With nowhere to go, no one to help her, Leigh fled into the arms of Luke Casteel! Leigh Van Voreen had to escape from Boston's Farthinggale Manor. ...
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Sep 22, 2011
Berry
rated it: 
Angel was my first novel by V.C Andrews, and it is told in the style of journal entries, which I later came to learn was an unusual choice for Andrews’s typical modus operandi (and even more belatedly realized this was due to being written by her new ghostwriter after her death). While I fully agree V.C Andrews has many writing issues, her books nonetheless contain something compellingly twisted about them, a sort of gothic purity that make them stay in your mind.
Angel is the recounted More...
Angel is the recounted More...
May 25, 2011
Anastacia
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Dec 30, 2009
Carrie
rated it: 
Web of Dreams is the prequel and final book in the Casteel series. It opens on Annie and Luke returning to Farthinggale Manor for Troy Tatterton’s funeral. While poking around, Annie finds a diary that belonged to her grandmother, Leigh, and begins to read it. The rest of the book is written in Leigh’s voice (minus the epilogue). When the story begins, Leigh is celebrating her 12th birthday with her mother Jillian and her father Cleave. Jillian is supposed to be a children’s book illustrator
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Feb 02, 2009
Wow! This book was so bad, it was great! I just can't believe anyone would be as stupid as Leigh and her mom were. No way, Jose. (Although I guess you don't read V.C. Andrews for its realism!)
"My stepfather wants to paint nude pictures of me and makes inappropriate remarks. Is that normal?" "Yes, Leigh. He's an artist. And artists have to paint nude people. Particularly my 14-year-old daughter."
Ugh. I think Leigh should have taken karate lessons. More...
"My stepfather wants to paint nude pictures of me and makes inappropriate remarks. Is that normal?" "Yes, Leigh. He's an artist. And artists have to paint nude people. Particularly my 14-year-old daughter."
Ugh. I think Leigh should have taken karate lessons. More...
Jan 29, 2012
Sherry
rated it:
This certainly doesn't hold it's own with classic literature but it was almost 500 pages & good to hammer in lots of verbs & nouns. For pulp writing though I must say that V.C. Andrews was quite admirable. The story is a retelling of *Lolita* but with many twists. Our nymphette Leigh although maybe slightly curious & flattered by her stepfather's attentions, is not seduced, but raped by him, which I think makes quite a powerful & accurate statement about the nature of the Humberts & Lolitas in t
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Dec 04, 2011
Michelle
rated it:
Ahhh, two years after rereading the first book in the Casteel series, I have finally read the fifth and final. And, you guy, soooo much better than the fourth book, which I only gave one sad star. While our fourth book gave us Annoying Annie, Heaven's daughter, the fifth one showed us where all of the sick secrets ("the evil Casteel curse") began with Leigh, Heaven's mother.
The book starts out with Annie and (not actually her brother/cousin) Luke at Farthinggale, there to b More...
The book starts out with Annie and (not actually her brother/cousin) Luke at Farthinggale, there to b More...
Feb 10, 2011
Victoria
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Mar 26, 2010
Pikachu
rated it: 
1/5 for being pure. trash.
it starts with the old diary in the attic trick and finishes in a no-less contrived manner. i found the writing and the characters' reactions to be very wooden and unrealistic. despite all the terrible things that happened to leigh, she NEVER did anything about it! and no, i'm not blaming the victim here; she barely had a reaction at all!
also, something about other v.c. andrews books i noticed: they all seem to share a very similar theme. aside f More...
it starts with the old diary in the attic trick and finishes in a no-less contrived manner. i found the writing and the characters' reactions to be very wooden and unrealistic. despite all the terrible things that happened to leigh, she NEVER did anything about it! and no, i'm not blaming the victim here; she barely had a reaction at all!
also, something about other v.c. andrews books i noticed: they all seem to share a very similar theme. aside f More...
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Sep 01, 2009
Kim
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Sep 29, 2011
Connie
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I WAS SO MAD WHEN I DISCOVERED JUST HOW SELFCENTERD JILLIAN REALLY WAS. I FELT SO SHOCKED WHEN I READ THAT LEIGH WAS NOT CLEAVES REAL DAUGHTER. HOW THE CINDERELLA STORY THAT JILLIAN INVENTED WAS NOTHING MORE THAN WISHFULL THINKING ON JILLIANS BEHALF. WHAT I WISH WOULD HAVE HAPPEN IS FOR THERE TO BE A BOOK EXPLAINING WHY JILLIAN WAS SO HELL BENT ON BEING SO MUCH IN LOVE WITH HERSELF.
