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Early Spring #1
Broken Flower
SHE WAS TOO GROWN-UP FOR CHILDISH GAMES.
BUT TOO YOUNG TO BECOME A WOMAN. . . .
Living with her parents and brother in her Grandmother Emma's enormous mansion, Jordan March tries to be a good girl and follow her grandmother's strict rules. But one day, without warning, Jordan's body begins to change -- and everyone notices her in a way that seems dark, dangerous, and threatening. Suddenly the March family secrets are unleashed, and Jordan is ashamed and afraid that her soft curves are unwelcome indeed. Now Grandmother Emma sets out to make Jordan pay for her family's past mistakes, sending her world spinning wildly out of control. . . .
BUT TOO YOUNG TO BECOME A WOMAN. . . .
Living with her parents and brother in her Grandmother Emma's enormous mansion, Jordan March tries to be a good girl and follow her grandmother's strict rules. But one day, without warning, Jordan's body begins to change -- and everyone notices her in a way that seems dark, dangerous, and threatening. Suddenly the March family secrets are unleashed, and Jordan is ashamed and afraid that her soft curves are unwelcome indeed. Now Grandmother Emma sets out to make Jordan pay for her family's past mistakes, sending her world spinning wildly out of control. . . .
421 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 2006
73 people are currently reading
2567 people want to read
About the author
V.C. Andrews
370 books9,082 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 84 reviews
October 8, 2024
Unlike many others, I cannot say that V.C. Andrews was part of my adolescence. I loved 19th-century English and French literature and historical fiction series. So when Broken Flower was in a box at a recent book sale fundraiser for the local library, I thought "Why not?"
Told from the perspective of seven-year-old Jordan March, we are introduced to her family—her parents, who always fight, Ian, her intelligent but odd older brother, and Grandmother Emma, the matriarch who rules with an iron fist. As the story begins, Jordan's mother discovers that her young daughter is already going through puberty. Quickly, it becomes a secret that must be kept from Grandma Emma. To no one's surprise, this sets off a chain of events where things start happening to the family.
As for my thoughts, I am relieved to learn that Kindle Unlimited has book 2 Scattered Leaves available because I am invested enough to know what happens to Jordan. The children and the adults all carried this scent of strange behaviour. Quickly, I learned that no one can exist in a V.C. Andrews novel and be 100% innocent. Not to mention the relief I felt as a reader when something awful would happen to them. Although I did, in a very odd way, like Grandma Emma in the end. Now Christopher, Jordan's dad, holy crow, talk about the evolution of a character throughout the story!!
I look forward to more crazy in the future!
Goodreads review published 08/10/24
Told from the perspective of seven-year-old Jordan March, we are introduced to her family—her parents, who always fight, Ian, her intelligent but odd older brother, and Grandmother Emma, the matriarch who rules with an iron fist. As the story begins, Jordan's mother discovers that her young daughter is already going through puberty. Quickly, it becomes a secret that must be kept from Grandma Emma. To no one's surprise, this sets off a chain of events where things start happening to the family.
As for my thoughts, I am relieved to learn that Kindle Unlimited has book 2 Scattered Leaves available because I am invested enough to know what happens to Jordan. The children and the adults all carried this scent of strange behaviour. Quickly, I learned that no one can exist in a V.C. Andrews novel and be 100% innocent. Not to mention the relief I felt as a reader when something awful would happen to them. Although I did, in a very odd way, like Grandma Emma in the end. Now Christopher, Jordan's dad, holy crow, talk about the evolution of a character throughout the story!!
I look forward to more crazy in the future!
Goodreads review published 08/10/24
July 23, 2012
THIS . IS . SICK!
V.C. Andrews had some intriguing ideas for novels when she was alive, but since the ghost writers have taken over, things have gone downhill. Some series are better than others, but this one disturbs me on a whole lot of levels!
