Petals on the Wind (Dollanganger Book 2)

.....Is there an echo in here?

It certainly felt that way with nearly every chapter pretty much mirroring the one before...

Out of respect for Flowers in the Attic, I completed reading this book but under other circumstances I would've tossed it way before mid-point.

I tried hard to understand the Cathy character and her outbursts and whininess and wishy-washy attitude. Afterall, children of abuse and neglect sometimes develop self-destructive tendencies and sometimes the cycle of abuse can be hard to stop as a result but, after four or five chapters of the same dramatic nonsense dumped out using new words and a new male love interest, I starting hating Corrine for not giving Cathy more arsenic when she had the chance. All these outbursts may have at least been worth it if there was any attempt at insight either via the characters or the author. You're lucky if you get a few lines at the end of a chapter.

And what is wrong with the men in this book? True, beauty can have a serious power over men but come on. Every man she met fell in love with her in about two seconds flat despite anything and everything she did to hurt them including marrying one while engaged to the other and all the while lusting after her own brother. I can buy one, even two, but four? Were blondes hard to come by back in the 70s or something?

The last few chapters tried their hardest to get interesting but even Cathy's grand entrance at the ball fell flat. She planned it for so long and then let her mother's husband try to convince the guests it was a show they were putting on before demanding they go into the den to speak in private .... What? For someone so consumed with revenge and waiting for the perfect moment, she went awfully quiet-like into that den. Was it asking too much to get a grand 'freak out' moment? She was a spazz the whole book and I figured that was where it was going but no. Then what you ask? Well, the house was on fire of course! Wait. What? Another failing of this book - the jumping around - to the point where I found myself flipping back a page thinking I accidentally hit my "next page" on my Kindle one (or two or three or twenty) times too many.

It seemed to me that the author got so much attention over the 10 most controversial pages in Flowers in the Attic that she decided to write 400 more pages of just that. Unfortunately, without a deeper heart breaking story and character development to back it up, all that makes for is a trashy novel and a huge disappointment.

It was a bit harder to get through this book with Bart's narration but Jory's narration tended to be a bit smoother and intelligible. Probably my least favorite of the series but necessary to read due to the story you get second hand from Cathy's children.

This book lives up to V.C. Andrews previous book. The sequel to Flowers in the Attic series leaves you wanting more and involved in the characters lives. There are triumphant moments and sad times that make you want to cry. Great book.

This is the 2nd book I have read in this series. I find this series some what disturbing while at the same time intreging. I haven't decided if I will read more of the series or not in some ways I want to but maybe not.

This trilogy finally came to a very laborious end. I'm not even sure why u kept reading except to see if these suck people could ever get out of their own way. These books brought me no sense of rooting for these characters. I didn't want to see them come full circle-which they never do. What a waste of about 13 hours between all 3 books.

This trilogy finally came to a very laborious end. I'm not even sure why u kept reading except to see if these suck people could ever get out of their own way. These books brought me no sense of rooting for these characters. I didn't want to see them come full circle-which they never do. What a waste of about 13 hours between all 3 books.

I can't review the book because I am still unable to read it from my phone. I have reported the issue and have been in contact with tech support, last I heard my problem was being sent to development. I have heard nothing since then it has been a few weeks. Even though I have the Kindle Fire, I don't like to carry it with me everywhere I go. I loved being able to read from my Galaxy Note 3. It is just more convenient since I carry it with me already.

What I liked:
-Chris. It seemed like he was the only sensible person in this entire book that I didn’t absolutely hate at some point or another. He had his head on straight and he knew what he wanted in life, even if his sister was what he wanted. I had sympathy for him, and for Carrie later on, but not for Cathy.
-Carrie. Her problems were the only ones I was concerned with throughout this entire book. I could have cared less about Cathy. I wanted to read more about her younger sister. While Cathy has mainly emotional and mental problems from their captivity and abuse, Carrie has all of that plus physical problems. Her growth is stunted and she’s suffering from depression.

What I disliked:
-Cathy. She greatly disappointed me in this book. She was driven to do insane non-logical things all in an attempt to get back at her mother. Nothing she does in this book she does for herself. Everything is either to get back at her mother or to prove to herself that she’s better than her mother. It felt to me like she didn’t have an identity in this book beyond the bitter daughter that can’t move on. Chris moved on, but she couldn’t. Plus, Cathy just turned into a slut in this book. Sad but true. I don't care how many people someone has sex with, that doesn't make them a "slut". But using sex as a kind of weapon, neglecting your children in favor of getting laid...you don’t have sex with your mother’s husband to get back at her. That’s just wrong. Cathy was the main reason I disliked this book so much.
-Plot. There wasn’t one other than Cathy living her life and plotting her revenge. There were unbearably long chunks of nothing but Cathy’s day to day activities and vengeful thoughts, and it was so boring. I almost put this book down several times, and it was a miracle I made it to the end.

Overall, this book was pretty disappointing after such an amazing first book in the series. I’m not sure if I would even recommend this book to anyone; I certainly wouldn’t reread it probably ever again. I’ll stick with my memories of the first one. 2.0

This book was horrible, I'm actually appalled at how highly rated this trainwreck of a sequel is.

You'd assume in a book full of characters I'd have felt an attachment to more than just Carrie. I believe in a way that's the main reason I pushed through this crap. I had to know what happened to the only Dresden Doll that I could connect with.

Cathy is awful. You can only blame someone for your issues for so long before you have to take responsibility. Every bad choice you make can't be laid on someone else's shoulders. After 6 or so years you have to grow up. And that's a major issue with this book, Cathy uses her mother's mistake to justify every bad choice she makes down the road. People use trauma in different ways, some become what they hate and some avoid it. Cathy had a chance to not be another version of her mother and she failed, though if you ask her I'm sure that's Mama's fault too.

