Customer Reviews

Black Cat (Gemini) (No. 2)

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(3)

 

 

I've been poking through some of V.C. Andrews's old books today and came to a disgusting realization. One I never thought I'd reach. After having weened myself off these books and moved onto Alice Walker, Dorothy Allison, and the like, I came to the realization that these books really, really suck. Except for Dark Angel and the books prior to that, the writing is flat and lifeless, the characters have no voices of their own (they all sound alike!), and it's just repetitive. The stories are all the same with different settings and names. You have the beautiful, but naive narrator, the handsome prince, the bad uncle/cousin/brother, the evil sister, the evil grandmother, the self-absorbed mother, the weak father, and the catty girls who are jealous of the narrator. Throw in a bible-thumper, too, while you're at it! Granted, Celeste doesn't have all the cut-outs, it still isn't good material. Had it been under a different writer's name, it wouldn't have even been considered for publication. With anachronisms, cliches, and spelling, grammar, and other errors galore, it's a wonder these made it past the slush pile.

After thoroughly delighting in the evilness of VC Andrews' book one of the Gemini series, "Celeste"... I eagerly embraced the second, "Black Cat"...AND the momentum never stopped...I was sucked into the swirl of deliciously devious deviltry that is dished up in this evocative, emotional tale of abuse and neglect and deception all mixed up with good old fashioned mental illness...
The pages turned as fast as my eyes could take in the words, which brought to the brain a mass of images that one cannot find on the screen or in a newspaper report of twisted lives...the passages are thought provoking and eerily beautiful.
Outstanding read...only problem is that I have to wait until next March for book THREE...darn...

Celeste and Black Cat had a interesting premise, with what happened to the twins. But no reason is given for Mom's madness, or obsessive love for Noble. In the Flowers in the Attic, Casteel, and Cutler series, it is eventually revealed why the villains of these books did what they did - not necessarily a excuse, but a explanation. There is none given here for why everyone is so f***ed up. I felt angry and frustrated at the end of Black Cat because Celeste HAS NO FREAKING BACKBONE. This was the last "VCA" book I ever actually bought, I just couldn't take it anymore.

In Celeste (to anyone who paid attention) Celeste/Noble was 16 when she had Baby Celeste. It was brought up that she was 1 year younger than Elliot who was already driving and she was old enough to driver herself (Sarah was going to get her a car that proves this fact). At the end of Black Cat, they try to sell her off as 11 at the time of the birth. Sorry, no dice.

That is not the only inconsistancy in the series (there's also a question as whether she ever had the chicken pox), but definetly the most unforgivable. I can't get past it. It clouds my judgement of the rest of the book.

I will read Child of Darkness because I have to know if that was done on purpose, but I'm dreading it.

WOW. I am honored to once again be able to submit the first review on this V.C. Andrews book. As her most loyal fan, and the most loyal fan of the ghostwriter, I am thrilled to submit the following review of BLACK CAT.

BLACK CAT is indeed the book V.C. Andrews herself would have written! The ghostwriter -- Mr. Andrew Neiderman -- has successfully captured all the essence of Ms. Andrews. This book is hauntingly like My Sweet Audrina, yet the mother character is so wicked that at times she makes the mother in FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC seem tame!

One could even say that perhaps the spirit of Ms. Andrews is finally guiding Mr. Neiderman. This novel grips you from the start and doesn't let you go until the final page! BLACK CAT is dark, gothic, and downright frightening. At times throughout the book, you will wonder how Celeste, still posing at her brother Noble, can allow her mother to so control her life. But as the book plays out, you can see and even feel the depth of the mental illness Celeste is suffering, compliments of her mother. And that mother takes every advantage of it. Only at the end of the book does it hit you how young Celeste was when she had her baby and how warped her mother has made her. Mama this time (not Mommy!) is WACKO, dark, evil, and brooding. Often she calls Celeste stupid, tearing her down even more.

Then there's Baby Celeste. She gave me the creeps! These are firsts in VCA books - a mentally ill heroine who you can still love, and a baby that appears to be following in the dark footsteps of her grandmother and her mother. While it is never my style to recap the book for you event by event -- you have to read it yourself -- I can say that when Mama marries dead Elliott's father, you understand just how deep the mother's cunning and evil runs.

