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Hudson #1
Rain
Chapter The Beginning of the End
For as long as I could remember, we lived in an apartment located in a building complex everyone called The Projects. Even as a little girl I hated the name. It didn't sound like a home, a place to live with your family. It sounded just like the word some government undertaking, some attempt to deal with the poor, some bureaucrat's program. Beni called it The Cages, which made me feel like we were being treated like animals.
I suppose at one time the buildings looked clean and new. In the beginning there wasn't gang graffiti scribbled madly over every available space creating the Books of Madness, as I liked to describe them. The streets in front weren't dirty and the small patches of lawn didn't look mangy and sick. Now the whole place seemed like someone's ashtray.
Our apartment was on the second two-fifteen. We were lucky because we could use the stairway when the elevator was broken, which was often, and we weren't on the first floor where there was a greater chance for burglaries. Some of the tenants on the first floor actually had bars installed in their windows, which was why Beni named the complex The Cages. It didn't do any good to tell her that bars on cages were meant to keep animals in, not people out. She claimed the government wanted to keep us locked inside.
"We're like some ugly pimple on the face of the capital. I bet the government people don't want foreigners to see us. That's why they don't take them through our streets," she declared, parroting one of Ken's frequent speeches of self-pity.
I couldn't deny that there was a lot of fear and crime around us. Everyone had some kind of an alarm and often they went off accidentally. It had gotten so no one paid much attention to them. If there was ever an example of The Boy Who Cried Wolf, it was here in The Projects.
Beni, Roy and I had only three city blocks to walk to school, but sometimes we felt we were going through a minefield in a war zone. During the last six months, two people had been killed by stray bullets fired from passing cars, one gang shooting at members of another without regard for innocent bystanders. Everyone thought it was terrible, but went on and accepted it as if it was simply a part of what had to be, like some nasty storm coming through. There wasn't much anyone could do about bad weather and most people had the same attitude about our street crime.
Mama was visibly terrified whenever one of us went out after dark. She'd actually start to tremble. I began to think we weren't living much differently than people in the Middle Ages. When our teacher talked about the fortresses, the moats and drawbridges and the dangers that lurked outside the fortress walls back then, I thought about The Projects now. Beside having alarms and bars on windows, everyone locked his doors three or four ways with chain locks, bolts and bars and did the same with the windows. Many of the elderly sat away from their windows and shivered at the sounds of the night, the screaming in the hallways.
From my window I could just manage to see the lights in some of the government buildings, and when we walked a few blocks east and looked toward the Capitol, we could see the Washington Monument and the Lincoln Memorial all lit up with promises. We were able to take some class trips to the sites and even tour places like the Treasury Building where we saw money being printed, and the FBI building, where we learned about crime labs and fingerprints. We never saw the Congress in action, but we did visit the buildings.
I sometimes felt like an astronaut on these class trips. It was as if we were being transported to another planet. We saw the fine homes, the embassies, how rich and prosperous people were. We heard about all the wonderful hopes these buildings and monuments represented, but we always returned to our reality where it was possible to witness a drug sale on the corner, or see an unattended child wandering near broken glass and rusty metal. What will become of him? I wondered. What will become of us? In school we studied about democracy and we were taught dreams that were apparently reserved for other sleeping faces, not ours.
Recently, someone overdosed on heroin under a stairwell in our building. The police swarmed over the hallway like blue bees and then left as quickly as they had come, none of them seemed surprised or even concerned. I think they, too, had come to accept the horrors the same way we had.
Mama always dreamed of getting us out of here, of course. To me it seemed most of the people who lived here could no longer even imagine that for themselves. Mama wouldn't talk to anyone but us about it because she hated the dark, heavy notes of discouragement. Once, when Ken was doing well, not drinking as much and making a decent wage, we were able to put away enough money to actually consider the possibility of at least renting a small...
Paperback
First published January 1, 2000
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About the author
V.C. Andrews
370 books9,116 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 152 reviews
January 16, 2011
Epic Fail Alert!!!
I admit it.
The only reason I purchased a copy of this book was to see how well a black lead character would fare in V.C. Andrews-land. I'll also admit that I'll be reading the next two as well. Yes, I'm a glutton for punishment.
I should have known better than to expect anything than trite stereotypes. Rain Arnold, hardworking black girl from the ghetto (Point of Fail #1: Why are all black people assumed to be from the ghetto? Didn't anyone ever watch The Cosby Show?) with a long-suffering mother, a wild sister, a strong brother and a father for an alcoholic. Where have we heard this all before? I thought it was from one of Oprah's books.
I know that a V.C. Andrews novel is the literary equivalent of a Twinkie--bad for you but, oh so very good--but my sweet tooth went sour after finishing this book. And finish it I did, hoping against hope that Rain Arnold would become a character I could have a modicum of sympathy for. Seriously folks, it's got to get way tiresome to use the same old plot devices that were used in Flowers in the Attic (the only decent V.C. Andrews novel written...maybe that's due to the fact that SHE actually wrote it!).
Point of Fail #2: Rain finds out that she's half-black because her real mother, Megan Hudson Randolph, is filthy rich and white. Rain finds out that her real mother couldn't keep her because a half-black child conceived out of wedlock would have been an embarrassment to her upper-crust family. Uh, what year was this taking place in? Were any of the characters related to the late Strom Thurmond who hid his love child away for decades?
Point of Fail #3: Rain's "brother" Roy suddenly finds himself attracted to his sister/not blood sister.
Point of Fail #4: Rain finds herself living with her real family, the Hudsons, who are fabulously wealthy and absolutely dysfunctional. The grandmother, Victoria, is a stern matriarch who comes to like Rain a little.
Point of Fail #5: Rain attends a snobby girls' school and ends up the belle of the school play.
Point of Fail #6: Rain's "real" brother, Brody, seems to like his new "sister" a whole lot...
SERIOUS Point of Fail #7: Rain gets drunk and foolishly loses her virginity to the first sweet-talking playboy she meets. Not, a great role-model for teenage girls. And, in this age of sexually-transmitted diseases, where's any mention of safe sex?
Point of Fail #8: She finds out that the woman who has been her mother thus far has conveniently died of cancer. And now she's on her way to London to further screw up her already messed-up life.
Rain is that proverbial train wreck that you don't want to look at, but for some reason the carnage just draws you in.
I admit it.