Every man in this book was the same exact person just modified a tiny bit. I love Cathy but I'm an old doctor who raped my wife. I love Cathy but I'm a young doctor who's her brother. I love Cathy but I'm an abusive dancer. I love Cathy but I'm a lawyer married to her mom. You see the problem here. You don't write a good book by writing half the characters the same. People are complex and majorly varied and VC Andrews managed to forget that and wrote boring characters.

I think what pisses me off more than anything is how terrible the book was as a whole but that I'm still considering reading the 3rd book.

Oh what a tangled web we weave when first we practice to deceive...

For Cathy, Chris and Carrie leaving the attic and the loss of their beloved brother Cory should have been enough for them to focus on the future and not dwell on the darkness of the past. That is something that Chris and Carrie try to do, but Cathy seems hellbent on revenge. That is where the innocence that we saw in her through the pages of FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC takes a tragic turn in V. C. Andrews' PETALS ON THE WIND.

I remember reading this book while in middle school, captivated by the way Cathy tried to prove she was better than her greedy mother and in the process almost losing herself entirely. Cathy, Chris and Carrie are given the chance to have a home where love could abound, but the weeds from their past taint the precious garden they try to grow---leaving them all forever changed.

We are able to see Cathy go through abusive relationships and hurt while on her pursuit of one day exacting her own vengeance on her mother and grandmother. Chris just wants to move on, even though the way his relationship changed with his sister Cathy in the attic keeps him from moving past her. And then there is Carrie, a victim in so many ways---and when love seems to be at her fingertips a chance encounter with her past sends her over the edge.

I think this book is probably one of the pivotal ones of the series, because it shows how what has happened to you can change your life for the better or the worse. By the end loyalty is tested, the truth is exposed and those who live or left to deal with the aftermath.

Re-reading these books. I can somewhat remember reading all of these books. Of course, I can not forget about Flowers in the Attic. So it was a great victory when Cathy, Christopher, and Carrie escaped their grandmother's attic. I was excited to join them on their journey to sunny Florida. That did not happen. They end up in South Carolina. I was actually kind of disappointed that they did not truly escape. I mean they did from their evil grandmother and mother but it seemed that the doctor that Cathy, Christopher, and Carrie stayed with was almost as bad.

I know Cathy wanted to believe that she is nothing like her mother but she did not try very hard to prove she is not like her. She played with the men she came across like her mother. She did not care who's feelings she hurt. Cathy got on my nerves. I could not feel sorry for Christopher as he was also obsessed with his sister still. The one I felt sorry for was Carrie. She did not really have any one left after her twin, Cory died. The first half of the book, I flew through. I then put the book down for a while and when I picked it back up, I was only semi into it again. However this is still a interesting series to read.

The second installment in the Dollanganger Family series is Petals on the Wind. It is solely based on a young girls drive through life based on hatred, self-destruction and revenge. Like all those who make such pursuits it backfires with unforeseen consequences. Catherine is given multiple opportunities to make the right…or at the very least, better choices and she always goes in the other direction. She does have a way of making the reader feel sorry for her and understand her plight, yet the reader still gets frustrated with her behavior. The revenge she is hell bent on bestowing on her mother for her inconceivable actions of imprisoning her and her siblings for over three years in hopes of inheriting a fortune is heart wrenching. Rather than be like her optimistic older brother Chis, Catherine always seeks out the worse in every situation. Her brother constantly warns her about looking for trouble and/or revenge telling her ‘seek and you shall find’ and she does.
After reading Flowers in the Attic, Petals on the Wind is a great follow up. However, I am not sure if I would allow my teenage daughters to read this series…at least until they are a little older.

I've read all the books in the Dollanganger series once as a teen and now as an adult. I remember feeling sympathy for Cathy in FITA but in Petals she's become a vengeful, spiteful and vain shell of the person she was in flowers. V.C Andrews goes to great lengths to describe and hammer in how beautiful Cathy is not once, nor twice not even three times but throughout the entire book! We get it..I don't think we need Cathy going on and on about her beauty. To make matters worse Cathy hurts every man she meets and blames every mistake on her mother which makes her come across as extremely childish and vain. I know this takes place in the 1960s and 70s a time when I was not even born yet but even I know that nobody talks like the people in this book do! Not even in the 60s. But I digress..The only symphathetic character in the book is Carrie and even she can be a bit grating. Julien comes off as just too evil to be real and Paul comes off as a pedophile. Despite these flaws if you are interested in what becomes to all the characters after the gripping Flowers in the attic then reading Petals is definitely recommend ed however be prepared to dislike Cathy which in a series like this is a fatal flaw.

Petals on the wind (dollanger #2) by V.C. andrews
A dark sequel to Flowers in the Attic. Cathy, Carrie and Chris had survived three years, four months and fifteen days in the attic of a sadistic grandmother who tortured them for the sins of their mother. Their freedom which cost them their youngest brother, cost them more then they ever thought. They were haunted by their childhood, locked in the Attic. Carrie most of all haunted by the rejection of their mother, and loss of her twin brother. Chris worked hard built on his practice and became the doctor he wanted to be. Chris always believed that his mother was in someway innocent of their treatment. This drove Cathy, from love to love, good to bad situations always trying to reject Chris, and the unnatural love they shared. Cathy drove herself so close to her dreams only her bad choices cost her everything. The compounding nature of her mistakes seemed to balance out her hatred of her mother. When she returned to Foxworth Manner seeking her revenge she would never expect what it cost her.