The story starts with a SIX-year-old CHILD entering into what's called "precocious puberty." Her body begins to develop, and in subsequent chapters, we have the child's father, brother, and complete strangers talking to her about such things as masturbation and orgasms! We also have a sixteen-year-old girl trying to gift this now seven-year-old child a VIBRATOR, and said sixteen-year-old also attempts to molest this child. The mother's reaction isn't much better, because she treats the early onset of puberty as some kind of melodramatic terrible secret that this child is supposed to keep from everyone in the house. Perhaps the best demonstration of the creep factor of this novel is that when the little girl's brother uses rat poison to kill the "evil nanny", I was happy about it, because it's the most heroic and/or most logical thing anybody does in the book!
I can understand disturbing content in a novel if it is essential to developing the character or telling a compelling story. But this book strikes me as a literary train wreck whose only purpose is to "make you look." It's as if somebody wrote down every single creepy, unsettling, discomfort-inducing topic they could think of, and threw it all together into this novel!
Somewhere in here, there's a plot line or two, but I'm too creeped out to even focus on what they were.
IIIIIIICK!
V.C. Andrews had some intriguing ideas for novels when she was alive, but since the ghost writers have taken over, things have gone downhill. Some series are better than others, but this one disturbs me on a whole lot of levels!
The story starts with a SIX-year-old CHILD entering into what's called "precocious puberty." Her body begins to develop, and in subsequent chapters, we have the child's father, brother, and complete strangers talking to her about such things as masturbation and orgasms! We also have a sixteen-year-old girl trying to gift this now seven-year-old child a VIBRATOR, and said sixteen-year-old also attempts to molest this child. The mother's reaction isn't much better, because she treats the early onset of puberty as some kind of melodramatic terrible secret that this child is supposed to keep from everyone in the house. Perhaps the best demonstration of the creep factor of this novel is that when the little girl's brother uses rat poison to kill the "evil nanny", I was happy about it, because it's the most heroic and/or most logical thing anybody does in the book!
I can understand disturbing content in a novel if it is essential to developing the character or telling a compelling story. But this book strikes me as a literary train wreck whose only purpose is to "make you look." It's as if somebody wrote down every single creepy, unsettling, discomfort-inducing topic they could think of, and threw it all together into this novel!
Somewhere in here, there's a plot line or two, but I'm too creeped out to even focus on what they were.
IIIIIIICK!
January 1, 2023
I admit that Virginia Andrews books are one of my guilty pleasures. Ever since I read Flowers in the Attic when I was in my late teens I have loved them, and read every one since. Yes, there was a change after she died and the ghost writer took over but somehow I just felt I had to keep going.
This one seems in some ways to go back to the old stuff and I felt was less 'young adult' targeted than some of the others (particularly the Orphans series).
It had some dodgy moments. I didn't feel that the central character of Jordan was written as the 7 year old she was supposed to be and I don't feel that the issue of precocious puberty was dealt with as well as it could have been.
Still, a quick summer read with all the usual stock characters you would expect from 'her' books.
This one seems in some ways to go back to the old stuff and I felt was less 'young adult' targeted than some of the others (particularly the Orphans series).
It had some dodgy moments. I didn't feel that the central character of Jordan was written as the 7 year old she was supposed to be and I don't feel that the issue of precocious puberty was dealt with as well as it could have been.
Still, a quick summer read with all the usual stock characters you would expect from 'her' books.
May 16, 2009
I basically stick to reading VC Andrews like a "comfort food" for my brain. I liked her early stuff as do alot of fans I ask. I don't have a memorable moment or favorite series that's new. But, if u still want to continue, as I am, to read her to just be comforted by familarity then, by all means...Jordan March is the main character in this series and she hits puberty at a very young age. It is treated as an illness and things only get stranger from there.
September 25, 2007
I realise that when one purchases a VC Andrews, particularly one written after VC Andrews herself died, that one is opening themselves up to a certain type of work. Odds are, at some point during the book, there will be an incestuous relationship. There will be a smattering of ineffectual parents, and a domineering male. These are staples of the commercial institution that has become the Andrews estate. In the most recent books, homosexuality has also been introduced.
