V. C. Andrews books just don't quite pack the punch they used to. It seems like there's a push to cram as many "horrifying" and "scandalous" secrets into as little space as possible. In the good old days, there were 5 books per series. The first three focused on the main character as she began to discover the family's secrets and had terrible things happen to her. The fourth was about the main character's daughter and how she overcomes the tragedy of the past. The fifth was a revelatory prequel about the main character's mother or grandmother, usually grandmother, that gave some insight about how this family got so messed up. The horror was drawn out, the secrets were revealed gradually, and the experience was satisfying.
The last four "series" have only consisted of two or three books, and, like I said, have been both condensed and neutered. It's so disappointing. Is there a second ghostwriter? Were the "outlines" left by the original Virginia Andrews not as detailed? I've read a decent amount of fanfic on the internet; it seems the estate could have gotten a better ghostwriter.
All this is not to say, however, that this book was bad, it's just not as good as books by this "author" used to be. I was disappointed, but not enough to put it down, or swear off reading them in the future. At times, the narrative hinted at the brilliance this author is known for, but not much came to fruition. It seems like there's at least one more book's worth to tell about this family, either a continuation or a prequel. It could have been more drawn-out. The one thing I'm grateful for, though, is that this protagonist was not as horribly abused as previous Andrews heroines. It detracts from the horrifying nature of storytelling that this author is known for, but it also leads to a happier ending.
Recommended to those who don't have the stomach for vintage Andrews. Not recommended to those who revel in vintage Andrews. ( )

Bad, bad, bad... Characters were totally unbelievable and unlikable! I only read it because I remembered that I liked some of her books when I read them in high school. Now I know why I read them back then and liked them. ( )

This is the second book in the Early Spring Series. It was not as exciting or eventful as other Andrews books. However, it did have similair themes to her other stories though. ( )