Review- Flowers in the Attic by V.C. Andrews

This was the first adult book I ever read. I read it for the first time all the way back in the 5th grade. I think about it now and it rather shocks me that I read it then. A warning this review may contain spoilers. This is the real V.C. Andrews not that horrible hack ghostwriter who has been making money off of her name for the past 20 years. Virginia died back in the 1980s. Don't even get me started on the recent books he put out in her name (she would never have  written a vampire book). Virginia was the queen of delving into dark and twisted families.

Flowers in the Attic is the story of a widow and her 4 children-Cathy, Christopher, Carrie and Cory. The widow was a typical housewife of the 50's and had no real skills as she was raised in a world where you found a husband and did what you could around the house to please said husband. She is forced to contact her parents who are very very rich but disinherited her years ago for the sin of marrying her half uncle. When the 5 of them arrive at the house the children learn that their grandfather does not know that they exist and that the children will be locked up for a short while till the mother gets back into her father's good graces and she can tell him about her 4 children. They will spend that time in a small room with two beds and a bathroom. Their playground will be the attic upstairs where they can run around and make as much noise as they want. Months pass and the children finally learn that they have to wait till their grandfather dies before their mother can inherit any money. Years pass and the mother remarries and barely comes to see the children. The cruel grandmother begins to starve them. They are fed poison donuts that kills poor Cory. They find out through eavesdropping that the grandfather died a long time ago and that if the mother ever had children with their father that she would lose everything. Hence the poison donuts Eventually Chris, Cathy, and Carrie escape but they are forever scarred by what happened.

This book is still one of the most shocking and disturbing books I've ever read. It has been at least 15 years since I last read this book. Now as a mother I'm shocked and angered beyond belief by the selfishness of the mother. She is the ultimate show of what a selfish mother can be. She keeps them locked up where they cannot see the sunshine nor play with other children. She buys them expensive presents to "show" she is thinking of them but really it is to buy off her guilt. Because the brother and sister go through puberty together in such close confines it leads to the most infamous part of the book where Chris rapes his own sister. She forgives him and that truly shows just how twisted their minds have become after so many years being locked up.

Cathy who is the main character in the book really is something special. She constantly sees through her mother and never hesitates to question her and badger her on things.She is brave and willing to stand up to who is arguably the scariest grandmother I've ever seen. In the beginning of the book when she sees her mother struggling financially she swears that she will never become so dependent on a man that she can't take care of herself. She never backs down and always fights for what she wants.

This is a dark and disturbing book often called a modern day gothic novel. I have often said that this is on my top 5 of favorite books. And after rereading it after all these years I've come to discover that it is indeed still in my top 5. I plan on reading the follow up book Petals on the Wind in the next week or two.  The third and 4th book in the series I've never really cared for. I give this 5 out of 5 stars


Challenges Fullfilled
2011 Challenge-Way Back when
Hogwarts Reading
Kick Ass Heroine

Review- Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets

In the Harry Potter series this book has not been my favorite. In fact I would say that this one always comes dead last for me. I don't know why. Perhaps it is because it always disturbed me that Ginny was possessed by Tom Riddle. 

Normally I would give a summary here of the book but lets face it if you haven't already read the books you're not going to LOL. This time reading it through I tried to remain cheery and upbeat. One of the best parts of the book is that one of my favorite character's is introduced in this book. That of course being the lovable Doby. Doby who is so different from his fellow house elves. Another one of my favorite characters is introduced and that being Gilderoy Lockhart. So for a book I really don't enjoy it was a pleasure to rediscover the fact that two such great characters are introduced in this book.  OH and Moaning Myrtle who is always good for a laugh!

One of my favorite scenes is when one of Lockhart's pictures still had a curler left in it's hair after it is startled in the middle of the night. Such a great description and small detail that really does show the true nature of this narcissistic character. As always it broke my heart to see Hermione in a frozen state and left out of a huge portion of the book.  Then there is poor Ginny who is nearly destroyed completely by Tom Riddle.  Yes I really think that is the part I hate about the book. There are so many other great scenes and everything but it breaks my heart that two strong female characters are rendered incapacitated in this book (both Ginny and Hermione). This reading through I find myself scoring it higher than usual since I really kept in mind my prejudice in the book and was delighted to see all those scenes and characters that are memorable and lovable.  This time I give it 4 out of 5 stars (normally it is 3 an half stars). 

Challenges Fulfilled

Hogwarts Reading

Harry Potter Challenge

Review- The Old Man's Bag by T.W.H. Crosland

I was looking for some old story books to read to my 3 year old son when I came across this one. I read it to him last week one night when he was up really late and having trouble falling asleep. This book simply put was WEIRD!

An old man takes with him this bag and steals a hen. A red policeman catches him and chases him for 5 miles (an old man can run that far? I don't think I can do 1!!). As he is being chased he drops the bag. When the policeman catches the old man they go back to the bag to find it empty but with a big hole in it. The hen must of escaped. The old man was given a warning. The old man's wife sews up the bag and goes out the next day and steals a roll of butter. The same policeman catches her and she runs for 10 miles (man these old people are in good shape) she too drops the bag but this time the butter is still in there. The policeman find the old woman to be polite so tells her if the weather is nice he will stop by her house tomorrow to arrest her. The next day just as it starts to rain the policeman shows up. The old woman tells him he promised he would not come if the weather was bad. The policeman agreed and walked home in the rain. He then decides he will become a soldier as he is tired of being a policeman. When the couple find out they go out and steal tons of wonderful things. a couple of rolls of butter, hens, and tons of other things to cook. After a grand meal the wife sends the husband back out to steal again before the soldier changes his mind and becomes a policeman. The man comes back but this time with a cat and her kittens, hay and broken glass. The wife is mad and tells him to toss all the items. The old man asks her what he should do with the bag. And she tells him to do whatever he wants. So he cuts it up into small pieces and burns it. The next day she asks him why he did that and he said guess. She guesses and guesses but never comes up with the reason. Then the book ends telling the reader to ask their mom why he destroys the bag.