"We lived in the attic.
Christopher, Cory, Carrie and me--
Now there are only three."

And those three (sans Cory) manage to escape the horrible attic at Foxworth Hall. Once they discover that their mother has been poisoning their doughnuts with arsenic, they knew they'd have to run away if they had any chance to survive. Their plan is to work at a circus until they make enough money to fulfill their dreams. Chris wants to be a doctor and Cathy wants to be a prima ballerina. But things don't work out the way they'd planned. Instead, they meet a lonely doctor who takes them under his care. He pays for Chris's medical education, sends Carrie to a private school (with disastrous results), and falls in love with Cathy, who becomes a famous ballerina for some time. Things appear to look up for the "Dresden Dolls," as they were known as children. However, they may have left the attic, but the horrible memories from that attic haven't left them -- especially for Cathy. Everything that goes wrong in her life has a scapegoat: her mother. A mother that leaves her children to wither away and die in an attic just so she could inherit millions and marry a younger man. Through tragic deaths, bad marriages, inappropriate incestuous feelings, and clandestine affairs, Cathy manages to carry her one-track determination to make her mother pay for everything she has put her through...

Petals on the Wind is flooring. It's better than Flowers in the Attic -- more haunting and thought provoking. You feel the psychological trauma and emotional scars the characters feel. You feel awful for Cathy and Chris, even when they fight for the forbidden desires and feelings a brother and sister shouldn't feel towards one another (well, Cathy does most of the fighting, for Chris is determined to live a life of sin with his sister). Incest is one of the main themes in this series. Even though the scenes centered on incest are disturbing and difficult to read at times, it is understandable that the author develops this storyline, for nature versus nurture is another main theme in this series. It appears that the less Cathy wants to be like her mother, the more she finds herself doing the very things her mother would do. Carrie's story, while short and somewhat underdeveloped, is the saddest of them all. You feel her anguish, her inferiority complex, her fear of rejection, and you'd be made of stone if you weren't touched by her sad story. All of the characters are complex and well written, all with shades of gray, none of them perfect. V.C. Andrews was a wonderful writer of gothic suspense. I have If There Be Thorns and Seeds of Yesterday lined up, and will also pick up the prequel called Garden of Shadows. If you haven't read V.C. Andrews, then hurry up and pick up this series. Don't let the controversial theme put you off. This is great writing, folks!

Love this book. It picks up right where Flowers in the Attic left off and it doesn't dissapoint. There are a few annoying things about Cathy as she proves to be very selfish in many ways, but we still have a gripping tale of betrayal, and revenge. No matter how annoying Cathy may get in her selfish ways, it is more appalling to read of her mother Corrine just living it up as if her children never existed so its easy to root against her especially if you read the first book. However, in many ways Cathy resembled her mother and not just in looks. The selfish ways, the vanity, the way she made every man fall in love with her was the exact ways of her mother, who she criticized for doing the same thing. So what if she could dance while her mother only crocheted? She too winded up depending on a man and never wanted to live without one again like her mother. One can't blame Cathy for wanting revenge for the horrible things her mother and grandmother did, but in the end Cathy wasn't really that much stronger than Corrine even if we could say she was in some ways especially in the ways of confrontation. She was superior there no doubt. Still a great book and i could read it over and over again.

A.M Torres author of Love Child - (sold here on the store)

Disturbing in a good way though. The story is engaging. I was on a ride of emotions, upset at times at what I was reading.
Cathy started to piss me off at one point. Like, how can one person be so filled with malice and spite?! All she could think about was revenge.Yeah, it made for good reading, but there was a part of me that wondered why she couldn't knock it off already.
Then I realized how strong I felt showed how pulled into the story I really got. Must be good, solid writing.
No, it wasn't as good as Flowers In The Attic, but it had good moments.
When I read this one as a teen, I wasn't as disturbed. I think being a mother now added to that a lot. I am looking forward to watching the film adaption to this now too. I like when books are brought to life.
As a heads up for fans, the rest of this series is signed for movie adaptions as well. That means we all best get reading!

"Petals on the Wind" is not your average sequel - - mainly because it surpasses the first book in the Dollanganger series, "Flowers in the Attic", in both literary merit and story.

"Petals" picks up where "Flowers" left off, with Chris, Cathy and Carrie having just escaped the attic and their formidable Grandmother. It follows the fractured family for the next twenty-five years - - through the kids finding a home with the lonely widower Dr. Paul Sheffield in South Carolina, to Chris attending medical school, Cathy becoming a ballerina and Carrie adjusting to life being the sole surviving twin. "Petals" is full of sadness and agony, in some cases even more so than "Flowers". "Petals" also introduces the reader to a veritable encyclopedia of new characters and locales.

The constants throughout the story are Chris' continued love for Cathy, Cathy's desire for revenge on the Grandmother and her own mother and the extremity of Cathy's bad decisions. As Chris says in the book, it is amazing how intuitive Cathy was while locked up in the attic, but how damned dumb she became once they got out. And that was no small exaggeration - - and that is perhaps my only gripe with this novel. Her continued bad choices are legion - -whether it's in the area of romance, marriage, children or work, she leaves a path of destruction in her wake.

But overall, I enjoyed the book and plowed through it. I was disappointed when the story ended, even knowing that a third installment would await me.

If you are anxious to continue with the Dollanganger saga, dive right in.

