If There Be Thorns~

If There Be Thorns

V.C Andrews

If There Be Thorns is the 3^rd book of the Dollanganger Story. But instead of being told from Cathy’s point of view it’s being told from both her sons’ view, Bart-the clumsy 9 year old boy who so desperately wants to find his place in the world but is having hard trouble with it-and Jory, a graceful 14 year old dancer who is trying to help his brother find his place and honor his dead famous dancing father. In the story Bart and Jory are slowly realizing their parents’ past, but instead of getting the whole story they find out bits and bits, judging from it there, the whole story is basically about if the dolls’ sons can accept their past or would they end up wishing they were never their parents?

Jory seems to have no big complications with that but Bart is really the one who has a hard time accepting it. Bart is a child who doesn’t know who to listen to, or what path to follow. Next door a new lady and her mysterious butler have moved in. Because Bart is curious and desperate for friends and for people who won’t compare him to graceful Jory, he goes over there in secret. Soon he and the butler are “friends” and the butler soon tells Bart more about his parents’ past, also telling him about his parents’ grandfather-Malcolm Neal Foxworth. Bart soon is eagerly trying to be like the “tough, know-it-all and great” Malcolm since he doesn’t know who exactly who he is. Because of that when Bart finds out about his parents’ secret he judges it so much. He calls their secret sinful and begins to show hate for them. He’s also putting his feelings for rejection into it and his adoring-feelings to his mother, making it more and more complicated for all of the family.  Soon Bart is hated on by the family, who is doing their best to not hate on him but he’s judging them so much, he hates on almost everything they do, it gets on their nerves. I can’t really blame them, they love Bart, no doubt about that, but he’s hurting them how can they not get angry back? Not being able to find out his true self Bart becomes a boy who loves his parents and hates when he hates on them to a boy who’s trying to act like an old man who’s dead and hated everyone and everything thinking what they did would be sinful.

For Jory it’s not so complicated. He loves his parents to death; he probably can accept anything they do. But when he figures out about his parents’ secret he begins to wonder about things. How could his parents keep a secret from them this big? Why had they done it?  And could he still love them the same way he used to before?  They clearly had done something wrong-right? But, can he also be like Bart? Love them but hate them? No, he knows he can’t do that. How could he? His mother had done so much for him…and his step-dad tried. But it was just one thing they kept? They treated him fairly, giving him almost everything he wanted…but they did something wrong, they married each other! Isn’t that wrong? Didn’t they do something sinful…? But they’re his parents, they love him, they did the best they could-right?-so why should he judge them? Is sweet, loving, dancing Jory gonna be like Bart, or truly accept his parents, who’s done their best for him all his life? 

Though, the story keeps me thinking (and probably will to you if you read it) and all that, I personally feel that there could be another person who could the same thing as Jory and Bart do. For one there could be Cindy, the innocent little adopted girl, how would she feel about all this? Bart, hating on her for some reason she doesn’t know? What does she think about Jory being nice to her but also seeming to have dark secrets, or about Cathy, the woman who adopted her in the first place, who seems to be happy to her but distant to Bart? Does she notice the darkness in her new family? What exactly does she know about her family?

Another person who would have been good to hear from is John, the butler. He’s the one feeding Bart the ideas to be like Malcolm. How could he? Why would he want a 9 year old boy be like a heartless dead old man? What are his motives, revenge, for clearly doesn’t seem to like Cathy or Chris, as if he knows what they have done and is judging them sinfully. What exactly does he get out of turning a little boy he doesn’t know much against his parents?  And his hate for the lady he works for, he seems to be planning something for her too, as if she can help him for whatever he’s planning. How does he see the Dollanganger and Foxworth story? Does he see sin and evil or good and joy?  If he sees evil how is he using Bart to get revenge? 

Clearly there are many problems in this book. Clearly even if they want it to happen, Bart and Jory are getting sucked in the twisted Dollanganger story, the big question is can they accept it? Or will they live in shame and hate for their rest of their lives? Is John gonna get his revenge? What’s up with the weird lady next door, who exactly is she? Will Cindy get sucked in too? Who exactly is gonna hurt even more? (I feel like one of those people who promote books xD) And will Bart finally find out who he is? What exactly is gonna happen to the dolls (read my other post to understand it). Will justice finally be served?

Petals on the Wind

CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS!

Petals on the Wind by V.C Andrews 
Question: Who's perspective is missing? What effect would it have had? Why do you think the author chose not to include it?

