Petals on the Wind (Dollanganger, #2) in V.C. Andrews

Jan 18, 2015 Leigh rated it really liked it

Shelves: audio, 2019, 2024, 2020, mini-series-trilogies, 2016, pandemic-reads, family-saga, fictional-saga, old-favourites

After re-reading Flowers in the Attic and realizing how much of it went over my twelve year old head, this book made me nervous. What I did remember was it was even more daring and shocking that Flowers ever was. And so I dove right in expecting to be disgusted and to forever swear off all V.C. Andrews books written by her or not. The book opens right after the children have escaped the attic. They are heading south to Florida, all of them ill with what they know now is arsenic poisoning none as After re-reading Flowers in the Attic and realizing how much of it went over my twelve year old head, this book made me nervous. What I did remember was it was even more daring and shocking that Flowers ever was. And so I dove right in expecting to be disgusted and to forever swear off all V.C. Andrews books written by her or not. The book opens right after the children have escaped the attic. They are heading south to Florida, all of them ill with what they know now is arsenic poisoning none as much as Carrie. Carrie because seriously ill and a very rude passenger demands that they be thrown off the bus. We are introduced to Henny who is mute but can hear and who writes notes to communicate. We learn Henny is black and also very fat, something Cathy feels the need to mention several times. I won't comment on that except that it got annoying at times. Henny works for a doctor who lives nearby who can help them. We are introduced to Paul for the first time. As a teen I thought Paul a romantic figure, the handsome older man who romances Cathy. As an adult my first thought was Cathy needed to get over herself when she swore he was checking her out. If three malnourished children wearing ill fitting clothes showed up unannounced on my doorstep I'd probably be checking all of them out closely too. He agrees to help them and they move in for they say will be temporarily. Carrie gets better and Paul convinces them to stay on and eventually becomes their legal guardian. The three children spilt, Carrie to boarding school, Chris to college and Cathy remains at home but joins a dancing school. During this time Cathy begins a relationship with her foster father that is inappropriate to say the least. I understand Cathy's motives, she was afraid and alone and felt she owed it to him, but the very fact that this man was alone near children kind of creeped me out. Cathy also meets Julian, the son of her ballet teachers. Julian dances with a small company in New York and is determined to make Cathy's his partner in life and on the stage. No matter how she fights it he will not give up. In the meantime poor Carrie's troubles continue as she is tormented terribly at her new school and eventually is brought back home and schooled nearby so she can come home at the end of the day. Cathy heads to New York with Julian and the two seemed destined for greatness. But Julian has a bad temper which drives most people away. She does give in to his advances, but only after receiving shattering news. Cathy's star continues to rise in the ballet world, though becoming a prima ballerina is always just out of her hands. She also continues to plan and plot her revenge on her mother and grandmother. Her mother it seems is running all around the world, possibly to escape the guilt she feels over what she did to her children? Cathy finds herself alone again after a terrible tragedy, though she now has a son named Jory, for his father and the uncle who died as a child. Carrie proves to be an excellent mother, and homemaker, and adores her nephew. Things begin to look up for her when she falls in love with an engineer named Alex. But in probably the saddest part of this series for me, it's not meant to be and Carrie finds a way to be with her twin again. This brings out total rage in Cathy and causes the book to heat up. Cathy slowly plots out her revenge on those who she said ruined her and her siblings lives and carries it out step by step ending in the book with a bang. A fire, a few dead bodies and someone ends up in a mental hospital and by the time the dust has settled the two surviving "Dolls" have hightailed it west in the hopes of getting a fresh start. I was surprised and a bit worried that I enjoyed reading this book. I heard someone describe it as so bad it's good and I think that's true. The one reason I think I enjoyed it was that it a strange way I could relate to Cathy. To me her insecurities screamed out on each page. She was always describing how beautiful she was, how gorgeous her body, which to me shows she has to convince herself of it, fake it til you make it kind of thing. I would be interested to hear other's opinions of Cathy, if all these men really did turn their heads when she walked by. Cathy was someone who I loved one minute and cheered for and the next I was annoyed or even angry at her, telling her to get over herself. If a book can make you care enough to get frustrated with a character then in my eyes it was worth reading. ...more

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Jan 01, 2015 Janet rated it really liked it

As a young girl I read this book. After watching the DVD recently I decided to reread the book as the DVD was an abridged version of the book. It also did not follow the same plot as the book. I did enjoy the book which was far more detailed than the DVD. I must admit that I was disappointed with many of the decisions that Cathy made in relation to her love interests. She always seemed to make a bad decision when there were men in her life that truly cared about her.I know it was a fictitious st ...more

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Mar 22, 2014 George Deoso rated it liked it

I rated this book three stars because I can't think of any rating that deserves this book. I've read this immediately after reading Flowers in the Attic, was quiet disappointed with Cathy's promiscuity and Corrine's death. Seriously, after VC Andrews let her out of the attic, why should she kill that cute little kid? On the other hand, maybe that was one of the reasons I find this book hard to read, besides the fact that it quiet dragged me throughout. ...more

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