The only reason I purchased a copy of this book was to see how well a black lead character would fare in V.C. Andrews-land. I'll also admit that I'll be reading the next two as well. Yes, I'm a glutton for punishment.
I should have known better than to expect anything than trite stereotypes. Rain Arnold, hardworking black girl from the ghetto (Point of Fail #1: Why are all black people assumed to be from the ghetto? Didn't anyone ever watch The Cosby Show?) with a long-suffering mother, a wild sister, a strong brother and a father for an alcoholic. Where have we heard this all before? I thought it was from one of Oprah's books.
I know that a V.C. Andrews novel is the literary equivalent of a Twinkie--bad for you but, oh so very good--but my sweet tooth went sour after finishing this book. And finish it I did, hoping against hope that Rain Arnold would become a character I could have a modicum of sympathy for. Seriously folks, it's got to get way tiresome to use the same old plot devices that were used in Flowers in the Attic (the only decent V.C. Andrews novel written...maybe that's due to the fact that SHE actually wrote it!).
Point of Fail #2: Rain finds out that she's half-black because her real mother, Megan Hudson Randolph, is filthy rich and white. Rain finds out that her real mother couldn't keep her because a half-black child conceived out of wedlock would have been an embarrassment to her upper-crust family. Uh, what year was this taking place in? Were any of the characters related to the late Strom Thurmond who hid his love child away for decades?
Point of Fail #3: Rain's "brother" Roy suddenly finds himself attracted to his sister/not blood sister.
Point of Fail #4: Rain finds herself living with her real family, the Hudsons, who are fabulously wealthy and absolutely dysfunctional. The grandmother, Victoria, is a stern matriarch who comes to like Rain a little.
Point of Fail #5: Rain attends a snobby girls' school and ends up the belle of the school play.
Point of Fail #6: Rain's "real" brother, Brody, seems to like his new "sister" a whole lot...
SERIOUS Point of Fail #7: Rain gets drunk and foolishly loses her virginity to the first sweet-talking playboy she meets. Not, a great role-model for teenage girls. And, in this age of sexually-transmitted diseases, where's any mention of safe sex?
Point of Fail #8: She finds out that the woman who has been her mother thus far has conveniently died of cancer. And now she's on her way to London to further screw up her already messed-up life.
Rain is that proverbial train wreck that you don't want to look at, but for some reason the carnage just draws you in.
December 31, 2025
Apie ką yra V.C.Andrews? Man - pirmiausia apie nostalgiją, kai skaitytoją galėjai nustebinti plot twistais, primenančiais santą barbarą. Kas ji užsienio skaitytojams? Na tiems, mano kartos. Rašytoja, kurios knygas slapta skaitė mamos ir neleido skaityt saviems paaugliams. Jie skaitė, Amerikos mokyklos draudė, nes Andrews buvo kone pirmoji labai atvirai rašiusi apie karštus santykius, kartais visais nederamus. Labai nederamus ir provokuojančius. Akivaizdu - autorės pirmoji serija "Palėpės gėlės" susilaukė milžiniškos sėkmės, tad po jos mirties, po autorės vardu rašyti tęsė kitas rašytojas.
"Rain" serija yra parašyta ghost writterio, bet Andrews temos išlaikytos. Keista šeima, daug paslapčių, giminės sužino, kad ne giminės, o mylimieji sužino, kad yra pusbroliai. Na taip, visiška telemundo presenta. Kodėl aš ją skaitau, nors jokios vertės ten nėra? Nes noriu. Nes šventinis laikotarpis ir taip max įtemptas, tad noriu kažko, kas LABAI atitrauktų nuo problemų savų ir nekvaršintų man galvos rimtom bėdom. O šios serijos veikėjai savų bėdų, itin dramatiškų, su visom fanfarom turi daugiau už mane, tad važiuojam.
Našlaitė, juodaodė, palikimas, neplanuotas nėštumas, ligos, netikėtos mirtys krentant nuo laiptų ir piktos pamotės. Pasaka suaugusiems. Reikėjo man jos. Ir toliau medžiosiu senuosius Andrews leidimus, nes man patinka į tas muilo operas pasinert.
"Rain" serija yra parašyta ghost writterio, bet Andrews temos išlaikytos. Keista šeima, daug paslapčių, giminės sužino, kad ne giminės, o mylimieji sužino, kad yra pusbroliai. Na taip, visiška telemundo presenta. Kodėl aš ją skaitau, nors jokios vertės ten nėra? Nes noriu. Nes šventinis laikotarpis ir taip max įtemptas, tad noriu kažko, kas LABAI atitrauktų nuo problemų savų ir nekvaršintų man galvos rimtom bėdom. O šios serijos veikėjai savų bėdų, itin dramatiškų, su visom fanfarom turi daugiau už mane, tad važiuojam.
Našlaitė, juodaodė, palikimas, neplanuotas nėštumas, ligos, netikėtos mirtys krentant nuo laiptų ir piktos pamotės. Pasaka suaugusiems. Reikėjo man jos. Ir toliau medžiosiu senuosius Andrews leidimus, nes man patinka į tas muilo operas pasinert.
July 15, 2025
“Worry and trouble weighed heavily on the hands of her clock, rushing time along.”
― V.C. Andrews, Rain
I did not care for this. The problem for me is that all these types of books follow the same rules.which is that girl heroine is victimized and shamed again and again. I do not know why I thought it would be different with Rain.
Believe it or not I have read some of Andrews books that I quite liked, My Sweet Audrina being one of them. Rain was a tough choice though. It was a grueling read, gloomy and dark, with no trace of anything good or decent happening through most of the book. It was a slog to get through. Did not enjoy this one very much.
― V.C. Andrews, Rain
I did not care for this. The problem for me is that all these types of books follow the same rules.which is that girl heroine is victimized and shamed again and again. I do not know why I thought it would be different with Rain.
Believe it or not I have read some of Andrews books that I quite liked, My Sweet Audrina being one of them. Rain was a tough choice though. It was a grueling read, gloomy and dark, with no trace of anything good or decent happening through most of the book. It was a slog to get through. Did not enjoy this one very much.
March 29, 2022
Rain has never really felt like she fits in. She does better than most of the other kids at her school, she doesn't care what others think of her like her sister and does her best to help take care of her family instead of going out to have fun.
Then one day Rain makes a terrible discovery that turns her whole life upside down.
