Cloudburst (Storms, #2) in V.C. Andrews

Nov 07, 2011 Lori rated it it was ok

Shelves: books-i-own, books-that-disappointed-me

Note: This is a joint review of both "Family Storms" and "Cloudburst"

When I think back to my adolescence, V.C. Andrews always pops into my mind. She was my absolute favorite author, with her Dollanganger/Flowers in the Attic series being the first set of books I became absolutely obsessed with. I still remember the thrills and excitement of a new V.C. Andrews release and hurrying to the local B. Dalton (pre-Barnes & Noble and Amazon) to pick it up as quickly as I could and staying up late into t Note: This is a joint review of both "Family Storms" and "Cloudburst"

When I think back to my adolescence, V.C. Andrews always pops into my mind. She was my absolute favorite author, with her Dollanganger/Flowers in the Attic series being the first set of books I became absolutely obsessed with. I still remember the thrills and excitement of a new V.C. Andrews release and hurrying to the local B. Dalton (pre-Barnes & Noble and Amazon) to pick it up as quickly as I could and staying up late into the night to devour it. Such were my emotions when I was asked to read and review Family Storms and Cloudburst, the two entries in the new "Secrets" saga - - thrills, excitement and a flashback to my teen years.

For those readers not in the know, author V.C. Andrews passed away in 1986, leaving her family to hire a writer to continue her legacy with outlines of future stories. Sadly, those sketches left by Ms. Andrews seem to be long gone.

Perhaps it's unfair for me to rate these books against the Flowers in the Attic series - - my absolute favorites - - but I can't help but do so. No one would accuse V.C. Andrews' writing of approaching Shakespearian levels; in fact, she was the late 70s/early 80s generation's Stephenie Meyers. She was a storyteller of addictive proportions, creating absolutely unforgettable characters and giving her tales a creepy, gothic factor. Family Secrets and Cloudburst fall short in this regard, although not for lack of potential.

The premise is good enough - - homeless young girl taken in by an obscenely wealthy family shrouded in secrets and with a young daughter who died tragically and a living daughter, spiraling out of control, who not only is responsible for the accident that placed Sasha in her family home and took her mother away from her but who deeply resents her.

I can't help but think if this book had been written and published 25-30 years ago, a deep dark secret would have been revealed about the younger daughter's death, one of the housekeepers might have been a Rebecca-esque Mrs. Danvers and perhaps Jordan Marsh may have literally tried to turn Sasha into her deceased daughter. Alas, none of this came to pass.

Similarly, in Cloudburst, several interesting storyline opportunities were passed up or allowed to slowly peter out. Characters that could have and should have been fleshed out were not; some issues were dragged out to nearly painful proportions.

Sasha was a confusing heroine for me. I liked her better in Family Storms although her ignorance at times was confounding. In Cloudburst she didn't seem like the best kind of friend and frankly, I couldn't understand how she kept the friends she had or why any of them would want to befriend her. I wanted to like her more than I did but she was so frustrating at times that I wanted to pull at my own hair.

I was disappointed with the ending of Cloudburst, which felt more like a non-ending to me. I waited for the trademark V.C. Andrews twists and turns and they simply were not forthcoming. Also missing was the gothic feel so apparent in early Andrews works, like the Flowers in the Attic series and the stunning stand alone, My Sweet Audrina.

Purely cosmetic and shallow but I loved the covers from the earliest Andrews books - - they added to the stories and told tales of their own. I don't particularly care for the more recent covers that feature simple photos. They are rather dull and honestly, the model(s) on the covers look(s) much too old to be Sasha.

That said, these are still V.C. Andrews books and, as such, they make great vacation books, or a good book to curl up with on a cold and rainy day. They won't be the filet mignon of your library but they are a quick fast food burger and will satisfy your literary cravings.

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Jan 07, 2013 Brianna rated it did not like it

Shelves: dnf

I was really curious about what would happen to Sasha after the first book. However, I got to about page 260, and I couldn't read anymore.

Sasha changed way too much in this book. She really started acting like Kiera, and I couldn't believe it. She also trusted Kiera, which I don't see how she ever could have done. I mean, Kiera did awful things to her, so it was totally unbelievable. At first, I thought she was just trying to make Kiera believe that she trusted her, but that wasn't the case.

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Oct 26, 2011 Jen rated it it was ok

Shelves: own

After reading Family Storms, the first book in this series, I was very excited to hear that a sequel was coming out. I am very disappointed with said sequel.

It's been a few years since all the events took place in Family Storms. Sasha is a senior, Kiera is in college, and things have changed. I was stunned at how Sasha changed. I did not like her character in the beginning very well at all, almost like she became a weaker version of Kiera. I was also baffled at how much Sasha put her trust in Ki ...more

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Feb 07, 2012 Marie rated it liked it

Possible Spoilers

This book is typical VC Andrews. Your always female protagonist comes from nothing and ends up with something and a lot more than she ever bargained for. There is one portion of the book that I didn't see coming (view spoiler) Other than that, the book was predictable.

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Mar 08, 2016 Kacey rated it it was ok

Shelves: own, 2016

As horrible as this series is I would be interested to read a prequel. Jordan casually hints that maybe Donald had been sexually assaulting or seduced Kiera and I want to know! They could get into some real V.C. Andrews drama with that and the relationship between everyone and Alena with maybe some secrets about her death. It could be a good book if V.C. herself wrote it.

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Nov 23, 2011 Destiny added it

Kiera is in college and Sasha is living the dream life with her foster parents. A soap opera star joins Sasha's exclusive school and they find a connection. They are in love but something is holding them back. Sasha's foster father has finally turned into a caring parents and forbids Sasha to see her boyfriend but she defies him and in the end wishes she never had. ...more

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Dec 14, 2011 My Book Views rated it liked it

When a novel carries the V.C. Andrews name, there are expectations that go along with it; this story seemed more like a typical young adult general fiction novel. That’s not to say it wasn’t still a decent read (after one ignores the continuity issues), but those looking for something similar to Flowers in the Attic or Dawn will likely be disappointed.

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Oct 24, 2011 Donna rated it liked it

Was better then some of the more recent novels that have been put out by this author in the last few years. The first in this series was Family Storms. It feels that it is only gonna be a 2 book series, but who knows.

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