Customer Reviews

Twisted Roots

5 star:		(7)
4 star:		(7)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(6)
1 star:		(8)

 

 

I've been reading V.C. Andrews since she first came on the scene in the early '80's (she lived in neighboring Portsmouth, VA), and this is without a doubt the LAMEST "V.C. Andrews" book ever written. It trots out all the old hackneyed cliches: insecure teenage girl with unhappy family situation and unstable mother who runs away with sensitive boy from wrong side of the tracks and finds danger in the form of mentally ill stranger before being reunited with family as evildoers are punished. It's a shame, too, because the DeBeers saga started off well, but the author got really lazy with this one. (For anyone who doesn't know, V.C. Andrews actually died in 1986; the subsequent books were written by horror writer Andrew Neiderman.) Hannah is so unbelievably whiny and childish it's impossible to root for her (what sixteen-year-old still calls her mother "Mommy"?), the characters are painted in broad strokes of black and white with almost no nuances (stepfather is good, mother is disturbed, father and twin half-brothers are BAD, and boyfriend is near saintly), and the plot is both obviously recycled and utterly ridiculous. I'd have rated it a 1/2 star if there was one, but since there isn't my advice is this: if you must read it, check it out at the library and save your money on this one. If you want to read V.C. at the top of her game, go back and read the first books (the Dollanganger saga or "My Sweet Audrina"). "Twisted Roots" is a waste of time.

Mommy? Mommy?? Mooommmy!!!
This book is a snore in IMO. I too think Hannah is a big baby for getting so bent out of shape about a baby. The change in Willow is most shocking. I thought she was stronger then that! She acted like a complete wimp. Granted she suffered a great loss but you think she would have learned something about coping in all those psychology classes she had taken. Sure Ruby suffered after the loss of her ***(might be considered a spoiler so I won't put it) and sure she retreated to fantasy land but she would have been proud of how her daughter (Pearl) had reacted. Hannah on the other hand is nothing to be proud of. By the end of the book I was skimming because Hannah was just too irritating.

I read this on a plane and I actually liked this book. It was entertaining enough and trashy enough. It's from the point of view of Willow's oversheltered, filthy rich daughter. Hannah was a great character-yes, she called her mother mommy, but she had a mind of her own and she didn't fawn over her mother like some of the other Vc Andrews daughters did. Both her mother and father do things that annoy her throughout the book, which was refreshing. Her father and Daniel were not one hundred percent evil, they came in shades of gray, for a ghostwriter novel. Her father was self absorbed and impersonal, but her mother was also selfabsorbed and negligent and haybrained. So Hannah makes the choice of running away with her crazy uncle and her boyfriend and she is forced to face the consequences, which I thought were actually realistic. The only time I got bored was when they were staying with those people, because I found them irrelevant to the story. But Hannah actually seemed pretty smart to me, and there were points in this book I could really cheer her on. Her dysfunctional relationship with her spoiled yuppie brothers was also really entertaining. I could just see that family. I also thought Cady and Adrian were great little villians. And the plot wasn't as absurd and ridiculous as Into the Garden or the Hudson series, which actually stopped me from reading VC andrews for awhile. This was decent, and Grace's story looks like it could be interesting as well.

This is truly the worst novel ever written in V.C. Andrews' name. What kind of a protagonist is Hannah supposed to be? The whole time she is complaining and whining. So what - you're mom didn't breastfeed you? What sixteen year old acts like that?

I am shocked how V.C. Andrews' name is getting more and more abused. It slowly started with the Landrys. The Logans were okay in some parts. I'd rather not talk about the miniseries and the Hudsons - but THIS is a joke! Don't even waste a second of your precious time reading it!

Where the Dollanganger, Casteel, Cutler, Landry, and Logan series paid a lot of attention to family secrets and twists and turns, the DeBeers series is severely lacking, and this book is a pale imitation of the good books that Neiderman started out with when he ghostwrote for VCA. The characters are flat and two-dimensional, and the storyline is predictable.

