we will compromise at a three. It was great to reminisce... thanks for the memories!
August 12, 2018
I'm glad I read this when I did, but don't know how to rate it now. I absolutely devoured this series as an early teen and loved it but 40 years later it just feels melodramatic and far fetched. Back then dogeared copies would be passed from one person to the next but I wonder how much fascination it would hold for young people today? For me, the stars are for how much I would recommend a book or whether I would want to reread it, so a big fat 5 stars from teen me but sadly only 3 from jaded, middle aged me and one of those is for auld lang syne.
February 11, 2018
This series was a gift to me from a friend who highly recommended them. There a bit haunting, and the abuse can be disturbing for anyone sensitive to abuse, neglect, and other literary devices. The story line is very well written. The characters are believable and actually haunting at times. If you like books haunt you, torture you and don’t let you sleep until you read just one more chapter. I suggest this series to you.
July 22, 2021
I only read the first book in this series. It's very disturbing especially for a "children's book" but as a teenager I probably would have liked it. As an adult I find it poorly written and the incest very nauseating. I found myself thinking "WTF?!? This is a kids book?!" a few times. It was engaging in that I wanted to know if the children escaped or if the mother rescued them ect but not so much so that I'd like to read the rest of the series.
August 8, 2017
I read this series when I was a teenager and I have always remembered them. What a powerful and often poignant story about a family and their trials over several decades. It is not often that a book can leave me tearful and this succeeds more than once. A highly recommended read, Virginia Andrews is brilliant in transporting you completely into the lives of others.
August 27, 2018
I remember reading this book series when I was about 12. It was great! I also remember finding out that they made a movie about this book and I was so excited. It was my first time going to see a movie based on a book that I loved. It was a horrible movie and I was SO disappointed because I loved the books so much.
July 27, 2020
I can't remember exactly when I read these - sometime before 8th grade. They were eerie but captivating. The idea that young kids could live in their own world was very attractive to me (my parents were divorcing when I read this) and at the same time I was discomfited with much of the story line.
March 12, 2023
Read the whole sequel of books. Starts of with flowers in the attic, best book by far. Really interesting to follow the family and see the way they develop mentally based on their surroundings. Felt the last 2 books in the sequel were a bit far fetched but wanted to finish it. Overall worth reading though
January 4, 2018
I read this series when I was 14 years old and it was amazing. It was one of the books that lead me to authors such as Sophie Hannah and John Grisham due to the hints of crime and it also persuaded me to read more romantic books
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