Petals on the Wind by V.C Andrews is about the three Dollanganger Dolls trying to find their place in the world after escaping the mother who killed their 4^th Dollanganger Doll, telling that they would need to be hidden until she inherits the millions of dollars her grandfather has. While the two main dolls-Cathy and Christopher- manage to find their place-with the help of their new guardian, Paul Sheffield-while one doll withers slowly, mourning for the 4^th doll who had been her twin, Cory, who had been the closet person with her in the whole world.  

The point of view which the story is told is the dancing doll, Cathy. Cathy is the most bitter of the dolls. She is stuck in the past, wanting revenge for the mother who betrayed them all-especially the child who loved her the most and who Cathy is closest to, Christopher. As she strives through her dancing career, trying to become the best dancer in the world (for personal reasons involving her mother and since she loves dancing), she begins to plan to get revenge on her mother, making sure she is aware of where she is and sending her letters that say something like: ‘Are you still running away from me? Don’t you know yet you can never run fast enough for far enough? Someday I will catch up, and we will meet again. Perhaps this time you will suffer as you made me suffer, and, hopefully, thrice the amount.’ 

Though Cathy’s point of the view on things makes the book interesting, suspenseful, and makes me wanna read it over and over again, I feel that there could be other people who tell the story and still tell the story wonderfully. The first person I think could make it interesting is the Doctor Doll-Christopher. 

I think Christopher could make it just as interesting is because you would get to know what he thinks. His mother betrayed him, he loved his mother, he thought she was perfect, that no one else could be better than her…and then she goes and locks him up in a room, promising him riches beyond beliefs, not letting him go outside, not letting him live a life! Then 3 years later, when they plan to escape, and after Cory-the Dead Doll-died, Chris’s heart is broken. The woman he loved the most killed his little brother and made him suffer at a very young age all for riches which he found out in the end, he and his siblings would have to die so the mom could keep the riches…

The story would show what Chris feels about his mother betraying him. How he feels about when he has to choose becoming a doctor or staying with Cathy (He loves her-they’ve been locked up for 3 years, becoming closer and closer, so, yeah) and Carrie-the dying, mourning little doll, and how he ended up choosing the becoming a doctor. Also how Cathy tries to escape the sinful love they have by marrying Julian (Another famous dancer) then going to New York, then as he dies, she goes and marries Paul (It’s complicated…). Chris, who is so shut up, who mourns more than Cathy though doesn’t show it, who wants his sister to be his and his only, who just can’t stand the fact that his own mother wants to money more than them, no matter what she says. Chris is so expressional with his blue eyes, he get hurt easily; he doesn’t have that mean spark like Cathy…Chris who would have made an excellent person to tell the story of trying to live in the world. 

Another person who would be good to hear from is the mother-Corrine. The mother doll, who made it clear she wanted money more than her own children who loved her so much, who made it clear she cared more for herself than others, the one who killed her own child and tried to get away from it. How did she feel when she put arsenic in the children’s food to kill them slowly? How could she bear it? How could she walk in that room, telling the Dolls that she still loves them and is working hard for them just to get them out when she really was just spending the money she had gained in due time, living the lives the Dolls should have had? How could she do it? How could she betray her own children just to get money? How is the question, or for Cathy, Chris, Carrie, and Cory, why? 

What the telling of Chris’s and Corrine’s point of view, for me, would have made the book more interesting. Cathy’s point of view makes me love the book-but I’d like to know what it was like for the mother to see her children die then become successful later, when they hate her. I’d like to know what it would be like for the one who loved the mother the most, to slowly realize the mother loved money more than them. I don’t think that if it had been told from their point of view they couldn’t have ‘drowned out’ Cathy’s voice. Cathy is a headstrong dancer; a bit like her mother when she wants things to go her way-as in she would do anything to get it. Cathy’s version shows what she would do to get her revenge on her mother. Chris wouldn’t really do anything just try and stop Cathy but ending up failing. Corrine would just mourn, wanting her children back and wanting to reverse her mistakes. Cathy shows the step by step of what she does to get her revenge, she shows her struggles, her anger, the mistakes she made, the things she pleads. But either way, any view from there’s would have been awesome to hear from…maybe even the little twins, the most innocent, would have been nice to read…or maybe even a person from the outside trying to tell the Dollanganger’s twisted story.

The Lost Hero

CONTAINS SOME SPOILERS!!!!!!

The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan

I have recently read a book called The Lost Hero by Rick Riordan which has many complex and difficult things about friendship, power, and loyalty. There are 3 main characters, Jason Grace, Leo Valdez, and Piper McLean. There all just demigods trying to save the meanest Goddess of Olympus before she’s eaten by a giant who will use her power to rise and destroy the Earth-which is also complicated for Piper’s sake.