This book, however, adds the new character with precocious puberty, a medical condition which may or may not be linked to exposure to BGH in children. However, instead of properly handling the early sexual onset of the character, "Andrews" makes her an object of ridicule, of precocious sexuality, and makes the adults unaware of the issue. The LAST THING any girl with this condition needs is to read this book, with all the emotions and psychological trauma that are inherent in coming of age so young. I thought this was handled recklessly and poorly, and would like to register my displeasure, even within the inherently more sexual frame of "VC Andrews."
This book, however, adds the new character with precocious puberty, a medical condition which may or may not be linked to exposure to BGH in children. However, instead of properly handling the early sexual onset of the character, "Andrews" makes her an object of ridicule, of precocious sexuality, and makes the adults unaware of the issue. The LAST THING any girl with this condition needs is to read this book, with all the emotions and psychological trauma that are inherent in coming of age so young. I thought this was handled recklessly and poorly, and would like to register my displeasure, even within the inherently more sexual frame of "VC Andrews."
September 7, 2015
Hm...Wow...
HOLY SHIT....
I don't know what I said...but I DID READ THIS BOOK WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL....and I forgot what this book talked about. >,>
I didn't realize that book is very sick and dirty about six years old girl >.>
Crap...But I really like this book...
HOLY SHIT....
I don't know what I said...but I DID READ THIS BOOK WHEN I WAS IN HIGH SCHOOL....and I forgot what this book talked about. >,>
I didn't realize that book is very sick and dirty about six years old girl >.>
Crap...But I really like this book...
June 8, 2010
I haven't read a V.C. Andrew's book in years until this one. It was another sad story with so many things that go wrong that I couldn't help but enjoy. I can't wait to read the next one.
July 4, 2025
Een prachtig boek over een jonge meid die op te jonge leeftijd een vrouwen lichaam krijgt en het ontwikkelen ervan ontdekt. Familiegeheimen, tragische gebeurtenissen en onzekerheden spelen hier een grote rol in.
Zeker een boek voor iemand die van meer diepgang houd, emotioneel kan raken met een psychisch randje eraan.
Zeker een boek voor iemand die van meer diepgang houd, emotioneel kan raken met een psychisch randje eraan.
May 22, 2021
I mean, it takes a lot at this point for me to be truly disgusted by a book, but this one sure did it.
October 29, 2007
VC Andrews is my guilty pleasure reading...and I generally go back to her when I can't get into anything else for some reason. Most of the time, I love her books! This book made me come to a conclusion that I like her old stuff...she lost her story telling ability somewhere along the line I think...who knows, maybe this was just a bad book. I am going to read the second one in the series anyway, despite how much I disliked this one...hopefully that one is better.
This is her most recent series (I think actually written in 06 or something fairly recent) and I must say, she really needs to change with the times herself if she's going to write a story set in modern day...if she can't, than stick to settings back in older eras. For example, she made it seem like the family would be outlawed for the parents choosing to get a divorce. In these times?? Come'on now! Divorce is not looked at like a plague anymore. This book mostly annoyed me, the main character (who was a 6 year old girl) was impossible to relate to, and seemed like a complete moron of a child most of the time. This book also seemed to drag and lacked the usual edge of your seat excitement that VC Andrews usually provides.
This is her most recent series (I think actually written in 06 or something fairly recent) and I must say, she really needs to change with the times herself if she's going to write a story set in modern day...if she can't, than stick to settings back in older eras. For example, she made it seem like the family would be outlawed for the parents choosing to get a divorce. In these times?? Come'on now! Divorce is not looked at like a plague anymore. This book mostly annoyed me, the main character (who was a 6 year old girl) was impossible to relate to, and seemed like a complete moron of a child most of the time. This book also seemed to drag and lacked the usual edge of your seat excitement that VC Andrews usually provides.