I cannot stress how much I loved this book and how it was totally different from any V.C. Andrews book ever written. This time, the ghostwriter has abandoned the vain mother and dim herione style we grew used to and instead he hits us right between the eyes with characters you can't even begin to imagine! This is a VCA book through and through - shocking! And the climax will leave you breathless and starving for more

So speaking of more, I cannot wait for Child of Darkness, the last book of the GEMINI series. However, I STRONGLY encourage the ghostwriter and the publishers to consider doing a prequel and soon! How did Mama get so strange, so power hungry, and so evil? What was her childhood like? What was her mother like? The answers lie only in the brilliant depths of Mr. Neiderman's mind and they must be allowed to come out!

You have to buy and read this shocking book! I promise you, you will not be disappointed!

After reading Celeste, I had really looked forward to reading the sequel, Black Cat. In fact, I reread Celeste to refresh myself, and then immediately delved into Black Cat. What I noticed was that the style of writing was completely different in Black Cat. I was very disappointed. Mommy is now Mama, and it just doesn't flow the way the first book did. The descriptions are lacking and there is a flavor missing. I think Celeste was written more like the descriptive style of VC Andrews. Also, at the end of Celeste, it looked like the book was going in one direction, like she was going to fight for her baby and she admitted that maybe she hadn't seen spirits. It seems like the next book was written by someone else who wanted to stretch out the story and take it in a different direction. How did Celeste show some fighting spirit at the end of the first book and then completely sink back to being Noble in the second? I still really liked this book, but it took me at least 50 pages to get into the different style of writing because I kept comparing it the first book. Just the author changing mommy to mama drove me crazy. It made the character seem less real to change the name she called her mother after the entire first book. If you take a break between the first and second book, I think you will like the second book better. I ended up appreciating the story for what it was and I will still read the next book, Child of Darkness, when it comes out.

I picked up this book to have something to read on a dull Friday night. I have read a few other V.C. Andrews books(notably the Dollanganger Family series), and found this one midly dissappointing. I did not read Celeste, but the basic tenants of the first book are covered in the second. I spent most of the novel hoping that someone discovers Celeste's true idenity and frees her from her mothers shackles,I am let down at the end of the book. What sympathy one has for Celeste at the beginning of the novel dissappears when you see how easy it would for her to release herself from the prison of being "Noble". When the reader begins to have hope that Celeste will turn out okay, that is dimished as well and we learn that Celeste is deemed insane and spends the rest of her years in an insane asylum.
I am however looking forward to reading Child of Darkness to see how Baby Celeste reacts to learning the events of her past and whether she turns out okay. I must note that for one, the inscription on the front cover of the book is correct- the only time I have seen a mother be so evil and deadly to her children is in Flowers in the Attic and two, this is the first VCA book I have read where there is not an incestual relationship of any kind(im glad the ghost writer is able to capture the essence of VCA without repeating the formula of relatives who are in love with each other.)

My girlfriend loves VC Andrews :) she was so excited about the condition of this book.. Worth the money :)

IF YOU HAVE NOT READ "CELESTE", THE FIRST BOOK IN THIS SERIES, SPOILER ALERT!!!
Celeste is forced by her (possibly schizophrenic) mother to live as her twin brother Noble after Noble's tragic, accidental death. In the last book, Celeste gave birth to "Baby Celeste" as the result of a neighbor boy finding out about her gender and blackmailing her into having sex with him. Noble/Celeste and her mother see the spirits of their dead ancestors and take advice from them. Although, since Celeste became Noble, they've been largely ignoring her. It's possible Baby Celeste is seeing and hearing them, too. When Mama decides the way to reveal Baby Celeste to the world is to marry the neighbor man, and tell everyone her cousin died and left the baby to her, the family's secrets must be guarded even closer.
I'm still not sure whether the author means for her protagonist and family to "actually" be seeing and hearing spirits, or if the implication is that they're mentally ill, but I would really like that cleared up. Also, I find it very difficult to like any of the characters in this book, including Noble/Celeste, our narrator. Mama is mean and controlling, Noble/Celeste is weak and whiny, Dave is completely clueless, Betsy (Dave's daughter) is spoiled and nasty, and Baby Celeste is just creepy. Even so, I want nice things to happen to them, but this being V.C. Andrews, that'll never happen.

i have almost all the series and the worst one by far is the celeste ones. they are so boring. i constantly am skipping through parts of it. it just goes on and on about nothing all the time