If There Be Thorns / Seeds of Yesterday (Dollanganger, #3-4)

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If There Be Thorns / Seeds of Yesterday (Dollanganger #3-4)

4.16 of 5 stars 4.16 · rating details · 417 ratings · 19 reviews

Two books in one: If There Be Thorns and Seeds of Yesterday, from V.C. Andrews's classic series that begins with Flowers in the Attic.

Paperback, 816 pages

Published June 22nd 2010 by Simon Pulse

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Feb 12, 2011 Ashley rated it 3 of 5 stars

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Dec 14, 2010 Caroline (Words & Whispers) rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of the Dollanganger series

Shelves: my-library, reviewed

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. What to say about the third book in the addictive Dollanganger series. Well, first of all, as much as I tried to ignore it, there were a TON of typos in this novel; I get that some of the typos in Bart's narrative might have been intentional, and it wasn't so much that it was illegible by any means, but eventually I got tired of seeing typos in Jory's narrative too. Moving along, another complaint was Bart's overactive imagination; I know he was schizophrenic or something, and I know he really b...more What to say about the third book in the addictive Dollanganger series. Well, first of all, as much as I tried to ignore it, there were a TON of typos in this novel; I get that some of the typos in Bart's narrative might have been intentional, and it wasn't so much that it was illegible by any means, but eventually I got tired of seeing typos in Jory's narrative too. Moving along, another complaint was Bart's overactive imagination; I know he was schizophrenic or something, and I know he really believed he was hunting tigers, not killing his childhood pet, but it got annoying that it was never clarified whether he did the terrible things Cathy and Chris believed him to have done. And also, after the first 30 pages, Andrews seemed to prove her point about the children over and over and over and over. Maybe she was trying to show us how ridiculously long Chris and Cathy ignored Bart's serious mental problems, but geez, we're not idiots, and I didn't appreciate having to hear the same old thing over and over. To complete my rant, I'll just say, the fact that their neighbor is who she is was not a surprise at all, and it was kind of annoying how the author tried to play it off as some big shocker and all. Okay, rant done. To highlight some great parts: I loved Chris's behavior toward Cathy, how he stopped acting like she was some saint. She had a bitch-slap coming for some time, and it was great to hear him give it to her. I loved when her past caught up with her; Cathy's insane past love life was ridiculous, and i was glad to see how finally someone noticed their huge, obvious web of lies. And finally, I love, love, loved the ending. How great it felt to see an end to their horrible pasts. It wasn't a great book, and it seemed like a few hundred pages were wasted on proving a point we could've gotten in a quarter of the pages used, but it definitely kept me hooked, and the ending once again left me craving more.
2.5 stars and a recommendation to fans of the series.
--
Just when I thought the Dollanganger family tree couldn't get any more twisted, Seeds of Yesterday comes around. When I realized Cathy wrote this book too, I was torn between groaning and falling asleep. I love Cathy, don't get me wrong, but jeez, it didn't seem right to give her another book, when the main focus was clearly her children, Bart and Jory. Okay, so here's where If There Be Thorns left off: Bart was a pain in the butt and went psycho, killing animals and pissing off John Amos, causing Foxworth Hall to finally burn down. Okay, so maybe it was asking too much of the author to expect Foxworth Hall to remain burned down, because this fourth book in the series opens with Cathy and Chris arriving at Foxworth Hall. That ticked me off a little; how much backtracking can you do, Andrews? Moving right along, I absolutely loved Jory in this novel; in the first he was a little too peppy for me, Bart's insanity-laced rants more my style. But in Seeds of Yesterday, he's married and, of course, pursued his mother's dream of him becoming a ballet dancer. He's married to Melodie, who was trouble, I just knew it. Bart was some sort of billionaire, though the author didn't really elaborate as to how he got his money. One of the main focuses was the conflict between Bart and Jory and CIndy, and I loved that aspect; Bart was a character who screwed everything up, in a great, interesting way. Another main focus of this novel was Bart's obsession with getting his grandmother's money, seeing as she burned to death in the book before. One thing that really, really bugged me about this book: at the end of the last book, Cathy screamed to their mother's grave that she forgave her; about five pages into this book, Cathy says how she could never forgive her. WTF? Anyways, this book was the second best in the series in my opinion. The main improvement had to be more of a shifted focus, to Bart and Jory. Their story was only slightly less disturbing than Cathy and Chris', but it was still lighter. While Bart was a man-ho, he slowly turned into my favorite character. While Jory remained static much like Chris and Cathy, Bart was constantly changing, morphing my view of him. He was evil, insane, and a genius at first; then he was a lost, child-like adult who just needed help. No matter what else was happening, you didn't really know what Bart was going to do. My final complaint: the ending was so dang happily-ever-after I wanted to scream. I got that after tragedy struck, everyone realized their mistakes and moved on with their lives. But, really, was it necessary to make Bart and Cindy sing hymns together? It just seemed like a cheesy wrap-up to a dark, despairing series. Maybe she was going for the whole Chris was an optimist, so let's end his story optimistically spin, but I was disappointed. In a non-sadistic way. (Sorry for the long review).
4 stars and a recommendation to fans of the series. I recommend the series to fans of dark tragedies. I'll admit to having cried at the end of this one, before the cheesiness set in.(less)

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Mar 13, 2013 Mika rated it 5 of 5 stars

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Feb 16, 2011 Kristine King marked it as to-read

Having trouble putting it down. I was going to read freedom first but this one grabbed me right away.

