BR: Dollanganger Series - V.C Andrews

 #1: Flowers in the Attic
#2: Petals on the Wind
#3: If There Be Thorns
#4: Seeds of Yesterday
#5: Garden of Shadows

Yeah, all the books have something to do with flowers. I never gave it a moment to figure out why.
I first read Flowers in the Attic in Year 7. I never understood it, my teacher told me never to touch this 'trash', and I soon forgot about it. Now, years later, I decided to pursue with the series. And omg, I don't even know what to say about it.
This series is like a massive horror story!! It is so eerie and creepy and haunting and ahhh!! I don't know whether I love it or hate it. It's been dubbed 'trash' and is banned everywhere it is possible to be banned. I can understand why, but at the same time..the story is terrific. It has something timeless about it, and it's such an ooooOOOOOOoooo story. LOL.

It's about this family, so beautiful and perfect with their blonde hair and blue eyes, that the neighbourhood dubs them 'Dresden Dolls'. One day, the father gets hit by a car. And then another car. And another car. Basically, he gets hit until he dies. The family is devastated and the mother comes to the realisation that she has lived too splendidly so now the Dollanganger family is in a massive debt. Desperate, she writes home to her parents, who disowned her decades ago due to an 'unforgiveable sin', begging for their forgiveness and to take her back into their large mansion. The mother tells her children of her intention of winning back her father's love, and inheriting his massive fortune (he is on his deathbed). One small sacrifice the children must make is to stay hidden from their grandfather, for he will see them as 'devil's spawn'.
At the Foxworth Hall (the mansion), the children must stay up in an attic, warned not to make a noise or any trouble until the day their grandfather dies and their mother can free them and they can live luxuriously together. With this promise, they do their best to remain optimistic in the gloomy attic. Their time in the attic is overseen by their evil grandmother; who brings them food every morning, asks them whether they have sinned, and locks the door behind her.
They quickly come to the realisation that they are seen as Devil's spawn because they are the offspring of their mother's marriage with her uncle. And the same outcome is expected to bloom between Catherine and Chris, the two eldest siblings. Still, they remain understanding and optimistic towards their mother, who initially visits them every moment she gets and showers them with her love.
Days pass, months, then years. Yet the children are still locked up in the attic, malnourished and deprived. The grandmother continues to punish them for their 'sins', their mother's visits get fewer and fewer. When she does bother to visit, all she does is shower them with gifts, hoping to convince them of a day when they will live happily together. Their faith in her dwindles and they decide to take things into their own hands. At the same time, Catherine and Chris reach the age of maturation and sexual awakening, making them question whether they really are sinners.

Etc.
That was Flowers in the Attic. Like, a summary of a summary of a summary of the book. It's complex. It was a disturbing book, but it was worth the read. With only one setting -the attic- you get to know the characters very well. Andrews writes such well developed, three dimensional and real characters that you end up following them throughout the entire series. They all have such distinct voices and they drive the story so well.
And I also think every character in this novel is psycho. They just don't see it. The time in the attic turns Catherine into a splitting image (inside and out) of her mother who locked them up. She gets so scary and you can see all the mental scarring from her time locked up.

The writing is also sooo unique. It's, I dunno, might be because it was written in a time before I was born. If it wasn't so effing creepy, it would probably be a classic. Not the Pride&Prejudice, The Importance of Being Ernest etc. kind of classic. But the themes explored will never get old. The series explores fate, religion, jealousy, family, incest, revenge and tragedy.
Fate seems to be the driving force for the tragedies that occur in this novel. And fate seems to be so cruel to the Dollangangers because of their sins. Religion is the excuse for all the punishment and the villians are all obsessed with punishing the Dollangangers for their sins. There's also lots of women-hate and blaming. Women are just seen as 'sluts'. The more beautiful the more deceiving they are. And Catherine happens to be the most beautiful woman of all time. It all gets really weird, but you don't stop reading because of these characters.

Garden of Shadows takes the story back to the very very start. Back to when Catherine's mother first fell for her uncle. And back to when the evil grandmother was not evil. So you basically get every side of the tale.

I must say, I did get tired of everyone constantly wanting to punish each other for their sins and what not. But by the time I finish rolling my eye balls, something creepy happens and I'm creeped out again LOL. Each book just gets more and more disturbing. So read it! It will touch your soul, then sit there until you die.

I also found Lana Del Rey's songs fit in really well with the book. Espppp Carmen, This is what makes us girls, and Million Dollar Man.