This is my first V. C. Andrews read in quite a few years now. While I loved her books as a teen, I had never read the Hudson / Rain series before.
V. C. Andrews' writing style was great for drawing me in and keeping my interest.
It did include a few racist stereotypes such as black people from the 'ghetto' and being discriminated against as well as Rain being seen as prettier because of her lighter skin.
Also her (not blood related) brother having feelings for her before knowing they weren't blood related was a bit unsettling to say the least.
That being said, this book was full of drama and I will be continuing on to see how it all turns out.
Then one day Rain makes a terrible discovery that turns her whole life upside down.
This is my first V. C. Andrews read in quite a few years now. While I loved her books as a teen, I had never read the Hudson / Rain series before.
V. C. Andrews' writing style was great for drawing me in and keeping my interest.
It did include a few racist stereotypes such as black people from the 'ghetto' and being discriminated against as well as Rain being seen as prettier because of her lighter skin.
Also her (not blood related) brother having feelings for her before knowing they weren't blood related was a bit unsettling to say the least.
That being said, this book was full of drama and I will be continuing on to see how it all turns out.
January 23, 2009
Total sobbing shyte
March 5, 2011
Inhalt:
Die junge Rain Arnold wächst in einer Armensiedlung namens The Projects auf. Ihr Bruder Roy ist älter, ihre unbändige Schwester Beni jünger und ihr Vater ist ein Taugenichts. Allein ihre Mutter arbeitet Tag für Tag als Aushilfe im Supermarkt, um die Rechnungen bezahlen zu können. Eines Tages, als ihr Vater sich verplappert, erfährt sie, woher sie wirklich stammt: Aus einer reichen Familie, die die Schwangerschaft ihrer Tochter vertuschen wollte…
Schreib-/Erzählstil:
Unverkennbar Andrews, aber irgendwie frischer und moderner. Natürlich ist diese Story aus der Feder des Ghostwriters, aber er versteht sein Handwerk von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite. Mit Rain Arnold hat er eine aufrichtige und sehr selbstbewusste junge Frau geschaffen, die in ihrer Ehrlichkeit dem Leser ans Herz gelegt wird. Mir gefiel die Herzlichkeit, die man sehr selten in den Andrews Büchern findet.
Meine Meinung:
Im ersten Moment erinnert der Auftakt der Hudson-Saga stark an die Geschichte um die junge Dawn Longchamp, die meine absolute Lieblingssaga bestreitet, da auch diese arm aufwuchs und das verstoßene Kind einer reichen Familien ist. Dennoch ist Rain und die Beziehung zu ihrer Familie anders, erfrischender und (noch) weniger psychologisch anstrengend. Oft sind die Frauen bei Andrews langweilige, der Vergangenheit entfliehen wollende, zickige Weiber; aber mit Großmutter Hudson wurde eine angenehme und konservative, dennoch liebevolle Frau geschaffen.
Fazit:
Ein schöner Auftakt, ein super Schmöker – genauso sollte Andrews sein!
Die junge Rain Arnold wächst in einer Armensiedlung namens The Projects auf. Ihr Bruder Roy ist älter, ihre unbändige Schwester Beni jünger und ihr Vater ist ein Taugenichts. Allein ihre Mutter arbeitet Tag für Tag als Aushilfe im Supermarkt, um die Rechnungen bezahlen zu können. Eines Tages, als ihr Vater sich verplappert, erfährt sie, woher sie wirklich stammt: Aus einer reichen Familie, die die Schwangerschaft ihrer Tochter vertuschen wollte…
Schreib-/Erzählstil:
Unverkennbar Andrews, aber irgendwie frischer und moderner. Natürlich ist diese Story aus der Feder des Ghostwriters, aber er versteht sein Handwerk von der ersten bis zur letzten Seite. Mit Rain Arnold hat er eine aufrichtige und sehr selbstbewusste junge Frau geschaffen, die in ihrer Ehrlichkeit dem Leser ans Herz gelegt wird. Mir gefiel die Herzlichkeit, die man sehr selten in den Andrews Büchern findet.
Meine Meinung:
Im ersten Moment erinnert der Auftakt der Hudson-Saga stark an die Geschichte um die junge Dawn Longchamp, die meine absolute Lieblingssaga bestreitet, da auch diese arm aufwuchs und das verstoßene Kind einer reichen Familien ist. Dennoch ist Rain und die Beziehung zu ihrer Familie anders, erfrischender und (noch) weniger psychologisch anstrengend. Oft sind die Frauen bei Andrews langweilige, der Vergangenheit entfliehen wollende, zickige Weiber; aber mit Großmutter Hudson wurde eine angenehme und konservative, dennoch liebevolle Frau geschaffen.
Fazit:
Ein schöner Auftakt, ein super Schmöker – genauso sollte Andrews sein!
January 10, 2016
V.C. Andrews has this way of sucking a person in. I really didn't want to. As a teenager, I loved her. She talks about things that are so forbidden. Risque, even. But, this book was so uncomfortable. The evilness of teenagers shines bright. Pictures, gossip, sex, blackmail etc. The positives can't even take away the feeling the story left of... just yuckiness. But, it sucks you in. Damn you V.C. Andrews! You took my mind to the gutter with you starting at age 15!
January 5, 2009
This is the first book in the Hudson series. I have read many of V. C. Andrews books over the years and this is one of the series I really enjoyed. My favorites by this author were The Dollanganger Family Series, The Casteel Family Series, The Cutler Family Series & The Landry Family Series. Some of the recent series that have been brought out since this author's death have been good, but not every book in a series were enjoyable. The Hudson Series was an exception. I enjoyed every book in this series.
June 17, 2012
The first V.C. Andrews series with a black main character. I read it only for that reason. At this time, I was 13 and my interest for V.C. Andrews books had already peaked and waned.
August 14, 2024
Good but not great. And at least it didn’t make my stomach turn with the gross themes usually found in these books.
February 2, 2018
It's been quite a few years since I read a V C Andrews book / series. I began long before I started my Goodreads account haha! I was 14 or 15 and I read Flowers in the Attic :-) I just completed Rain and I was reminded (all the way through it) why I loved V C Andrews so much and why I became a fan. You just can't put these books down. Easy to read, vivid details, addictive characters (you can love them or hate them) and you just have to know what happens next!! When I read Rain my bedtimes usually had a routine of me saying to myself 'one more chapter, just one more chapter.....one more chapter.' A must-read for V C Andrews fans! And anyone else who enjoys a good old yarn!