Loved it. Cant wait to read the rest. It would be hard to read this book last, being a prequel and all but i can definately see the shock value to it.

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Sep 05, 2011 Michelle Ohnesorge rated it 3 of 5 stars

So I just finished this book after starting and stopping reading it since July. For some reason her books take me forever to read. But none the less, I still read them. I think what I like about these books compared to what I normally read, is that not all obstacles are fantasy or supernatural. The things that happen in these books are just ordinary people trying to survive life. The beautiful way the author intertwines the lives of each family member shows how strong and yet week families can b...more

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Jan 04, 2012 Nora rated it 1 of 5 stars

Both were awful with the story about the brothers as little boys being the worst of the two. Too much hand-wringing and a bad soap opera feel to them without the salaciousness. Maybe I'm too old for these and have read/seen twisted stories that were done better and took less pages to tell the story.

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Jun 11, 2012 Erika rated it 4 of 5 stars

Read the entire series if you want a weird twisted story this is it

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Jul 08, 2010 Maria Cabanas rated it 3 of 5 stars

part of the series, but not as great as the 1st 2 books. still decent

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Dec 16, 2010 Sandra rated it 5 of 5 stars

This series is disturbingly addictive

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Feb 20, 2011 Laura rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: surprisingly-good

This book was horribly boring. The end.

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Sep 17, 2011 Vlares rated it 5 of 5 stars

fascinating!

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Mar 08, 2012 Jailene added it

Loved it

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Dec 20, 2012 Kristina Lenarczyk rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: own

If There Be Thorns was better than Seeds of Yesterday. Seeds of Yesterday might have been my least favourite of the four books. If There Be Thorns had each chapter written in a different perspective, which i enjoyed, but i still had a hard time getting into the story. I found there was no climax in Seeds of Yesterday, which made it very hard to keep my attention. I kept waiting for something interesting to happen, but the story was very boring. Definitely not a young adult book.

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Oct 26, 2011 Courtney rated it 5 of 5 stars

These books are amazing sequels to Flowers In The Attic, and Petals On The Wind. If you haven't read any of those 4 books, I demand you pick them up today! Beautiful story that would make one feel the pain of the 4 Dollanganger Children!

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Jul 26, 2012 Rachael rated it 4 of 5 stars

What a way to end the plight of the Dolliganger family. Not what I imagined, but riveting none the less.

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Oct 07, 2010 Shianne rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: guilty-pleasure

Finally, done! Not nearly as wonderful as the first two in the series, but okay. I honestly didn't like "Seeds of Yesterday" that much. It was practically the same story as "If There Be Thorns" except it was back to Cathy's point of view instead of the kids'.

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Feb 24, 2011 Amber rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: 5-stars, books-i-own, adventure, classics, i-read-in-2011, romance, probably-didnt-need-to-read-it-yet

I will write a full review later. This book is probably one of my favorites, actually....and it made me cry.

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Oct 06, 2012 Alissa Sik rated it 5 of 5 stars

Sooooo so good. Amazing.

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Sep 26, 2011 Shay rated it 4 of 5 stars

2 very good books!

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May 20, 2013 Millicent Lee added it

May 16, 2013 Amber rated it 5 of 5 stars

May 15, 2013 Lindsey is currently reading it

May 13, 2013 Hannah marked it as to-read

Shelves: have-it-but-haven-t-read-it-yet

May 12, 2013 Heather Rogers johnson rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: yes

May 11, 2013 Popeye marked it as to-read

May 11, 2013 Nicole Speck rated it 5 of 5 stars

May 06, 2013 Karen rated it 4 of 5 stars

May 05, 2013 Lindsey Koch rated it 5 of 5 stars

May 04, 2013 Emyemyemyem rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: amazing

May 03, 2013 Lisa Zumwalt rated it 4 of 5 stars

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About V.C. Andrews

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 An...more 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 1960's, 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 best-seller 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 best-seller 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 best-seller 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 Andrews herself.

Her novels were so successful that after her death her estate hired a ghost writer Andrew Neiderman, to write more stories to be published under her name.(less)

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If There Be Thorns / Seeds of Yesterday (Dollanganger #3-4)

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