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The Silhouette Girl
Pru Dunning has everything she ever wanted: a successful boyfriend, a thriving nursing career, and a truly comfortable life. But then the strange voicemails start.
Scarletta, the woman calls herself. She seems to know Pru, although Pru certainly doesn't know that name, nor does she recognize the glamorous voice leaving her poisonous messages.
Is this the work of jealous revenge from someone at work? An old enemy she has forgotten about? Pru begins to investigate, but carefully—if anyone found out about these lewd, threatening messages, filled with details that no stranger could possibly know, they might suspect that she is something other than an innocent victim. But when she suddenly becomes a person of interest in a murder case, it feels like Scarletta’s toxic voice, lashing out from the shadows, will silence all beauty in Pru’s perfect life, once and for all.
Scarletta, the woman calls herself. She seems to know Pru, although Pru certainly doesn't know that name, nor does she recognize the glamorous voice leaving her poisonous messages.
Is this the work of jealous revenge from someone at work? An old enemy she has forgotten about? Pru begins to investigate, but carefully—if anyone found out about these lewd, threatening messages, filled with details that no stranger could possibly know, they might suspect that she is something other than an innocent victim. But when she suddenly becomes a person of interest in a murder case, it feels like Scarletta’s toxic voice, lashing out from the shadows, will silence all beauty in Pru’s perfect life, once and for all.
368 pages, Hardcover
First published January 29, 2019
189 people are currently reading
3535 people want to read
About the author
V.C. Andrews
370 books9,075 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 198 reviews
January 28, 2019
For the last few V.C. Andrews' titles, I have been a little critical about Mr. Neiderman's writing style, which has become less and less like the original V.C. Andrews' Gothic tone and more like a badly written generic YA novel. Nevertheless, I told myself not to compare The Silhouette Girl to the "real" V.C. Andrews' novels. From now on, I will only compare the ghostwriter's writings to the past ghostwriter's titles.
The Silhouette Girl marks the first time a V.C. Andrews' title has been published by Gallery Books instead of Pocket Books, which are both divisions of Simon & Schuster. With a sharp art cover and an intriguing blurb, I was hoping this book would be decent, even though my expectations were pretty low.
To any readers who wants to read this book, don't skip to the very back to read the "Author's Note," as it gives away the ending twist. Honestly, it's pretty bad when an author has to explain an ending to his book.
Every other chapter is told from either the point-of-view of Pru (the adult) or Scarletta (the teenager), which I found confusing at times as both are written with the same narration. If it wasn't for each chapter being titled with the character's name, I would have believed the entire book was about one character. If you want me to believe these are two entirely different individuals, the two characters need separate unique voices!
The Scarletta chapters are more in par with the last few YA-style stories and the Pru chapters is written more in style of Mr. Neiderman's novels that are published under his own name. This causes the entire novel to feel uneven, as if two different stories were altered at the last minute to form one novel.
Overall, The Silhouette Girl is a complete mess from start to finish. When I found continuity issues within the first chapter, I knew this wasn't going to be a very good read. The characters are bland with cheesy dialogue. The big twist is really confusing. I liked the idea Mr. Neiderman was going with, but it was poorly executed or just lazily written. The story could have been better if it had detailed descriptions, realistic dialogue, and three dimensional characters.
Mr. Neiderman, you can write better this!
The Silhouette Girl is right there beside Capturing Angels as ones of the worst V.C. Andrews' titles!
The Silhouette Girl marks the first time a V.C. Andrews' title has been published by Gallery Books instead of Pocket Books, which are both divisions of Simon & Schuster. With a sharp art cover and an intriguing blurb, I was hoping this book would be decent, even though my expectations were pretty low.
To any readers who wants to read this book, don't skip to the very back to read the "Author's Note," as it gives away the ending twist. Honestly, it's pretty bad when an author has to explain an ending to his book.
Every other chapter is told from either the point-of-view of Pru (the adult) or Scarletta (the teenager), which I found confusing at times as both are written with the same narration. If it wasn't for each chapter being titled with the character's name, I would have believed the entire book was about one character. If you want me to believe these are two entirely different individuals, the two characters need separate unique voices!
The Scarletta chapters are more in par with the last few YA-style stories and the Pru chapters is written more in style of Mr. Neiderman's novels that are published under his own name. This causes the entire novel to feel uneven, as if two different stories were altered at the last minute to form one novel.
