The Works of V.C. Andrews

[carrier76]

I just like that she has to "defeat her pursuers." Dumb.

[ladymadonna]

Anyone reading the new "April Shadows"? I am apparently unable to walk past a new VC book at the grocery checkout without buying it.

So, I'm like, 2/3 of the way through and her dad is dead, her mom is dead, her sister is a lesbian, her uncle is a travelling magician, and she herself is an overweight naive girl who was almost raped. The only thing that doesn't fit is that that heroine is NOT ravishingly beautiful. No one is head over heels in love with her (yet), and the dude that tried to rape her isn't even related. (yet)

Do I need to spoiler this drivel? I can't even help myself. VC Andrews is my crack. I couldn't stop if I tried.

[pariswhitney]

I didn't realize the new book was out yet. I will have to buy it tomorrow!

[Deleted]

Another movie project in the works-FITA remake?


How is the new series treating the lesbian angle?

[chameleon]

So what's the verdict? Ultimate guilty pleasure worth revisiting after your teens? I'm turning 35 (full confession, yo) and am considering an Amazon birthday shipment of trashy paperbacks for myself. I vaguely recall devouringMy Sweet Audrina and the FiTA books but I never read any of the new ones.

[batmom]

I ended up rereading the FiTA series when we brought this up at the old site. It was embarrassing (I read on the bus so my trash was in plain view), but totally addictive. I can't see bothering with the new stuff. There's plenty of other trash out there that hasn't been ghostwritten.

[ladymadonna]

Ok, so I've finished April Shadows. I'm going to spoiler this, you know, in case anyone REALLY cares to read the darn thing:

So, April is the fat, ugly sister. Her older sister is a perfect jock-type who turns out to be a lesbian. April's dad dies in secret from cancer or something and her mom commits suicide, so April goes to live with her sis and her lesbian lover. The lesbian lover totally tries to rape April, so she runs away to her uncle, who is a travelling magician. The uncle turns out to be an alcoholic, who pretends that his girlfriend is alive and living with him, but she's really dead. He has a life size robot that he uses in his act and he totally sleeps with it and stuff. Eventually, the uncle drinks himself to death. April finds herself at an old farmhouse with an old lady and a deaf girl living there. The old lady begs April to live with them, which is cool because her older sis is off playing basketball in Europe or something. So, at the end of the book, April is living with the old lady and her deaf granddaughter and the deaf girls' evil mom is going to come visit and stir shit up.

Dude. I am 31 years old, WHY do I still read this crap? LOL It's like an unhealthy addiction and you KNOW I'll be there for the next book. Now I have to go read some Kierkegaard or something so I can feel smart again, lol.

[Yossarian]

The two stand-out VC moments for me both come from Petals on the Wind:

1. When Cathy gets her period* in the middle of a ballet recital and it gushes out of her in a red river all over the floor. Hah!

2. When Cathy had sex with the doctor for the first time and he kept on asking her if she had come. Her response, "Come where?"

* Was it her period or a miscarriage? I always naively thought that it was her period but back on FT I was told that it was definitely a miscarriage! Any ideas?

How did my mother let me read this stuff as a teenager?

[Deleted]

Worse-it was during an audition for a prestigious ballet school.

I think VC left it up to our interpretation, but most likely it was a miscarriage.

[susannahdean]

Hello, new to the board. I've been lurking for awhile, but this is my first reply. I think it was definitely a miscarriage. The "monster baby" that she was so afraid of. If that were me, I wouldn't be able to set foot in that place again, I'd be so embarrassed. I think POTW was my favorite of the series though. It's just so soapy and I was sort of fascinated with how slutty Cathy became.