August 9, 2012
V.C. Andrews family is too greedy. They should've never hired that perverted jerk Neidermann. The book is sick and boring... The real V.C. did write about very disturbing things, but she was never vulgar. Neidermann seems to be a closet paedo who should be imprisoned.
April 20, 2021
Decent, typical VC Andrews story... mean grandparent, loving but struggling parents who are inherently selfish. Kids who initially are behind, but soon prevail to know more than they should at their age with a healthy dose of puberty and some mild incest.
February 6, 2023
Could not finish. Subject is not handled appropriately.
July 27, 2009
I have been reading V.C Andrews for over 20 years. In fact, my first "adult" book I picked out when I was 11 years old was V.C Andrews' book Heaven, the first in the Casteel series. So, needless to say, my expectations were high, and my hopes were even higher.
Jordan March is your typical 6 year old girl, except she lives in a very large and beautiful mansion that is lorded over by her grandmother. Her mother, father, and brother, Ian, also live there along with her. Suddenly, Jordan's life turns upside down when at that young age she gets her first menstrual cycle. Her mother, in fear that her grandmother will think she is a freak, hides it from her while her father buries his head in a hole pretending it didn't happen. Her grandmother, however, soon finds out and takes over her medical treatment to help stunt the hormonal imbalance.
Shortly into the book, Jordan's mother finds out that her father has been having an affair with a woman and she calls for a divorce. Her grandmother, not having that in the slightest, goes to talk with her mother and she agrees after several veiled threats to end the divorce proceedings. During that time where her parents were supposedly patching things up, they are in a terrible car accident on their way home, finding out Jordan's brother, Ian, was molesting her.
No it doesn't get any happier.
After her parents are both taken to the hospital, her father paralyzed, her mother in a coma brain damaged, Jordan and Ian are sent back to the mansion with a nanny, who is a terrible and nasty woman further damaging poor Jordan in nightmarish ways that are reminiscent to old nun horror stories.
It still doesn't get any happier.
Ian, who I figured out to be a total sociopath, throws a hissy fit and poisons the nanny with strychnine while she sleeps therefore getting sent away to a home for the juvenile criminally insane.
That's about all I can say story wise without giving away where this book in the series ends. However, I'd like to add a few things before you think about reading this book; this book deals with child sexuality both with Jordan going through puberty and being molested by two different people, like with all of the V.C Andrews books there is no happy ending and probably never will be, and it's written by a ghost writer since the woman died, well, years ago.
I have read some critics getting in a tizzy over the child sexuality thing but a point to make here again is that all of her books have dealt with this before in some way or another. Maybe not so blatantly or so young, but it's been there. So, if you are a little faint of heart about this subject matter I don't recommend this author at all. Flowers in the Attic was a good example of this. Heads up, in the end of that particular series, Cathy marries her brother Chris and has children with him so I don't exactly see what the fuss is about here. If you can stomach that, you can stomach this.
Jordan March is your typical 6 year old girl, except she lives in a very large and beautiful mansion that is lorded over by her grandmother. Her mother, father, and brother, Ian, also live there along with her. Suddenly, Jordan's life turns upside down when at that young age she gets her first menstrual cycle. Her mother, in fear that her grandmother will think she is a freak, hides it from her while her father buries his head in a hole pretending it didn't happen. Her grandmother, however, soon finds out and takes over her medical treatment to help stunt the hormonal imbalance.
Shortly into the book, Jordan's mother finds out that her father has been having an affair with a woman and she calls for a divorce. Her grandmother, not having that in the slightest, goes to talk with her mother and she agrees after several veiled threats to end the divorce proceedings. During that time where her parents were supposedly patching things up, they are in a terrible car accident on their way home, finding out Jordan's brother, Ian, was molesting her.
No it doesn't get any happier.