Petals on the wind, by V.C. Andrews, is an extrodinary book of a family's struggle. It displays three syblings and the pain they go through in life. Carrie, Chris, and Cathy are locked up in an attic and mistreated by their mother and grandmother, because of their mothers need to regain her eheritance from her father. But that is all over now. The three children are on their way to a knew life, but where? They miss their brother who died fro being poisoned by their mother. And now carrie is sick, because she has been poisoned too. Fortunatly they are led to a doctor who helps them throughout life, and gives them everyting they need. The children grow older and struggle with love, their dreams, and thoughts of their mother. Cathy throughout the whole book, questions herself. Is she like her Mother? She is a strong charector, just trying to make it through the hardships of her life. Finally Cathy knows she has to do something about her mother. She has to make her feel the pain she and her syblings went through. This is a wonderful book to read, because it shows human emotion so realistically. It displays what children who are neglected and abused go through. Though a very long book, it keeps you hooked the whole time, bringing more and more interest to the story. I personally recomend this book to anyone who enjoys realistic fiction, and explorying the feelings of others.

After reading Flowers in the Attic, I always wondered what became of the children after they escaped from Foxworth Hall. In Petals on the Wind, the kids escape and take Carrie to a doctor, who has an office in his own home. The doctor eventually adopts all three of them and they settle down and try to adjust to a normal life, which is difficult because they are haunted by their past. Cathy ultimately starts an affair with the doctor (her legal guardian) when she is only sixteen, which I found repulsive. But I guess very few things in life are free and the doctor had to be repaid somehow.
Cathy sees her mother from time to time throughout the book. As always, her mom pretends she doesn't know her. She's a selfish woman, who loves her money more than her own children, and to acknowledge the existence of her children would mean losing everything she inherited from her father. Cathy marries twice in the book. Both times her husbands die, and ultimately she winds up with Chris. The love that was first spawned in the shadows of the attic has stood the test of time.
In the end, Cathy goes to Foxworth Hall to confront her mother, after having starting an affair with her mother's husband. The other two books that come after this book aren't worth reading. This book is good, but I feel that she could have split it into two separate books and gone into a little bit more detail.

Near the end of the book, Cathy and Chris interrogated their mother, during which time they told her about a recent discovery they had made in Foxworth Hall of a small, hidden room from which emanated a foul odor. The implication was that this room was their dead brother Cory's final resting place; what I couldn't understand was why the reader learned of this secondhand and in passing from the characters. Why didn't the reader see Cathy and Chris actually discovering and opening the hidden room? Where was the firsthand account? I searched the entire book thinking I had overlooked this important event in the story but couldn't find it. Was it mistakenly edited out?
The Cathy character came across as annoying, not so much for her thirst for vengeance (who could blame her?) but for her narcicissm and nymphomania. Every time I turned another page, she was either going on about how beautiful she was or embarking on another sexual conquest.
Virtually everybody in this book seemed to have a gripe about something. Okay, maybe Chris, Cathy and Carrie had a right to be whiney and complaining; who wouldn't after having your mother lock you away for three years and literally try to kill you? But I thought POTW could have been just a bit more lighthearted; after all, they're out of the attic! But it was the same grousing, just a different topic.
I think Cathy's vengeance could have materialized a bit earlier, but her method of choice (initiating an affair w/her mother's second husband) really wasn't possible until her own husband had died, which didn't happen till the second part of the book. Oh well, I was able to rest easier knowing that Corinne had gotten hers in the end.

Having seen the movie when I was younger, I was a fan of "Flowers in the Attic" before I finally read the book this past year. It is a fast-paced thrilling read of terrible deeds and the destructive actions those deeds cause. Naturally I was curious to continue with the Dollangers and to know what happened to them after they fled from their attic confines. "Petals on the Wind" is a disappointment on the grandest scale - smut (and badly written smut at that) loosely disguised by the overarching revenge-driven plot.

When Chris, Cathy, and Carrie finally escape from the attic, they take a bus south heading towards Florida, but are forced to stop in South Carolina because Carrie is desperately ill. They are taken in by a charming and enigmatic doctor who adopts them as his wards, falling in love with Cathy along the way. He helps Chris achieve his dream of becoming a doctor, and helps Cathy fulfill her desire to be a ballerina, but there is little that can be done to help Carrie, whose small size is a constant worry to her. Yet despite all the good that fills their lives, Cathy is driven to seek revenge upon her mother, sending threatening, blackmail to Corrine as she flees her past all over the world, but Cathy will stop at nothing to get even with her mother. Even as she achieves her dream, Cathy's desire for revenge affects all of her success - she seems to destroy every man she comes in contact with (and since she is so overwhelmingly beautiful as Andrews has to constantly point out, all the men in her life (including her brother) are continuously after her). There is so much that Andrews could have done with these characters that she had given such an interesting back story to in the first novel, but she seemed more content to fill these pages with unnecessary (and horribly written) sex scenes just to stretch out the novel.

The story is somewhat redeemed towards the end when a grown-up Cathy can finally inflict some damage one those who have wronged her, namely her grandmother and mother, but for readers who have stuck through the rest of the trash, it is too little, too late. There are too many deaths (eight at last count), too much crying, way too many descriptions of Cathy's beauty and Chris's lust for her, and far too little actual story that moves this plot forward. I know this is a work of fiction, but for anyone who lives in the real world, the ending is extremely disturbing. I am not sure what Andrews intended, for Cathy is an extremely uneven character - at times smart and efficient and in charge, and at others crazy and dependent upon a man and unable to make decisions. If she had treated these characters the way she had in "Flowers in the Attic", this would have been a much better and more readable book. As it is, I will not read any of the other books about the Dollangers.