Overall, The Silhouette Girl is a complete mess from start to finish. When I found continuity issues within the first chapter, I knew this wasn't going to be a very good read. The characters are bland with cheesy dialogue. The big twist is really confusing. I liked the idea Mr. Neiderman was going with, but it was poorly executed or just lazily written. The story could have been better if it had detailed descriptions, realistic dialogue, and three dimensional characters.
Mr. Neiderman, you can write better this!
The Silhouette Girl is right there beside Capturing Angels as ones of the worst V.C. Andrews' titles!
June 30, 2019
I understand VC Andrews did not write this because VC is deceased. It’s a ghostwriter. Unfortunately, my overall experience with ghostwriters is that they don’t do the story justice and I’m usually disappointed at the level of either somewhat or a lot. This happened here as well, as somewhat.
So with that, the plot of the story sounded good and took off fairly well, but somewhere around the middle, things went bizarrely awry. There was so much self questioning (I guess in an attempt to make us, the reader think and twist and turn); it was overkill to the point of ad nauseam.
The main character, Pru, has/had a mother who was lovely in body but extremely caustic and inflammatory in character and mind.
There’s no doubt the husband, who was called henpecked, or wearing the skirts in the family, might flip out. He’s a piece of work himself, wanting Pru to dress up in her mother’s clothes, among other sick requests. She looks a lot like her mother, years ago. Dear daddy likes to drink, so when your eyes and senses are clouded by alcohol, is that your daughter or is that your wife? Blech. Wicked. For shame.
I mean, how much of this can you take? Daughter Pru, always being informed / taught by dear old Mom to do this, do that, and throwing out all these phrases like “penny gossip,” “mirrors don’t lie, people lie to mirrors,” “beauty doesn’t survive neglect,” honesty is too big a pill for men to swallow,” “most men are slobs, they’re spoiled by their mothers and expect their wives to pick up after them...” Egads, all this negative lecturing to a young girl growing up from someone who is obviously obsessed and picture perfect of themselves, has to take a negative toll on the husband and daughter, and it has. The woman is narcisstic, an instigator, an influencer, a cynic, bleak and cold - gosh I could come up with 20 plus more words to describe this unlikeable character. Yet, the daughter, Pru, thought her mother loved her dearly and was teaching her the right ways of the world. But it was the distorted way of HER world, and it was through only her eyes, her thoughts that she treated her family with such disdain and callousness. Then she disappears, in a blink of the eye, run off with a lover, leaving a very cold hearted goodbye note.
The rest of the book reveals the twist of the true story of Pru and the author’s reveal of a psychological disorder that may not be well known to everyone. My Rating overall: an okay read.
So with that, the plot of the story sounded good and took off fairly well, but somewhere around the middle, things went bizarrely awry. There was so much self questioning (I guess in an attempt to make us, the reader think and twist and turn); it was overkill to the point of ad nauseam.
The main character, Pru, has/had a mother who was lovely in body but extremely caustic and inflammatory in character and mind.
There’s no doubt the husband, who was called henpecked, or wearing the skirts in the family, might flip out. He’s a piece of work himself, wanting Pru to dress up in her mother’s clothes, among other sick requests. She looks a lot like her mother, years ago. Dear daddy likes to drink, so when your eyes and senses are clouded by alcohol, is that your daughter or is that your wife? Blech. Wicked. For shame.
I mean, how much of this can you take? Daughter Pru, always being informed / taught by dear old Mom to do this, do that, and throwing out all these phrases like “penny gossip,” “mirrors don’t lie, people lie to mirrors,” “beauty doesn’t survive neglect,” honesty is too big a pill for men to swallow,” “most men are slobs, they’re spoiled by their mothers and expect their wives to pick up after them...” Egads, all this negative lecturing to a young girl growing up from someone who is obviously obsessed and picture perfect of themselves, has to take a negative toll on the husband and daughter, and it has. The woman is narcisstic, an instigator, an influencer, a cynic, bleak and cold - gosh I could come up with 20 plus more words to describe this unlikeable character. Yet, the daughter, Pru, thought her mother loved her dearly and was teaching her the right ways of the world. But it was the distorted way of HER world, and it was through only her eyes, her thoughts that she treated her family with such disdain and callousness. Then she disappears, in a blink of the eye, run off with a lover, leaving a very cold hearted goodbye note.
The rest of the book reveals the twist of the true story of Pru and the author’s reveal of a psychological disorder that may not be well known to everyone. My Rating overall: an okay read.
August 6, 2019
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Um. I think this book is a new low for Faux-V.C. Andrews. Not only that, it is one of the worst books I’ve ever read. And I've read Fifty Shades of Grey so that's saying something. Let's get one thing out of the way about The Silhouette Girl. It is another nod to the truth that we've known for decades: Andrew Neiderman should not be writing under the V.C. Andrews name any longer.