February 6, 2013
Gotta Love the Girl Named RAIN omg i love this book and i fall in love with every V.C. Andrews' books
December 30, 2014
Well I loved this, I think it's a fairly well-thought out story and had a nice amount of drama.
April 20, 2021
I've read a couple VC Andrews books now and this one just didn't measure up to the others. Of course, this was right after Flowers in the Attic, which set a pretty high standard for her writing style.
My big thing was that it was so obvious that this was a story about black people written by white people. They were so formal with what was clearly meant to be slang. I mean, if I had to read the words, 'hip hop joint' one more time, I was going to lose it. I have read plenty of books by and about black people and never once heard 'hip hop joint'. It grated on my nerves. And how the physical descriptions were so, just, I don't even know what to call them. They just over emphasized every single trait that Beni had to make it obvious she was black while Rain was half white. I didn't care for it.
I was really disappointed with Rain and how she was in the end. I didn't expect her to be the type to just go out alone with a guy to drink and have sex. She seemed so much smarter.
I do like this mother more than Corrine. Of course, anyone is better than Corrine. She clearly doesn't want her husband and children to know she already had a child. Honestly, I think that is typical for a lot of mothers who went through closed adoptions. They just want to let the child go and not think about it and how it would affect their lives years later. So I don't think her behavior is outlandish.
What really gets me is how every single guy Rain meets seems to want to date or sleep with her. Even Roy. I don't care if they are related or not. The idea of being that attracted to someone you saw as a little sister for your whole life is weird. And he didn't have the same excuse some other characters did. It was just too weird for me.
Plus her biological brother also seemed to be crushing. Honestly, I could buy that a lot easier than Roy. It was sweet to see how her relationship evolved with her grandmother. It was pretty clear that the grandmother just wanted someone in her family to actually give a damn about her more than her money.
Eager to see how this school in London goes and what happens there. I really hope the grandmother doesn't die any time soon, especially the way Victoria is.
My big thing was that it was so obvious that this was a story about black people written by white people. They were so formal with what was clearly meant to be slang. I mean, if I had to read the words, 'hip hop joint' one more time, I was going to lose it. I have read plenty of books by and about black people and never once heard 'hip hop joint'. It grated on my nerves. And how the physical descriptions were so, just, I don't even know what to call them. They just over emphasized every single trait that Beni had to make it obvious she was black while Rain was half white. I didn't care for it.
I was really disappointed with Rain and how she was in the end. I didn't expect her to be the type to just go out alone with a guy to drink and have sex. She seemed so much smarter.
I do like this mother more than Corrine. Of course, anyone is better than Corrine. She clearly doesn't want her husband and children to know she already had a child. Honestly, I think that is typical for a lot of mothers who went through closed adoptions. They just want to let the child go and not think about it and how it would affect their lives years later. So I don't think her behavior is outlandish.
What really gets me is how every single guy Rain meets seems to want to date or sleep with her. Even Roy. I don't care if they are related or not. The idea of being that attracted to someone you saw as a little sister for your whole life is weird. And he didn't have the same excuse some other characters did. It was just too weird for me.
Plus her biological brother also seemed to be crushing. Honestly, I could buy that a lot easier than Roy. It was sweet to see how her relationship evolved with her grandmother. It was pretty clear that the grandmother just wanted someone in her family to actually give a damn about her more than her money.
Eager to see how this school in London goes and what happens there. I really hope the grandmother doesn't die any time soon, especially the way Victoria is.
November 20, 2018
I read this book so many times when I was a teenager and loved it. I loved all the Virginia Andrews books back then. I have been finding that when I re-read them as an adult, I've not been enjoying them as much as I used to. This is not the case with Rain.
I started out a little skeptical and there are some times in the book where Rain gets herself into situations that are not her fault, but she doesn't learn from them. This seems out of character. For example, Roy touching her up in bed. Why doesn't she just put her foot down and be like 'Roy, I've thought you were my brother my entire life and I will never love you in that way' but she never really shuts that shit down and Roy seems to have hope still. But would it even be an Andrews book without a touch of incest?
And when Corbette almost rapes her, she just brushes it off and then returns to his house another time. Even though she caught him out lying about his brother being dead, which he used to gain sympathy to get in her pants. And she is surprised when after she sleeps with him, he doesn't call.
Aside from these two issues, I loved the book just as much as I did back then. This is one to keep you hooked. Also very out of character for an Andrews novel, the Grandmother is not evil! I can't wait to re-read the rest of the series!
I started out a little skeptical and there are some times in the book where Rain gets herself into situations that are not her fault, but she doesn't learn from them. This seems out of character. For example, Roy touching her up in bed. Why doesn't she just put her foot down and be like 'Roy, I've thought you were my brother my entire life and I will never love you in that way' but she never really shuts that shit down and Roy seems to have hope still. But would it even be an Andrews book without a touch of incest?
And when Corbette almost rapes her, she just brushes it off and then returns to his house another time. Even though she caught him out lying about his brother being dead, which he used to gain sympathy to get in her pants. And she is surprised when after she sleeps with him, he doesn't call.
Aside from these two issues, I loved the book just as much as I did back then. This is one to keep you hooked. Also very out of character for an Andrews novel, the Grandmother is not evil! I can't wait to re-read the rest of the series!
January 24, 2020
This was one of my absolute favourite books when I was a teenager. Reading it again now, it was still enjoyable and I went through it quickly but it wasn't as good as I remembered.
Rain Arnold has grown up with a loving but poor family in a not very nice neighbourhood. Rain finds out that she does not actually belong to her Mama and Papa but was given to them along with a lot of cash when she was a baby by a rich white woman who had slept with a black man.
After Rain's sister is murdered, she goes to live with her maternal grandmother and is enrolled in a very fancy school, although she has to pretend that she is a charity case that the family have taken in.
I like how quickly Rain settled into the school but she was such an idiot to sleep with Corbette, it was clear he was only after one thing and her Mama brought her up better than that! I also think she could have discouraged both Roy and Brody a little bit more. I know it's not nice to be mean to them but it is also not nice to let your brothers fancy you, eww!
The book ends on a very sad note, with Rain's mama dying, but I am looking forward to re-reading the next book in the series.
