The Times Magazine called Petals on the Wind "an artfully twisted modern fairytale" and it's hard to disagree with that statement. Dark, shocking and spellbinding, it's a fabulous tale of forbidden love, lust, abandonment, abuse and revenge - the last one being the leading theme of this volume of Dollanganger series. I won't even try to deny it, I'm completely addicted to this insane little saga! "How young we were the day we escaped. How exuberantly alive we should have felt to be freed, at last, from such a grim, lonely and stifling place. How pitifully delighted we should have been to be riding on a bus that rumbled slowly southward. But if we felt joy, we didn't show it. We sat, all three, pale, silent, staring out the windows, very frightened by all we saw." After long years of being locked in the creepy, dark attic of a gothic Virginia mansion, Cathy, Chris and Carrie are finally free. Their freedom tastes bitter, though, as their lives have been irrevocably altered by the unspeakable cruelty and hatred with which they've been treated by their own family members. And that's not something you can just forgive and forget. Not something you can easily move away from... We meet them again as they're travelling on a Florida-bound bus, determined to start afresh some place better. Before they can get to Florida, though, Carrie falls very ill. Suffering from arsenic poisoning, she begins vomiting and eventually passes out, and the older siblings are forced to get off the bus and seek help for her. Luckily, a kind, mute maid comes to their aid, leading them to her employer, doctor Sheffield. Paul Sheffield, a lonely 40-year-old widower, takes them in and offers them shelter, education and parental guidance. His house becomes their new home and for the first time since being locked in the attic, they have a chance at a normal life. As it turns out, though, you can take the kids out of the attic, but you can't take the attic out of the kids.. All three Dollanganger kids are plagued by the attic-inspired nightmares and they are struggling to move on. Cathy is obsessed with revenge. Chris is obsessed with Cathy. And Carrie, poor little Carrie, is deformed, weak and broken inside. Can the "legacy of evil" and the long years of abuse ever be overcome? Or is there no going back after all that happened?"I was fifteen. The year was 1960, and it was November. I wanted everything, needed everything, and I was so terribly afraid I'd never in all my life find enough to make up for what I had already lost. I sat tense, ready to scream if one more bad thing happened. Like a coiled fuse attached to a time bomb, I knew that sooner or later explode and bring down all those who lived in Foxworth Hall!" Oh Cathy, you twisted little witch. How I adore thee, though you definitely give me the creeps. Cathy is such a fascinating, multi-layered character. There is so much going on in her head and heart, she is definitely an interesting and entertaining character to follow, and I'm so glad that the Dollanganger books are written from her perspective. She might not be an easy heroine to like, moreover, it's quite possible her thoughts and actions will make you very, very disturbed, but hey, let's not kid ourselves, that is precisely why we reach for Andrews' books, am I right? All the juicy and gasp worthy scenes loaded with sexual tension, all the forbidden fruits served on a deliciously Gothic platter, all the shocking abuse, incest and other taboo topics Andrews so boldly explores in her novels... We might gasp and shake our heads in pretend disgust, but we keep on reading anyway. Why? Because it's entertaining and we enjoy it! Who doesn't like a good guilty-pleasure read every now and then? Cathy is only a teenager (she is 15 at the start of Petals) but she is already striking, and she knows it. And she uses her looks to her advantage. She plays the role of seductress. And she is so good at it, it's scary! No one can resist her beauty and her various sexual encounters are testament to that. Her twisted personality does not inspire sympathy, though. She's calculating, overly dramatic and often acts very selfish. Her mood swings can be pretty tiring and she is seemingly incapable of ever taking responsibility for her own actions ("It's all mother's fault!"). Forming healthy relationships is another thing Cathy is incapable of. From her sexual relationship with Paul who is more than twice her age, to the abusive relationship with the arrogant Julian, she often finds herself in situations no 15-year-old girl should ever experience, let alone actively seek. And yet, despite her wicked ways and twisted reasoning, she is utterly bewildering. "How can I find anyone else, when you've been bred into my bones - and are part of my flesh? Your blood runs fast when mine does! Your eyes burn when mine do - don't deny it!" While Cathy hates her mother with burning passion and would give just about anything to see her suffer, Chris is a whole different story. He still loves their mother, even after all the pain and suffering she has caused them, even despite the fact that she had tried to kill them all for money, and even though she is the main reason why Cory is dead. Both Cathy and Chris are obsessed with their mother, though for completely different reasons. For Cathy it's revenge, for Chris unhealthy adoration and a bit of an Oedipus complex. One might wonder if his love and passion for Cathy does not steam - at least partly - from the fact that she is an almost mirror like reflection of their mother. The forbidden kisses and touches continue throughout the book, though Cathy seems determined to put an end to their "unnatural love" and force Chris to move on and find someone else. He's one incredibly handsome young man, though, and it's not always easy to resist the temptation. Bound together by years of suffering in isolation, these two continue to struggle with their feelings and sexual urges. "I was an instrument of yearning, filled with a ravenous desire for romantic fulfillment." Petals on The Wind is just as entertaining and disturbing as Flowers in the Attic, and I have loved every single page of it. It's a guilty-pleasure kind of read, but one that actually stays with you for quite some time after you put it down. Fast-paced and often times completely mind-blowing, it's a page-turner of a book, even if it's just a little bit (ok, a lot!) over the top at times. The writing is exceptionally compelling and quite beautiful, the descriptions evocative and seductive and the characters - even the supporting cast - fleshed out just enough to make the story believable, and, therefore, very unsettling. And guys, that ending! So satisfying and worth waiting for! I thoroughly enjoyed reading this book and am seriously dying for more!