Mar 27, 2011
Bridget
rated it:
This was set up to be the prequel to the Casteel series in the form of a found diary... ironically laying in a drawer untouched in the dastardly Farthinggale Manor for many a year.
Le sigh. I adore V.C. Andrews but these series always run out of steam around book 3/4 (as evidenced by my desultory reviews) and then the ghostwriter tries to tie it all up together again in the prequel book, explaining how everything was set into motion. The trouble is... by the time we've arrived at the pr More...
Le sigh. I adore V.C. Andrews but these series always run out of steam around book 3/4 (as evidenced by my desultory reviews) and then the ghostwriter tries to tie it all up together again in the prequel book, explaining how everything was set into motion. The trouble is... by the time we've arrived at the pr More...
Oct 28, 2010
Libby
rated it:
One of those quick, easy reads. The storyline is completely unbelievable, and toward the end it became a bit annoying. If I was a 13 year old girl, I might have enjoyed it more (that is, if my parents didn't catch me reading it. If I caught my daughter reading this, I'd take it away.). Oh well.
Jun 05, 2008
Jaime
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I read this book (along w/ the rest of the series) when I was probably 12 or 13. My best friend was reading this one and we read it together. @ the time it was so good and I went back to read the first 4. I was told when I was younger that I should read V.C. Andrews books when I was still young because when I got older I would not want to...I own so many of them that I have not read that are sitting on my bookcase and I feel like I should read them seen as a bought them but part of me feels l
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Sep 24, 2011
Ramoths
rated it:
I was very much involved in these books and thought that this was another saga that just grabbed you and didn't let go until the last page.
Jul 30, 2011
Dreck, schlock, whatever ya wanna call it - read this when I was 13 or something & obviously desperate & bored.
May 07, 2011
Emily
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Part of the Casteel series. I loved this book and this series. Wonderful plots, settings, characters, everything!
Jun 07, 2011
Lindsay
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easily the best series, this book finally brought a wrap up to what happened to start Heaven
May 28, 2008
Omo
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Leigh is a normal teen who's parents are going through a divorce. Leigh's mom remarries again to a tony tatterton. a rich younger man. tony is very rich and seems to be caring. he is taking care of his little brother because their parents have died. but trickery is a theme in this book. Leigh is sexually abused and when she tells her mom who did it and who's baby she is about to have, her mom does not believe her. her mother then blames her for seducing her husband into raping her. Leigh runs aw
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Aug 10, 2007
Kelly
rated it:
my very first vc andrews book, and i was hooked...as you can tell...i went through many books from 8th grade through high school. i believe this book was the prequel, so i read this first, then went back to the first book, which i believe in this series is "heaven". i can't remember the specifics of this book, but i have fond memories of reading all vc andrew books. she followed the same formula every time...start a series about one girl...she grows up and the story moves onto the n
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Sep 21, 2011
Lisa
rated it:
VC Andrews churned these rather disturbing series out when I was much younger. Banking on the success of Flowers, her imagination took equally dark turns in the Casteel series, which, sadly by the time it got to this one, was honestly getting to be boring & rather predictable.
Jun 08, 2010
Karla
rated it:
Absolutely the worst. I can finally say I'm finished. But I had to finish.
Feb 06, 2009
Erika
rated it:
ooo... a great mystery series!!
all her books are great mystery series!!
all her books are great mystery series!!
Nov 14, 2008
Molli
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Luke and Leigh are one of my all-time favorite pairings, regardless of genre, story, anything. Though this was the point were Andrew's ghostwriter started finishing her novels, this story of Heaven Casteel's mother is still beautiful and sweeping today, and holds a place in my heart. Leigh was a terrific narrator.
Nov 02, 2008
Erin
rated it:
This was a great book to wrap up the Casteel series. Leigh's story answers so many questions that reader's have been wanting to know since reading the first installment, Heaven. The story is really good and makes it hard to put the book down. The character's are great. Good stuff.
Dec 08, 2011
Destiny
rated it:
I enjoyed learning about Leigh but couldn't fathom that Jillian had no clue what was going on with Tony. She was self-centered and arrogant and then had the audacity to blame everything on Leigh.