I'm kind of at a loss for words because that's how awful The Silhouette Girl is. Plainly put, it is one of the worst books to have been published of all time. Not in the campy, so-bad-it's-good way that the original V.C. Andrews novels were, but in the, "Oh my God, how did this manage to get published." kind of ways. In-fact, I have a list of about a dozen other things that I'd rather to do than write this review or look over my notes about it.
The work attributed to V.C. Andrews' name in these modern times are disturbing in a way that is, somehow, worse under the command of Neiderman, as opposed to the feeling we got reading the actual Virginia Andrews titles. I almost want to applaud him for this but would rather not give him any sort of credit.
If you're reading the synopsis of this novel thinking, you know what, this might not be a bad read? Turn. Away. Now. This is a waste of time. Unless you want to hear such charming narrative gems, such as, " I inspected myself like a pre-Civil Wat Slave owner looking at prospects. " then by all mans this h*llfire of a novel is all yours.
Overall, I'd give The Silhouette Girl a negative five star review if I could. You can find this review here on Booked J.
Um. I think this book is a new low for Faux-V.C. Andrews. Not only that, it is one of the worst books I’ve ever read. And I've read Fifty Shades of Grey so that's saying something. Let's get one thing out of the way about The Silhouette Girl. It is another nod to the truth that we've known for decades: Andrew Neiderman should not be writing under the V.C. Andrews name any longer.
I'm kind of at a loss for words because that's how awful The Silhouette Girl is. Plainly put, it is one of the worst books to have been published of all time. Not in the campy, so-bad-it's-good way that the original V.C. Andrews novels were, but in the, "Oh my God, how did this manage to get published." kind of ways. In-fact, I have a list of about a dozen other things that I'd rather to do than write this review or look over my notes about it.
The work attributed to V.C. Andrews' name in these modern times are disturbing in a way that is, somehow, worse under the command of Neiderman, as opposed to the feeling we got reading the actual Virginia Andrews titles. I almost want to applaud him for this but would rather not give him any sort of credit.
If you're reading the synopsis of this novel thinking, you know what, this might not be a bad read? Turn. Away. Now. This is a waste of time. Unless you want to hear such charming narrative gems, such as, " I inspected myself like a pre-Civil Wat Slave owner looking at prospects. " then by all mans this h*llfire of a novel is all yours.
Overall, I'd give The Silhouette Girl a negative five star review if I could. You can find this review here on Booked J.
July 12, 2022
Creepy and dark, this thriller kept me on the edge of my seat wondering exactly how events would play out. I highly recommend this book to readers who are interested in intriguing twists and sinister turns.
February 9, 2019
I didn't see that coming.
February 12, 2019
Received book in Goodreads Giveaway. If you are a fan of V.C. Andrews and are expecting this book to be like her previous books, then, you will be disappointed as I was. I did not realize that for the past 26 years Andrew Neiderman has been a ghostwriter for V.C. Andrews. I found the book predictable and disappointing.
February 13, 2019
Not worth the time to read it. Its been years since I have read any of these books and thought I would try this new one. Sometimes reading from a ghost writer can benefit most books but this one is not for me.
February 20, 2019
This book will keep you wanting to read more and more. Yes, it did start out slow to the point I almost gave up. But don't let that fool you. Keep reading. One sentence of warning: The ending will knock your socks off!
February 25, 2019
This was full of tropes
The characters were poorly conceived and carried out.
The story is drivel, other authors are doing it better.
A complete waste of time.
The characters were poorly conceived and carried out.
The story is drivel, other authors are doing it better.
A complete waste of time.
January 2, 2021
Completely obvious, unexciting and totally unnecessary.
November 9, 2019
2.5 Stars
As a HUGE V.C. Andrews fan, I am always delighted and happy to be all grabby hands on any book with her name on it. Yes, she's not writing them anymore (though it wouldn't surprise me if she ever found a way to do it from the grave in pure crazy style). I'm not sure anyone could live up to her writing and unfortunately her ghost writer (Niederman) is getting slammed left and right by reviewers. It's a tough position to be in, so kudos to him for giving it a go and still churning out books that while might not be Andrews, is still a little twisty read.
