Since my Andrews-based book reviews are (like her/the estate's novels) generally exactly the same thing over and over again, I've just decided to save myself half the work and repost my last Andrew-based book review, with some minor alterations. You may wonder why I keep reading these novels if this is how I feel, and honestly, all I can say is that they're fast & easy, & basically mental crack for me...Pretty stereotypical for an Andrews novel:1.) Hot, poor girl (generally blonde) who doesn't think highly of herself and who constantly thinks of other people and their happiness before her own gets raped by a family member(surprisingly, in this novel the Hot Girl was *almost* raped (but not quite), and not by a family member).2.) Hot girl gets pregnant, something happens to it/it dies/it gets taken away. (Surprisingly, Hot Girl herself didn't get knocked up, though--it was her mother (apparently the original Hot Girl in the story) who got knocked up young).3.) Life sucks.4.) Girl finds prince charming (who she may be related to...you don't really know until the end of the book whether they're really related or not). Something happens to their relationship to make it complicated (i.e. another dude, secrets/lying, running away...something big & dramatic).5.) Life continues to suck. There's usually no real happy ending (this book has the closest to a happy ending that I've seen in these stories, but it's still kind of empty--there's the potential for happiness...someday, maybe).6.) Meanwhile, throughout book, there's some crazy, mean, old b*tch that is contstantly going out of their way to make Hot Girl's life terrible. But, being self-depreciating and emotionally/mentally restrained, doesn't retaliate much, if at all. 7.) All men in the story take advantage of/are mean to Hot Girl in some way, shape, or form. But, still being self-depreciating and emotionally/mentally restrained, still doesn't really retaliate.Honestly, though? Even though Andrew's novels (okay--not really Andrew's novels, since they're actually written by her estate-holders and signed in her name, or some sh*t) are basically the same, exact story over and over again (only with different names), the writing is easy and quick to read. It's good for when you need something to read but need to give your brain a rest, or if you need something to read while doing something else that requires a little more attention than the book itself, but there are moments of downtime where you need something to do/need something to keep yourself awake until the next thing happens.
I decided I wanted to read more of V.C. Andrews' books after re-reading the Flowers in the Attic series, but my library has so few of them in stock now. They have a lot of the newer books, but I read most of those in high school and wanted to get the ones I hadn't read before. This is one of those unread series, and luckily my library has 4 of the 5 books in the series. (I'm missing the second one.)Even though I hadn't read this series before and had no idea what it was about, I went into it fully expecting there to be incest, rape, or incestuous rape, since that is the forefront of all her books that I've read before. (Seriously, I want to know what kind of traumatizing childhood V.C. Andrews had.) If there are any books of hers that DON'T include those things, I would be shocked.This was poorly written and the epitome of a trashy novel but dang it, this was fun. I'm not reading V.C. Andrews books to expand my mind, I'm reading them because her plots are so ridiculously insane that the books are impossible to put down. They're definitely still a guilty pleasure of mine.As with the Flowers books, this gets 3.5 stars only because of the sheer enjoyment I had reading this, not because it deserves it.On to the third book - hopefully I won't miss too much not having the second book.
What do You think about Melody (1996)?
Melody by V. C. Andrews is very good and I am glad I read it. It is one my husband had before we were married 16 years ago and I finally got around to reading it. I am so glad I did! Melody is a 15-yr.-old girl who is part of a family with many secrets. She is a nice girl and good student, but grew up in a coal mining town and is shocked to find out family secrets after her dad dies in a mining accident and her mother drops Melody at the dad's brothers house while she goes off to try to become a model or actress. Melody moves in with her dad's relatives, which she never met, Aunt Sara, Uncle Jacob and her cousins, Cary and May, a little deaf girl. This is such a good story with all the secrets gradually coming to light and Melody realizing that her parents never told her the truth about who she is. Melody is very pretty and she learned to play the fiddle. I did not care for her mother at all and wondered how Melody turned out so well. There lots of interesting relationships and characters in this book. I loved how Cary came around to liking Melody and how he became protective of her. This is the first book of a series and I am eager to read the next two soon! If you like family stories with interesting characters, I highly recommend this one! There are lots of surprises along the way! It would make a good book club read.(Karen's review)
—Karen
I think this may have been the very first V.C. Andrews books I ever picked up. I was very young and just loved this. I wanted to become a writer because of this book and the subsequent books that followed in this series and the entire V.C. Andrews bibliography. I saved all my babysitting money so that I could buy each 5 book series at a time and spent a lot of money in my youth to buy all her books. V.C. Andrews made a huge impact on my reading ability and interests. I hope someday if I have a daughter, she will read my tattered copies of V.C. Andrews novels. As the new work is not nearly as good as this and the other series from the 90's, I think a lot of Andrews' female protagonists used to be looked up to in a way that other females could relate to. Granted, some of the situations that appear in these books aren't as liable to happen in real life, the female protagonists still find a way to make it through in the end. I will keep reading the books, in the hopes that they get better and back to the way they used to be in the days of Dawn and Ruby and even Willow, but I could see the V.C. Andrews legacy ending in the near future if better female protagonists are not created.
—Emily
melody's world is picture perfect. loving mom and father and grandparents. but like most of v.c Andrews book tragedy strikes. melody's father dies. while melody is still trying to recover from her fathers death her mother already scooped up another man. when her mother get remarried, she decides to move taking melody with her. but then when the car pulls up to a place that seemed nothing like what her mother described melody is confused. melody was not coming w/ her mother, instead she is dropped off at a relatives. the realities treat her as if . . . well just like dirt. i definitely recommend this
—Omo