V.C. Andrews was a powerful writer. She had the ability to provoke so many emotions in a reader, and Petals on the Wind, was no exception.
Although Cory didn't make it, Cathy, Chris, and Carrie are out of the attic. Although Cathy is confused about her and Chris's relationship, she is sure that there is only good times ahead of them... right? But when Carrie becomes violently ill on a bus they are taking to Florida, Cathy begins to worry. Fortunately, a kind woman named Henrietta Beech, (who is a mute woman), takes them to her boss, a doctor named Paul Sheffield, who hides sad secrets. He is taken with the three oprhands, especially when he hears their story of the attic... and their mother. Cathy, suffering from the emotional damage of being locked away in the attic, is confused about relationships, and drifts between Paul (who is 24 years older than she), Julian Marquet, (a fellow dancer with a violent temper), Chris (Her brother), and ultimately, Bart, (her mother's husband). Cathy is also still simmering with rage over her mother's betrayal, and when her mother will again cause a death of someone she loves, Cathy will have her revenge... Even at any cost.

After finishing FITA, I couldn't wait to tackle PITW. I really feel like I wasted my time reading when I could have dumbed-down watching reality tv. This book was worse than reality tv. Here are a few plot points that made me wonder if VC Andrews had someone edit this drivel before it was sent to the presses:
Most of the men in this book are basically rapists. Chris, Paul, Bart, Julian. Made me wonder if VC Andrews considers rape as hot love-making. Ugh.
Cathy gets threatened and abused on one page and on the very next page she is madly in love with her abuser.
Cathy thinks having a baby by her mother's husband as the ultimate revenge. If Corrine could kill her own kids, why would she care that much about a two-timing husband?
Cathy doesn't find it the least bit odd that the doctor raped his own wife?
The list could go on and on.

The story lines could have been so much better but it felt like this may have been written in a hurry to meet a deadline. I found myself skipping entire paragraphs just to hurry up and get closure. Cathy should have ended up in the insane asylum right next to her mom. That way I would have felt a little better about finishing the book.

Petals on the Wind picks up where FitA left off. The three remaining children are running for their lives. They're taken in by a kind (but lecherous) man who does everything he can to help them fulfill their wildest dreams. Cathy takes ballet lessons, Chris goes to medical school. It's almost perfect! Everything would be perfect, except for the fact that the past still haunts them. To personalize a cheesy cliché, you can take the kids out of the attic but you can't take the attic out of the kids.
Perhaps in large part due to all the abuse and neglect and starvation she suffered, Carrie is very small (with a head that doesn't quite fit her tiny body), and the kids all tease her at school. And she still lives in fear that she is as evil as the grandmother always told them they were. Chris is still madly in love with Cathy. He can't imagine loving any other woman. Cathy is desperate to make it as a ballerina and prove that she is better than her mother. She doesn't want anyone, and especially Chris, holding her back. She feels ashamed about her relationship with Chris and she does all she can to escape her feelings for him and make him turn away from her.
I assume that if you are truly interested in reading this book, you have already read FitA. So I think we can skip the "INCEST WARNING" and move on, right?
Yes, Petals on the Wind contains incest. It kinda has to. There's no way that Cathy and Chris could do what they did in FitA and not have it affect their relationship for the rest of their lives. The question is, will they move on? Will they heal and find love again in more appropriate places? Will they renounce sex altogether and live the lives of nuns and priests (lol)? Or will Chris try to drag Cathy down with him and pester her until she gives in? A morbidly interesting dilemma, indeed, as we see Cathy hopping from one man to the next as she tries to escape her brother's smothering lust. Three men in particular catch her eye and make it into her fantasies---her much older guardian, an abusive danseur named Julian and her mother's husband Bart.
Cathy is not exactly a player. She has a few lovers but not an exorbitant amount. The thing about Cathy's sexual life is that it is just so darned inappropriate that we can't help but shake our heads at her and think, "That girl is out of her mind." For example, right off the bat, she decides it would be interesting to seduce her (lecherous) guardian. And, somehow or other, it only goes downhill from there. For many, this will be very off-putting. She's not as sympathetic as she was in FitA. But she's hurting and she's traumatized, so, at times, I couldn't help but feel pity for her, despite her foolish, even downright cruel, ways.
There is a lot of sex in the book. It is written in a way that gives the novel a trashy feel. Cathy is out to cause her mother pain and suffering, and one way she does this, in particular, is so incredibly sick and wrong that it makes one want to smack her. Many of the other characters are extraordinarily selfish and abusive as well, and yet still, Cathy comes across as a manipulative, abrasive, extremely vindictive woman who does what she wants at any cost to her self and to others. It makes for a tense and interesting plotline (and maybe that's why so many fans seem to like this book). I certainly don't think it's ever boring. And the characters are quite multi-dimensional for a book of this kind. They will do things that will greatly frustrate the reader, yet I think fans of the first book will be entertained. I think it's a decent sequel, so long as you know what to expect.
So read this book if you were frustrated by the end of FitA and want to see the grandmother and mother pay for their horrible crimes against defenseless little children. I don't think the conclusion is completely satisfying but it's a decent revenge story. Read this book if you want to know more about Cathy and Chris and their day to day lives and struggles---though keep in mind that the incest doesn't go away but only becomes worse. The book does feel a bit like a soap opera with all that's going on, but if you're just looking to be entertained, give it a try. I think that, chances are, if you loved FitA, you'll at least enjoy PotW. But keep in mind that Cathy's changed. She's not the responsible little 12 year old anymore. Everything that was once good about her has gone out the window. She's an emotional wreck. And she's out there in the world now, intent on getting back all that was denied her. And she's hungry for blood!