Now, take away from the fact that this isn't Andrews (because yes people, we ALL KNOW THIS) and let's just talk about the book itself. Without any comparisons and just taking it on its own... well, I wish there were more great things to say. It's not a terrible read but nothing really happens until around the 100 page mark and then it doesn't really capture my interest until the last few chapters. No, I didn't see it coming until it started being laid out a bit, but by the time it got there.... eep. I feel bad that I didn't like this more. I love the idea behind it and it's a quick read with big spacing and large font. I also know that these types of books typically go all twisty sideways and that's what I was waiting for. Unfortunately, by the time it got there, it didn't make up for the other 200+ pages that was supposed to be the build up.
Not gonna lie though, if the name V.C. Andrews is on the cover, I'm probably to very likely going to read it regardless. And a couple bad apples don't make the entire bunch so I'm thinking there are some good sweet bites still out there and I'm willing to eat a few worms to get there.
Thank you Gallery for this free copy.
As a HUGE V.C. Andrews fan, I am always delighted and happy to be all grabby hands on any book with her name on it. Yes, she's not writing them anymore (though it wouldn't surprise me if she ever found a way to do it from the grave in pure crazy style). I'm not sure anyone could live up to her writing and unfortunately her ghost writer (Niederman) is getting slammed left and right by reviewers. It's a tough position to be in, so kudos to him for giving it a go and still churning out books that while might not be Andrews, is still a little twisty read.
Now, take away from the fact that this isn't Andrews (because yes people, we ALL KNOW THIS) and let's just talk about the book itself. Without any comparisons and just taking it on its own... well, I wish there were more great things to say. It's not a terrible read but nothing really happens until around the 100 page mark and then it doesn't really capture my interest until the last few chapters. No, I didn't see it coming until it started being laid out a bit, but by the time it got there.... eep. I feel bad that I didn't like this more. I love the idea behind it and it's a quick read with big spacing and large font. I also know that these types of books typically go all twisty sideways and that's what I was waiting for. Unfortunately, by the time it got there, it didn't make up for the other 200+ pages that was supposed to be the build up.
Not gonna lie though, if the name V.C. Andrews is on the cover, I'm probably to very likely going to read it regardless. And a couple bad apples don't make the entire bunch so I'm thinking there are some good sweet bites still out there and I'm willing to eat a few worms to get there.
Thank you Gallery for this free copy.
February 14, 2019
Pru Dunning is a 25 year old cardiac nurse who has been dating a lawyer for the past 6 months. She noticed a pill mix-up at the hospital and saved the life of a heart patient, Douglas Thomas, who was so grateful that he gave her his mother's pearls.
Scarletta is a 14 year old girl from a wealthy family with an obsessive mother and an easy going father who always gives in to his wife's demands. Scarletta has problems making friends.
Pru has a stalker. She has been receiving messages on her answering machine for the past months from a woman calling herself Scarletta. The messages are getting more threatening.
The chapters alternate back and forth by telling the story from Dru and then Scarpetta. Both characters are always talking about their mothers. I predicted much of this story. As I'm sure the author wanted, I felt uncomfortable during the Scarletta and father scenes. I'm not sure what actually happened between Douglas Thomas and Pru once he got out of the hospital and I'm only guessing why. I'm not good at figuring out what an author is trying to say. That's why I always prefer at least a sentence or two of explanation about what really happened.
Scarletta is a 14 year old girl from a wealthy family with an obsessive mother and an easy going father who always gives in to his wife's demands. Scarletta has problems making friends.
Pru has a stalker. She has been receiving messages on her answering machine for the past months from a woman calling herself Scarletta. The messages are getting more threatening.
The chapters alternate back and forth by telling the story from Dru and then Scarpetta. Both characters are always talking about their mothers. I predicted much of this story. As I'm sure the author wanted, I felt uncomfortable during the Scarletta and father scenes. I'm not sure what actually happened between Douglas Thomas and Pru once he got out of the hospital and I'm only guessing why. I'm not good at figuring out what an author is trying to say. That's why I always prefer at least a sentence or two of explanation about what really happened.
February 6, 2019
More mr. Niederman then v c Andrews but I liked it.
Some say this is not v c Andrews but hay we all know she hasn't wrote a book in twenty-five years. But you didn't criticize mr. Niederman tell they quite writing five books now two to three books. So what had changed nothing. So get off your high horse. And give the man credit. He took on a job and finished and created more stories in her image. Would you try to do that I don't think so. I give him 5 stars for trying and for keeping VC Andrews name alive
Some say this is not v c Andrews but hay we all know she hasn't wrote a book in twenty-five years. But you didn't criticize mr. Niederman tell they quite writing five books now two to three books. So what had changed nothing. So get off your high horse. And give the man credit. He took on a job and finished and created more stories in her image. Would you try to do that I don't think so. I give him 5 stars for trying and for keeping VC Andrews name alive
February 16, 2019
The last few chapters were the only “thrilling” part, and I give those 2 stars...but the rest of it I would only give 1 star. This could have been executed much better or cut down into a short story...maybe then it would have been interesting.