Willow started out as a decent character in the first book, but fell apart in the second book to become a weakling. In this book, we weakness is highlighted further over her actions and reactions regarding her sickly son (Hannah's half-brother) and honestly, everyone is so flatly written that it's impossible to feel bad for anyone. Adrian and Cade are ridiculous, even more so when they corner their sister and try to get her to strip (a scene which is illustrated in the stepback image to this book) Thatcher is a horrible dad - but that doesn't surprise me given that he was a horrible husband to Willow AND then to his current wife! Ashton and Bunny are as unlikeable as ever, and this whole series was frustrating and disappointing, even more so than the Hudson series.

I am a big V.C. Andrews fan, but i must say that the man writing under her name (yes, she is in fact dead) is really desperate for some new plot lines. It seems like the same thing happens in every book: young girl suffers bad family life, gets a boyfriend, has sex, someone destroys her reputation, she makes a big mistake, and then everything falls into place in the end. Well, it was good in the first couple of series', but it's getting old. This book was ok, not great, not horrid, but it just didn't have the same suck you in storyline as, say, the Landry series. Read it if you want, but it's nothing compared to Willow and Dark Forest (i think that's what it was called). So if you read it, you can pass some time, if you don't, you're not missing anything. It's the same story that he's told a million times.

You know how when you read a book and you think it deserves more then 5 stars but that's what they give you, This deserves so much more ~ This book is about Hannah Willow's daughter. To be honest I didn't think I was going to like this book, I wanted to know more about Willow, I thought they would hardly be mention in this book but she was and so was her husband Miguel. I was so happy when Willow divorced Thatcher ~ He has not been a good father to Hannah, and his parents don't see her or want to see her. Thatcher remarries this women Danielle they have twin sons were always treat Hannah bad, except for Danielle she was always nice to her. Willow and Miguel have a baby boy but he is having health problems so all his attention is on him and not on Hannah. She feels so unloved and unwanted she has always wanted to be closer to her dad but he is always busy and doesn't have time for her. She meets this boy Heyden at school who is into music and plays the guitar, Hannah can sing and they want to put something together. Heyden is also having problems at home, his Mom is always working and his sister is always in to drugs and there dad is a musician and he left them to go to New Orleans. Linden is still not are there in his mind, he is this hospital were he is getting the treatment that he needs to get well again. Willow doesn't see him as much anymore but Hannah does every chance she gets. Hannah has this dream that she is going to get Uncle Linden out of that hospital and live with her when she gets her house. Something happens were Hannah and Heyden run away and they take Uncle Linden with them. They come across this family were it makes Hannah think about her life and what she has left behind, I really enjoyed this book, I hope you enjoy it as much as I did ~
Happy Reading Lisa

I thought I disliked some of the GW books, but this one takes the cake. Hannah is absolutely the least likable VC "heroine" ever. All she does is whine, moan, and cry. She is so spoiled and self-centered that I was hoping Willow would beat her. All the promise shown in "Willow" and "Wicked Forest" goes to the dogs with this one. Skip it...you won't miss anything...and just cross your fingers for Grace's story in "Into the Woods."

this book is typical of mr niederman's "vc andrews" books. full of whiny brats and lame villians. honestly, even the butler in fita was more evil than the halfbrothers. in response to casey snydets statement "what 16 year old calld her mother mommy" answer :ALL VC ANDREWS CHARACTERS!!!!!! seriously i stopped calling mine that when i was five. oh and mr neiderman please stop referring the male sex organ as "hardness" or "manliness" it sounds so...stupid. and please stop having the characters go into detail about their periods and the proper way to insert a tampon. a real woman knows sbout this and does not go out of het way to mention it. whats next - a character who vividly describes her bowel movements?

I love V.C. Andrews! She's the reason I wanted to be an author, after reading 'Flowers in the Attic"--I was eleven. I don't know who is writing these books, but it's not V.C. Andrews. She passed away years ago and yet new books keep being published. It's a shame that someone is marketing using her name. The writing is not the same as her writings either.