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Becoming My Sister
Two sisters face love, rivalry, and a shocking disappearance amidst the luxury of Palm Springs from the #1
New York Times
bestselling author of the Flowers in the Attic series and Landry series—now popular Lifetime movies.
Like everyone else in Palm Springs, Gish idolizes her smart, beautiful, kind older sister. Even their parents compare Gish unfavorably to Gloria—threatening to send her to boarding school once the more perfect sister leaves for college.
But Gloria has an unwavering love for Gish, even if that connection belies a weariness with her own accomplishments. Wanting a better life for her overlooked sibling, Gloria teaches Gish how to talk to boys, embrace her femininity, and finally develop a life of her own. And just as life is looking up for Gish, Gloria meets a handsome, mysterious boy. Obsessed with the stranger, Gloria closes off her life to her sister—then disappears without a trace.
A police search yields nothing. Their father’s manic investigation proves fruitless. And their already star-struck mother becomes increasingly lost in daydreams of the celebrities who partied in their house decades ago when the town was a Hollywood getaway.
Untethered from the weight of her sister’s presence—but also missing her sister’s love—what will Gish do with this new terrible freedom, with this sense she could become anything?
Like everyone else in Palm Springs, Gish idolizes her smart, beautiful, kind older sister. Even their parents compare Gish unfavorably to Gloria—threatening to send her to boarding school once the more perfect sister leaves for college.
But Gloria has an unwavering love for Gish, even if that connection belies a weariness with her own accomplishments. Wanting a better life for her overlooked sibling, Gloria teaches Gish how to talk to boys, embrace her femininity, and finally develop a life of her own. And just as life is looking up for Gish, Gloria meets a handsome, mysterious boy. Obsessed with the stranger, Gloria closes off her life to her sister—then disappears without a trace.
A police search yields nothing. Their father’s manic investigation proves fruitless. And their already star-struck mother becomes increasingly lost in daydreams of the celebrities who partied in their house decades ago when the town was a Hollywood getaway.
Untethered from the weight of her sister’s presence—but also missing her sister’s love—what will Gish do with this new terrible freedom, with this sense she could become anything?
304 pages, Kindle Edition
First published March 15, 2022
110 people are currently reading
3807 people want to read
About the author
V.C. Andrews
370 books9,101 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 67 reviews
March 24, 2022
Becoming My Sister is hands down the worst dribble-drabble I have ever read. Despite my distaste for the past thirteen years of ghostwritten stories penned by Andrew Neiderman, I wanted to like Becoming My Sister, but that's difficult to do when a book has absolutely no story. Seriously, somebody, please explain the plot to me! Because, for the life of me, I couldn't find one.
When you can't think of brand-new character names, recycle the old ones from previous novels. Right, Mr. Neiderman? The main character in Becoming My Sister is Gish, and her older sister is Gloria. Gish sounds like a nickname for Gisselle (Ruby's twin sister in the Laundry series). Gloria was the name of Misty's mother in The Wildflowers series.
Gish is a spoiled teenage girl living in Palm Springs with her parents and older sister Gloria, who she idolizes. In her mind, Gloria can do no wrong. Gish wants to be just like her big sister - literally!
It's not until page 252 that anything of any importance happens. Before that, there is a pointless teenage melodrama recycled (Yep, there's that word again.) from other Neiderman stories. The narrative is in first-person, told through the eyes of Gish, who isn't even a full-fleshed-out character. All the characters are below one-dimensional. The dialogue is eye-rolling cringy. Seriously, nobody has conversations like the ones written in this book.
Becoming My Sister was a nightmare to finish. By the end of the prologue's second page, I saw the tell-tale signs that this book would be horrible. Wanting to be a good little trooper, I braved through this crapfest, so others won't have to endure the horror.
Note - I gave Becoming My Sister a 1/2 star out of 5 on my blog - https://www.coffeeaddictedwriter.com/....
When you can't think of brand-new character names, recycle the old ones from previous novels. Right, Mr. Neiderman? The main character in Becoming My Sister is Gish, and her older sister is Gloria. Gish sounds like a nickname for Gisselle (Ruby's twin sister in the Laundry series). Gloria was the name of Misty's mother in The Wildflowers series.
