Customer Reviews

Valerie (The Nightengale Legacy Of Sin And Betrayal)

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

This is a first novel, so I generally give new authors a bit of wiggle room. Even with the wiggle room, the writing is painful to read. I normally enjoy novels that are 'shocking' (like Flowers in the Attic or the early Anne Rice vampire novels) so the synopsis for this book actually sounded really interesting. Some families are very dysfunctional and it's fun to read a story (so long as it's fiction, not a real-life abuse story like 'A Child Called It') but this goes beyond dysfunction and right into the realm of sheer nonsense.

Nothing in here makes sense. One thing that really stuck out to me was that despite there being barely any money for food (mainly beans, lol wut) Mommy and Daddy are fat. This really bothered me because this made Larry and Laura even more flat and cardboard, since fatness has been used before to make villains seem more evil (Ursula from 'The Little Mermaid', Dr. Robotnik from 'Sonic the Hedgehog', Baron Harkonnen from 'Dune') Yes, being fat is not healthy, but being fat doesn't make someone evil! There is no real sense in making Mom and Dad fat, because the three villains previously mentioned had reasons - Robotnik had a robot army to do his bidding so he didn't have to lift a finger for himself, Harkonnen enjoyed indulging himself and didn't care what others thought, and Ursula's character design was inspired from the fabulous cross-dresser Divine (who had passed away the year before) It's as if the fatness was thrown in as an attempt to make Larry and Laura seem even more evil - but rest assured, that pair is already screwed up enough without making them pigs! There's also a really horrible racist/fat joke in here... 'more chins than a Chinese phone book' It's not the only one, sadly.

As if that's not horrible enough, Larry and Laura are brother and sister. Yup.

Valerie talks about her thirteenth birthday (something that is constantly referred to) because it is supposed to mean she will be a woman. So what happens? Her father actually forces himself on her! After this happens, Valerie tells us (this story is written in first-person perspective) that her "happy and fairy-tale existence had ended"

Wait, wait, WHAT? Valerie bemoans her parents mistreating her and hating her and making her dust and wash threadbare sheets, and she constantly whines about her mistreatment and how no one in her family ever loved her or showed her affection, and THIS was supposed to be a happy/fairytale existence???

Valerie's parents and sister talk like hillbillies despite the fact that they live in Michigan instead of Kentucky or Tennessee. What's weird is that in a later installment of the Nightengale saga, Larry is revealed to be a wonderful student in school with great grades and attendance and school awards and the like... so how the heck does he become an inarticulate swine?

Valerie's parents are not the only ones who commit incest. Valerie herself turns into a downright unlikeable person, and if you felt bad for her at first because of how she was treated, forget it. She becomes just as bad as her parents, if not worse. Traumatic events can affect characters, but it takes a skillful pen to capture that transformation and motivation. Sadly, none is given here. Characters change at will or make decisions that don't match their mindsets or outright contradict ones before.

Grammar and spelling mistakes are also rife, making this book funny in an unintentional way. 'Brazier' exists in this text where it should be 'brassiere' - ladies' undergarments are NOT lamp fixtures! And 'debase' where the right word is 'debased'. There's also a lot of punctuation mistakes including an overabundance of exclamation points which then cause these exclamations to lose their significance. English college professors - whether they teach language, literature, or creative writing, would tear this book apart, literally and figuratively. Having been part of both sides of the editing/proofreading process myself - giving AND receiving constructive criticism, all the mistakes in this book literally made me cringe.

The only nice thing I can really say about this book was that the synopsis sounded exciting. But when you do not have adequate writing skills to bring such a story (or any other story) to life and make it believable, it completely falls flat - just like this book.

If you're looking for a good first book by a newbie author, I recommend 'Eesoo' by Kathleen Bottecher, it's a first novel but shows a lot of effort, thought, and creativity.

i have been a big fan of vc andrews for a long time and found a link to this author on the vca site and he sounded pretty interesting and i love family sagas so i thought i would buy the first book and give it a try.

gosh theres so many things wrong i dont even know where to start! lots and lots of the stuff in here is ripped out of vca books, mostly the early ones like flowers in the attic or heaven! yeah vca was a good author and its great to be inspired by her, but in just about every chapter i saw something that was from a vca book, and there were also lots of editing errors, i dont know if this book was proofread or not, if it was the editor needs to find another job!

one thing that really bothered me was that this book shows people with big boobs as sluts. as a woman with a big chest, partially from having three kids, i find this really offensive, and it also seems the author really hates fat people because he makes fun of them a lot and even goes oink oink at them. usually i like what i read and im not too picky but this was just terrible! i will definitely not be buying any more books from this author, fortunately i was able to get a refund for this one from the seller. i also think i will reread my copy of flowers in the attic for old times sake.

How many times do I hear people say, "I am going to write a book?" Most of the time, they don't and the literary world is grateful. Once in a while, you come across someone who had the energy and determination to see it through and you are happy he did. Such is the case with Justin Dwayne Foxworth in his breakout novel, Valerie. I highly recommend you give a new talent a chance and read his work. I'm sure you'll want more of his character development and plots developed into more novels to enjoy.

"Oh, what a tangled web we weave...!" It didn't take long to get to the point where I really did not want to put down this book... I wish I had ordered the second book (Valerie's Secrets) sooner so I wouldn't have to wait to find out... more!! Talented new author!!

It has always been difficult for me to see a book through to the end. Whereas "Valerie" had the right blend of twists, turns and dysfunctional family humor to keep me entertained throughout this read. Kind of makes me glad that I am NOT a descendant of the Nightengale blood line...

If you like tales of twisted families and their dark secrets (calling all V. C. Andrews fans), then whet your whistle on the story of Valerie, who has to be one of the most perverse protagonists to grace (haunt?) this genre. Just as Valerie reaches what seem to be new depths of dysfunctionality, her broken morals, depraved mentality, and inescapable evil family history lead her to ever more corrupt outcomes. If you think that your relatives are bad, then reading Valerie will give you hope: they couldn't possibly be as degenerate as this character! Seriously, this book is big dirty fun for the right reader--and you know who you are.

Wow!!! That's exactly what I said after the first chapter! My first thoughts were "I could kill Valerie's miserable family for her"! Needless to say, that changed soon enough!! Oh how I loved the twists and turns of the unexpected in this book! Very detailed and I love details!! Some would think too detailed but not me!! I don't like to be kept guessing about what really happened or what did that mean! Mr. Foxworth breaks it all down and leaves no stones unturned!! I enjoyed this book from start to finish and completed it in just a few days! Looking forward to the next book to see what else psycho Val is up to!!! Kudos to Mr. Foxworth for a great book!