I have reviewed a few books by V.C. Andrews (Andrew Neiderman) and I have pretty much hated every single one. Most people just stumbling across my blog and those reviews would have no idea why I keep reading books by this author when it seems like I hate them all. The truth is, I LOVE all of the books written by V.C. Andrews herself and I love most by Andrew Neiderman. I do not like the newer books that Neiderman has been releasing because they’re cheap garbage that rips off all the original books. They seriously lack creativity.

If you’re not familiar with V.C. Andrews I’ll give you a quick back story. Her first book and the one I’m reviewing today, Flowers in the Attic, was released in 1979. She wrote four more books in the Flowers in the Attic series, two books in another series, Heaven and Dark Angel, and one stand alone book, My Sweet Audrina. She passed away in 1986 and her family hired a ghostwriter, Andrew Neiderman, to finish manuscripts that Andrews had started. Neiderman has went on to write around EIGHTY books in Andrews name. A lot of these books are perfect and capture Andrews’ “voice” to a tee, others not so much. Yes, I have read almost all of them, lol. Anyways, I’m going to start reviewing the books that are nearest and dearest to my heart, starting with this series.

This review will have spoilers.

Synopsis

Such wonderful children. Such a beautiful mother. Such a lovely house. Such endless terror!

It wasn’t that she didn’t love her children. She did. But there was a fortune at stake–a fortune that would assure their later happiness if she could keep the children a secret from her dying father.

So she and her mother hid her darlings away in an unused attic.

Just for a little while.

But the brutal days swelled into agonizing years. Now Cathy, Chris, and the twins wait in their cramped and helpless world, stirred by adult dreams, adult desires, served a meager sustenance by an angry, superstitious grandmother who knows that the Devil works in dark and devious ways. Sometimes he sends children to do his work–children who–one by one–must be destroyed….

Way upstairs there are
four secrets hidden.
Blond, beautiful, innocent
struggling to stay alive….

My Thoughts

I often see this book in the horror section and I disagree with that. This book is gothic literature filled with drama and tragedy. Yes, it is filled with some horrific moments but it’s not really a horror story. I feel most people have at least heard about this book even if they haven’t read it themselves so let’s go ahead and address the main topic of discussion revolving around it.

The incest. Yes, this book does contain incest (almost every book by Andrew/Neiderman does). The two oldest siblings, Chris and Cathy, do end up having sex. I know that makes most people recoil and I mean, it is icky BUT in this story it makes sense. You have to keep in mind Chris and Cathy have been locked up in an attic throughout their early years of puberty. They have been neglected, abused and starved. They have had to take on raising their two younger siblings, Carrie and Cory. The psychological trauma would be immense. This book isn’t meant to romanticize incest. A love story between brother and sister isn’t romantic, it’s just sad.

There is so much more to this book than the incest and I kind of hate that that is what it’s known for. The children’s mother, Corrine, is such an interesting character. She’s beautiful and charming but she turns on the kids that she seemed to love so much. It’s revealed that she’s really just a spoiled and greedy woman that wants to start her life over. I honestly wish there was a prequel that told more about Corrine because she does seem to be such a complex character.

This simple review can’t scratch the surface of a book as big as Flowers in the Attic. I highly recommend you go read it. The later books can’t even compare to the early ones so if you’ve read them and didn’t like them, try these. I’ll be reviewing the next book in the series, Petals on the Wind, next week. Have you read this book or any of the others by Andrews? What is your opinion on them? Thanks for reading and have a great day!