Customer Reviews

Secret Whispers (Heavenstone)

5 star:		(9)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

After the disappointing conclusion to Heavenstone Secrets, I almost didn't want to pick up this book. But it's like a bad car accident - you know there's going to be gore, blood, wreckage, yet you feel compelled to look. Fortunately, I work in a store and sometimes we get stuff early. Like Heavenstone Secrets, this book is a quick read. When I read Flowers in the Attic, Heaven, My Sweet Audrina, and even Dawn, sometimes I would go back over a line or paragraph to savor the good writing. I never felt such an urge for a long time with Neiderman's pseudo-VCA books. And like Heavenstone Secrets, the cover of this book also claims to have been penned by VCA herself. (WHAT? NOT AGAIN!)

The books would have been more interesting if it was Semantha who died, not Cassie. She was a much more interesting character even though the book was predictable and cliched, and she certainly wasn't the 'perfect teen Machiavellian manipulator', as Amazon's infamous Harriet Klausner termed her. Still, it was cool how Cassie built up the power around herself and ran the household. Heck, the girls on the covers of both books in this series look to me like Cassie, not Semantha (because of the model's calculating/determined expression - Semantha did not have the backbone to have the expression like that!)

I've read wonderful books where ghosts come back to haunt the living (like Lisa See's 'Peony In Love', I recommend y'all check it out), but this book is NOT one of them. Like Heavenstone Secrets, tthis book is embarrassingly cliched, and Neiderman shows his abuse of metaphors. It's clear even in the beginning, as illustrated by this gem '...Ellie Patton, asked. She stood in our bathroom doorway with her hands on her hips, gaping at me with her black pearl eyes so enlarged that she resembled someone with serious thyroid problems ', and 'I hadn't ever thought I was good at dry, sarcastic humor, but Cassie was at my ear prompting me. It was as if she had gotten into my head somehow and, like some traffic cop for thoughts, could direct and redirect ideas ' I'm sorry, but this was just awful - and it's only CHAPTER ONE! Pearl eyes, thyroid, and thought-traffic cops, ugh. Believe me, it doesn't get better. V.C. Andrews, when she used metaphors, used beautiful and appropriate ones that illustrated the characters and settings so you could imagine them and enjoy it.

Not so with Neiderman, not so for a LONG time. There's also a lot of meaningless description of the private school Semantha is in. Neiderman makes so much of Semantha's problems and her need for therapy that there is no real story here. Even when you do not compare this book (or everything that Neiderman has written in the last decade under VCA's name, from Orphans and Rain onwards) to the books that the real VCA wrote, or even the Cutler series that Neiderman penned, these new books are just awful. If it wasn't for VCA's name, these books would most likely have never made it through the publisher. Even Semantha's interactions with her man are cliched.

No matter what happens to Semantha through this book, Cassie is STILL way cooler than she is (and that's actually pretty sad, since I could admire Cathy, Heaven, Dawn, even Audrina, because all of them found good ways to overcome, and take control of their own destinies)

Like with Celeste in the Gemini series, I honestly didn't care about Semantha as a character. She is just so... blah. None of VCA's girls ever got therapy, and they turned out to be fine, strong female characters. Semantha has gotten YEARS of therapy by the beginning of this book, and still she sucks. The ending was very cliched and all happy-dappy (in a forced, contrived way)

Granted, at the end of this book, Semantha has a WEE bit more backbone than Celeste, but not enough to redeem her as a character. And Cassie's still way cooler than her sister. Now, how pathetic do you have to be when a the ghost of your dead sister is much more cool than you?

This book also comes with a preview for Neiderman's next insult to VCA's good name, 'Daughter of Darkness'. It follows pretty much the same formula as the Heavenstone series, it seems (Mom's gone, it's Dad and his daughters, and a younger sister is the narrator of the story, just like Semantha is. How unoriginal) And guess what the family's name is? Patio. ...Yes, Patio. I did a doubletake when I read the excerpt, wondering if it could just be a typo, but no. This makes me weep, since now I can't stop thinking of lawn furniture. The Gemini series and this series touched on the supernatural, but DoD is even more blatant (Think - vampires!)

I'm frightened and confused now. I need someone to hold and comfort me.

When VC Andrews died years ago so did her great writing. You could tell from the moment the first book came out after her death that it was not the same. I still occasionally read one of the books, but I expect them all to be disappointing and they are.

SPOILERS! I enjoyed over half this book. The author kept us glued as we tried to figure out if Sam was crazy or seeing ghost. Possible crazy girl verse possible wicked stepmother! It built up nicely then disolved into another depressing ending IMO. In the last 25% of book I began to think Sam was a moron, like Cathy in Petals.Your going to marry a guy who is more in love with your family? Who she suspected was lying to her since he came to Kentucky. I was personally hopeing she would bail on that marriage. I guess it had a good ending, her mental turmoil aparently fixed, her happily married, but I wish it had been different. This novel built and built into what could have been a shocking, or good ending, then fizzled and sends us into depression. After all she's been through she still lets everyone manipulate her, and her own husband doesn't understand she wants her daughter back. Their rich and could have kept that daughter from the start. The book builds towards a showdown between her and her stepmother which gets resolved by a accident. It kept me turning pages, I just hated the ending.

Service was very prompt.The book is used but in good condition. The story line is not some of V.C. Andrews best work but it was fair.

I was so thrilled to see yet another book by VC Andrews. As always it was great. Thank you for carrying these books.

I'm not going to rehash the tired, repetitive writing style or the ridiculous cliches or the stupid AND boring storyline. We all know these books are trash.

My question is, why waste your time? There are much, much better things you can read. Even most "guilty pleasures" are written better than this. You will learn something about writing even if that's not your intent. Please, I implore you, go read something else.

I didn't know in what shape my book would be in when I received it, but I was very happy with it. It hardly looked used at all. I would definately order a used book again.

I THOROUGHLY ENJOY ALL OF V.C. ANDREWS BOOKS. I HAVE READ EVERYTHING THAT SHE WROTE AND THE BOOKS THAT WERE WRITTEN FROM HER NOTES AFTER HER DEATH. I HOPE THERE ARE MANY MORE TO COME.

Excellent. I did not want to put it down. Characters were very believable.

i couldnt put these books down....so good yeah alittle far fetched but thats the whole point of vc andrews...great series!!! didnt want um to end