After her parents are both taken to the hospital, her father paralyzed, her mother in a coma brain damaged, Jordan and Ian are sent back to the mansion with a nanny, who is a terrible and nasty woman further damaging poor Jordan in nightmarish ways that are reminiscent to old nun horror stories.
It still doesn't get any happier.
Ian, who I figured out to be a total sociopath, throws a hissy fit and poisons the nanny with strychnine while she sleeps therefore getting sent away to a home for the juvenile criminally insane.
That's about all I can say story wise without giving away where this book in the series ends. However, I'd like to add a few things before you think about reading this book; this book deals with child sexuality both with Jordan going through puberty and being molested by two different people, like with all of the V.C Andrews books there is no happy ending and probably never will be, and it's written by a ghost writer since the woman died, well, years ago.
I have read some critics getting in a tizzy over the child sexuality thing but a point to make here again is that all of her books have dealt with this before in some way or another. Maybe not so blatantly or so young, but it's been there. So, if you are a little faint of heart about this subject matter I don't recommend this author at all. Flowers in the Attic was a good example of this. Heads up, in the end of that particular series, Cathy marries her brother Chris and has children with him so I don't exactly see what the fuss is about here. If you can stomach that, you can stomach this.
April 26, 2011
Forty-seven pages in and I was confused. The poor little girl of a main character was only six years old and had gotten her first period. Her mother did the right thing by contacting a doctor to see why her daughter had early-onset puberty and what could be done about it, but then when it came time to tell Jordan's father they seemed overly concerned about not telling Jordan's grandmother. Why would her grandmother be so appalled that Jordan had some sort of hormone problem? Being sick shouldn't make you some kind of an outcast with your own family, or anyone for that matter. That's something I just couldn't wrap my head around...
Then things got a little creepy, awkward, and even more creepy. Suddenly, Grandma learns about the problem and it seems there is some mysterious connection between Jordan her her Grandmothers sister, her great-aunt Francis, which it seems we won't learn about until the second and final novel in this short series.
The plot was interesting, to say the least, and well thought-out, and the characters, even Jordan's character, had depth, feeling, and points-of-view. I think Jordan was just a little girl who wanted to have a normal life while everything around her was crumbling.
Absolutely nothing happy happened in this novel and by the end a little girl's life as she knew it was destroyed. Thankfully for V.C. Andrews, a book doesn't have to be happy for it to be good. I think most V.C. Andrews books are shelved with YA, but I found this one in the adult fiction section. I have to say, it was appropriately shelved. I wouldn't recommend this novel for anyway under sixteen.
Then things got a little creepy, awkward, and even more creepy. Suddenly, Grandma learns about the problem and it seems there is some mysterious connection between Jordan her her Grandmothers sister, her great-aunt Francis, which it seems we won't learn about until the second and final novel in this short series.
The plot was interesting, to say the least, and well thought-out, and the characters, even Jordan's character, had depth, feeling, and points-of-view. I think Jordan was just a little girl who wanted to have a normal life while everything around her was crumbling.
Absolutely nothing happy happened in this novel and by the end a little girl's life as she knew it was destroyed. Thankfully for V.C. Andrews, a book doesn't have to be happy for it to be good. I think most V.C. Andrews books are shelved with YA, but I found this one in the adult fiction section. I have to say, it was appropriately shelved. I wouldn't recommend this novel for anyway under sixteen.
November 2, 2013
Ok. So after being poked and prodded to add V.C. Andrews's stuff to my horror bibliography, I decided to see if it was really worthy or if my suspicions were correct that it really wasn't horror material .... the verdict is that it doesn't make the horror list. It's just a soap opera. Yes, there were a few pedophilic scenes that were certainly disturbing and sick, but there's a thin line between horror and just downright wrong, and this was not toeing it at all. It's just gross.....
And it wasn't even the main focus of the story. Frankly, this story has no ides what the fuck it wants to do. Is it about Jordan and her hormonal disorder? Is it about her controlling semi-abusive grandmother? Is it about Jordan's parents' marital problems? - nobody knows. It wants to be everything and nothing, and in the end we are just left with a bunch of useless whiny characters and a protagonist with less personality than a doll....