February 3, 2019
Not great. That’s what I get for trying to relive my early teen years!!! No nostalgia fulfilled.
February 18, 2019
fairly obvious book. wordy writing.
February 25, 2019
Awesome, awesome! A definite must read!
February 27, 2019
Long chapters and the ending was predictable.
March 25, 2020
Book: The Silhouette Girl
Author: VC Andrews
Rating: 1 Out of 5 Star
I’m going to be honest, I did not like this book at all. I couldn’t get into it and I really didn’t care about anything. The plot and the characters felt so genetic and sloppy. Yeah, not a fun time reading this over here.
The way the book is written is actually kind of confusing. We follow two characters: an adult and a teenager. Now, the different points of view should be pretty easy to keep straight right? I mean, look at what we are working with? Nope, it was complete mess. This tells me that our characters were not fleshed out and not complex at all. If I hadn’t know that, I would have just assumed that we had one narrator. If you are going to do have more than one point of view, the characters need to have their own voice. You just cannot split the same character into two different points of view. People are going to pick up on it.
The plot really wasn’t all that interesting either. It didn’t make me want to keep reading the book. I was expecting all the little side journeys and all of that. This genre tends to do that a lot, but the way everything was presented did not make up for the ending. It just felt like that the publisher was just trying to get a book out there without really thinking about what they were putting out there.
I guess the upside is that it’s a short book and a quick read, but that still doesn’t make up for just how badly this is written. I just don’t know, guys…If this is the kind of stuff that VC Andrew’s estate is okaying, then I don’t know if I’ll be able to read more of this.
Author: VC Andrews
Rating: 1 Out of 5 Star
I’m going to be honest, I did not like this book at all. I couldn’t get into it and I really didn’t care about anything. The plot and the characters felt so genetic and sloppy. Yeah, not a fun time reading this over here.
The way the book is written is actually kind of confusing. We follow two characters: an adult and a teenager. Now, the different points of view should be pretty easy to keep straight right? I mean, look at what we are working with? Nope, it was complete mess. This tells me that our characters were not fleshed out and not complex at all. If I hadn’t know that, I would have just assumed that we had one narrator. If you are going to do have more than one point of view, the characters need to have their own voice. You just cannot split the same character into two different points of view. People are going to pick up on it.
The plot really wasn’t all that interesting either. It didn’t make me want to keep reading the book. I was expecting all the little side journeys and all of that. This genre tends to do that a lot, but the way everything was presented did not make up for the ending. It just felt like that the publisher was just trying to get a book out there without really thinking about what they were putting out there.
I guess the upside is that it’s a short book and a quick read, but that still doesn’t make up for just how badly this is written. I just don’t know, guys…If this is the kind of stuff that VC Andrew’s estate is okaying, then I don’t know if I’ll be able to read more of this.
February 10, 2019
Andrew Neiderman has done it. He has finally either morphed into VC Andrews or has begun channeling her as he's writing (think Lois Duncan's Down A Dark Hall). I have no idea why this has gotten bad reviews, because baby, this was spot on. This book merges VC Andrews signature young female heroine's speech and descriptive, yet arrogant tone with a touch of real horror. The only thing missing is that the characters aren't blond, which was always a feature of VC Andrews' actual characters.
This was insanely immersive. I was lost in this novel, even though I knew exactly what would happen. It was gothic, atmospheric and completely worthy of the VC Andrews name. She would have liked this one. I anxiously await the 40th anniversary novels. Bravo, Mr Neiderman.
This was insanely immersive. I was lost in this novel, even though I knew exactly what would happen. It was gothic, atmospheric and completely worthy of the VC Andrews name. She would have liked this one. I anxiously await the 40th anniversary novels. Bravo, Mr Neiderman.
March 9, 2019
2.5. The potential was there; it just didn’t pan out. It’s the first book I’ve read from “VC Andrews” in such a long time and I wonder if they just keep using the ghost writer under her name to sell books; because it just didn’t fit with the ones I grew up reading. I can’t say I’ll go for another; maybe just go back to the classics. I’m a fan of this genre, and after reading The Silent Patient I was just left disappointed.