Somehow, this book is even creepier than Flowers in the Attic. It's not as good, but it's a very entertaining read. After the abuse that the surviving Foxworth children suffered, readers will want to know if they can ever lead a normal life. It's a good examination of how a family might deal with the legacy of abuse if they've finally escaped from the perpetrators. Will they try to forgive and continue with their lives? Will they become obsessed with revenge? Or will they find themselves completely incapable of continuing with their lives because they were utterly emotionally destroyed?

Each of the children deals with the trauma in different ways. While Chris appears to have recovered the best, his obsession with his own sister is the most startling and enduring result of his isolation during the "Attic" years. He does not "give up" waiting for his sister to respond to him romantically. Predictably, Carrie, who never really had a chance to enjoy life on the "outside", and who lost her twin at such a young age, is the most drastically scarred of the children and her story is the saddest and most tragic. She remains emotionally and physically stunted.

For her, Cathy, and Chris, we remain riveted to the story and want to know what happens, because we suffered with them in "Flowers" and cried for little Cory. Now we want to know what happens to them even if a lot of the plot and secondary characters are boring and one-dimensional. I liked Henny,the warm nurse who cannot speak; even if one literary critic suggested the large black woman was reminiscent of "Aunt Jemima", I don't think that's fair. I think Andrews wrote her as a sensitive and intelligent woman, and including her gave us some respite from everyone in the story having "flaxen hair and cerulean eyes".

Much weaker characters are Paul, who we are supposed to like because he takes in Chris, Cathy, and Carrie, but it's hard to like someone because he took in a beautiful fifteen year old girl who was orphaned out of the goodness of his own heart. I'm sorry, but the affair between him and Cathy was somehow even worse than that between Chris and Cathy, and very exploitive. The abandoned Cathy's gratitude toward Paul for taking in her and her siblings is something she feels she must repay sexually and Paul is ok with that despite being more than twice her age, rewarding the teenager with negligees etc. I'm not sure if Andrews wants us to find this exploitive or if we're supposed to sympathize with Paul. Her Ballet life is also an unwelcome diversion as are Julian and his mother. You can't figure out why someone as strong as Cathy, and as willful, would waste time with the abusive Julian, whose arrogance is ridiculous.

The real center of the story, which make sense because she was the focal center of "Flowers" and the narrator of these two books, is Cathy's plans to resolve past injustices committed against her. She is mad with plans of revenge, which is understandable since Corrine, after what she did to Cory and then Carrie, is enjoying the life of luxury that was more important to her than her own children.

This is the most thrilling aspect of the story and what we're reading it for, and these are the best scenes of the book. Everyone who read "Flowers" will enjoy when Cathy has an opportunity to confront her grandmother and mother. The best scene in the book is undoubtedly when Cathy, who is in her late twenties (Corrine was in her mid-thirties when this happened) dresses exactly as her mother did for the Christmas ball and looks, not surprisingly considering the lack of diversity in the Foxworth gene pool, every bit the double of her mother several years earlier.

There are those at the party who saw Corrine years prior and immediately realize that something is terribly wrong when Cathy appears in that most dramatic scene, a great guilty pleasure. The ending is very haunting and sets the stage for the next book, suggesting the "legacy of evil" cannot be overcome.

"Flowers in the Attic" to this day remains one of my all time favorite books. Anyone caught in it's spell could not possibly not want to read the sequel and see what happened to the three children that escaped the clutches of the Attic and their evil grandmother.
Well........for one this story is a bit far fetched. Did V.C. Andrews even write this? Didn't she die after 'Flowers' and has had a ghost writer for the last twenty years? Anyway they leave the attic and get on a bus, headed for Sarasota, Florida to join the circus. Instead they run into a mute housekeeper who takes them to her employer, a doctor. As in real life, this complete stranger befriends the three of them. He adopts Carrie, sends Chris through medical school and helps Cathy follow her dream of being a ballerina.
In the course of this of course, the doc falls in love with Cathy while Chris is still in love with her sister.
The great confrontation which ends in a disappointing anti-climax is when Cathy meets her grandmother again. You remember 'Flowers'? The hate, the fear, the helplessness. Remember how badly we wanted Cathy to get away? Well now the shoe is on the other foot. After a stroke, the grandmother lays helpless, though alert. Cathy stands over her with a switch and strips the helpless grandmother. The anger is burning in Cathy's eyes. The fear is in the grandmother's.....
I'll stop here. You just have to see what happens. I for one was disappointed.
The story ends with a great fire that destroys the mansion and it's evil, forboding attic.

Petals is an adequate sequel to Flowers in the Attic, and given that the first book is not exactly a classic of contemporary literture, this doesn't say much. In a word, this book is disturbing.
Hardened by her experience in the attic, Cathy is hell-bent on revenge. She wants her mother to pay for her brother's death (murder?), the pyschological problems her sister suffers, and the consequences the experience has had on her and her older brother, who wants to be more than a brother to Cathy. The only way Cathy seeks to achieve this goal is become a complete trollop, which to me makes her character the least sympathetic in the book.
Cathy is a user. She abuses the kindness of the gentleman who takes in her family after their escape, she uses Julian to forward her dancing career, and she uses her mother's current husband as a tool for revenge. Looking back after reading this novel, I realize Ms. Andrews could have used this story to create a truly psychological work of horror and revenge. For example, how Cathy torments her mother with letters is the only fascinating thing about the book. Petals might have made for a better story had Cathy sought her revenge in this manner, slowly driving her mother insane. Instead, Ms. Andrews goes for sensationalism, and lots of needless sex.
Cathy's promiscuity is disturbing. The incestuous overtones are disturbing. The climax with the destruction of Foxworth Hall is silly and melodramatic. The only character I liked in this book was Paul's mute maid, who might have served as a good moral compass for Cathy. It's a shame Ms. Andrews did not develop her character better.