This was painful to get through. Albeit, the writing style was good but just because you write prettily doesn't mean you are good at stories.
My V.C. Andrews readers at the library told me I picked up the wrong one... that this was ghostwritten and that before I throw down the gavel I should read Flowers In The Attic....
I don't know how people sit through and enjoy this stuff.
And it wasn't even the main focus of the story. Frankly, this story has no ides what the fuck it wants to do. Is it about Jordan and her hormonal disorder? Is it about her controlling semi-abusive grandmother? Is it about Jordan's parents' marital problems? - nobody knows. It wants to be everything and nothing, and in the end we are just left with a bunch of useless whiny characters and a protagonist with less personality than a doll....
This was painful to get through. Albeit, the writing style was good but just because you write prettily doesn't mean you are good at stories.
My V.C. Andrews readers at the library told me I picked up the wrong one... that this was ghostwritten and that before I throw down the gavel I should read Flowers In The Attic....
I don't know how people sit through and enjoy this stuff.
June 22, 2012
First of all, no one likes this book.
This is probably the only young adult literature that I will ever read - I certainly could not teach it! So, I heard about these books from the UK Guardian newpaper in an article about books way better than 50 Shades of Gray. Saw them at the library (the covers are just awful), and I'm kind of enjoying this book. I can relate to it, having grown up in my grandmother's house and having also experienced "precocious puberty." Will write more when finished. No challenging vocabulary; no philosophical statements. Constant questioning the movtives of the characters, especially Ian.
I have the controversial Flowers in the Attic on reserve at the library.
After reading: Poor little Jordan was defined by her precocious puberty - that's it. She had no hobbies or interests. Spent the entire novel bewildered. She didn't even communicate her situation to her baby dolls or make-believe friends! She's nearing age 7!
What happens at the end of the book is crazy! As bad as this book was, I want to see what happens in Flowers in the Attic.
This is probably the only young adult literature that I will ever read - I certainly could not teach it! So, I heard about these books from the UK Guardian newpaper in an article about books way better than 50 Shades of Gray. Saw them at the library (the covers are just awful), and I'm kind of enjoying this book. I can relate to it, having grown up in my grandmother's house and having also experienced "precocious puberty." Will write more when finished. No challenging vocabulary; no philosophical statements. Constant questioning the movtives of the characters, especially Ian.
I have the controversial Flowers in the Attic on reserve at the library.
After reading: Poor little Jordan was defined by her precocious puberty - that's it. She had no hobbies or interests. Spent the entire novel bewildered. She didn't even communicate her situation to her baby dolls or make-believe friends! She's nearing age 7!
What happens at the end of the book is crazy! As bad as this book was, I want to see what happens in Flowers in the Attic.
October 8, 2012
Let me start off by saying I really like this book. This is the only book, where I had a love/hate relationship with most of the characters. Case in point the grandmother, at times I really disliked her, but at other times I didn't really love the character but I liked her. As for the brother he was alright but reading some of the other reviews on this book, I can understand where people thought he was just strange, I honestly would have to agree with them. The one thing I would warn you on though that this book comes on a little strong with sexuality at the beginning, but don't let that stop you from reading it though, it comes all into the big picture of things later on. So to make a long review short, my recommendation for reading this book is yes! I can't wait to start the second book!
One more thing I didn't not like the father at all, that is the only character who got on my last nerve.
One more thing I didn't not like the father at all, that is the only character who got on my last nerve.
August 21, 2014
I'm going to start out by saying I did like the book but I did not like the fact that the main character was only 6 or 7.
I understand the story is about a child going through precocious puberty and therefore she needs to be quite young but to then add the sexual element of her brother touching her (albeit for his research) and a 16 year old girl molesting her is a bit too dark for my liking. What 16 year old would do that to a 7 year old. It is sickening. I know these are supposed to be dark books and many others feature 15/16 year old girls and/or incest etc but it's easier to swallow when they're so much older. The thought that she is 7 years old just doesn't leave your mind for a second which kind of spoiled the story for me.
It is a good book though just not happy about the age of the heroine.
I understand the story is about a child going through precocious puberty and therefore she needs to be quite young but to then add the sexual element of her brother touching her (albeit for his research) and a 16 year old girl molesting her is a bit too dark for my liking. What 16 year old would do that to a 7 year old. It is sickening. I know these are supposed to be dark books and many others feature 15/16 year old girls and/or incest etc but it's easier to swallow when they're so much older. The thought that she is 7 years old just doesn't leave your mind for a second which kind of spoiled the story for me.
It is a good book though just not happy about the age of the heroine.
November 25, 2016
Haven't read VC Andrews since high school. Was looking for some trashy fluff, definitely fit the bill and was much, much better written than I remember. Maybe I'll even think about reading the Dollanger series again. Pretty identical features: Absent parents, gothic old money mansion, nefarious grandmother. Less incest (more suggestion?), so that was a less creepy direction in a good way. Not sure that I'll read the others in this series, but a good kind of book to break a reading slump.
September 24, 2010
The Broken Flower, really isn't a WOW book.I'd say it was okay. But it really wasn't as ''eye catching'' as i thought it would be.It's basically about a young girl having a strange family that doesn't seem to under stand her at all.They think she's a little weird in her own way's.
This book would totally be recommended to those who like to read book's about young teenage kid's struggling in life with a certain problem/object/person that they have to deal with to sort thing's out.
This book would totally be recommended to those who like to read book's about young teenage kid's struggling in life with a certain problem/object/person that they have to deal with to sort thing's out.
January 23, 2015
It was okay - I didn't hate it, but it wasn't the best thing I've read. There were a lot of random story lines that I didn't feel had - or will have - anything to do with the overall plot. It's the first in a series and I doubt I'll read the rest of it. A lot of the subject matter of this book really rubbed me the wrong way, simply because the main character is a little girl and she's put into some fairly awful situations.
December 12, 2010
Everything you'd expect form a Virginia Andrews novel. Incest, abuse, tragic accident involing parents and of course the mean grandmother. Seems to be back to normal after her last couple of books which have all been quiet short. I hope this is the start of what will be at least a 5 book family saga. Looking forward to reading the next one and finding out more dark family secrets.
March 28, 2011
Usually I love vc andrews since she's such a good guilty pleasure author but this book was not nearly as good as the others. I grabbed it randomly at the library so it's not a big deal but I was kinda disappointed. Granted it was written by a ghostwriter so I didnt have super high expectations anyway! I will probably read the rest in the series at some point but I can wait.
August 23, 2011
After taking a break from VC Andews books... I picked up this one about a 7 year old girl who is thrown into womanhood and the curses of it. Then her life falls downhill as things unravel. I actually enjoyed this book and read it in about 1.5 days or so. I picked up the second book to this series and will be starting it soon!
June 25, 2008
It was good just to pass some time. I'll read the second book in the series just to see what happens. This is something that I would recommend to a teenager. Can you tell I was desparate at the library?
July 29, 2011
Though this book is definitely as twisted as vintage Andrews, the subject matter is just a little too extreme. The main character is ridiculously young yet experiencing adult themes. A seven year old getting drunk just doesn't do it for me.
February 1, 2014
Precocious puberty is real, according to Wikipedia. For Jordan, it starts when she's almost seven. The treatment is extremely vague in the book, though - must be a pill or something. Ian is hella creepy.
May 9, 2017
A seemingly predictable book that is actually very unpredictable. An emotional story that does not leave aside emotion and suspense. A highly recommended book for those who want to see the hidden and hard side of everyday things.
December 20, 2017
Creepy and unsettling. The ending was a bit weak, but as there is a sequel, that makes sense.
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