Gish is a spoiled teenage girl living in Palm Springs with her parents and older sister Gloria, who she idolizes. In her mind, Gloria can do no wrong. Gish wants to be just like her big sister - literally!
It's not until page 252 that anything of any importance happens. Before that, there is a pointless teenage melodrama recycled (Yep, there's that word again.) from other Neiderman stories. The narrative is in first-person, told through the eyes of Gish, who isn't even a full-fleshed-out character. All the characters are below one-dimensional. The dialogue is eye-rolling cringy. Seriously, nobody has conversations like the ones written in this book.
Becoming My Sister was a nightmare to finish. By the end of the prologue's second page, I saw the tell-tale signs that this book would be horrible. Wanting to be a good little trooper, I braved through this crapfest, so others won't have to endure the horror.
Note - I gave Becoming My Sister a 1/2 star out of 5 on my blog - https://www.coffeeaddictedwriter.com/....
March 17, 2022
Doesn’t compare to the actual novels VC wrote. Mid tier. Better than most written recently. Andrew should just retire VC. Don’t waste your time with this.
April 20, 2022
This book really was not very good. I don't know why I thought it would be. Flowers in the Attic was interesting and weird enough to be enjoyable, but its sequel wasn't super great, and I ended up quitting on book 3, so I don't know why this one caught my eye, except the title is intriguing. I also blame the fact that I was randomly in the library within a week or so of finishing up my final bit of grad school work, and I was feeling the pull of desire to read something non-textbooky and non-theology. I suppose this jumped off the shelf at me because it was new and I recognized the author's name. Come to find out later . . . she's dead. Her children apparently wrote this and stuck her name on it.
Anyway, as for the book itself. It had a prologue . . . which I hate. (Editorial PSA, yet again: PROLOGUES ARE NEVER NECESSARY. I have been banging this drum for almost fifteen years now, but anyway.) The most frustrating thing about this book is that the title both gives away the premise/ending, and also misleads you into thinking the book will be something it isn't. Perhaps the book was simply too short, I don't know. I'm going to go ahead and talk spoilers here without much warning because seriously: do NOT read this book. It isn't worth it.
So, from the jacket copy, it sounded like this might be some kind of murder mystery or something, where sibling rivalry turns deadly and then she essentially "becomes" her sister because her sister was always more talented, prettier, and more loved by their parents. Kind of like how Norman Bates "became" his mother. That would've been the more interesting story. But that isn't what happens. Instead, she does "become" her sister, in a way--but only after her sister mysteriously disappears, of her own volition, walking out of her perfect life that was pregnant with expectations and standards she was tired of striving to meet. Their dad dies of a heart attack due to his grief over his missing favorite daughter, and their mother spirals into a mental health crisis that she is only brought out of after the younger sister "becomes" the missing older sister by dressing like her, performing her duties, and answering to her name. Again, this is not an UNinteresting plot line, but I expected this to be THE plot. Instead, all this that I just described happens in the very last chapter, which isn't even all that long. Everything leading up to the last chapter was basically prolegomena, which made the entire book feel wasted. The good thing is, it was a quick read, so even though I thought it was a waste of pages, I didn't feel that my own time was wasted, mainly because I was merely pleased to be reading a novel and not a textbook.
Before the intrigue of the final chapter, the story is simply about the close relationship these two sisters share, but it's very strange. V. C. Andrews seems to have had a very unhealthy home life and family dynamic. Between the normalized incest from her Dollanganger series and the absolute toxic dysfunction of this family, it just seems like she must have had the worst family of origin of all time. The idea that she got these ideas from her own experience takes some of the luster off of these stories and just makes them feel sad and gross. Of course, that's not a verified conclusion, so maybe I shouldn't be so judgmental.
Still. This book was weird and not very good. Please do not read it.
Anyway, as for the book itself. It had a prologue . . . which I hate. (Editorial PSA, yet again: PROLOGUES ARE NEVER NECESSARY. I have been banging this drum for almost fifteen years now, but anyway.) The most frustrating thing about this book is that the title both gives away the premise/ending, and also misleads you into thinking the book will be something it isn't. Perhaps the book was simply too short, I don't know. I'm going to go ahead and talk spoilers here without much warning because seriously: do NOT read this book. It isn't worth it.