I must say that this novel was quite good. I absolutely love Flowers in the Attic since it's a tragic tale that I truly hope no person would suffer. Petals on the Wind did a great job of describing some of the real consequences that happens to people when they are mistreated during their childhood. Childhood traumas, especially that of Catherine's, is something that I'm glad VC Andrews was able to explain in truth. VC Andrews did such a good job in describing each character that I too felt as if i were part of the novel. For example, I couldn't help but pitty Carrie, I wanted to tell Chris to just grow up, I desperatly wanted to yell at Cathy to just get her revenge over with, and I really wanted to kill Julian (he was really annoying). But hey, that just shows that Andrews knows how to get her readers involved.

This is a book that should not be missed!

and that's just the begining! Join the three siblings right where "Flowers" left off. I didn't think anything could live up to "Flowers", but "Petals" is just as fascinating. Cathy longs for revenge against her mother, Corrine, and that other evil woman - Grandmother. Chris wants to let it go and move on with his life, but oh, man does this guy have his own issues: He's hopelessly in love with his sister! Meanwhile, the other little sister (can't remember her name right now) just can't seem to continue living without her twin brother Corrie. A nice doctor takes the three of them in and helps them get their lives back on track. But guess what? Yeah, he's got some issues as well...though not quite as bad as the siblings. Cathy can't seem to keep her pants on and Chris can't seem to understand her habits. Finally, Cathy does what she has to do. She carefully plots a revenge tactic that lands her right back in that house, and the attic!! The final couple of chapters will have you climbing the walls! I didn't bother to continue reading the other books after this one, though I heard mixed reviews.

Cathy runs from man to man, trying to escape her brother's love and from the fact that she returns it.
She wants revenge against her mother and her grandmother. Most of all, she runs from herself, the horror and the guilt that taint her childhood.
This series is excellent, fabulous and poignant.
Carrie is given a lot more attention in this book and she well deserves it. Cathy's breaks hearts left and right without healing her own. Julian the cruel and wounded dancer and Paul, the doctor with a scarred past. Bart Winslow also is quite the character, bewitched by the beautiful woman who looks so like his wife, untimately entangled in the web of the Foxworth clan. I somehow find it impossible to hate Corrine as much as I once did. And Chris, quietly waiting his turn because he knows, as Cathy does not, that he and his sister belong together.
I have read this particular book about seven times and I still cry when one of the characters dies. Every time, without fail. And I still love it!
Cathy wants peace, but the evil of Foxworth Hall won't let her go and she drags everyone she loves along with her on her path to revenge.

This sequel to "Flowers in the Attic" is a very pleasant surprise, given that "Flowers" was no literary achievement or even a very interesting soap, since its aspirations to be the Gothic Anne Frank were too high. Here, V. C. Andrews hits her stride, realizing that the Gothic horror is more effective combined with soap-opera romances than war history rewrites. The story is again first person, narrated by Cathy, but since our protagonists are not sequestered in the beyond-boring attic, the action and dialogue are ten times more involving. If "Flowers" was a long hibernation into inertia, "Petals" is a true page-turner, an edge-of-your-seat adventure. Overall, this is the book that "Flowers in the Attic" should have been, had V. C. Andrews spiced it up with more characterization. END

I contiually chastised myself for reading such trash, but I guess that only added to the fun... it really makes me wonder how the author's mind worked! Constant themes of incest, abuse, humiliation (miscarriages in public)tragedy, despair, hopelessness and hate fill the pages of this book. Still, it has an innocent, lilting feel to it... strange, that! There were probaly some incidents that werent neccessary to mention, and she was raped so often, that it made rape seem tolerable. But now I cant bring my self to read anything but this author! God help me. The one part that touched me was when Carrie gave up hope. She had been so young and impressionable while living in the attic, that there seemed no way for her to ever believe in herself again. She really did believe she was the Devil's Spawn. Poor darling...

VC Andrews has wrote an exceptional followup book to 'Flowers in the Attic.' I read the book in two days, glued to each page as the Dollanganger's finally escaped the attic and began an adventure in the outside world. Chris was obviously infactuated with his sister, Cathy and although we all turn our noses up to incest, VC Andrews seems to make it appear normal with her writing ability and way with words. When Carrie becomes extremely ill on a bus, Chris and Cathy realize she needs a doctor pronto and that is when they end up meeting Doctor Paul Sheffield. After this meeting, all kinds of things start happening for them. I turned each page with exciting anticipation as to what would happen next. Although Andrews will never be able to write a book as fantastic as the first Dollanganger horror of being locked in an attic for four years, this followup is very good none the less. If you do decide to read this book, you must read Flowers in the Attic first so you understand the whole story.

This is totally not what I expected part 2 to be like! As we approach the ending of the last book (flowers in the attic) Cathy and Chris set out with a high attitude that things will work out for the best. However, in the outside world, things get even more complicated and twisted then you can imagine. Chris can't seem to let go of his love for Cathy, and Cathy can't seem to let go of her revenge on her mother. Carrie also suffers in this book, for being locked up in the attic for many years, her health seems to suffer and the poor little girl can't grow. In this book Cathy suffers with several relationship issues, Carrie gets teased at school, and as for Chris, he can't seem to move on. With the traumatic experiance of the attic in their minds, it seems to follow them and effect them everywhere they go. As disturbing and sad as this book is, its unpredictable. It's a totally different world compared to part one, but the suspense and drama continues to get more and more interesting.