Rain Arnold has grown up with a loving but poor family in a not very nice neighbourhood. Rain finds out that she does not actually belong to her Mama and Papa but was given to them along with a lot of cash when she was a baby by a rich white woman who had slept with a black man.
After Rain's sister is murdered, she goes to live with her maternal grandmother and is enrolled in a very fancy school, although she has to pretend that she is a charity case that the family have taken in.
I like how quickly Rain settled into the school but she was such an idiot to sleep with Corbette, it was clear he was only after one thing and her Mama brought her up better than that! I also think she could have discouraged both Roy and Brody a little bit more. I know it's not nice to be mean to them but it is also not nice to let your brothers fancy you, eww!
The book ends on a very sad note, with Rain's mama dying, but I am looking forward to re-reading the next book in the series.
July 17, 2022
I read and eventually finished this book in junior high. This book, along with the Diary of a Young Girl by Anne Frank and The Outsiders by S.E. Hinton, was the only book I was actively engaged with and could bring myself to finish when liberated from the compulsory shackles of my accelerated reading assignments. When I was bored out of my mind in Mrs. Harris’s 7th grade ELA class and absent-mindedly running my hands through her class bookshelf after all her chromebooks were taken by other kids for coolmathgames and agar.io, I was intrigued by the interesting 3-D book cover of the raindrop cutout framing Rain’s face. After reading the first couple of pages, this book sold itself to 12 year old me. Bombarded by the ghostwriter’s no-nonsense approach to rawdog the sex, drugs, and violence straight into the first two pages, I wondered how on earth did this type of book surpass my K-8 school’s prudish filter? I’m serious! The film equivalent would be the animated movie Sausage Party getting played to kids; the music equivalent of this would be Melanie Martinez’s album Crybaby getting played to actual infants. In retrospect almost one decade later, I can now infer that it’s far beyond the school staff’s paygrade to inspect the content past the juvenile-presenting book covers. But luckily for 12 year old Sarah, she was delighted to authentically stumble upon a read to cure her dire boredom about some forbidden fruit that was too inappropriate to academically write about. Summer was just about to embark and no one’s eyes were on me (ugly duckling things) so I just stole that book without the teacher’s permission or knowledge. I still have that book to this day and I’m a rising senior in college now so I sure hope no one I know reads this and makes me start 7th grade all over again.
As I developed a sense of introspection about this story with a more mature head on my shoulders, I realized this book was just tragedy porn with an aimless plot that reinforced racial stereotypes, colorism, and misogyny/misogynoir. As a white girl who went to a white trash school in a white trash city, even I noticed something was fishy about the ghostwriter’s prejudice when they caricaturized Beni (Rain’s little sister) who’s described to have darker skin than Rain as loud, obnoxious, hedonistic, irresponsible, uneducated, promiscuous, and deviant (The Jezebel Archetype)—in stark contrast to how the protagonist Rain was caricaturized as the sensible biracial lightskin girl trying her best to be Miss Goody Two Shoes who aces her homework, refuses to interact with any other black people, and dedicates the remainder of her free time to cooking and cleaning in her apartment like a subservient little homebody. If I could reference any novel that embodies an author’s Madonna-Whore complex from how they set up their characters: this book would be one of my top selections. The colorism reinforced throughout the book with Beni antagonized as her older sister’s foil could harbor long-term self image issues for a young reader with darker skin as described in the book. Aside from the subliminal messages, let’s now delve into my archived memory of the events that happened in the book. I had to put the book down. Multiple times(!) The subject matter accumulated too much stress for my sheltered ass frequently. From my memory (huge content warning for rape): Rain went searching for Beni after she’s been missing for a couple days at a party. Beni walks back scantily clad into their apartment with bruises, scratches, and semen dripping between her legs onto the carpet from underneath her bodycon dress. She cried to Rain that she had been drugged after leaving her drink unattended to go to the bathroom and had multiple guys take turns with her as they took film pictures (the book’s setting was dated back to the 1990s/early 2000s). I had to put the book down after how the author framed this rape in a karmic way as if it was Beni’s comeuppance for being a troubled teenager. It was absolutely sickening. No one deserves to get raped, no matter how promiscuous or imperfect they are. Fast forward to two thirds in the book, Beni’s attempt to file a police report against her attackers for statutory rape, sextortion, and blackmailing CP was dismissed by police due to the gaslight-y “innocent till proven guilty”, “lack of evidence”, and “should’ve watched your drink” types of victim-blaming and has sacrificed several months giving various kinds of “favors” to her attackers to appease them from blackmailing the nude photos of her rape. One of those guys brutally stabs her to death and the police told Rain’s family that they aren’t going to launch an investigation or apprehend anyone because “Beni was a lost cause either way”. After all of the tragedy porn involving constant domestic violence between Rain’s intoxicated parents, Rain fending off the sexual advances from her adoptive brother Roy, and Beni’s tumultuous battle from her rape, Rain finds out her lifelong mother isn’t her biological mother. In fact, her birth mom was actually a white woman riddled with affluenza who felt a little ~adventurous~ to copulate with a black man one night in college then had to put the daughter up for adoption to “her own kin” because apparently a biracial child conceived out of wedlock is the most scandalous thing that could reign permanent stigma upon any Affluenza-sufferer living in the Hamptons. So Rain dips from her whole dysfunctional bereaved family she was raised with to live her happy ending with her rich white family in New York to pursue her dream of acting school and theatre, with no kind of resolution for the poor black family she chose to leave behind after her 18th birthday. The story’s ending was so random and threw me off. Rain had no desire to play in musical theatre or sing throughout the book so I’m curious about where that came from. My memory from 9 years ago is probably just not 100% reliable. If I could go back in time to tell a twelve year old girl one deterrent from this book: don’t read this book if you want to feel hopeless and disillusioned about the real world and the plotline.