Piper McLean-daughter of famous actor Tristan McLean and Aphrodite the goddess of love-has a lot of difficulties she has to choose through. . She holds a terrible secret-the secret that’s making her decide from the life and death of her friends and family.  If she chooses family, then her friends die. If she chooses her friends, then her father dies. She’s close to her friends but really loves her dad since he’s all the family he has left.  And because it’s her secret, she can’t really tell anyone, also since the secret has promised if she did then her father would be killed before she could do anything. She doesn’t want to betray her friends, but she also can’t let her father die.

That’s also not the only problem she’s facing. She’s also facing a bit of power-problems. When she first goes to Camp Half-Blood she meet’s the counselor for the Aphrodite cabin-Drew-who she immediately doesn’t like because Drew is described to describe her as a ‘week-old burrito that had just been pulled out of a Dumpster’ and because Drew was trying to get together with Jason-Piper’s crush. As Piper gets to know Drew she feels like she thinks everything is a game and doesn’t really know how to run a cabin since she feels that every Aphrodite child should look gorgeous and people should adore them. When she gets back from the Quest of trying to save the world, Piper challenges Drew to who gets to run the cabin, though she doesn’t really want to, if she gets to be the Cabin Leader than she’ll be given attention which she wouldn’t like. 

Jason Grace’s-son of Zeus-problems are difficult, probably not as difficult at Piper’s. One day he wakes up in the school bus-having no memories only others seeming to have memories of him. Later he figures out that Hera-the goddess that has been captured-has been the one who’s taken his memories. He has to decide between able to get back his memories and being able to walk away from the quest or staying with Piper and Leo-his only friends-help with the quest, and not having his memories back immediately but in due time. Jason wants his memories back since he hates not knowing anything-not even his favorite food, color, or age. But when he wakes up at the school bus, and then spends some time with Piper and Leo he feels like he shouldn’t leave them. He also feels like if he gets his memories back he might start hating Piper, Leo, and the other demigods in Camp Half-Blood, and that’s something he doesn’t want to do-he wants to stick by his friends’ sides, even if it means he doesn’t get his memories, which he will not like. 

Leo Valdez’s-the son of Hephaestus and Esperanza Valdez- is also the one with problems he has to face. First off, he blames himself for the death of his mother though he knows that Mother Earth-Gaia-was setting him up, getting him to worry about her mother’s lock up in her shop, and accidently setting it on fire. He knows it was Gaia who set it up-trying to lower his confidence-but he also blames himself. Fire’s making Leo’s life difficult since he’s been told that a child of Hephaestus is really bad luck for the people around him, but he feels like he’s already done so much damage, his own family-his aunt really-thinks he’s crazy and wouldn’t take him in when he lost his mother-doesn’t want anything to do with him. All of Leo’s life he’s been neglected, the fire thing really isn’t helping him trying to keep things okay.

The Lost Hero the heroes face many problems-emotionally and physically. Though they really are a pain to them, and rather difficult, these problems help Piper, Jason, and Leo become wiser in more ways than one. Piper learns that Aphrodite Children are really about being loving and spreading beauty throughout the world. Jason learned things like friendship is worth more than the memories he’ll get back in due time. And Leo learned that not every child with fire powers is bad, people have just misjudged them based off other accidents happening. Heroes can face many problems like these 3 did, but in most cases they’re good lesson-learners, but also,  those lesson-learners can have a twist to them…

Dead Beautiful

CONTAINS SPOILERS!!!!!!

I have recently finished reading the book Dead Beautiful by Yvonne Woon. It’s about how a girl named Renee Winters, a Californian, clumsy girl, who finds her parents in a nearby forest, dead. It seems to confuse Renee because she finds it nearly impossible for both of them having to die at the same time, with coins surrounding them, and cloths shoved in their mouths, especially since they’re supposed to be at work, which is about an hour away from where their bodies are. After the funeral, Renee’s grandfather-who Renee is certain of that her parents hated-comes into Renee’s life, he lets her mourn for a few days, then tells her that she’s gonna go attend Gottfried Academy, an ‘elite boarding school’ in Maine. He sends her there because he feels like she will be safer there since like Renee, he believes that her parents’ death is no accident.  Renee is reluctant to go, but ends up going, she soon finds out what the school has very dangerous secrets. 