April 28, 2019
The Silhouette Girl
by V.C. Andrews
2019
Gallery
2.0 / 5.0
Ugh! This was hard to get into---the characters are not engaging, it has no real twists and just seemed to go nowhere. You can tell this is a Neiderman-writing-as-Andrews book, the style and plot lay out seem different and the story lags.
DNF at about the 2/3 mark, it was struggle to get that far. This one is not for me.
by V.C. Andrews
2019
Gallery
2.0 / 5.0
Ugh! This was hard to get into---the characters are not engaging, it has no real twists and just seemed to go nowhere. You can tell this is a Neiderman-writing-as-Andrews book, the style and plot lay out seem different and the story lags.
DNF at about the 2/3 mark, it was struggle to get that far. This one is not for me.
March 26, 2019
This book was quite a disappointment from the "old" V.C. Andrews books. Written in YA fashion, I would certainly not recommend it for anyone younger than 18. Explicit sexual content. The story drags and is wordy and predictable. There are surprises but I'm disappointed in the book overall.
February 8, 2019
I did not like the author’s style of writing. I did not like the characters. Not a good use of my time.
February 8, 2019
I really like this physiological thriller. It certainly keeps the reader hanging on every word.
March 5, 2019
Don’t waste your time!
March 9, 2019
I finished it, but it was a chore. They profiting off of a deceased author. It shows.
May 29, 2019
This book really just didn't sit well with me. I read about 2/3 of it, skipped to the ending, and hated it.
August 10, 2019
This is my first and probably last V.C. Andrews novel.
Let me start by saying that I know almost nothing about this author, but I decided to check this book out of the library on a whim because I saw her name on a billboard recently since some of her books are being made into TV shows or movies. The book blurb sounded interesting and looking at the size of the font (gigantic) and the size of the book (very thin), I figured that I could get through the book in a couple of hours.
So...the billboard that I mentioned was in L.A. The book is also set in L.A. and the protagonist is a nurse who works at Cedars-Sinai. As she points out in the book, there's 10,000 employees (closer to 15,000 now if I remember right from orientation) but in any case, I'm also one of them. So immediately there are a whole bunch of things that are throwing me way off about this book.
1. Belinda Spoon, one of the nurse's aides. Ok, I'm only on page 6 of the book and I'm already thinking - what the hell did I just read?!
Maybe more intentionally than everyone assumed, Belinda had a tendency to leave two, even three buttons of her blouse undone, revealing a cleavage that would easily swallow all of Douglas Thomas’s long fingers right up to his palm. It was like dipping into chocolate pudding to find the rich dark cherries submerged like secret promises of pleasure. I had overheard her proudly refer to her ample breasts with that image herself. Right now, Mr. Thomas looked so mesmerized by the fantasy that he didn’t see or hear me enter.
And then a couple pages later:
Ok, excuse me? So two things here: Which nurses and nurses aides are wearing button down blouses in the hospital? And second of all, did I just stumble into some 1960s racist caricature? Because of course the white protagonist is describing the black aide in super condescending ways:
On top of that, we get a scene where she's "schooling" the black woman in propriety and the black woman of course has a smirk.
Ok, whatever, let's ignore all that for now.
2. This book reads like it was written and set in the 1980s at the latest, yet there are occasional references to things like Facebook and "Internet social media," which I assume is the author's attempt to make it seem like, well, a book that was published in 2019. We get long eye-roll inducing descriptions of how all the other floor nurses hate her because they're petty bitches (excuse my language, but that's pretty much the description from the book, as in: "Some of them could easily have their picture next to bitch on Wikipedia.") and jealous of her, but she gets compliments from all the doctors and patients, all day long! Also, apparently patients still call people Nurse Smith and Nurse Dunning and so on, even though I've never once heard a patient actually do that, and I work with the most geriatric patients that might actually do that from a holdover of the 1980s or something.
Along those lines, there are multiple descriptions of her "nurse's uniform" and what she does with it. Uh, sorry, V.C. Andrews, do you mean scrubs? Because last I checked, absolutely NO nurse in the hospital thinks of his/her own clothes as a "nurse's uniform" rather than "scrubs." But then again, apparently this nurse's uniform still consists of a button up blouse...
3. In the first chapter, she accepts a pearl necklace from a patient, one she knows is worth "thousands." She later worries about ethics and so on ("There surely had to be guidance for things like this in the American Nurses Association code of ethics.") Look, any hospital employee (and not just at Cedars) knows at least roughly what the limits are for accepting gifts from patients and a pearl necklace worth thousands of dollars is not something you have to ponder over. For most hospitals, the limit is somewhere between $25-$50, no cash.
