Wednesday, April 1, 2009

Petals on the Wind by V.C. Andrews


Petals on the Wind by V.C. Andrews
Genre: Horror
Published: 1980
Paperback: 439 pages
Rating: 4 (2nd reading)

Inspiration: VCA Challenge

Description from publisher's site:
For Carrie, Chris and Cathy the attic was a dark horror that would not leave their minds. Of course mother had to pretend they didn't exist and grandmother was convinced they had the devil in them.

But that wasn't their fault. Was it?

Cathy knew what to do. She knew it was time to show her mother and grandmother that the pain and terror of the attic could not be forgotten...Show them. Show them -- once and for all.

My thoughts:
In-a-word: Revenge

Golly-lolly! I was tickled to see this expression used a couple times in the story. It's such an archaic one to me. So, I didn't like this reading as much as I did the first time around. I was going to say that this book was my favorite of the series, but I think I'm going to hold back and wait until I finish with the series to say which book is best.

Lots of crazy love happening. Cathy and Chris? Cathy and Paul? Cathy and Julian? Cathy and Bart? Cathy and Chris again? Cathy should be dubbed the "Black Widow" with her trail of dead husbands. So sad that she just couldn't forgive and forget her Momma's doings. However, I did like how Cathy came into her own and managed to get her revenge although bittersweet it was.

Funny incident: One day I was sitting on the grass at a park reading this book during my lunch break. Nearby was a group of people having a picnic as well. I overheard one of the gals talking about how she read Flowers in the Attic and her experience with the horror of the story. I thought it was so amusing that spotting my book sparked a V.C. Andrews conversation.

Dollanganger series:
Flowers in the Attic (movie review)
Petals on the Wind
If There Be Thorns
Seeds of Yesterday
Garden of Shadows

I was looking for a picture of Cathy behind the keyhole book cover and came across this cool collage creation by Sara.
 
Imagination Designs
Images from: Lovelytocu