There’s one secret that the school refuses to talk about, and tries really hard to not let the students there find out. But Renee is determined to find out, even if it means she can get killed like the other students who have died there. Students like Cassandra Millet and Benjamin Gallow have been in on the secret, now they’re dead, even Renee’s best friend Eleanor, ends up dying-but she wasn’t on the secret, her brother way though…every year the school has a test, to see who is ‘smart and bright’ enough to be able to be on The Board Of Monitors, a very fancy way to describe the ‘hall monitors’ basically. But there’s also one catch with being on that, they’re in on the secret too.  Renee tries to get the secret by getting Eleanor to ask her brother since basically, he would tell her anything, but it doesn’t seem to be enough, all Eleanor can get out that makes Renee really suspicious is that, the students who’ve died, Ben and Cassandra and Eleanor, have died the exact way Renee’s parents have-with coins and cloths. 

Renee ends up reading about Gottfried’s past, all that she can find which is an utter shock to her, is that, there were others students who have died, and they’ve died the same way, cloths and coins, in the beginning of the story, when Renee found her parents, and she questioned the police about it, they had told her that the reason they had died, was because they both had heart attacks. Renee clearly did not believe it, how could both of her parents have heart attacks at the same time? They may have been close but they weren’t that close that they could have planned their own deaths at the same time. Now, since it says the other students have died there the same way, Renee believes they’re hiding something big, how could all those young kids have a heart attack when they were perfectly healthy?

 

But to uncover that secret, Renee needs to uncover the secret of her boyfriend’s identify, Dante Berlin. When Dante-star student, high grades, and everything-first meets Renee, Eleanor is there, describing ‘the guy who sits next to her during the Fall Assembly’ to be Dante. She says that Dante never talks to anyone, and in the Assembly, to Eleanor’s shock, Dante talks to Renee. Soon, Renee finds herself attracted to Dante, but not in the-oh he’s so cute kinda way, more like, there’s something very familiar about him…I can’t put my finger on it though…kinda way. They end up hanging out, Renee also feels more alive near him, as Dante feels to her-though he probably won’t admit it. Through classes like Latin, they become closer and closer. (I know, it doesn’t seem important-oh she gets a romantic relationship with the mysterious guy of the school, yeah big deal, so what? Well it is so hold up, please?) When Renee reads about the Gottfried past she finds out a few things…things that sorta match up Dante’s mysterious personality. Cold Skin all the time, afraid of underground, won’t kiss anyone. (Dante does this, yes, to make it clear.) As Renee reads she finds the words: Basium Mortis which is basically Latin for having your soul taken from you, or kiss of death. ‘I turned the page. The pictures were disturbing. They showed children sucking the souls out of other children. Their faces looked hungry and bestial, driven by animal cravings. Though strangely, I thought, it looked like they were kissing. The realization struck me, and I sat up and gasped. Kissing. Dante refused to kiss me on the lips. This must be why. A kiss could kill me.’ Soon, Renee connects it…and she finds out Dante is one of the undead children, one of the children from the age of 21 and below who have died and their soul has left their body, now the body wands the Earth looking for their soul, and in order for him to live without his soul, Renee finds out, that he has to suck out the souls of other people or he’ll die. (Wow, must be a bummer o.o having to find out your boyfriend could kill you anytime he wanted, and that he’s dead…) But that’s not all…Renee also uncovers that she holds Dante’s lost soul, and he could one kiss, Renee could die, Dante could live again till he dies again for good.

Finding that out, Renee learns that the other students, Ben, Eleanor, her parents, they’ve all died by Basium Mortis, the kiss of death, by the undead children who want to live. She has uncovered the secret of Gottfried...but at what cost? Finding that out, one of the BOM (Board of Monitors) people-Gideon-wants to kill her, for some reason he has hated her since the beginning of the school. He tries to,  but Dante gets in the way, he ends up killing Dante but Renee saves him, giving him the kiss of life (yes, bad pun…I know). Renee lives though; Dante kisses her back and gives her back her, his…their soul, him becoming the undead again, and Gideon getting away.

Through this long story plot, Renee learns a few things, for one that, sometimes you have to look in your past to understand that future. When they were alive, Renee’s parents used to make her tell them back old theories that they told her. She had to look back at that to figure out all the connections between Dante, the BOM, the deaths of children, the death of her parents, and the death of her friend. Looking back Renee accepted that her boyfriend was the undead that people in her school where the undead and the BOM were just people that made sure the undead stayed in line. (Yes, the undead have requirements, read the book, it’ll explain more.) Looking back…Renee learned to understand everything that has happened.