Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Petals on the Wind by V.C. Andrews

9 reviews

morgue666's review against another edition

challenging dark tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

felt like i was in bizarro world whilst reading this when i turned to my girlfriend and said ‘at this point i would much rather cathy be with her middle aged benefactor or brother than her husband’.

i’m glad paul sheffield and julian marquet died they had to pay for their crimes.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual content

Moderate: Child abuse, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Pregnancy, and Fire/Fire injury

Minor: Child death, Miscarriage, Car accident, and Abortion

jackie_reads_314's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

This ending was a little bit of a letdown compared to its predecessor. Although more did happen in this book, I felt that it all happened too fast, and I was not able to fully hate the characters that Cathy did as well. It spanned almost a decade but there are many a time jump and honestly, it barely passes the Bechdel test. There are so many love interests, but they all feel like the same character, even though they are "vastly different"; though there is something cathartic about them being all male archetypes with little personality. I just wish Cathy thought of her plans a little more thoroughly. 
Will for sure read the rest of the original series at least. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, and Grief

madelinequinnee's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I am really enjoying this series, and cannot wait to read the next book

This was just as sad and heartbreaking as Flowers In The Attic, but perhaps even more so because it shows how difficult it is to let go of the past and trauma from childhood. 

I’m glad Cathy managed to eventually get revenge on her mother, even if it didn’t work out how she originally intended it to. 

Overall I think this was an excellent sequel to a brilliant first novel! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Abortion, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

gryd's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, and Rape

eyrechrysalis's review against another edition

dark emotional tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Car accident

Minor: Child death

favvn's review against another edition

dark reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Initially,  I thought this one was an absolute bore compared to its predecessor. Could absolutely not care any less about all of Cathy's pining for love and failure with men

(take a shot any time Cathy has sex with a man for the first time only for it to be rape! VC Andrews, what the hell?!/extend that to practically any man introduced in this series who looks at Cathy. Like was it necessay to have Paul raping his first wife as part of his "unhappy marriage story" and to have Cathy brush it all aside because "a man old enough to be my father wants me sexually"? No wonder the coquette side of the internet enjoys these books)

and the ballet parts were the only decent thing I enjoyed. Like, I really thought the beginning with Paul would've been darker than it was

(like, for example, Cathy would have been limited to housework and sewing for a man who clearly saw her sexually rather than fatherly instead of ballet classes and whatnot)

and Andrews just saved it all for the melodrama of a forbidden age gap romance as she rebuked her brother's advances again and again.

But oh. The revenge plot. So absolutely unhinged. Cathy, you sadistic maladjusted freak. Please get therapy now that you've had revenge 🩷 And the ending chapter with Cathy describing a quiet and content life with Chris and her two sons from a previous marriage and affair, only to end it with her wondering when two twin size beds "long enough for two small boys to grow into men" appeared in the attic and buying a picnic basket like the one the grandmother used? Chilling. The cycle continues, even without the lure of wealth and a sprawling mansion.

Also, this being a VC Andrews book there's probably more content warnings that I'm forgetting. Just consider the melodrama of classic flicks like A Summer Place or Peyton Place but toss in social taboos beyond premarital sex or infidelity and you get this book.

And as another aside since the content warnings don't include "racial stereotypes" as an option, my idiot niave self had hoped the inclusion of a black woman wouldn't have gone into the Magical Negro Trope and The Mammy Stereotype but. Henny is there to be a plot device caricature. The only black character in this series so far. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Physical abuse, Rape, Suicide, and Injury/Injury detail

ellilo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I loved „Flowers in the Attic“ and finished it in a week. I was really exited to read this sequel, but at first it really took me some time to get into it. The first half felt kind of slow-paced, but it really took off and got more eventful in the end. 
I do have to say, some of the time jumps felt really weird, like some events were so detailed and then we jumped to three years later in just two sentences. That was quite weird to adapt to, as well as some of the events just felt odd, like

death after death just was unrealistic for me, and how cathy and her mother finally met also didn’t live up to my expectations

I felt like i was reading a wattpad book, just too many shocking and sad events squeezed into the book. 
Still, i think the writing was really good, even though i’m not a fan of the ending and always wished i could go into this book and shake cathy and tell her to stop acting out, i kind of liked the book in a weird way. Definitely made me think and sometimes my jaw hit the floor, it was quite graphic sometimes. So i guess i would recommed it, if you wanna know what happens to Cathy and the others, but i wouldn’t read it again.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Death, Domestic abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, Grief, Suicide attempt, and Fire/Fire injury

Moderate: Abortion

violetturtledove's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Ok, what to say about this one... The story is a good continuation of the first book, everything that happens makes sense and the writing is still engaging, but it's a completely different sort of story.
It focuses mostly on Cathy's relationship drama and there is a LOT of that, since apparently everyone finds her irresistible from the age of 15... I found the examples of 'romantic' relationships here way more troubling than any of the stuff in the first book! It's only really in the very end of the book that we get any of the darkness of the first book though.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Misogyny, Physical abuse, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicide, and Fire/Fire injury

dontforgetthelights's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Infertility, Infidelity, Mental illness, Miscarriage, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Torture, Toxic relationship, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Religious bigotry, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Toxic friendship, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail