What do you think?
Rate this book
Dollanganger #6
Christopher's Diary: Secrets of Foxworth
Jealousy, tragedy, survival, and revenge- the discovery of Christopher's diary in the ruins of Foxworth Hall brings new secrets of the Dollanganger family to light and obsesses a new generation. With Flowers in the Attic and Petals on the Wind both now major Lifetime TV events, this first new addition to the Dollanganger story in nearly thirty years is a timely look at the events in the attic- from teenage Christopher's point of view.
Christopher Dollanganger was fourteen when he and his younger siblings-Cathy and the twins, Cory and Carrie-were locked away in the attic of Foxworth Hall, prisoners of their mother's greedy inheritance scheme. For three long years he kept hope alive for the sake of the others. But the shocking truth about how their ordeal affected him was always kept hidden-until now.
Seventeen-year-old Kristin Masterwood is thrilled when her father's construction company is hired to inspect the Foxworth property for a prospective buyer. The once grand Southern mansion still sparks legends and half-truths about the four innocent Dollanganger children, even all these decades later. Foxworth holds a special fascination for Kristin, who was too young when her mother died to learn much about her distant blood tie to the notorious family.
Accompanying her dad to the forbidden territory- they find a leather-bound book, its yellowed pages filled with the neat script of Christopher Dollanganger himself. Her father grows increasingly uneasy about her reading it, but as she devours the teen's story page by page, his shattering account of temptation, heartache, courage, and betrayal overtakes Kristin's every thought. And soon her obsession with the doomed boy crosses a dangerous line...
Christopher Dollanganger was fourteen when he and his younger siblings-Cathy and the twins, Cory and Carrie-were locked away in the attic of Foxworth Hall, prisoners of their mother's greedy inheritance scheme. For three long years he kept hope alive for the sake of the others. But the shocking truth about how their ordeal affected him was always kept hidden-until now.
Seventeen-year-old Kristin Masterwood is thrilled when her father's construction company is hired to inspect the Foxworth property for a prospective buyer. The once grand Southern mansion still sparks legends and half-truths about the four innocent Dollanganger children, even all these decades later. Foxworth holds a special fascination for Kristin, who was too young when her mother died to learn much about her distant blood tie to the notorious family.
Accompanying her dad to the forbidden territory- they find a leather-bound book, its yellowed pages filled with the neat script of Christopher Dollanganger himself. Her father grows increasingly uneasy about her reading it, but as she devours the teen's story page by page, his shattering account of temptation, heartache, courage, and betrayal overtakes Kristin's every thought. And soon her obsession with the doomed boy crosses a dangerous line...
352 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published October 28, 2014
716 people are currently reading
7300 people want to read
About the author
V.C. Andrews
369 books9,002 followersBooks published under the following names - Virginia Andrews, V. Andrews, Virginia C. Andrews & V.C. Endrius. Books since her death ghost written by Andrew Neiderman, but still attributed to the V.C. Andrews name
Virginia Cleo Andrews (born Cleo Virginia Andrews) was born June 6, 1923 in Portsmouth, Virginia. The youngest child and the only daughter of William Henry Andrews, a career navy man who opened a tool-and-die business after retirement, and Lillian Lilnora Parker Andrews, a telephone operator. She spent her happy childhood years in Portsmouth, Virginia, living briefly in Rochester, New York. The Andrews family returned to Portsmouth while Virginia was in high school.
While a teenager, Virginia suffered a tragic accident, falling down the stairs at her school and incurred severe back injuries. Arthritis and a failed spinal surgical procedure forced her to spend most of her life on crutches or in a wheelchair.
Virginia excelled in school and, at fifteen, won a scholarship for writing a parody of Tennyson's Idylls of the King. She proudly earned her diploma from Woodrow Wilson High School in Portsmouth. After graduation, she nurtured her artistic talent by completing a four-year correspondence art course while living at home with her family.
After William Andrews died in the late 1960s, Virginia helped to support herself and her mother through her extremely successful career as a commercial artist, portrait painter, and fashion illustrator.
Frustrated with the lack of creative satisfaction that her work provided, Virginia sought creative release through writing, which she did in secret. In 1972, she completed her first novel, The Gods of the Green Mountain [sic], a science-fantasy story. It was never published. Between 1972 and 1979, she wrote nine novels and twenty short stories, of which only one was published. "I Slept with My Uncle on My Wedding Night", a short fiction piece, was published in a pulp confession magazine.
Promise gleamed over the horizon for Virginia when she submitted a 290,000-word novel, The Obsessed, to a publishing company. She was told that the story had potential, but needed to be trimmed and spiced up a bit. She drafted a new outline in a single night and added "unspeakable things my mother didn't want me to write about." The ninety-eight-page revision was re-titled Flowers in the Attic and she was paid a $7,500 advance. Her new-generation Gothic novel reached the bestseller lists a mere two weeks after its 1979 paperback publication by Pocket Books.
Petals on the Wind, her sequel to Flowers, was published the next year, earning Virginia a $35,000 advance. The second book remained on the New York Times bestseller list for an unbelievable nineteen weeks (Flowers also returned to the list). These first two novels alone sold over seven million copies in only two years. The third novel of the Dollanganger series, If There Be Thorns, was released in 1981, bringing Virginia a $75,000 advance. It reached No. 2 on many bestseller lists within its first two weeks.
Taking a break from the chronicles of Chris and Cathy Dollanganger, Virginia published her one, and only, stand-alone novel, My Sweet Audrina, in 1982. The book welcomed an immediate success, topping the sales figures of her previous novels. Two years later, a fourth Dollanganger novel was released, Seeds of Yesterday. According to the New York Times, Seeds was the best-selling fiction paperback novel of 1984. Also in 1984, V.C. Andrews was named "Professional Woman of the Year" by the city of Norfolk, Virginia.
Upon Andrews's death in 1986, two final novels—Garden of Shadows and Fallen Hearts—were published. These two novels are considered the last to bear the "V.C. Andrews" name and to be almost completely written by
Virginia Cleo Andrews (born Cleo Virginia Andrews) was born June 6, 1923 in Portsmouth, Virginia. The youngest child and the only daughter of William Henry Andrews, a career navy man who opened a tool-and-die business after retirement, and Lillian Lilnora Parker Andrews, a telephone operator. She spent her happy childhood years in Portsmouth, Virginia, living briefly in Rochester, New York. The Andrews family returned to Portsmouth while Virginia was in high school.
While a teenager, Virginia suffered a tragic accident, falling down the stairs at her school and incurred severe back injuries. Arthritis and a failed spinal surgical procedure forced her to spend most of her life on crutches or in a wheelchair.
Virginia excelled in school and, at fifteen, won a scholarship for writing a parody of Tennyson's Idylls of the King. She proudly earned her diploma from Woodrow Wilson High School in Portsmouth. After graduation, she nurtured her artistic talent by completing a four-year correspondence art course while living at home with her family.
After William Andrews died in the late 1960s, Virginia helped to support herself and her mother through her extremely successful career as a commercial artist, portrait painter, and fashion illustrator.
Frustrated with the lack of creative satisfaction that her work provided, Virginia sought creative release through writing, which she did in secret. In 1972, she completed her first novel, The Gods of the Green Mountain [sic], a science-fantasy story. It was never published. Between 1972 and 1979, she wrote nine novels and twenty short stories, of which only one was published. "I Slept with My Uncle on My Wedding Night", a short fiction piece, was published in a pulp confession magazine.
Promise gleamed over the horizon for Virginia when she submitted a 290,000-word novel, The Obsessed, to a publishing company. She was told that the story had potential, but needed to be trimmed and spiced up a bit. She drafted a new outline in a single night and added "unspeakable things my mother didn't want me to write about." The ninety-eight-page revision was re-titled Flowers in the Attic and she was paid a $7,500 advance. Her new-generation Gothic novel reached the bestseller lists a mere two weeks after its 1979 paperback publication by Pocket Books.
Petals on the Wind, her sequel to Flowers, was published the next year, earning Virginia a $35,000 advance. The second book remained on the New York Times bestseller list for an unbelievable nineteen weeks (Flowers also returned to the list). These first two novels alone sold over seven million copies in only two years. The third novel of the Dollanganger series, If There Be Thorns, was released in 1981, bringing Virginia a $75,000 advance. It reached No. 2 on many bestseller lists within its first two weeks.
Taking a break from the chronicles of Chris and Cathy Dollanganger, Virginia published her one, and only, stand-alone novel, My Sweet Audrina, in 1982. The book welcomed an immediate success, topping the sales figures of her previous novels. Two years later, a fourth Dollanganger novel was released, Seeds of Yesterday. According to the New York Times, Seeds was the best-selling fiction paperback novel of 1984. Also in 1984, V.C. Andrews was named "Professional Woman of the Year" by the city of Norfolk, Virginia.
Upon Andrews's death in 1986, two final novels—Garden of Shadows and Fallen Hearts—were published. These two novels are considered the last to bear the "V.C. Andrews" name and to be almost completely written by
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 450 reviews
December 31, 2014
I realize that the V.C. Andrews Enterprise has been churning out terrible books at a rapid pace for the past 30 years, but this was truly a wasted opportunity. Major spoilers ahead for this book and its awful sequel (also, you're welcome).
V.C. Andrews books are also among the only ones that compel me to write plot summaries because they're bonkers, and because they speak for themselves. Unfortunately these two are also incredibly boring, but here's what happens anyway:
I can't remember the protagonist's name, possibly Kristen? Anyway, Kristen is a present-day motherless teenager who has a good relationship with her nice father (think Twilight without the vampires, but fear not - a creepy, rich boyfriend will be with us shortly). Kristen's father has been hired by a mysterious shell entity to demolish the now infamous Foxworth Hall and rebuild it. Kristen visits the site and finds Christopher's diary in a fireproof box. She's super excited to discover whether the rumors are true about the blond Foxworth children being locked in the attic for years.
Over the next several weeks, Kristen becomes obsessed with the really boring diary (stilted recaps of Flowers in the Attic scenes from Christopher's point of view, i.e. uh oh my feelings for my sister are inappropriate, I think our mother is lying to us, I am witnessing changes to my adolescent body in a very scientific manner, etc.). Kristen becomes moody, which distresses her nice dad. Kristen also starts dating the town's handsome, rich golden boy whose name I also can't remember. He offers to read the diary out loud to her in the attic of her house, so they can experience what Christopher and Cathy were feeling.
Next book [Spoilers!]:
Kristen's boyfriend has purchased a blond wig to wear while he reads Christopher's diary out loud to her in the attic (this is probably the highlight of the series). Nothing much else happens except the boyfriend also becomes moody, and reading the diary drives them to mirror Chris's and Cathy's relationship (this may be rich coming from someone who admits to reading these books, but I really can't elaborate further because it's too awful, and by awful I mean badly written). Once they finish the diary, they track down the shrink who treated Corinne Foxworth after she went mad and who is somehow involved with the rebuilding of Foxworth Hall. Kristen gets a hunch, convinces the shrink to engage in a gross breach of doctor-patient confidentiality, and goes to return the diary to the real owner of Foxworth Hall, who is none other than
So yeah, I read that. And I just wrote this review because I can't be the only person who knows all this.
V.C. Andrews books are also among the only ones that compel me to write plot summaries because they're bonkers, and because they speak for themselves. Unfortunately these two are also incredibly boring, but here's what happens anyway:
I can't remember the protagonist's name, possibly Kristen? Anyway, Kristen is a present-day motherless teenager who has a good relationship with her nice father (think Twilight without the vampires, but fear not - a creepy, rich boyfriend will be with us shortly). Kristen's father has been hired by a mysterious shell entity to demolish the now infamous Foxworth Hall and rebuild it. Kristen visits the site and finds Christopher's diary in a fireproof box. She's super excited to discover whether the rumors are true about the blond Foxworth children being locked in the attic for years.
Over the next several weeks, Kristen becomes obsessed with the really boring diary (stilted recaps of Flowers in the Attic scenes from Christopher's point of view, i.e. uh oh my feelings for my sister are inappropriate, I think our mother is lying to us, I am witnessing changes to my adolescent body in a very scientific manner, etc.). Kristen becomes moody, which distresses her nice dad. Kristen also starts dating the town's handsome, rich golden boy whose name I also can't remember. He offers to read the diary out loud to her in the attic of her house, so they can experience what Christopher and Cathy were feeling.
Next book [Spoilers!]:
Kristen's boyfriend has purchased a blond wig to wear while he reads Christopher's diary out loud to her in the attic (this is probably the highlight of the series). Nothing much else happens except the boyfriend also becomes moody, and reading the diary drives them to mirror Chris's and Cathy's relationship (this may be rich coming from someone who admits to reading these books, but I really can't elaborate further because it's too awful, and by awful I mean badly written). Once they finish the diary, they track down the shrink who treated Corinne Foxworth after she went mad and who is somehow involved with the rebuilding of Foxworth Hall. Kristen gets a hunch, convinces the shrink to engage in a gross breach of doctor-patient confidentiality, and goes to return the diary to the real owner of Foxworth Hall, who is none other than
So yeah, I read that. And I just wrote this review because I can't be the only person who knows all this.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
March 31, 2019
Before Reading
Dear Andrew Neiderman (or whoever wrote this book),
Please don't ruin Chris. He's my favorite "Flowers In The Attic" character.
After Reading
To be honest, I did not finish this book. I made it to page 213 and I can't take it anymore. At the end of "Garden's of Shadows," the scene where they first meet the Grandmother plays out exactly as it did in "Flowers In The Attic," but you clearly weren't even trying to get the details right in this book. More importantly, you did ruin Chris. There were a few times when he seemed like Chris but most of the time he really didn't. The Kristin part started out interesting but it ended up getting really tedious and stupid. After reading "Fallen Hearts," I did not want to read the next two books in the Casteel series(the first two books were really good, although not as good as the Dollanganger series, but the third book was just okay) because they were written completely by you so I didn't think that they would be very good. I only decided to try this one because I really liked this book series, but I was worried that it would be bad and it was.
P.S. Whatever you do, please don't write a take off on my favorite book, "My Sweet Audrina".
Dear Andrew Neiderman (or whoever wrote this book),
Please don't ruin Chris. He's my favorite "Flowers In The Attic" character.
After Reading
To be honest, I did not finish this book. I made it to page 213 and I can't take it anymore. At the end of "Garden's of Shadows," the scene where they first meet the Grandmother plays out exactly as it did in "Flowers In The Attic," but you clearly weren't even trying to get the details right in this book. More importantly, you did ruin Chris. There were a few times when he seemed like Chris but most of the time he really didn't. The Kristin part started out interesting but it ended up getting really tedious and stupid. After reading "Fallen Hearts," I did not want to read the next two books in the Casteel series(the first two books were really good, although not as good as the Dollanganger series, but the third book was just okay) because they were written completely by you so I didn't think that they would be very good. I only decided to try this one because I really liked this book series, but I was worried that it would be bad and it was.
P.S. Whatever you do, please don't write a take off on my favorite book, "My Sweet Audrina".
October 7, 2020
This is part of a series that started with the popular Flowers in the Attic novel. I would say that this is a new chapter actually that tries to tie in with the original book. In this one, Kristen finds Christopher's diary at the site of the wrecked Foxworth mansion. She starts reading his thoughts about his time spent in the attic.
I have read the one star reviews that many people have for this book and I didn't think it was that bad. Of course it doesn't compare with the original and I can see why people don't like how it loosely ties in with the original book. For me that was a positive as it basically summarizes that book and I was able to visit it again without reading it again. As for the main character Kristen I liked her and her story. Once again not as good as the original but serviceable. What I liked about her story was the contrast with her situation and the characters from the original book. They both lost a parent and this book contrasts how the surviving parent handles the situation. We all know Corrine was a horrible mother and this compares with Kristen's parent. This book did have flaws. I did think at times the original characters felt off. This could be me as it has been many, many years since I read Flowers in the Attic. I also thought this could have been one book as this book just ends and it looks like the next book continues the story.
This doesn't come close to the original book. That being said, I was interested in the story and I will continue on to the next one. It reminded me of fan fiction book that was done well. I believe if you go into this book without comparing it to the original it will be a pleasant read.
I have read the one star reviews that many people have for this book and I didn't think it was that bad. Of course it doesn't compare with the original and I can see why people don't like how it loosely ties in with the original book. For me that was a positive as it basically summarizes that book and I was able to visit it again without reading it again. As for the main character Kristen I liked her and her story. Once again not as good as the original but serviceable. What I liked about her story was the contrast with her situation and the characters from the original book. They both lost a parent and this book contrasts how the surviving parent handles the situation. We all know Corrine was a horrible mother and this compares with Kristen's parent. This book did have flaws. I did think at times the original characters felt off. This could be me as it has been many, many years since I read Flowers in the Attic. I also thought this could have been one book as this book just ends and it looks like the next book continues the story.
This doesn't come close to the original book. That being said, I was interested in the story and I will continue on to the next one. It reminded me of fan fiction book that was done well. I believe if you go into this book without comparing it to the original it will be a pleasant read.
October 28, 2014
Alright, I stopped reading VC Andrews books when they all became the same character with the same scenario. I wish I could say I stopped reading VC Andrews books when they stopped being written by VC Andrews, but I clung a little longer to what I hoped would be the continuation of something good. When I realized it would not be, I had to give up.
So when I heard that Neiderman was going to create something new out of the ultimate classic, Flowers in the Attic, of course my curiosity was piqued.
The book started off confusing, like "Who the hell is this chick and what's she doing in the story that's supposed to be a parallel to FITA?" I figured it out quickly enough and sort of groaned. Oh great, a story within a story. And the diary parts? Yeah, there's nothing exactly "new" here. But still, it kept my interest because hi, I'm a VCA junkie and this is an homage to her original work. The character that discovers the diary is a lot like every other Neiderman character - beautiful and ridiculously pure and naive, often using terms like "blouse" and vocabulary that belongs in a Christian novel.
I can kind of see where this is going, and way to end on a cliffhanger - can we not do that, please? Yes, I've written some major cliffhangers before, and now I'm going to apologize for those, because they suck. I can see a few places this will go, and some of them are horrifying.
So yeah, let's pump out the sequel, please, because I'd like to get through this now.
So when I heard that Neiderman was going to create something new out of the ultimate classic, Flowers in the Attic, of course my curiosity was piqued.
The book started off confusing, like "Who the hell is this chick and what's she doing in the story that's supposed to be a parallel to FITA?" I figured it out quickly enough and sort of groaned. Oh great, a story within a story. And the diary parts? Yeah, there's nothing exactly "new" here. But still, it kept my interest because hi, I'm a VCA junkie and this is an homage to her original work. The character that discovers the diary is a lot like every other Neiderman character - beautiful and ridiculously pure and naive, often using terms like "blouse" and vocabulary that belongs in a Christian novel.
I can kind of see where this is going, and way to end on a cliffhanger - can we not do that, please? Yes, I've written some major cliffhangers before, and now I'm going to apologize for those, because they suck. I can see a few places this will go, and some of them are horrifying.
So yeah, let's pump out the sequel, please, because I'd like to get through this now.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
January 6, 2015
Firstly let me state that I LOVE the original Flowers in the Attic series. Even the books that weren't actually written by V.C. Andrews. I have even read quite a few of the other series as well that can be a bit redundant, so I know the drill as far as these books go. I was very excited about this book because I'd hoped it would provide a fresh look at a story that I know backwards and forwards because I have reread the book so many times, similar to Midnight Sun by Stephenie Meyer. I was wrong, wrong, wrong. This "book" is pretty much just a few random pages from Flowers in the Attic wrapped in a load of boring internal dialogue from a very unrealistic and very boring teenager. Took me forever to get through it and that is NOT like me at all. From the first page until the last page, I was waiting for the story to start...it never did. This is clearly a money grab designed to try to rope everyone in for a predictable 5 book series. There is very, very little new information, the modern day characters are not interesting and I think the book is an insult to true fans who really loved the original series. I know that true fans are going to read the book regardless of the reviews and I get that. Just don't get your hopes up as you will definitely be disappointed.
November 18, 2014
NOTE: My review contains spoilers. If reading this via Goodreads, they're individually marked. Elsewhere, they are not, and also there are spoilers for Flowers in the Attic, Garden of Shadows, and the forthcoming Echoes of Dollanganger and Secret Brother. Read at your own risk.
P.S. Secrets of Foxworth contains mentalism/saneism/ableism/gaslighting, and SO MUCH SEXISM. Seriously, that diary is full of it.
Well, that was pointless.
I don't say that lightly. I spent 2013 catching up on the V. C. Andrews books I hadn't read when they were first published (from Celeste onwards), and some would say that was pointless. But it eased my Fear of Missing Out - even though the books ranged from pretty good down to rather offensive, most were middling. (I didn't read the Delia trilogy, though. The books involving the French, the Forbidden series, were so negatively stereotypical that I'm too afraid to read how VCA writes about Mexicans.)
But first, some backstory. Bittersweet Dreams would've been published this year, but due to the success (apparently?) of the Flowers in the Attic telemovie in the U.S., instead comes this first instalment of "The Diaries" - Christopher's Diary: Secrets of Foxworth. (Book 2 will be Christopher's Diary: Echoes of Dollanganger. Book 3 is simply called Secret Brother, and though the narrator is not named in the summary, I have a pretty good guess who it will be.)
I was cynical about the change in publication schedule, but knew I'd read these anyway, shameless cash-grabs or otherwise. Secrets of Foxworth's cover declares, "Flowers in the Attic wasn't the whole story," which is technically true: Petals on the Wind, If There Be Thorns, and Seeds of Yesterday followed it, as well as the Olivia-narrated prequel, Garden of Shadows.
But I learned NOTHING new from Secrets of Foxworth, which renders it pointless, and the cover's declaration misleading. In an interview when Christopher's Diary was announced, ghostwriter Andrew Neiderman explained that he wanted to recapture the feeling people had whilst reading Flowers back when it was first published. And thus Secrets is narrated by Kristin Masterwood, a distant Foxworth relative, whose father's construction company will demolish what's left of Foxworth Hall (it was rebuilt after the first fire, but there was a "second fire in 2003", which isn't further explained) and build a new place. Whilst clearing out the basement, the team finds a box containing only...Christopher Dollanganger Junior's diary.
Kristin's life is the stuff of beautiful, middle-class white people with a wealthy boyfriend who doesn't pressure her into rooting. But mostly Kristin is consumed with reading the diary. Secrets ends with her agreeing to share the diary with her boyfriend, who will read it aloud to her while they're in her attic, and they can "pretend".
So with nothing going on in Kristin's life, and nothing new discovered about the Foxworths, Secrets of Foxworth is anything but. Kristin hasn't even learned the big secret from Garden of Shadows
I still plan to read Echoes of Dollanganger (to be released in late January 2015), though. Hopefully that book won't be pointless, too.
P.S. My in-progress status updates with direct quotes are on Goodreads - scroll down to "Reading Updates".
P.S. Secrets of Foxworth contains mentalism/saneism/ableism/gaslighting, and SO MUCH SEXISM. Seriously, that diary is full of it.
Well, that was pointless.
I don't say that lightly. I spent 2013 catching up on the V. C. Andrews books I hadn't read when they were first published (from Celeste onwards), and some would say that was pointless. But it eased my Fear of Missing Out - even though the books ranged from pretty good down to rather offensive, most were middling. (I didn't read the Delia trilogy, though. The books involving the French, the Forbidden series, were so negatively stereotypical that I'm too afraid to read how VCA writes about Mexicans.)
But first, some backstory. Bittersweet Dreams would've been published this year, but due to the success (apparently?) of the Flowers in the Attic telemovie in the U.S., instead comes this first instalment of "The Diaries" - Christopher's Diary: Secrets of Foxworth. (Book 2 will be Christopher's Diary: Echoes of Dollanganger. Book 3 is simply called Secret Brother, and though the narrator is not named in the summary, I have a pretty good guess who it will be.)
I was cynical about the change in publication schedule, but knew I'd read these anyway, shameless cash-grabs or otherwise. Secrets of Foxworth's cover declares, "Flowers in the Attic wasn't the whole story," which is technically true: Petals on the Wind, If There Be Thorns, and Seeds of Yesterday followed it, as well as the Olivia-narrated prequel, Garden of Shadows.
But I learned NOTHING new from Secrets of Foxworth, which renders it pointless, and the cover's declaration misleading. In an interview when Christopher's Diary was announced, ghostwriter Andrew Neiderman explained that he wanted to recapture the feeling people had whilst reading Flowers back when it was first published. And thus Secrets is narrated by Kristin Masterwood, a distant Foxworth relative, whose father's construction company will demolish what's left of Foxworth Hall (it was rebuilt after the first fire, but there was a "second fire in 2003", which isn't further explained) and build a new place. Whilst clearing out the basement, the team finds a box containing only...Christopher Dollanganger Junior's diary.
Kristin's life is the stuff of beautiful, middle-class white people with a wealthy boyfriend who doesn't pressure her into rooting. But mostly Kristin is consumed with reading the diary. Secrets ends with her agreeing to share the diary with her boyfriend, who will read it aloud to her while they're in her attic, and they can "pretend".
So with nothing going on in Kristin's life, and nothing new discovered about the Foxworths, Secrets of Foxworth is anything but. Kristin hasn't even learned the big secret from Garden of Shadows
I still plan to read Echoes of Dollanganger (to be released in late January 2015), though. Hopefully that book won't be pointless, too.
P.S. My in-progress status updates with direct quotes are on Goodreads - scroll down to "Reading Updates".
October 16, 2016
Wow. This was insanely addictive, and had fast become one of my favourite reads of VC Andrews. The end of The canon Dollanganger novels had me wondering so much; especially about Chris's mind. This book certainly answered those; and Kristin's character grew on me really fast. I noticed the similarities between her and Cathy and Chris very soon after I started reading; and was engaged throughout the plot and horrified yet excited for what was to come. Christopher's Diary has certainly stayed with me so I can't wait to see what the next one brings.
November 18, 2019
I liked the book but I bought it thinking it was mostly about christopher and it turn out to be about christopher and the person reading the book which if you don't know that going into the book could end up being a little frustrating at times.
October 28, 2014
At first glance, and for most of the book, CHRISTOPHER'S DIARY: SECRETS OF FOXWORTH felt like a retelling of FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC. The book makes no secret of this, but present-day Kristin's story was little more than background noise as I revisited the original telling of FLOWERS I knew and loved so many years ago. Kristin is a distant relative of the Foxworths who lives in the shadow - literally and figuratively - of what happened in that house. Thanks to her father's protection, she seems to be one of the few people in town not privy to every dirty little secret the walls held. Needless to say, when she finds Christopher's diary on the property she is quickly pulled into his firsthand account of his life, both before and during the time he and his siblings were imprisoned in the Foxworth attic.
As a reader of FLOWERS, I didn't learn anything about the story I hadn't before. To that end, I found the watered down version of the original (that is, the text of Christopher's diary) bland, while for most of the book, Kristin's story likewise lacked substance. The combination left me in a holding pattern as I waited for something to happen. Fortunately, something finally did. Unfortunately, it was at the nth hour. It wasn't until the last couple of pages of the book that I found myself truly intrigued, and learning more will of course require that I pick up the next book in the series. Will I? Probably, but I wish I felt more of a pull toward the sequel.
The verdict: If you haven't read FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC, I'd suggest you grab that one instead. The story deserves the depth found within the pages of its own book. If you have read FLOWERS, you might enjoy this retelling, but if you're looking for anything scandalous, you won't find it here. It's a pleasant and well-written read that neither adds to nor takes away from the Dollanganger saga, and whether because of or in spite of that fact, it's a volume belongs in the personal library of every FLOWERS fan.
Complimentary review copy provided by publisher.
As a reader of FLOWERS, I didn't learn anything about the story I hadn't before. To that end, I found the watered down version of the original (that is, the text of Christopher's diary) bland, while for most of the book, Kristin's story likewise lacked substance. The combination left me in a holding pattern as I waited for something to happen. Fortunately, something finally did. Unfortunately, it was at the nth hour. It wasn't until the last couple of pages of the book that I found myself truly intrigued, and learning more will of course require that I pick up the next book in the series. Will I? Probably, but I wish I felt more of a pull toward the sequel.
The verdict: If you haven't read FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC, I'd suggest you grab that one instead. The story deserves the depth found within the pages of its own book. If you have read FLOWERS, you might enjoy this retelling, but if you're looking for anything scandalous, you won't find it here. It's a pleasant and well-written read that neither adds to nor takes away from the Dollanganger saga, and whether because of or in spite of that fact, it's a volume belongs in the personal library of every FLOWERS fan.
Complimentary review copy provided by publisher.
October 13, 2014
Fans don't get too high of hopes. This isn't from Christopher's POV, not really. You relive the first half of Flowers In The Attic via his journal entries, and you don't really learn anything new. The main character is the girl who finds his journal in the rubble of Foxworth Hall.
To see my whole review on this novel, please go here: http://www.memyshelfandi.com/2014/10/...
To see my whole review on this novel, please go here: http://www.memyshelfandi.com/2014/10/...
November 22, 2014
I grew up loving V C Andrews books especially,the Flowers in the Attic series. I was so excited to see this one coming out about Christopher's diary and a distant relative! This book did not disappoint! it was awesome to read it through someone else eyes.
I cant wait for the next one and already have it pre ordered!
I cant wait for the next one and already have it pre ordered!
April 3, 2015
I'm not sure why I'm reading this. Yet I feel compelled to continue.
November 23, 2021
This book was a non-event all round.
I’d heard that the new FitA stories were dire, but I wrongly assumed it was because it would be the same-old-same-old, peppered with inconsistencies (which, I guess, is in character since Garden of Shadows and Flowers disagree on how old Chris Sr was when he died, so there is precedent for a ghostwriter to have no clue what they’re doing). This, on the other hand, was a case of nothing happened for nearly 90,000 words.
The premise is simple, and again, dripping in VC Andrews clichés. An old diary is found and secrets are revealed – although at this point, what else could they possibly reveal? Usually in Andrewsland a diary reveals that a set of lovers were related, however, we’re in the Flowers in the Attic canon, where it’s more surprising when they’re not.
But no secrets were revealed. Nothing happened. To the point where I’m eyeballing my ebook with concern, wondering if a bunch of chapters are missing (although the reviews below confirm that my book ends where everyone else’s does).
The lead character who finds the diary, Kristin, is kind of a non-entity. She’s one of those annoying idiotic characters who uses a lot of words to say absolutely nothing at all. She becomes all-consumed by the diary, and is late to school (twice) because of her interest in it. I think this was meant to be a big deal, like the diary had a near-supernatural fascination for her, but it came off even more clunky than the Point Horror title, The Diary (that at least was wacky fun). Instead of feeling that she was compelled to read the diary, it read more like she was too careless to set her alarm the night before, or she rudely ignored her friends to think about it. (Strong Bella Swan vibes there.)
Also, she kept comparing her modern (circa 2010?) life to the imprisoned Dollangangers. Once again, this was written as if it was a Big Deal and Very Important, but… uh, yeah, literally everyone who read Flowers did that when they read the book for the first time. We don’t need a fictional character to do that for us. Also, there’s nothing to be had from such a comparison here. “Ooh, I get to drive to the supermarket and Chris Dollanganger didn’t when he was fifteen.” Uh, yeah. We know. We read the book too. That’s a standard reaction.
The diary entries are the most interesting thing about this book, but they are far too sparse. I think the author is under the impression we will absolutely adore Kristin. I can’t speak for fandom, but I really didn’t. I couldn’t give a stuff about her. She’s your default Andrews protagonist. All you need to know is that she has boobs and a dead parent. Boom. Character done.
The diaries make me side-eye the author.
I was confused about the diary entries. I spent the first chapter trying to work out if they were actual diaries written as Chris experienced everything, or something he wrote as an adult looking back. The first entry has the vibe of a foreword, as if Chris experienced the attic, then had time to skip back and leave an all-knowing prologue (maybe inspired by Cathy’s in Flowers?). Can anyone untangle this mess? The locked box containing the diary is dated November 1960, so does that mean Chris locked his diary up in a box before leaving the attic (possibly having proofed it and written a foreword), where it survived two house fires, or did he take it with him, then, when he returned as an adult, he locked it in a box which he randomly inscribed “11/60” on, and it only survived one fire?
Also, where the hell are Bart, Cindy and Jory? I thought Cathy and Julian, and later Jory, were big deals in the ballet world, so you’d assume the gossip would have noted that not only were these people weird Foxworths but also minor celebrities? Bart is mentioned, but only vaguely, and the book seems to undo Bart’s final face turn, where he finally became emotionally and mentally healthy. Cool. Thanks. His entire painful arc is pointless, is it?
And finally, the repugnant use of “insanity is catching” is almost overwhelming in the first chapter and overall at toxic levels throughout the entire book. I’m not sure if it’s leading somewhere and mental illness really will be transmitted through the diary (which, no) or whether it was supposed to be some kind of comment on the cruel way people weaponise others’ mental health against them. If it was the latter, it failed, because Kristin doesn’t really seem to know that you can’t catch “the crazy” or know that it’s a really offensive way to think about mental illness. The original books weren’t great on mental illness either, but they were written thirty years earlier. You’d have hoped that the author might have progressed their mindset.
Basically, this was a big tangled mess that undid Bart’s journey with a few careless sentences; ignored Jory and Cindy; ignored the fame that Cathy seemed to have in the original books; and brought nothing new to the table. If you must read this, borrow it from a library or a friend. Save your money.
That said, I bought all the new books as a “treat” for myself, so I’m in for the long haul. Wish me luck.
I’d heard that the new FitA stories were dire, but I wrongly assumed it was because it would be the same-old-same-old, peppered with inconsistencies (which, I guess, is in character since Garden of Shadows and Flowers disagree on how old Chris Sr was when he died, so there is precedent for a ghostwriter to have no clue what they’re doing). This, on the other hand, was a case of nothing happened for nearly 90,000 words.
The premise is simple, and again, dripping in VC Andrews clichés. An old diary is found and secrets are revealed – although at this point, what else could they possibly reveal? Usually in Andrewsland a diary reveals that a set of lovers were related, however, we’re in the Flowers in the Attic canon, where it’s more surprising when they’re not.
But no secrets were revealed. Nothing happened. To the point where I’m eyeballing my ebook with concern, wondering if a bunch of chapters are missing (although the reviews below confirm that my book ends where everyone else’s does).
The lead character who finds the diary, Kristin, is kind of a non-entity. She’s one of those annoying idiotic characters who uses a lot of words to say absolutely nothing at all. She becomes all-consumed by the diary, and is late to school (twice) because of her interest in it. I think this was meant to be a big deal, like the diary had a near-supernatural fascination for her, but it came off even more clunky than the Point Horror title, The Diary (that at least was wacky fun). Instead of feeling that she was compelled to read the diary, it read more like she was too careless to set her alarm the night before, or she rudely ignored her friends to think about it. (Strong Bella Swan vibes there.)
Also, she kept comparing her modern (circa 2010?) life to the imprisoned Dollangangers. Once again, this was written as if it was a Big Deal and Very Important, but… uh, yeah, literally everyone who read Flowers did that when they read the book for the first time. We don’t need a fictional character to do that for us. Also, there’s nothing to be had from such a comparison here. “Ooh, I get to drive to the supermarket and Chris Dollanganger didn’t when he was fifteen.” Uh, yeah. We know. We read the book too. That’s a standard reaction.
The diary entries are the most interesting thing about this book, but they are far too sparse. I think the author is under the impression we will absolutely adore Kristin. I can’t speak for fandom, but I really didn’t. I couldn’t give a stuff about her. She’s your default Andrews protagonist. All you need to know is that she has boobs and a dead parent. Boom. Character done.
The diaries make me side-eye the author.
I was confused about the diary entries. I spent the first chapter trying to work out if they were actual diaries written as Chris experienced everything, or something he wrote as an adult looking back. The first entry has the vibe of a foreword, as if Chris experienced the attic, then had time to skip back and leave an all-knowing prologue (maybe inspired by Cathy’s in Flowers?). Can anyone untangle this mess? The locked box containing the diary is dated November 1960, so does that mean Chris locked his diary up in a box before leaving the attic (possibly having proofed it and written a foreword), where it survived two house fires, or did he take it with him, then, when he returned as an adult, he locked it in a box which he randomly inscribed “11/60” on, and it only survived one fire?
Also, where the hell are Bart, Cindy and Jory? I thought Cathy and Julian, and later Jory, were big deals in the ballet world, so you’d assume the gossip would have noted that not only were these people weird Foxworths but also minor celebrities? Bart is mentioned, but only vaguely, and the book seems to undo Bart’s final face turn, where he finally became emotionally and mentally healthy. Cool. Thanks. His entire painful arc is pointless, is it?
And finally, the repugnant use of “insanity is catching” is almost overwhelming in the first chapter and overall at toxic levels throughout the entire book. I’m not sure if it’s leading somewhere and mental illness really will be transmitted through the diary (which, no) or whether it was supposed to be some kind of comment on the cruel way people weaponise others’ mental health against them. If it was the latter, it failed, because Kristin doesn’t really seem to know that you can’t catch “the crazy” or know that it’s a really offensive way to think about mental illness. The original books weren’t great on mental illness either, but they were written thirty years earlier. You’d have hoped that the author might have progressed their mindset.
Basically, this was a big tangled mess that undid Bart’s journey with a few careless sentences; ignored Jory and Cindy; ignored the fame that Cathy seemed to have in the original books; and brought nothing new to the table. If you must read this, borrow it from a library or a friend. Save your money.
That said, I bought all the new books as a “treat” for myself, so I’m in for the long haul. Wish me luck.
July 9, 2023
I’ve always liked this author. Her books has twist and turns in them
March 18, 2017
I didn't expect this to be amazing. I wasn't surprised to feel too old to be impressed with it. I was willing to wade through lame YA angst for the promise of new insights to the beloved Flowers in the Attic of my youth. There are none. Like really. NONE. Bits of a surprise diary written by Christopher comprise many pages of this book, but they really just feel like reading condensed versions of the original book (and not written at ALL in a diary style; very much like a memoir where everything is in a distinctly past tense and nothing is current in the writer's life). Nothing is revealing from his point of view (or surprising in any way). The rest of the novel (and probably majority, page-wise) is a pretty pedestrian YA story about a teenage girl starting to date a hot guy, but she spends most of her time obsessing and overanalyzing (ad nauseum) the found diary. And by analyzing, I mean she states all the things any person reading it would think. Over and over in slightly different ways.
I trudged through the whole book hoping to at least get a payoff, but it turned out to be part of a series and didn't even reveal something exciting in the last pages as a teaser. The main character talks constantly about how her mother is distantly related to the Foxworths, and I expected to at least find out that she was more directly related than she was led to believe. I've been looking through the (bad) reviews of the other books in the series to get the spoilers to satisfy my curiosity without wasting hours upon hours of my time. It sounds like one needs to get to the last few pages of the second book before finding out anything new and shocking about the original story. Sigh. Seems like a really missed opportunity.
Reading through this did make me miss the original VC Andrews books, so I finished the last page of this and picked up Heaven, which I haven't read in decades.
I trudged through the whole book hoping to at least get a payoff, but it turned out to be part of a series and didn't even reveal something exciting in the last pages as a teaser. The main character talks constantly about how her mother is distantly related to the Foxworths, and I expected to at least find out that she was more directly related than she was led to believe. I've been looking through the (bad) reviews of the other books in the series to get the spoilers to satisfy my curiosity without wasting hours upon hours of my time. It sounds like one needs to get to the last few pages of the second book before finding out anything new and shocking about the original story. Sigh. Seems like a really missed opportunity.
Reading through this did make me miss the original VC Andrews books, so I finished the last page of this and picked up Heaven, which I haven't read in decades.
November 3, 2014
I am a confessed Dollanganger fan/obsessed/crazy(?) girl, so OF COURSE I HAD to read this.
There's almost(?) nothing new, but reading about these beloved characters again, it just melts my heart all over.
Kristin becomes so obsessed with their story that, even though I don't particularly love her character, I understand what drives her to it.
I can't wait for the next book!
There's almost(?) nothing new, but reading about these beloved characters again, it just melts my heart all over.
Kristin becomes so obsessed with their story that, even though I don't particularly love her character, I understand what drives her to it.
I can't wait for the next book!
February 11, 2015
Worst book ever! If there were a way to give it negative stars I would! I thought that at the end there would be a huge twist or revelation. that was why despite the sappy teen love story and the rehash of flowers in the attic I continued to trudge through it! The real v c Andrews would strangle the guy who is now writing under her name if she only knew how her name was being attached to crap!!
January 5, 2015
I mean...
I don't know what to say that you don't already assume about this book.
Actually, that may not pertain to younger readers, who may not know the original Foxworth series. For the adults, who, like me, read every damned V.C. Andrews book and was at least a little warped from it, you are well aware of how removed this ghost writing is from the actual V.C., and even from the series' penned right after her death, although you could still sense the differences in those...
The story involves a young girl, somehow vaguely related to the Foxworths (please explain that later, Ghost Writer) whose father is hired to tear down the ruins of the twice-burned Foxworth Hall for some new builder who has purchased the land. (I was hoping it was a relative, but they give an unrelated name as the buyer - maybe it's a ruse!) They find a diary in a metal lock box (Christopher's, obvi, hence the title)...marked with a year (1969? Maybe? I forgot.) and she starts reading.
Anyway, who the hell would've put that diary in a lock box in some random part of the basement that happened to be untouched by two fires? The grandmother? Corinne? Christopher, as he escaped? Come on.
Ok, so, as she reads his diary (and slow as shit, I might add...she reads, like, 3 paragraphs and looks at the clock and realizes hours have passed. Seriously? This is an honor student, I might add, neck and neck with another student for Valedictorian...it takes her HOURS to read 3 paragraphs? Get off it.) she becomes obsessed (but not obsessed enough to read faster) and her dad becomes concerned.
Would it have KILLED the Ghost Writer to open the old books to the pages mentioning the scenes he is rewriting, for a little bit of goddamned accuracy? No. It would not have. But he didn't. And it is obnoxious.
And Christopher paints Cathy as a super spoiled brat, that's for sure.
The book ends abruptly, so I have to wait until Feb of 2015 to hate-read the next one.
Oh, the reader's boyfriend is super perfect...so, in typical Andrews' style, I am waiting for him to die in a car accident. Perfect men never last more than a few of her novels before their cars kill 'em off. The evil ones never die, so I am kind of waiting for, like, Bart to show up, having shrugged off his new religion and gone back to being a loon.
I'd love to revisit Jory and his kids!
Anyway, read it, don't read it. It's no life-changer. But I have to read every V.C. Andrews book - I started at 8 and buy any I come across, even if I roll my eyes as I do it.
I just strongly protest the differences. Read a book, Ghost Writer! Or hire me to write this nonsense! At least the fans won't be able to circle factual errors with a red pen! (Not that I did that. I didn't! I swear!)
I don't know what to say that you don't already assume about this book.
Actually, that may not pertain to younger readers, who may not know the original Foxworth series. For the adults, who, like me, read every damned V.C. Andrews book and was at least a little warped from it, you are well aware of how removed this ghost writing is from the actual V.C., and even from the series' penned right after her death, although you could still sense the differences in those...
The story involves a young girl, somehow vaguely related to the Foxworths (please explain that later, Ghost Writer) whose father is hired to tear down the ruins of the twice-burned Foxworth Hall for some new builder who has purchased the land. (I was hoping it was a relative, but they give an unrelated name as the buyer - maybe it's a ruse!) They find a diary in a metal lock box (Christopher's, obvi, hence the title)...marked with a year (1969? Maybe? I forgot.) and she starts reading.
Anyway, who the hell would've put that diary in a lock box in some random part of the basement that happened to be untouched by two fires? The grandmother? Corinne? Christopher, as he escaped? Come on.
Ok, so, as she reads his diary (and slow as shit, I might add...she reads, like, 3 paragraphs and looks at the clock and realizes hours have passed. Seriously? This is an honor student, I might add, neck and neck with another student for Valedictorian...it takes her HOURS to read 3 paragraphs? Get off it.) she becomes obsessed (but not obsessed enough to read faster) and her dad becomes concerned.
Would it have KILLED the Ghost Writer to open the old books to the pages mentioning the scenes he is rewriting, for a little bit of goddamned accuracy? No. It would not have. But he didn't. And it is obnoxious.
And Christopher paints Cathy as a super spoiled brat, that's for sure.
The book ends abruptly, so I have to wait until Feb of 2015 to hate-read the next one.
Oh, the reader's boyfriend is super perfect...so, in typical Andrews' style, I am waiting for him to die in a car accident. Perfect men never last more than a few of her novels before their cars kill 'em off. The evil ones never die, so I am kind of waiting for, like, Bart to show up, having shrugged off his new religion and gone back to being a loon.
I'd love to revisit Jory and his kids!
Anyway, read it, don't read it. It's no life-changer. But I have to read every V.C. Andrews book - I started at 8 and buy any I come across, even if I roll my eyes as I do it.
I just strongly protest the differences. Read a book, Ghost Writer! Or hire me to write this nonsense! At least the fans won't be able to circle factual errors with a red pen! (Not that I did that. I didn't! I swear!)
November 7, 2014
I bought and read this in one day. Andrew's stories (or more precisely, those of the ghostwriter) I tend to breeze through in a just a few hours. Though I will be the first to admit that I probably need to reread this at a slower pace.
Those who think that this is a direct retelling of Flowers in the Attic will be a bit left behind. Without giving too much away, it is a story within a story: what happened after the events in "Seeds of Yesterday" to Foxworth Hall part Deux and the discovery of Christopher's Diary (hence the title).
Honestly, I did enjoy his side of the story in the first book and had always wondered what, initially, what the story would have been from the perspectives of Chris, Carrie or even Cory. I have to say that 'Andrews' doesn't disappoint in this regard. I'm really eager for the second volume to come out in February 15.
Those who think that this is a direct retelling of Flowers in the Attic will be a bit left behind. Without giving too much away, it is a story within a story: what happened after the events in "Seeds of Yesterday" to Foxworth Hall part Deux and the discovery of Christopher's Diary (hence the title).
Honestly, I did enjoy his side of the story in the first book and had always wondered what, initially, what the story would have been from the perspectives of Chris, Carrie or even Cory. I have to say that 'Andrews' doesn't disappoint in this regard. I'm really eager for the second volume to come out in February 15.
December 17, 2014
Here is an excerpt from my review: "If you're a fan of Flowers in the Attic and the subsequent books, you'll probably enjoy this new take on the story. But much of it will be familiar to you because it really is just a re-telling of what happened in the first book. There's not a whole lot of action happening in Kristin's world because she spends most of her time reading the diary. Kristin does have a boyfriend, Kane, and some nosy, gossipy friends, but that action doesn't take up a whole lot of room in the novel."
You can read the full review here: http://cookscrapcraft.blogspot.com/20...
You can read the full review here: http://cookscrapcraft.blogspot.com/20...
February 14, 2015
this book was awful...pointless and poorly written
June 28, 2015
Utterly boring trash this novel virtually was just a waste and an insult to the memory of Virginia Andrews
July 8, 2015
4.5 actually
I forgot how crazy these books were!!! Very good and also very sexual lol
I forgot how crazy these books were!!! Very good and also very sexual lol
November 11, 2014
I received a free copy of this book from GoodReads First Reads in exchange for a review. Thanks for choosing me but... this feels like I'm writing a breakup note.
I read the original Dollanganger series because my friends read it; I wasn't a fangirl but I didn't hate the series either. The original series excited me because I was able to share it with others and I was pleasantly surprised to see a return of the series.
Unfortunately, this book disappointed me with its promises of a new perspective. I've seen interviews stating that this book is more than a rehash of the original books. I call bull-turds. The journal written by Christopher does nothing more than quickly recap the original series.
This is the first book in a new series and the focus is to set up the new characters/world while forgetting to provide a plot. I felt like this book ended without beginning - it's like reading the first quarter of a book, then having to wait a year to read the second quarter. If we want to know where all this set-up is going, we have to buy the next book. And the next. This book lacks the depth and darkness of the original series, because of that lack of plot. Absolutely nothing happens except the introduction of characters and the modern day world around the Foxworth property.
Kristin Masterwood is the modern day descendant of the Foxworth/Dollanganger clan and she is the most boring girl in the world. She doesn't feel real. She's too goody-two-shoes for my tastes. I don't buy her now and I wouldn't have bought her when I was a teen.
And then, this is what happens: girl meets book, girl becomes obsessed with book, so girl finds ways to prevent herself from reading the book?
Wait, wha--??
This is a situation I'm all too familiar with so I know what happens in real life: girl meets book, girl becomes obsessed with book, girl locks herself in her bedroom and only the forces of Mother Nature Herself can pull girl out of the book until the final page is turned. Brief mourning period ensues.
But that's not Kristin. Maybe it's a bookworm thing and she's not a bookworm. Instead, she spends her time ditching her friends to hook up with a boy. I can read the next book to see how all this works out but since I have a pretty good idea... I'll probably be reading something else.
I read the original Dollanganger series because my friends read it; I wasn't a fangirl but I didn't hate the series either. The original series excited me because I was able to share it with others and I was pleasantly surprised to see a return of the series.
Unfortunately, this book disappointed me with its promises of a new perspective. I've seen interviews stating that this book is more than a rehash of the original books. I call bull-turds. The journal written by Christopher does nothing more than quickly recap the original series.
This is the first book in a new series and the focus is to set up the new characters/world while forgetting to provide a plot. I felt like this book ended without beginning - it's like reading the first quarter of a book, then having to wait a year to read the second quarter. If we want to know where all this set-up is going, we have to buy the next book. And the next. This book lacks the depth and darkness of the original series, because of that lack of plot. Absolutely nothing happens except the introduction of characters and the modern day world around the Foxworth property.
Kristin Masterwood is the modern day descendant of the Foxworth/Dollanganger clan and she is the most boring girl in the world. She doesn't feel real. She's too goody-two-shoes for my tastes. I don't buy her now and I wouldn't have bought her when I was a teen.
And then, this is what happens: girl meets book, girl becomes obsessed with book, so girl finds ways to prevent herself from reading the book?
Wait, wha--??
This is a situation I'm all too familiar with so I know what happens in real life: girl meets book, girl becomes obsessed with book, girl locks herself in her bedroom and only the forces of Mother Nature Herself can pull girl out of the book until the final page is turned. Brief mourning period ensues.
But that's not Kristin. Maybe it's a bookworm thing and she's not a bookworm. Instead, she spends her time ditching her friends to hook up with a boy. I can read the next book to see how all this works out but since I have a pretty good idea... I'll probably be reading something else.
April 15, 2016
There is a lot wrong with this book.
First of all, it's not written in chapters, which probably annoyed me more than anything else about it. It's written basically in one huge chunk. I have a really hard time stopping between chapters but this chunk was like 200pages long. I found it really irritating, but you know, that's just me.
Next, characters Kristen and Kane are not particularly likeable. They're boring stereotypes. She is stunningly gorgeous but of course she doesn't know it. She's also brilliant and full of morals. She talks like she's 30. He is wealthy beyond belief and lives in a modern day palace. He was once a player but since he has fallen desperately in love with Kristen, he has become completely pure and romantic. (Blah, gag me.)
Kristen reads the diary and loses track of time in its pages, sometimes for hours, causing her to be tired all the time and late for everything. I have a problem with this. The sections that she reads are laid out for us. We're talking about a few pages of text. Is she an incredibly slow reader? What is happening here. Her reactions to the text are also blown way out of proportion. She cries over EVERYTHING. ok, I get it, children abused and neglected by their mother makes for a sad story, but nothing in the diary is THAT sad. Her reactions were ridiculous.
The saddest thing about the book is that it offers absolutely nothing new. It's about 1/4 old flowers in the attic stuff that fans of the original already know. The rest is basically Kristen reviewing that information and asking about 50 million rhetorical questions about why things happened the way they did. So disappointing.
First of all, it's not written in chapters, which probably annoyed me more than anything else about it. It's written basically in one huge chunk. I have a really hard time stopping between chapters but this chunk was like 200pages long. I found it really irritating, but you know, that's just me.
Next, characters Kristen and Kane are not particularly likeable. They're boring stereotypes. She is stunningly gorgeous but of course she doesn't know it. She's also brilliant and full of morals. She talks like she's 30. He is wealthy beyond belief and lives in a modern day palace. He was once a player but since he has fallen desperately in love with Kristen, he has become completely pure and romantic. (Blah, gag me.)
Kristen reads the diary and loses track of time in its pages, sometimes for hours, causing her to be tired all the time and late for everything. I have a problem with this. The sections that she reads are laid out for us. We're talking about a few pages of text. Is she an incredibly slow reader? What is happening here. Her reactions to the text are also blown way out of proportion. She cries over EVERYTHING. ok, I get it, children abused and neglected by their mother makes for a sad story, but nothing in the diary is THAT sad. Her reactions were ridiculous.
The saddest thing about the book is that it offers absolutely nothing new. It's about 1/4 old flowers in the attic stuff that fans of the original already know. The rest is basically Kristen reviewing that information and asking about 50 million rhetorical questions about why things happened the way they did. So disappointing.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 30, 2022
As an avid reader and lover of V.C. Andrews novels since I found my aunt's stash of V.C. Andrews books when I was eight in 1985, I have been in love with the Dollenganger family. When I read those books that tender age, I felt like I was in the book because they were so well written and they grabbed my attention right away. When the series ended, I was very sad. When I saw the new Dollengange/Diaries books, I was so excited. Though Andrew Neiderman has been taking a lot of Non-Andrews like liberties in the last several books, I really thought I would get some of that feeling back. I was very wrong. This book was horrendous. This book had nothing new to add about the Dollenganger family, and you really never learn anything about Kristin. The book is hard to stay into and my heart was more than a little bit broken. And because I have read every V.C. Andrews book, I will have to read and complain about the next one if it's as bad as this one.
June 24, 2020
I knew the book would be bad, so in that respect I was not disappointed, however, out of curiosity and nostalgia (Flowers in the Attic was my favourite book as a kid), I just had to read it. But I was disappointed in that the book was not about a re-telling of the events in Flowers through a diary written by Christopher, as I had thought, but a lame story about a naive teenager reading the diary. And the diary entries didn't even reveal any new information about the events in Flowers in the Attic! What a pointless book. The one positive is, that even though it's a bad book, at least it was quick to read, and not a slog to get through.
January 2, 2016
It's hard to know where to start with this review. First off. I've actually read a book by the ghost writer in his own name. And it wasn't bad. Which makes it even harder to understand why he writes so badly as. Virginia Andrews?
Secondly he seems obsessed with pbreasts.
He also makes all his teenage girls such deep thinkers.
What teenagers compare losing their virginity. To crossing the Rio grande?
Neiderman should never have been allowed to mess with Flowers in the attic.
Nothing new has been learned. The character Kristen is annoying. Becoming obsessed with the diary.
Secondly he seems obsessed with pbreasts.
He also makes all his teenage girls such deep thinkers.
What teenagers compare losing their virginity. To crossing the Rio grande?
Neiderman should never have been allowed to mess with Flowers in the attic.
Nothing new has been learned. The character Kristen is annoying. Becoming obsessed with the diary.
September 3, 2018
Totally useless. It's just about this teenage girl who's a distant relative of the Dollengangers finding Christopher's diary in the rubble of Foxworth hall when her father is surveying the land for sale. We basically relive Flowers In The Attic through the diary and get some intermittent HS shenanigans in between as she gets more and more obsessed.
I sped through the last 25% because nothing had happened with this girl besides her being late for class because of her obsession. It sucked. Read the originals instead.
I sped through the last 25% because nothing had happened with this girl besides her being late for class because of her obsession. It sucked. Read the originals instead.
July 20, 2017
I read the original series of Flowers in the Attic several years ago. This seems to follow the story okay. Make sure you have the next copy available to read it doesn't really end at the first book.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 450 reviews