Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Flowers in the Attic: 40th Anniversary Edition by V.C. Andrews

44 reviews

annalieseagain's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

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

2.0

i was so excited to read this book after hearing so many great things, but was sadly disappointed. the story drags on and on with no climax. the characters are for the most part unlikable and poorly explored, which is exceptional considering the book takes place almost exclusively in one room allowing ample time to flesh out the characters. the only exception may be the twins at times, but even then it’s just because they are sweet with one another and most of the time don’t actually add much. also, it makes no sense to my why there wouldn’t even be an attempt made to develop any of the adult characters beyond the weak trajectory of the mother!

additionally, i think the incest plot line was been a bridge too far. the book was plenty dark already and it was quite frankly disgusting and written off in a way that made it seem okay instead of sickening.

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finally, it was so blatantly attempting to set up a series in my opinion that it intentionally left too much ambiguous. the twists could be surprising at times, particularly the end bits, but to read 400+ pages to arrive at a lukewarm ending that is just baiting at a sequel… no thanks! the book i bought came with the sequel inside as well but seeing how long that is and how little i care to see what happens next, i don’t think i’ll be picking it up anytime soon. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Violence, Forced institutionalization, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, and Abandonment

thewoodlandbookshelf's review against another edition

1.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Incest, Rape, Religious bigotry, and Murder

kelseyr713's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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

3.0

2014 review: This is a bleak gut punch of a book. I was absolutely compelled to keep reading, despite a stilted writing style that was inadvertently humorous at times. Cathy is just so earnest about everything. ("Golly-lolly!") I look forward to reading the rest of the books in the series. I unfortunately went in knowing what I thought was the twist, but there was so much more to the book than that. I worried and rooted for the Dollanganger children the whole way through.

2024 review: Re-read for book club. I honestly can't believe I forgot so much of the plot of this book. All I retained was the incest (but I forgot it was non-consensual), the attic, and the scary grandma. I forgot they had a bedroom, I forgot that Cory dies, I forgot all the twists during the ending. I feel like the incest overshadows this book and its public perception SO MUCH when the actual moment is a single page. I do agree with my 2014 review that the writing is stiff/stilted, but when you consider that Cathy is writing the events years later looking back, and that she lost a lot of schooling time, it makes sense. Does a fantastic job of making you flip the pages as fast as possible while your skin is crawling.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Sexism, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Abandonment, and Classism

Moderate: Death, Incest, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit, Medical content, and Pregnancy

Incest only happens over the course of one page. Incest is non-consensual brother-sister. Mother attempts to kill her children via arsenic poisoning; succeeds in killing one.

cathy_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark sad medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Child death, Death of parent, and Murder

Minor: Rape, Suicidal thoughts, and Car accident