2/5 Stars: ⭐️⭐️🍅🍅🍅
As I developed a sense of introspection about this story with a more mature head on my shoulders, I realized this book was just tragedy porn with an aimless plot that reinforced racial stereotypes, colorism, and misogyny/misogynoir. As a white girl who went to a white trash school in a white trash city, even I noticed something was fishy about the ghostwriter’s prejudice when they caricaturized Beni (Rain’s little sister) who’s described to have darker skin than Rain as loud, obnoxious, hedonistic, irresponsible, uneducated, promiscuous, and deviant (The Jezebel Archetype)—in stark contrast to how the protagonist Rain was caricaturized as the sensible biracial lightskin girl trying her best to be Miss Goody Two Shoes who aces her homework, refuses to interact with any other black people, and dedicates the remainder of her free time to cooking and cleaning in her apartment like a subservient little homebody. If I could reference any novel that embodies an author’s Madonna-Whore complex from how they set up their characters: this book would be one of my top selections. The colorism reinforced throughout the book with Beni antagonized as her older sister’s foil could harbor long-term self image issues for a young reader with darker skin as described in the book. Aside from the subliminal messages, let’s now delve into my archived memory of the events that happened in the book. I had to put the book down. Multiple times(!) The subject matter accumulated too much stress for my sheltered ass frequently. From my memory (huge content warning for rape): Rain went searching for Beni after she’s been missing for a couple days at a party. Beni walks back scantily clad into their apartment with bruises, scratches, and semen dripping between her legs onto the carpet from underneath her bodycon dress. She cried to Rain that she had been drugged after leaving her drink unattended to go to the bathroom and had multiple guys take turns with her as they took film pictures (the book’s setting was dated back to the 1990s/early 2000s). I had to put the book down after how the author framed this rape in a karmic way as if it was Beni’s comeuppance for being a troubled teenager. It was absolutely sickening. No one deserves to get raped, no matter how promiscuous or imperfect they are. Fast forward to two thirds in the book, Beni’s attempt to file a police report against her attackers for statutory rape, sextortion, and blackmailing CP was dismissed by police due to the gaslight-y “innocent till proven guilty”, “lack of evidence”, and “should’ve watched your drink” types of victim-blaming and has sacrificed several months giving various kinds of “favors” to her attackers to appease them from blackmailing the nude photos of her rape. One of those guys brutally stabs her to death and the police told Rain’s family that they aren’t going to launch an investigation or apprehend anyone because “Beni was a lost cause either way”. After all of the tragedy porn involving constant domestic violence between Rain’s intoxicated parents, Rain fending off the sexual advances from her adoptive brother Roy, and Beni’s tumultuous battle from her rape, Rain finds out her lifelong mother isn’t her biological mother. In fact, her birth mom was actually a white woman riddled with affluenza who felt a little ~adventurous~ to copulate with a black man one night in college then had to put the daughter up for adoption to “her own kin” because apparently a biracial child conceived out of wedlock is the most scandalous thing that could reign permanent stigma upon any Affluenza-sufferer living in the Hamptons. So Rain dips from her whole dysfunctional bereaved family she was raised with to live her happy ending with her rich white family in New York to pursue her dream of acting school and theatre, with no kind of resolution for the poor black family she chose to leave behind after her 18th birthday. The story’s ending was so random and threw me off. Rain had no desire to play in musical theatre or sing throughout the book so I’m curious about where that came from. My memory from 9 years ago is probably just not 100% reliable. If I could go back in time to tell a twelve year old girl one deterrent from this book: don’t read this book if you want to feel hopeless and disillusioned about the real world and the plotline.
2/5 Stars: ⭐️⭐️🍅🍅🍅
January 28, 2020
4.5 stars
Totally unexpected. ’Rain’ was not dark nor did it have the evilness that usually accompanies V.C. Andrews’ books. I’ve been reading in publication order since 1981 so, it was nice to be able to enjoy a book without the wickedness and the serious stomach clenching that is usually associated with these gothic horror stories. Really impressed by this story and the author.
I adored the V.C. Andrews books when I was a teenager, years later I still enjoy picking up her novels every now and again, well, his books as Andrew Neiderman has been ghostwriting for Virginia Andrews since 1987 following her death in 1986.
Rain is the first book in the Hudson series. Rain lives in the ghetto with her family, a tragedy occurs and she is sent to live with her real family who are white and rich…. a tad too cryptic? Read the story to reveal what happens in this interesting tale, if you’re interested, and you enjoy reading about secrets and lies and YA books. There are three more books in this series.
I loved this book, it was an excellent story and I for one highly recommend it.
*Book #42/72 of my 2019 coffee table to-read challenge, cont. 2020
Totally unexpected. ’Rain’ was not dark nor did it have the evilness that usually accompanies V.C. Andrews’ books. I’ve been reading in publication order since 1981 so, it was nice to be able to enjoy a book without the wickedness and the serious stomach clenching that is usually associated with these gothic horror stories. Really impressed by this story and the author.
I adored the V.C. Andrews books when I was a teenager, years later I still enjoy picking up her novels every now and again, well, his books as Andrew Neiderman has been ghostwriting for Virginia Andrews since 1987 following her death in 1986.
Rain is the first book in the Hudson series. Rain lives in the ghetto with her family, a tragedy occurs and she is sent to live with her real family who are white and rich…. a tad too cryptic? Read the story to reveal what happens in this interesting tale, if you’re interested, and you enjoy reading about secrets and lies and YA books. There are three more books in this series.
I loved this book, it was an excellent story and I for one highly recommend it.
*Book #42/72 of my 2019 coffee table to-read challenge, cont. 2020
September 27, 2022
I love this book
January 3, 2025
I read this as a young kid, and I just read it again and I adored it. I am currently reading lightening strikes and it’s a tad harder to get through.
February 16, 2018
I don’t like the way the author portrayed his characters in the novel. They were one dimensional and there were some character that I felt were pointless. The characters description from Rain’s perspective didn’t feel like it was coming from a teenager. It felt like he wasn’t invested in the novel. This story was OK, but it didn’t impress me. It drove me crazy reading about Rain acting dumb when she is a smart girl. There a lot of foreshadowing in the novel with every character telling Rain not to trust boys and not to rush into a boy's arms.
June 26, 2020
Haftasonları erkenden televizyonda izlediğimiz eski dublajlı filmler gibiydi bu kitap. Yazarın kendinin zorla okutturan aşırı akıcı bir anlatımı var.
September 7, 2009
Poor Rain. First she's growing up in the ghetto w/ her little sister, big brother, mama, and drunken father who comes and goes as he pleases. Her sister is drugged and has obscene pictures taken of her and needs Rain's help to get them back from the gang that is holding the negatives for $250.
