Flowers in the Attic and Petals in the Wind

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britt1125
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Flowers in the Attic and Petals in the Wind

Post by britt1125 »

I currently read Flowers in the Attic after seeing the new version of the film. I was wondering why the two movies where so different. In the first movie they make the mother look like the real problem but in the new one the grandmother was worse. Well in reading the book I discovered a whole new world that the movie creators couldn't dream to reach.

The story is so much different than the movie makes it appear. The title is the first thing discussed in the book. The author writes in first point of view from Cathy's perspective. Witch gives the book a whole new feel from the start. The book is much more descriptive than the movie. V.C. Andrews dose an amazing job pulling you in to the story, so while your reading, you feel like your in the attic experiencing life's sorrows right along with the children of the novel. Its truly an amazing experience.

After reading the fist novel I couldn't stop myself from asking, "What happened to the Dresden dolls?". So as I started out into the world with the kids that I spent hours in the attic with. I discover many things about life and raising children. As a mother of three I am very concerned about what my children learn and see as they are growing. Many things in a person's life can be corrupted by their child hood experiences.

In Petals in the Wind you watch the three children that are left grow up, discover what life is about, and learn that some of what they thought was bad, isn't and some of what they thought was okay, is not. Cathy tells the story of her young adult hood to her adult hood. Always trying her best to do the right thing but never giving up on her hopes to seek revenge on her mother and grandmother for the years they spent in solitude. In the end you see the twist of events and the corruptness of her family as her mother try's to explain what happened when they where children.

The series goes on but changes in view to tell the story of Cathy's children and what they experience with their Parents growing up, because what happens when your a child effects how you are as a parent.

Its an exciting journey. I would recommend these books to anyone who enjoys and interesting read or a book they wont be able to put down.
But I would strongly recommend these books to anyone who thought they liked the movie, because what "Hollywood" didn't tell you, is the best part.
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gali
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Post by gali »

Thank you for your review. :)

I have read those books in my childhood and liked them (especially the first 2 books in the series). As an adult and as a mother I find them ghastly and I can't understand how I was able to read them. My daughter has read the first book and didn't like it. She was shocked by it in fact. I wouldn't recommend those books, especially not to young adults. The writing is very good, but the theme is gross to put it gently. The series deteriorates in my view from book to book. I didn't read the last books in the series.
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Post by CONSTARA »

I've read and enjoyed both books in this series, it scared the stuffing out of me. I was a bit saddened by the endings of both books and see where we truly do pass down our evils to our children and our children's, children.. Likening this type of abuse to the repetition you see in child abuse being a trait passed on to our children and then onward. It's a sad spiral!
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jacksparly
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Post by jacksparly »

Flowers seem to be very beautiful and fills colour in life when seen regularly...Flowers in the Attic is a nice book nice and interesting...
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Post by gali »

jacksparly wrote:Flowers seem to be very beautiful and fills colour in life when seen regularly...Flowers in the Attic is a nice book nice and interesting...
Nice isn't the word I would choose for describing the book. :wink:
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Post by CONSTARA »

jacksparly wrote:Flowers seem to be very beautiful and fills colour in life when seen regularly...Flowers in the Attic is a nice book nice and interesting...
You obviously haven't read these books, must have your titles wrong. This is an eerily scary series, to think that even in this century, something like this could possibly happen. The day to day suffering of children, slow poisoning of the ones you are sworn to protect is ghastly. The titles are not indicative of the story line, in fact, they are the reverse! It was a very good read and had a profound affect on my thinking processes. Nothing beautiful or colorful here!
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Post by wienerwithears1 »

I have the series in paperback from quite a few years ago. I enjoyed the books. Of course the whole story is awful but the truth is money can make people do horrible things even mothers. I didn't see the new movie version of it but just in the preview of it I saw that it was not like the book. I don't understand it, you want to make a movie out of it but lets change it some???
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Post by SaraTejani »

"There is no hate such as that born out of love betrayed"

Almost comparable to a classic Freudian family romance, Flowers in the Attic captured my attention more than almost any other novel I read in my teenage years. I'm not sure whether it was the complexity of the issues presented by Andrews, or simply the fact that the entire story was one taboo topic after another, but the subtleties that V. C. Andrews used to relay this tale, which captured everything from teen angst to serious family dysfunction, drew me in.

I applaud the vivid imagery, the tugging at my sympathy strings, the twisted relationships (which are drawn on even more in the prequel Garden of Shadows) and ultimately the evidence of Andrews literary influences - I'm assuming the Brontë sisters, with the emotional dramatism of Wuthering Heights, and the Jane Eyre-esque themes of abandonment and immoral seduction.

As a fictional novel, it’s bloody brilliant.
If the rumours are true that it parallels Andrew’s real life, then I'm more than a little horrified.
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Post by Purplehifigirl »

:D I am with most of you. I read these books in my late teens and was sucked in by the ever changing plot. Today as a mature woman I could not re-read them as I found them deeply troubling.
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Post by claire mckay »

I read these books when I was a teenager (long time ago!) and remember being so scared by them and still remember them vividly which I cant' say for many other books. Really spooky stories and am tempted to go read them again and see if they are still as impressive as a grown woman and mother.
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Post by AnnieDoll »

Just this morning, I finished 'Seeds of Yesterday'. This series has been so sad, and depressing, but in a way that you can't walk away.

I wish I was a teenager when these came out. I can only imagine the reaction back then. I feel my generation (I'm 26) is so desensitized, that our reaction isn't nearly as captivated as the original audience.
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Post by W-Harbinger »

AnnieDoll wrote:I feel my generation (I'm 26) is so desensitized, that our reaction isn't nearly as captivated as the original audience.
I have to agree with this statement. Nowadays, the content in V.C Andrews books aren't as horrific to me as they once were and I find that extremely disheartening.
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Post by S dot Lennon »

I just read an article about how so many young women had read the book when teenagers and as adults couldn't understand why they enjoyed. As a matter of fact most detested the books. I tried reading them when I was a pre-teen after they were recommended it to me and I couldn't get through them. Now I am glad I never fell in to the hype. It now seems like they could have been really disturbing.
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Post by rae_lewis »

I'm a teenager and Flowers In The Attic exposed me to a life style I had been sheltered from (not necessarily for bad reason) and it taught me a lot about how unfair some lives can be. Finding out that this was based on a true story made me feel uncomfortable, as did a lot of the events that happened in the attic, but I think reading this book was a good experience as it is definitely different to anything else I usually read.
As for the film, I haven't seen the whole thing but I didn't think that it was as good as the book, although I'm only judging it by the parts I've seen.
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Post by cheshiregator »

I read the first two in the series as a teenager and honestly still like them both, despite the "horror" of them. However, I recently read Seeds of Yesterday and barely got through parts of it...it won't be a reread for me and I doubt I'll bother with Garden of Shadows. But overall, it's not a series that I'd consign to a book burning. The problem with the evils in these two books, as opposed to something in, for example, Stephen King, is that these are actually possible in reality, and that is what makes them so creepy.
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