Ésta es la segunda parte de una serie de 5 libros llamada Dollanganger. La primera, creo yo es la más popular de todas, y es Flores en el Ático. Yo, leí ése libro hace tantos años que temía no recordar detalles importantes, pero al inicio del libro como que dan una explicación global de lo importante que pasó en el primer libro y lo recordé todo (al menos lo importante) y continué perfectamente la lectura.En Flores en el Ático, conocemos la historia de Cathy, Chris, Carrie y Cory. Cuatro hermanos, que después de la repentina muerte de su padre, su madre, que había sido rechazada por su familia por haberse casado con el hermanastro de su padre, fue recibida de nueva cuenta en Foxworth Hall, la mansión de la familia. Pero sus hijos no. Sus hijos tenían que ser encerrados en el ático para que Corrine (la madre) no perdiera los millones de dólares que recibiría de herencia cuando su padre muriera. Los niños pasan mucho tiempo en ese frío (o caluroso, dependiendo de la estación del año) ático. Los pequeños no crecían de forma normal por no recibir la luz del sol o el aire, y los hermanos grandes, bueno, les tocaba hacer el papel de papás en plena adolescencia y eso los empuja a experimentar cosas que los hermanos no experimentan juntos.En Pétalos al Viento, vemos a los hermanos crecer, convertirse en adultos, y conocemos a una Cathy rencorosa y despiadada, dispuesta a todo para destruir a esa familia que le hizo tanto daño a sus hermanos. Los años la convirtieron en una mujer sumamente hermosa, capaz de tener a cualquier hombre a sus pies. Pero el pasado también la convirtió en una mujer insegura que necesita tener el amor y adoración de un hombre —o simplemente un hombre— a su lado para poder sentirse bien, poder sentirse segura, plena y feliz. Aunque ni su necesidad por un hombre y su tendencia a enamorarse lograrán interponerse entre ella y sus planes de venganza.Leí Flores en el Ático hace diez años porque mi mamá tiene una edición súper viejita, y recuerdo que me gustó muchísimo, porque fue la primera vez que leía algo tan fuerte. Tenía 20 años y no había leído ni la mitad de libros que he leído ahora, así que mi criterio no estaba aún bien planteado. Por eso, cuando vi las nuevas ediciones de la serie, quise inmediatamente leer Pétalos al viento. La pluma de V.C. Andrews es sublime, describe todo de forma elegante, clara y precisa. Me fue muy fácil imaginar las situaciones, las emociones y la escenografía mientras leía. Como escritora no tengo queja alguna. Pero el problema, ahora diez años después, es que no soy muy tolerante ante las mujeres necesitadas de afecto masculino. Simplemente, me cuesta comprender a una mujer que no puede valerse por sí misma, ni disfrutar de estar sola, o de no ver las cosas buenas de la vida por el simple hecho de no ser amada por alguien del sexo opuesto. Me enferma. Así que Cathy, la cual es la narradora de la historia, me llegó al nervio. Quise aventar el libro contra la pared cada que hacía alguna exclamación similar a "La vida me resultaba desprovista de sentido sin un hombre" (cita exacta del libro). Así que no aprobaba muchísimas de sus decisiones, muchísimas de sus formas de actuar o de pensar. Por ejemplo, el 90% de los hombres en su vida durante el libro, eran patanes que la trataban mal, pero ella, mágicamente, se enamoraba de ellos. Sé que debo pensar en el transfondo de la historia, en lo difícil que fue su infancia, en la forma en la que creció y todos sus traumas, pero simplemente no puedo aceptar una manera de pensar tan dependiente.Pero a pesar de todos esos momentos en los que giré los ojos en exasperación, el libro me atrapó desde el primer instante, y cuando me sentaba a leerlo, no podía parar. Es un drama, en toda la extensión de la palabra. Pasa algo malo y a los dos días pasaba algo mucho peor. Pero fue justamente eso lo que me impedía dejar de leer, siempre quería saber qué iba a suceder después. Así que, aunque por momentos pensaba que iba a detestar la historia, terminé dándole tres estrellas, que es la puntuación que le doy a los libros que me gustaron y disfruté, aunque no me hayan cambiado la vida.Hay un toque de intriga hasta la última página, de hecho, irónicamente, me quedé con todas las ganas del mundo de leer el siguiente libro por la forma en que éste acabó. Quiero ahora saber cómo continúa el drama. Así que... ¿lo recomendaría? ¡Claro! La verdad es que es un libro que engancha. No esperen encontrar las respuestas de la vida en él, ni un contenido filosófico. Esperen simplemente encontrar una historia atrapante y llena de conflictos. Y aunque por momentos lo haya sentido como una telenovela, la forma de escribir de V.C. Andrews rescató mucho la experiencia para mi, porque de verdad que es exquisita.