The story was kind of long (I cut out parts in my summary) for a children's book and really weird. I did however love the illustrations in it. The book is rather silly and leaves the moral of it up to the parent. Thankfully my son is still too little to ask me why the old man destroys the bag. I give the book 1 and half out of 5 stars. I don't see myself ever reading it again but I would look at the drawings with my son again.

Challenges Fullfilled
Hogwarts Reading
Buck Stops Here
E-Public Domain Challenge

Fairy Tale Fridays-The StoryTeller

Argh I'm so upset. I had this auto set up to post on Friday and it didn't. I had a super busy weekend and knew I couldn't get on to post. So this is a few days late but nevertheless here is my Friday Fairy Tale.

This week I decided to not read a tale but rather to watch a series of tales. I've been thinking about the old Henson show The Story Teller.....remember that? I have such fond memories of it. So I  was super excited that Netflix not only has it but it is available for streaming right to your computer. BTW if you don't have Netflix...GET IT! I swear it is the one of the best things we've ever done and all we do is stream movies we don't bother with the mail in DVDs.

I had some vague memories of a few of the stories but it all came flooding back as I watched. I haven't seen these since they first aired back in the late 80's but they still hold up and do not have the feeling of watching an 80's show. There were 9 tales in total but my favorite was The Soldier and Death. I remember that one from when I was little.

In The Soldier and Death a soldier receives a bag for an act of kindness. He can trap whatever he would like in the bag all he has to do is command it in there. He goes to a castle filled with demons and captures them making himself a very rich man and close personal friend to the king. Later on as the king is dying the man is able to capture death so the king may live. But it turns out that everyone will live. Soldiers fighting wars still live, young lovers who throw themselves off cliffs find themselves alive and have to crawl back up the cliffs. Eventually he sets Death free but after being trapped for so long Death is terrified of the old soldier and runs way from him. In the end the soldier is left alive to wander for eternity because neither Heaven nor Hell would welcome him.

Review- Etsy shop escentualcreations

Normally I don't do reviews on giveaways I've won (other than books). But a while back I won a gift pack of soaps and candles from escentualcreations etsy shop and well I'm in love. They have such wonderful collection of items such as olive oil soaps and wonderful smelling votives. The real surprise for me and what caused me to write this review was their Lettuce olive oil soap.This soap is the most amazing smelling soap! I can't even describe it but if I had a bottle of this stuff I would wear it as perfume. I was actually disappointed when my bar was all used up. Their soaps leave no residue and smell so wonderful (again you must try the lettuce!). Their votives are pleasantly scented and last a long time. All in all I would I highly recommend this shop! They also have $1 sampler soaps made from the leftovers of other soaps. So you never know what goody scent you will get. All of their candles normally $4 are on sale for$1.66 each! So please check out their shop. Oh and let me say it one last time you must must must try their lettuce soap!

Looking for Sponsors- Huge Giveaway Event Coming Soon

So I am nearing 300 followers. When I hit 300 or 350 I will start a huge giveaway event that includes 2 old navy gift cards and a sports authority giftcard. I may also have a few sponsors from etsy shops join in. If anyone would like to help sponsor a giveaway please contact me.

Review- Vampire Diaries- The Awakening by L.J. Smith

I first read these books many many years ago when I was in middle school. I haven't read them in at least 15 years. I was so excited though when I saw that they were making a TV show based on the books. I tried watching the show but it was so different from the books. When I was a teenager these and the Anne Rice books were the books that cause a vampire craze with me. Recently Twilight restarted the vampire craze in people and I kept telling people to read the Vampire Diaries because they were so much better.

The first book in the series introduces us to Elena, the Queen Bee of her school. Her parents had passed away and her aunt is raising her and her younger sister. Stefan Salvatore is the new mysterious boy at her school. Elena used to getting what she wants has set her sights on Stefan but does not understand why he ignores her. Stefan is determined to avoid Elena at all costs because she looks just like his old love, Katherine. Stefan is also hiding the dark secret that he is a Vampire.

Ok so when I started to re-read this book I was well...disappointed. It just wasn't what I remembered it to be. Elena was whiny and well a bitch. She wants Stefan and cant have him so she plans and schemes and uses people to try and get what she wants. I literally found myself questioning how I ever even liked the book. I know that 15 years is a huge time gap and that now I'm in my 30's and back then I was just a teenager but sheesh! I had to force myself to keep going. But then something miraculous happened. I came to the part of the book with the dumb supper and memories flooded in my mind. I remembered sleep overs with friends and us doing silly things like trying to do a dumb supper. It brought a smile to my face. I remember my friend Michele and I obsessing about how if one of us ever became a vampire we would swear to turn the other one into one (so silly to think of now). While I'm not the person I was back then (who so wanted to be someone special) I finally could enjoy the book. More for nostalgia reasons. I will definitely check out at least the next book which I recall as being my favorite in the series. I think I also understand more now the teens that are obsessed with Twilight (sorry can't stand Twilight tried and just find it to be horrible lesson to girls that a stalker, obsessive, borderline abusive boyfriend is a desirable mate). So while the 14 year old me would have glowingly given this 5 out of 5 stars. The adult English Lit major in me gives it 2 out of 5 stars.

Challenges Fullfilled
Hogwarts Reading- mini challenge