So, from the jacket copy, it sounded like this might be some kind of murder mystery or something, where sibling rivalry turns deadly and then she essentially "becomes" her sister because her sister was always more talented, prettier, and more loved by their parents. Kind of like how Norman Bates "became" his mother. That would've been the more interesting story. But that isn't what happens. Instead, she does "become" her sister, in a way--but only after her sister mysteriously disappears, of her own volition, walking out of her perfect life that was pregnant with expectations and standards she was tired of striving to meet. Their dad dies of a heart attack due to his grief over his missing favorite daughter, and their mother spirals into a mental health crisis that she is only brought out of after the younger sister "becomes" the missing older sister by dressing like her, performing her duties, and answering to her name. Again, this is not an UNinteresting plot line, but I expected this to be THE plot. Instead, all this that I just described happens in the very last chapter, which isn't even all that long. Everything leading up to the last chapter was basically prolegomena, which made the entire book feel wasted. The good thing is, it was a quick read, so even though I thought it was a waste of pages, I didn't feel that my own time was wasted, mainly because I was merely pleased to be reading a novel and not a textbook.
Before the intrigue of the final chapter, the story is simply about the close relationship these two sisters share, but it's very strange. V. C. Andrews seems to have had a very unhealthy home life and family dynamic. Between the normalized incest from her Dollanganger series and the absolute toxic dysfunction of this family, it just seems like she must have had the worst family of origin of all time. The idea that she got these ideas from her own experience takes some of the luster off of these stories and just makes them feel sad and gross. Of course, that's not a verified conclusion, so maybe I shouldn't be so judgmental.
Still. This book was weird and not very good. Please do not read it.
July 6, 2022
This book started and continued very slowly. Just rich sisters doing sister stuff, growing up. The ‘character back story’ could have, should have been given a couple chapters at most. It wasn’t until about page 240 that things picked up and got interesting and then the whole book (including epilogue) ended at page 295. The best part of the story wasn’t given enough chapters. The whole story is pretty much told on the back cover. I think the plot lines had a lot more potential and I barely saw a hint of VC Andrews’ writing style.
August 2, 2022
I have read most of the ghost written books and all of the original author’s books and there are very few I didn’t like but I couldn’t get on with this one. The plot was confusing and there was a lot that was never explained and while that works for some stories it didn’t for this one. It also seemed to take forever to get going and then sort of just fizzled out like it was written in a hurry. I hope future ones are more in the style of the older ones that mimicked the original style a lot better
May 26, 2022
Predictable and kinda dry. I found I was dragging myself to the end book, wishing it would just end. It felt like it kept repeating itself.
It tried hard to get you to care about the characters. To hard in my opinion. This book suffers from telling you not showing you.
I also couldn't move past that the main character as an older teen kept caller her father Daddy....it just felt gross.
It tried hard to get you to care about the characters. To hard in my opinion. This book suffers from telling you not showing you.
I also couldn't move past that the main character as an older teen kept caller her father Daddy....it just felt gross.
May 31, 2022
I couldn’t finish it. It was so slow and tedious and it is meant to be present day yet the characters (especially the teen sisters) use language like they’re out of the 50s. No teenager talks like that. Unrealistic drivel.
March 28, 2022
I REALLY REALLY wanted to like this book. I stumbled on this book by accident and I started to really like where the plot was going but then it just ended...
July 3, 2022
Disenchanted by ongoing dribble that passes for VC Andrews now. Tried intermittently in the last 20 years and this was my last try. Nothing beats the Flowers in the Attic and Heaven series’.
February 16, 2023
It was an interesting read after it got going. It was nice taking a break from my life and getting immersed in the very entertaining Becoming My Sister by V. C. Andrews. I couldn’t wait for the ending, so I kept turning the pages of this intriguing story. Well-written, as always—and the audiobook’s narrator did a great job.
March 19, 2022
I gave up after getting about 1/3 of the way through the book. It just wasn't grabbing me and not my cup of tea.
Read
March 27, 2022Nope, can’t do it. I’ve tried two “Andrews” books now and just not the same. Makes me too sad so giving up. DNF, only made it 30ish minutes.
January 13, 2023
This book succeeded in creating the unsettling family dynamic so characteristic of V.C. Andrews, but the plot didn't really go anywhere.
February 15, 2024
Ok book. Held my interest but wierd ending. Strange book really.
