I just wish I knew how to quit V.C. Andrews.Or, in this case, the ghost writer for V.C. Andrews.You see, I discovered that the real V.C. Andrews died after completing the Flowers in the Attic series along with only a handful of other books, and that her family hired a ghost writer to write a ton more titles under her name. The Logan Family Series were among those titles.That's why nothing is quite as juicy or good as Flowers in the Attic.These books are what I like to call my literary palette cleansers. When I'm feeling like a jaded reader, I will pick up an Andrews novel, breeze through it in a couple of days, and afterward pick up something worthwhile again. Andrews' novels are like my book equivalent of The Real Housewives of Beverly Hills; I know they are all garbage in absolutely every way possible but I just CANNOT LOOK THE HELL AWAY!! They suck me in, like, EVERY DAMN TIME!I was reading this one at an all day field hockey tournament and had to quietly read under a blanket because I didn't want anyone else to know I was reading this trash. Not only is it a totally smutty incestuous novel, but it is most definitely a totally smutty incestuous novel written for fifteen year olds. Double whammy.But see, the thing is, this one was just not as good. I found it boring in spots, and the absolutely heinous (and I mean HEINOUS) writing style really grated on me. I never got that thrilling, ohmygoshwhatis goingtohappen storyline that so many of her other novels entail. Also, I have never actually seen so many names ever written in one passage:"I love you, Laura""I love you too, Robert.""Laura, your eyes are so blue.""Thank you Robert. Your eyes are also so blue, Robert. Be mine, Robert. Let's always be together, Robert."Catch my drift?This fourth installment is a prequel to the first three and is told from the point of view of a character who dies before the action in the first three take place. Maybe it's because I already knew the outcome, or perhaps I'm finally finally growing out of these awful books but this one just didn't do it for me. (view spoiler)[I didn't care that Laura was going to die, or that her boyfriend Robert was going to die, or that she was going to be locked up in a mental institution, or that her grandmother in an insane psycho bitch because I already knew all of these things from reading the first three novels. (hide spoiler)]
This is an extra appendage to the Logan family saga and though Melody's story is efficiently dealt with in the preceding novel, Unfinished Symphony this book charts the story of one of the main characters from the rest in the series. Laura Logan is Cary's twin sister, they are inseparable to the point they get teased for their closeness.Life proceeds along until the point one day where Laura meets and falls in love with Robert and the close bond the siblings share is threatened by an outside element.Cary is jealous and also devastated that someone else is claiming Laura's attention and things spiral out of control as the lovers get closer and closer.Add to that the indomitable will of Grandmother Olivia who has big plans for Laura's future, finishing school, a good career, a marriage to a supposed "blue blood" member of the circles the family move in.When Olivia's plans are thwarted when Laura falls in love with someone she considers beneath her she exercises her power in ways Laura could never have imagined which ultimately leads to the final tragedy of Laura's complicated life.Well written and worthy successor to the other novels in the series and expands on one of the main characters mentioned throughout, a very enjoyable and much needed addition to the sequence for fans of Andrews stories.
Do You like book Music In The Night (1998)?
This book is pretty bad, as are all the other books that were written after Andrews died. What makes this one stand out as being one of the worst is this: It's a diary in which the author dies. Am I to believe that Laura had her diary with her out in the water and was furiously writing what was happening in the past tense as she began to drown? Aside from that, it's really no better or worse than the other drivel this man has been spewing in the name of V.C. Andrews.
—Shannon
Laura Logan is a young girl on the cusp of entering into womanhood. Laura has a twin brother, Cary, who has always been extremely overprotective of her and now, even moreso since Laura is dating a new boy at school, Robert Royce. Laura's family is a church going family who always began their evening meal with her father reading scripture from the Bible. The matriarch of the family is Grandmother Olivia Logan and believes first and foremost that the Logan name always be honoured and that means no granddaughter of hers should be seen with the likes of Robert Royce as his family are (in her words) 'nothing by Inn Keepers'. This infuriates Laura and she wants nothing but to be with the love of her life, Robert. But Laura does not know the extent of her grandmother's power with anyone, (including her own flesh and blood) who goes against her wishes.An extremely well executed story of a young woman who wants nothing but to be with her man. A truly excellent book with a shocking ending!
—Carol MacInnis
Entertaining but I did a lot of skimming as I found it a bit wordy.A Synopsis?"Life is pretty much perfect for Laura Logan. She has loving parents, an adorable little sister, her boyfriend Robert, and her protective twin brother, Cary. Only, Cary is jealous of Robert. He believes that Robert is just out to use girls and break their hearts. Also, Cary refuses to let Laura grow up. But when grandmother Olivia finds out that Laura is dating Robert, she demands that Laura end the relationship. Grandma Olivia says that Robert and his family are beneath them, and doesn't meet up with her social standards. Of course, Laura doesn't do that, and continues to see Robert. But, when Cary "accidently" tells Grandma Olivia that Laura spent an evening with Robert alone, Olivia pounces on Laura and threatens to tell her parents. Laura is devasted because she doesn't want to lose her parents' trust. She and Robert cool things down a bit, but Laura becomes very depressed. Cary, who is feeling very guilty about betraying his sister, decides that they should all have a top secret picnic on the beach. Here is where the action begins. I wonder why V.C. Andrews makes the grandmothers out to be bad?
—Jo Sorrell