4. She met her boyfriend at the hospital cafeteria. Hahahah, I was just trying to picture a romance starting in the Ray Charles cafeteria, which, to be honest, is actually the most disgusting hospital cafeteria I've seen out of a good dozen hospitals. Cedars is known for a lot of things and it's ranked 8th in the nation, but the cafeteria is a joke. Maybe V.C. Andrews visited it in its better days.
I'll skip some of the other truly puzzling and just plain weird things about this novel and circle back to point one. For a minor character who appears maybe four times in the book, every line about Belinda Spoon is like a racist caricature:
Ok yeah, in case we missed that she was black from a) the name and b) the chocolate pudding whatever, we absolutely have to have her c) talk in the most stereotypical way. You know how many black nurses and coworkers I have at Cedars who talk like perfectly well educated women...because they are?
And in case the readers didn't remember that she is the Smirk Queen, we must emphasize that again and throw in that she's fat. Why not just straight up call her sassy too at this point.
Later on, the main character wakes up from having been drugged and possibly raped, and she's convinced that "Belinda Spoon would probably fix her schedule so she could attend, among others from the hospital staff. She might even be willing to testify and claim I encouraged him."
Like what. First all the other women are bitches and now they're liars who would testify that she encouraged her own rape? And then get this dialogue:
Ok, even using the excuse that the main character is traumatized from being roofied and is an unreliable narrator, Belinda Spoon is pretty much now Mammy from Gone With the Wind. I just can't get over it.
Last of all, I realize that the main character is going off the deep end at this point and it's obvious what the gimmick/secret of the book is by pg. 324 but I simply CANNOT get over this line:
There wasn't an ounce of sympathy in her face. She'd probably enjoy being raped, I thought, and said as much through the expression on my face.
Like, I understand ALL of the above might be V.C. Andrews being a total genius and showing how the main character is racist, misogynistic, and stuck in a 1980s show about hospital nurses (in addition to being sociopathic) but come ON!
Also, the author's note at the end of the book is a complete joke. Look, if you have to resort to an A/N for your last page to excuse your sorry mess of a book, maybe spend that time re-writing the darn thing! And at the very, very, VERY least, edit your own A/N so you aren't accidentally repeating yourself.
No joke, the author's note had two sentences that are repeated word-for-word twice, and the note is only a page long. Nothing screams lazy quite as loud as that.
Edit: One last thing. Dude, the author's completely cringeworthy sex scene actually used a torpedo as imagery for penetration. I kid you not! A torpedo! I guess just one more WTF right?
Let me start by saying that I know almost nothing about this author, but I decided to check this book out of the library on a whim because I saw her name on a billboard recently since some of her books are being made into TV shows or movies. The book blurb sounded interesting and looking at the size of the font (gigantic) and the size of the book (very thin), I figured that I could get through the book in a couple of hours.
So...the billboard that I mentioned was in L.A. The book is also set in L.A. and the protagonist is a nurse who works at Cedars-Sinai. As she points out in the book, there's 10,000 employees (closer to 15,000 now if I remember right from orientation) but in any case, I'm also one of them. So immediately there are a whole bunch of things that are throwing me way off about this book.
1. Belinda Spoon, one of the nurse's aides. Ok, I'm only on page 6 of the book and I'm already thinking - what the hell did I just read?!
Maybe more intentionally than everyone assumed, Belinda had a tendency to leave two, even three buttons of her blouse undone, revealing a cleavage that would easily swallow all of Douglas Thomas’s long fingers right up to his palm. It was like dipping into chocolate pudding to find the rich dark cherries submerged like secret promises of pleasure. I had overheard her proudly refer to her ample breasts with that image herself. Right now, Mr. Thomas looked so mesmerized by the fantasy that he didn’t see or hear me enter.
And then a couple pages later:
Right now, I nodded at Belinda and squeezed my own blouse closed at the collar. Message was delivered. She stood and buttoned hers, but not without a smirk, the expression clearly accusing me of being a prude and embarrassing her.
Ok, excuse me? So two things here: Which nurses and nurses aides are wearing button down blouses in the hospital? And second of all, did I just stumble into some 1960s racist caricature? Because of course the white protagonist is describing the black aide in super condescending ways:
I looked at Belinda, who wore that habitual tight frown on her face that she had whenever she was in my company. Her dislike for me was obvious. We were about the same age, Belinda twenty-four and I twenty-five. There was no question in my mind that if Belinda had enjoyed the opportunities I had, she would have become a fine nurse. She was practically one now, educating herself on the job.
On top of that, we get a scene where she's "schooling" the black woman in propriety and the black woman of course has a smirk.