What do You think about Petals On The Wind (1990)?
Petals on the Wind is terrible, and I mean just out and out terrible. How terrible you might ask? Petals on the Wind is a slap dash put together hot mess with no real thought or effort put into it. It struck me as quite odd in the plotting and dialogue. We meet up once again with the Dresden Dolls right where we left them, heading south. Lil' sis Carrie gets sick on the bus and the other passengers are pissed at the kids because of the stink her vomit is producing. Never fear though, a nice older black lady takes sympathy on them and takes them home to her "doctor son" who helps the children and because they are just so damn charming (more like the moment he lays eyes on a 15 yr old Cathy he wants to hit that thing) he legally takes full custody of all 3 Dolls. He saves Carrie's life, mentors Chris on his way to doctordom, buys Cathy slutty see through nighties which she gladly parades around the house in now that Chris is in college and Carrie is in a boarding school. Despite 3 years 4 months and 16 days locked in a room and forced to play in the attic Chris is ready for college and ready for med school. Despite the interruption in her studies, Cathy is a self taught ballerina and good enough for an international stage. Carrie is still the same obnoxious whiney unlikeable brat who's stunted growth is a constant source of torment. Now that Cathy is a woman every man she sees instantly falls in love her and wants her. She devises a master plan of revenge, a very stupid master plan, against her mother and grandmother. Since Cathy is probably one of the most stupid female characters in history, she decides that becoming a rich and famous prima ballerina is the best revenge, how that's revenge I don't know, seems more like moving along with her life and pursuing her dreams. So after things don't work out the way she had hoped and her career as a dancer is finished she has a newer even more stupid plan. This brilliant plan is to sleep with her stepfather and have his baby and make him divorce her mother. This story is beyond stupid. If it weren't for one outrageously stupid plot point I would be done with this series. Cathy has a 7 yr old son by her first husband, her second husband is dying and pleads with her to engage in the incestuous relationship that Chris has been begging her for for years so her two sons will have a father, gross I know, he reasons that the 7 year old will forget that his true relation to Chris is as his nephew and not his son. Um.... 7 years old is pretty damn old to forget something like that. So ewwww. Andrews uses the words sensational and sensuous so much that they loose all meaning. Her characters are one dimensional and too cardboard to care about and too stupid to be believed. So why am I going to read the next book in this series of fuckery? Damned if I know, but I will.
—Hester
Okay, I know a lot of people love V.C. Andrews, and if that is you - hey, wonderful! I'm so happy you have found something to read that you enjoy! But these books? They were not for me.I can deal with the incest and awkward sexuality in these books - I can even understand the whys and wherefores of it. I've read and highly enjoyed books that had incest in them. What really bothered me, and made me throw this book against the wall, was the two-dimensional characters and lack of character development. Part of it is probably that this is the 2nd book in the series, and as such I didn't watch these characters "grow up" as it were - but then, I couldn't finish the first one, either; it's just been more recently that I attempted this one, so I can better express my difficulties. But all the same, it seems characters were either "good" or "evil" and never the twain shall meet, and I'm not just a fan of that sort of thing. I like my evil characters to have good intentions gone horribly awry. I like my good characters to struggle with their inner darkness.Another problem I had with this book was the horribly stilted and awkward dialogue - no one talks that way! Well, no one I know, anyway.So, yeah, this book wasn't for me. Like every V.C. Andrews book I have tried to read, this one ended up thrown across the room.
—Katy
You know what? I love guilty pleasure, messed up all to hell and back books as much as the next girl. Your mother locked you in an attic and now you're boning your brother? Rad. I'm in. Flowers in the Attic wasn't necessarily a good book, but it was interesting. Things happened. People died. Unfortunate sex was had. I was entertained.I just finished Petals on the Wind and the only thing I can think is: Nope. I wasted days on this and nope. Cathy has to be the single most unbearable fictional character I have ever had the misfortune of reading. And I've read three books filled with Peeta Mellark so that's saying a lot. This book isn't about her scars from being locked up in the attic or how it's really ruined her life. It's about her banging as many horrible men as possible. Which, like, okay girl, do you. But if a guy tells you that he repeatedly raped his wife until she killed herself that's probably quite literally the last person you wanna hop into bed with. You are better off nailing your brother at this point.Other than sleeping with everyone she possibly could, this entire book is just repetitions of one thing. Cathy curses her mother, stalks her through newspapers, does some ballet, acts like a total jackass, and then cries a lot. There's none of the drama and fascinating horror you feel in the first book. There's nothing but a lot of racism and constant rape and Cathy making you hate her more than you ever thought possible. By the end, I wanted to lock the bitch in an attic myself.So yeah. Just go ahead and pass this one on by.
—Cait