Once they go to pay the ransom, her sister Beni is stabbed to death. Rain's mother reveals that she's really not her mother, that her father was working for some people who had a daughter that became pregnant, and they needed someone to take the baby. They paid him $20,000 to take her. AFter Rain is doused w/ gasoline at school and her legs set on fire, her mother contacts her birth mother to try and get her to take her back. Her "brother" Roy, who loves Rain and wants her to think of him not as his brother, but maybe in the future as a boyfriend, enlists in the army, and her mother decides to go live w/ her sister and leave her drunken husband.
So, Rain is sent to live w/ her natural grandmother, as her bio mom cannot risk telling her current husband that she had a child when she was younger. Rain learns that she has a half brother and sister that she may meet one day. The Grandmother is a little stern, but understands why her mama wanted to get her outta the ghetto and into a better neighborhood and school. Turns out, her bio family is rich beyond means. She is enlisted in an all girls school for the very rich.
In the end, Rain becomes the lead in her high school play and her grandmother arranges for a man from London to come and see her. Mr. MacWaine recruits people for a school of the performing arts in London. He sees what he likes after just one performance and Rain is enlisted into his school once she graduates.
Rain's relationship with her grandmother blossoms. She learns that her grandmother has put her in her will, much to the dismay of her daughter, Victoria, who is a work-a-holic and wants every dime she ever made. Rain encourages her grandmother to have a pacemaker put in due to her heart troubles. She does this before sending Rain off to school in London. Rain's mother isn't much of a character in this book; she wants little or nothing to do with Rain and doesn't tell her husband and children who Rain really is. Can't wait to read the next book in the series.
Once they go to pay the ransom, her sister Beni is stabbed to death. Rain's mother reveals that she's really not her mother, that her father was working for some people who had a daughter that became pregnant, and they needed someone to take the baby. They paid him $20,000 to take her. AFter Rain is doused w/ gasoline at school and her legs set on fire, her mother contacts her birth mother to try and get her to take her back. Her "brother" Roy, who loves Rain and wants her to think of him not as his brother, but maybe in the future as a boyfriend, enlists in the army, and her mother decides to go live w/ her sister and leave her drunken husband.
So, Rain is sent to live w/ her natural grandmother, as her bio mom cannot risk telling her current husband that she had a child when she was younger. Rain learns that she has a half brother and sister that she may meet one day. The Grandmother is a little stern, but understands why her mama wanted to get her outta the ghetto and into a better neighborhood and school. Turns out, her bio family is rich beyond means. She is enlisted in an all girls school for the very rich.
In the end, Rain becomes the lead in her high school play and her grandmother arranges for a man from London to come and see her. Mr. MacWaine recruits people for a school of the performing arts in London. He sees what he likes after just one performance and Rain is enlisted into his school once she graduates.
Rain's relationship with her grandmother blossoms. She learns that her grandmother has put her in her will, much to the dismay of her daughter, Victoria, who is a work-a-holic and wants every dime she ever made. Rain encourages her grandmother to have a pacemaker put in due to her heart troubles. She does this before sending Rain off to school in London. Rain's mother isn't much of a character in this book; she wants little or nothing to do with Rain and doesn't tell her husband and children who Rain really is. Can't wait to read the next book in the series.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 17, 2013
Rain has never really felt like she’s had a home. The book ‘Rain’ by V.C. Andrews tells the reader about one teenage girl’s life and her problems she faces throughout the novel. I think the theme of this book is that money or being rich can’t give love or a place to call ‘home’. The reason why I felt this was the theme is because she was sent to a newer and safer home, but she didn’t want all that. Instead she would rather live in her old home in the ghettos where she grew up and was loved by people who weren’t even her real family. Her ‘mother’ says ‘You’re returning to your blood. You’re going back to a safer world. I’m going to see to it,” she asserted. I was sure my heart stopped and started again. I shook my head (163)’. Rain would rather feel loved than being rich.
The setting in this book was mainly taken place in Rain’s grandmother’s mansion. The first couple of chapters were taken place in Rain’s old home in the ghetto to tell what kind of life she was living in before she was sent to her grandmother’s. The two settings are totally opposite from each other. One setting was a very unhappy and gloomy with closed buildings, and rarely any people walking around. Sirens went off during the day, hearing of a killing next door was normal. I thought it was a horrible place to be in. The first school that Rain attended was very violent. People were expelled and beaten everyday, which was normal to everyone. The second setting was described as a beautiful mansion with two stories and four columns in the front of the house and stone steps leading to the door. I think the author wrote the first setting to be a very horrible place to make the second setting seem to be ten times better, so that the reader would be in awe. I was surprised myself with how the author described the settings. I could visualize everything.
March 25, 2016
And so I embark on yet another VC Andrews series. The Hudson series starts with Rain, a half African American girl living in the ghetto. I say half because that's emphasized throughout the novel. We have all the VCA stereotypes; rich vs. poor, blind trust, sibling love, detatched mother, family lies. So nothing really new there except we have a nice grandmother instead of an evil one. This was rather slow in the beginning that set up Rain's life in the ghetto with her adopted family but there was a few twists that kept it interesting. Rain is a smart girl, again we are constantly reminded, but she acts really dumb. There was so much foreshadowing with basically every character telling her not to trust boys, don't rush into a boy's arms, blah blah...and she of course gives her virginity to the first boy who smiles at her. Even though he was mean to her and pushy and all around not a nice guy. Again, unlike typical VCA she isn't pregnant from her fling...but I'm sure she will be by the next book. After the downfall of the De Beers Saga, I'm hanging on for this one, it shows promise. Although I did get annoyed with EVERY male in this book falling in love with Rain. She wasn't a typical VCA heroine though, she actually has a backbone and isn't afraid to speak up.
Final Word: VCA fans will definitely find comfort in the familiarity, it's what keeps us reading her. First time readers will find it an enjoyable introduction to the world of VCA.
Final Word: VCA fans will definitely find comfort in the familiarity, it's what keeps us reading her. First time readers will find it an enjoyable introduction to the world of VCA.
September 21, 2013
One of the first truly disappointing V.C. Andrews sagas to hit the shelves. While the early ghost written sagas were not perfect, they remained entertaining and entirely readable melodramas. In many ways Rain feels like a watered down (no pun intended) version of the first novel in V.C. Andrews Cutler series (also written by ghostwriter Andrew Neiderman).