January 14, 2023
This book is terrible! I read the back and was intrigued but then read over 200 pages of Gish complaining how her life sucks…. Annoyed
April 23, 2022
Trash, but I knew it would be. :)
Read
April 21, 2022This was the worst V.C. Andrews book I have ever read. It was boring until the end of chapter twelve where the sister went missing. The wasn't any edge of your seat sinfulness or abuse that usually occurs in this author's books. Very disappointed!!
April 14, 2022
Well I found myself skimming over parts of this book. I loved V.C. Andrews earlier books but once she passed away, the books went downhill as they were being written by a ghost writer. The first ones were ok but they have progressively gotten worse, in my opinion. This book had no real plot. Gish is a teenage girl living in Palm Springs with her older sister Gloria and their wealthy parents. Their mother is obsessed with movies as movie stars lived in their home at one time. Gish looks up to Gloria and their parents have high hopes for Gloria. I skimmed over parts of this just to get to the main parts of this book, the first chapters were hard to get through and this book almost became a DNF.
April 15, 2022
I finished this book in a day and not much to say about it as it was just
No real story just a younger sister Gish trying to be like her older sister
Gloria who was the center of the family- smart, accomplished and then
Disappeared. For the first time Gish stands on her own feet and thinks for
Herself and not in the shadow of her sister. Even the parents fall apart
Without Gloria.
No real story just a younger sister Gish trying to be like her older sister
Gloria who was the center of the family- smart, accomplished and then
Disappeared. For the first time Gish stands on her own feet and thinks for
Herself and not in the shadow of her sister. Even the parents fall apart
Without Gloria.
April 13, 2022
To be honest this book was pretty boring. It was probably the worst book I’ve read in a very long time. The end was a bit disappointing and I wouldn’t recommend it.
December 25, 2022
I wanted to like this book...but it fell flat. The entire book I was waiting for the plot, it never came, and the ending was awful. I would NOT recommend.
December 17, 2022
Well I'm a loyal VC Andrews book reading but this one really fell short. Very slow moving and actually boring. I can't figure out if it's part of a series but hopefully not as the story really didn't go anywhere.
May 6, 2022
Slow moving but I personally felt it picked up in the middle and I kept turning pages more quickly. I have read the other readers comments . Most of them displeased . I however was not. The book built the reader up for the ending.
I feel as a ghost writer for V.C. , Andrew try’s to keep her writing style as much as he can. The twisted
Plots in family drama were always her theme.
I feel as a ghost writer for V.C. , Andrew try’s to keep her writing style as much as he can. The twisted
Plots in family drama were always her theme.
October 11, 2022
ugh
Awful! Worst “V.C.Andrews” book I’ve ever read.complete predictable. But, worse than that NOTHING happens till the last 1/4 of the book. I think it’s time for the family or publishers or whoever to quit pretending they’re finding her manuscripts and having them finished by someone else. Because this was terrible!!
Awful! Worst “V.C.Andrews” book I’ve ever read.complete predictable. But, worse than that NOTHING happens till the last 1/4 of the book. I think it’s time for the family or publishers or whoever to quit pretending they’re finding her manuscripts and having them finished by someone else. Because this was terrible!!
May 21, 2022
A little slow getting into ,and descriptions were repetitive,but then I got in to the story more,then all of a sudden it was ending .The ending was a not what I expected and I was also waiting for a twist but the ending was rushed .
Enjoyable but not as good as most of these
Enjoyable but not as good as most of these
October 22, 2022
Ok this was just bad bad bad bad bad. At this point I think the ghost writer needs to stop using the VC Andrews name and just publish these books under his own. I dont even really think there was much of a plot at all for this one its just not good.
November 27, 2022
I haven’t read V. C. Andrews in well over a decade. This was an easy, quick read but a definite “meh”. It wasn’t as gruesome or tragic as most her books I’ve read, which was fine. But overall I think the plot was dull and flat.
March 30, 2022
I really hope there is a 2nd book out soon. It started off slowly but now I can't wait!
May 16, 2023
This is not VC Andrews. Just no.
August 26, 2023
Like most VC Andrews books this book has a family that is soooo fucked up lol
It was highly mediocre and the characters and setting are just wildly out of sync and unrealistic. Very meh experience.
It was highly mediocre and the characters and setting are just wildly out of sync and unrealistic. Very meh experience.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 67 reviews