Ok, whatever, let's ignore all that for now.
2. This book reads like it was written and set in the 1980s at the latest, yet there are occasional references to things like Facebook and "Internet social media," which I assume is the author's attempt to make it seem like, well, a book that was published in 2019. We get long eye-roll inducing descriptions of how all the other floor nurses hate her because they're petty bitches (excuse my language, but that's pretty much the description from the book, as in: "Some of them could easily have their picture next to bitch on Wikipedia.") and jealous of her, but she gets compliments from all the doctors and patients, all day long! Also, apparently patients still call people Nurse Smith and Nurse Dunning and so on, even though I've never once heard a patient actually do that, and I work with the most geriatric patients that might actually do that from a holdover of the 1980s or something.
Along those lines, there are multiple descriptions of her "nurse's uniform" and what she does with it. Uh, sorry, V.C. Andrews, do you mean scrubs? Because last I checked, absolutely NO nurse in the hospital thinks of his/her own clothes as a "nurse's uniform" rather than "scrubs." But then again, apparently this nurse's uniform still consists of a button up blouse...
3. In the first chapter, she accepts a pearl necklace from a patient, one she knows is worth "thousands." She later worries about ethics and so on ("There surely had to be guidance for things like this in the American Nurses Association code of ethics.") Look, any hospital employee (and not just at Cedars) knows at least roughly what the limits are for accepting gifts from patients and a pearl necklace worth thousands of dollars is not something you have to ponder over. For most hospitals, the limit is somewhere between $25-$50, no cash.
4. She met her boyfriend at the hospital cafeteria. Hahahah, I was just trying to picture a romance starting in the Ray Charles cafeteria, which, to be honest, is actually the most disgusting hospital cafeteria I've seen out of a good dozen hospitals. Cedars is known for a lot of things and it's ranked 8th in the nation, but the cafeteria is a joke. Maybe V.C. Andrews visited it in its better days.
I'll skip some of the other truly puzzling and just plain weird things about this novel and circle back to point one. For a minor character who appears maybe four times in the book, every line about Belinda Spoon is like a racist caricature:
"No one knew you was seein' someone steady like," she said.
Ok yeah, in case we missed that she was black from a) the name and b) the chocolate pudding whatever, we absolutely have to have her c) talk in the most stereotypical way. You know how many black nurses and coworkers I have at Cedars who talk like perfectly well educated women...because they are?
And in case the readers didn't remember that she is the Smirk Queen, we must emphasize that again and throw in that she's fat. Why not just straight up call her sassy too at this point.
"Thought so," she said, smirking. When she smirked, she ballooned her already quite ballooned cheeks.
Later on, the main character wakes up from having been drugged and possibly raped, and she's convinced that "Belinda Spoon would probably fix her schedule so she could attend, among others from the hospital staff. She might even be willing to testify and claim I encouraged him."
Like what. First all the other women are bitches and now they're liars who would testify that she encouraged her own rape? And then get this dialogue:
"There was something' goin' on between her and Mr. Douglas, fer sure. I ain't seen any other patient give a nurse somethin' so valuable. I think they was puttin' on an act for me. That's what I think."
Ok, even using the excuse that the main character is traumatized from being roofied and is an unreliable narrator, Belinda Spoon is pretty much now Mammy from Gone With the Wind. I just can't get over it.
Last of all, I realize that the main character is going off the deep end at this point and it's obvious what the gimmick/secret of the book is by pg. 324 but I simply CANNOT get over this line:
There wasn't an ounce of sympathy in her face. She'd probably enjoy being raped, I thought, and said as much through the expression on my face.
Like, I understand ALL of the above might be V.C. Andrews being a total genius and showing how the main character is racist, misogynistic, and stuck in a 1980s show about hospital nurses (in addition to being sociopathic) but come ON!
Also, the author's note at the end of the book is a complete joke. Look, if you have to resort to an A/N for your last page to excuse your sorry mess of a book, maybe spend that time re-writing the darn thing! And at the very, very, VERY least, edit your own A/N so you aren't accidentally repeating yourself.
No joke, the author's note had two sentences that are repeated word-for-word twice, and the note is only a page long. Nothing screams lazy quite as loud as that.
Edit: One last thing. Dude, the author's completely cringeworthy sex scene actually used a torpedo as imagery for penetration. I kid you not! A torpedo! I guess just one more WTF right?
January 14, 2021
It was a fun story but very predictable. Definitely not literary masterpiece but not every book needs to be to be enjoyable. Sometimes its good to read just empty fluff.
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