In Rain, a young black girl discovers that she is adopted and that her biological mother is white and very wealthy. After the somewhat sensational murder of her adopted sister that no one seems to care much about, Rain's adoptive mother appeals to her biological family to take her back where she will be "safe". Rain's white grandmother (possibly the most likable member of the Hudson family,) agrees and comes up with a cover story to explain the sudden appearance of a black girl in her home. Rain gets treated badly at her new private school, idiotically loses her virginity to a guy that she doesn't even like (ruining her reputation in the process,) fights with her bratty half sister and tries to dodge the amorous advances of her half brother.
Surprisingly, this is one of the few V,C, Andrews novels to have made it to film (at the present time, Flowers in the Attic was released in 1987 and is currently being remade, while the Landry series has been optioned as a possible television series).
In Rain, a young black girl discovers that she is adopted and that her biological mother is white and very wealthy. After the somewhat sensational murder of her adopted sister that no one seems to care much about, Rain's adoptive mother appeals to her biological family to take her back where she will be "safe". Rain's white grandmother (possibly the most likable member of the Hudson family,) agrees and comes up with a cover story to explain the sudden appearance of a black girl in her home. Rain gets treated badly at her new private school, idiotically loses her virginity to a guy that she doesn't even like (ruining her reputation in the process,) fights with her bratty half sister and tries to dodge the amorous advances of her half brother.
Surprisingly, this is one of the few V,C, Andrews novels to have made it to film (at the present time, Flowers in the Attic was released in 1987 and is currently being remade, while the Landry series has been optioned as a possible television series).
January 8, 2015
Well, what an emotional roller coaster.
I picked up this book just to have a glance at what it might be about and then found myself wanting to know it all.
An enjoyable read about a girl, Rain, who is raised in the ghettos and just about destroyed in the ghettos had it not been for her mama. Her mama had a secret and she was not one to lie, however she held this secret in place until her drunkard husband let it all out.
Rain had always thought she was a little different but didn't know any better.
Suddenly, after the murder of her sister, the threads begin to unravel; and Rain finds herself hop-skipping and jumping from the ghettos to the prestigious upper-class.
Her character unfortunately was not consistent through the story as she went from a passive follower, to a sharp tongued and witty mover, and sometimes back again.
The story was punchy and well written and if you have never read any V.C. Andrews stuff before, this may just tip you over the edge to want to read more of her stories.
Andrews stories, that I have read seem to be along the same lines, from unfortunate circumstances to better circumstances - poor, to rich scenarios. Or sometimes the other way around. But always about some sort of family dysfunction.
A great story to get you hooked.
I picked up this book just to have a glance at what it might be about and then found myself wanting to know it all.
An enjoyable read about a girl, Rain, who is raised in the ghettos and just about destroyed in the ghettos had it not been for her mama. Her mama had a secret and she was not one to lie, however she held this secret in place until her drunkard husband let it all out.
Rain had always thought she was a little different but didn't know any better.
Suddenly, after the murder of her sister, the threads begin to unravel; and Rain finds herself hop-skipping and jumping from the ghettos to the prestigious upper-class.
Her character unfortunately was not consistent through the story as she went from a passive follower, to a sharp tongued and witty mover, and sometimes back again.
The story was punchy and well written and if you have never read any V.C. Andrews stuff before, this may just tip you over the edge to want to read more of her stories.
Andrews stories, that I have read seem to be along the same lines, from unfortunate circumstances to better circumstances - poor, to rich scenarios. Or sometimes the other way around. But always about some sort of family dysfunction.
A great story to get you hooked.
May 3, 2023
A re-read, though it’s been so long that I didn’t remember all of the events and some of what I remembered ended up being what happens in the film adaptation, which only covers the main events and changes Rain’s talent altogether.
This felt a lot like Dawn, but still managed to stand fairly well on its own. While Rain’s life did feel a little stereotypical at times, Neiderman actually did a decent job writing this one. I liked Rain well enough as a main character and especially enjoyed her relationship with the cankerous Grandmother Hudson. Jake helped lighten the heaviness present in this book. The scene where Victoria freaks out at the dinner table was highly entertaining.
I did find it a little hard to believe that Rain has not one but THREE guys vying for her attention, but this is VCA Land. I’m still trying to figure out why Rain would give into Corbette the player, though—that felt a little fast given Rain’s character.
I remember almost next to nothing about the next three books, so that will be fun.
This felt a lot like Dawn, but still managed to stand fairly well on its own. While Rain’s life did feel a little stereotypical at times, Neiderman actually did a decent job writing this one. I liked Rain well enough as a main character and especially enjoyed her relationship with the cankerous Grandmother Hudson. Jake helped lighten the heaviness present in this book. The scene where Victoria freaks out at the dinner table was highly entertaining.
I did find it a little hard to believe that Rain has not one but THREE guys vying for her attention, but this is VCA Land. I’m still trying to figure out why Rain would give into Corbette the player, though—that felt a little fast given Rain’s character.
I remember almost next to nothing about the next three books, so that will be fun.
May 1, 2013
I have to say I was pleased with this book overall. Neiderman did a good job at making the plot interesting and it made the reader want to keep on to see what happened next. Even though it was predictable, I still enjoyed the Andrews' theme, or the attempted reproduction of it, I just love books like these. Girl has a dramatic life, has dramatic encounters with guys who might or might not be related to her, cat fights, its just wonderful. I devour dramas, good or bad.
However, the characters are seeming a tiny bit more flat than those of the previous series. I like how Rain isnt afraid to stand up to unreasonable people though, it really helps with character developement.
An alright addition to the VC Andrews collection...if you ask me.
However, the characters are seeming a tiny bit more flat than those of the previous series. I like how Rain isnt afraid to stand up to unreasonable people though, it really helps with character developement.
An alright addition to the VC Andrews collection...if you ask me.
July 25, 2014
This is my first V.C. Andrews book I have ever read. I will say I will definitely be reading more of her books. I went to high school with a bunch of girls that read her books, and I have owned some for awhile, I just never got into reading one til yesterday, and yes I read it in one day. It was a quick read, and for me it engaged me right from the start. The conflict and turmoil starts right at the beginning and continues throughout the book. I kept being left wondering, "What will happen next?" hence part of the reason I read it in one day; I just didn't want to put the book down. I don't want to give anything away, but just know the book holds secrets about the characters all the way through and if you are anything like me, you will keep getting surprised.
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