This book picks right up where the first ended, with the three Dollaganger children escaping their hellish lives in the Foxworth Hall attic, and immediately begins stumbling. The children are rescued and then raised by a widowed doctor and his housekeeper. Hopes for a "normal" life outside of the attic appear hopeless as the hyperactive melodramatics and Catherine's heaving bosom narration drag on and on. The plasma parched girl is thristing for revenge but takes forever and a day to get around to it (this book would have been a short novel if she had done it sooner). What made the first book so good was its timelessness, the aura of a fairy tale gone horribly bad. In this book the characters move about a very real and time placed world and this weakens the book. While it may have its moments, they are so few and far between they don't merit looking for, and abuse is not a sign of true love. Soap opera fans might want to give it a look, others should skip it.

Please tell me it's a lie! This is the most immoral book I've ever read. Cathy is simply sick. She had to have been mentally ill to do the things she did in this book. She went way to far. Sleeping with your MOTHER'S HUSBAND is NOT the way to get revenge. BEATING YOUR GRANDMOTHER despite her earlier cruelty is NOT the way to get revenge. All it took to get revenge was to tell the people who she was, make her sick mama go as broke as a bag lady and maybe Bart Winslow would break up the marriage as the real Corrine was revealed. That was all it took to stir a controversial uproar. And after the last paragraph, I'm too afraid to know what happens in the next book.

I would definitly recomend this book to anyone young adults and older. IF you like books with never ending events. This book has a little bit of all of it. All of V.C. Anderews stories are full filling and have endless amount of details. This story is about a family with four children that start out normal then as always something goes wrong. The book "Pedals on the Wind" is a sad story but I realized it's not true but it does go on out there in the real world. this is a book young adults and older can learn a lot from. I once again recomend the book "Pedals on the Wind" very stongly.

Not as good as "Flowers in the Attic". After the ending I'm not quite sure how there could be more to be told, but I suppose that is precisely what VC Andrews had in mind. Was pretty awesome that the Grandmother got what she deserved in the end. The Mother too for that matter.

They escaped after three years and some months of imprisonment. A continuation of a story with a tragic beginning and an even more tragic continuum. Three kids, Chris, Cathy, and Carrie escaped Foxworth hall, a large mansion which now belonged to their mother. Poisoned with arsenic, tortured, and desperate, the three remaining children boarded a bus that would take them to Sarasota, Florida. They never reached Florida because Carrie,the youngest of the three became very ill aboard the bus. Led by a kind woman they went to a doctor in South Carolina who helped Carrie heal, and then took the three kids in as his own.The doctor, happy to forget his own tragic past welcomed them into his home and traeted them as his own. They lived with Dr. Paul Sheffield who helped Chris, achieve his goal of becoming a doctor and Cathy her dream of becoming a ballerina. I would definetely recommend this book because it shows how cruel and unfair life can be. It shows reality mixed with fiction as well as a kind of fictional romance that most people could only dream of. Aside from being romantic it is also spellbinding. Ther are parts that will make you laugh and parts that will make you cry, but overall this book can teach you a lot of enthralling things about the real world and its many injustices.

This story tells of the escape of Christopher, Cathy, and Carrie who are taken in by a kind doctor. Following her dreams Cathy continues studying ballet and Christopher goes off to college. In an effort to distance herself from her brother, Cathy seduces their guardian and eventually finds fame as a prima ballerina. After a disastrous marriage, Cathy finds herself relying too much on Christopher and trying to make a home for herself and her frail sister. Her hatred toward what her mother did to them increases until she plots the sweetest revenge. This book is a worthy sequel and a must read.

If you have read "Flowers in the Attic" by V.C. Andrews, you'll love "Petals on the Wind". This is a captivating sequel that will hold your interest until the fiery end! You won't want to put this book down. You'll be taken through the continuation of lives of the 3 remaining Dollenganger children after their escape from Foxworth Hall. You'll be enthralled by Catherine's plan for revenge on their mother, and find out the truth about Cory's death once and for all! The ending of this novel will have you wanting for more. Will Catherine's revenge finally be enough for her?

This book held my interest, when I had nothing else to do and wanted to escape "real life."

The people in this book, Cathy, Julian, Dr. Paul, Chris, Carrie, et al., are fictional, but close enough to make things interesting.

The problem with these people is that they have no metaphysical side at all, except maybe some superstitions about life after death (Cory's in heaven along with his father, waiting for whoever comes next).

But who am I to say they're superstitions? Maybe there is a fictional heaven.

No, I don't mean like the "grandmother's" metaphysics, whipping folks who look at the opposite gender, that's not spiritual, but it does sound like something a misguided fundamentalist might do, doesn't it?

The grandmother gets hers. And that's what the book is mostly about: revenge, or "what goes around comes around."

Momma finally flips out, after all those years of holding it inside, "for the love of money." Like the OJ's said, it's all about that "mean green," and how mean it can be!

Chris is the most spiritual. He is willing to forgive and forget. Isn't that nice?

Hennie is a decent person, one of those who takes "lemons and makes lemonade."

Dr. Paul seems like a good guy. He is generous and somewhat wise, but not too wise to avoid falling in love with a nymph. No, I don't mean nympho, but Cathy does have a high libido, I'd say.

Carrie is sweet but sad and delusioned.

Bart is unbelievable. He's a lawyer, married money (but not for money), wants children but knows his wife can have none, has a shoddy memory and almost no intuition, and dies a hero, of a sort.

Julian Marquet knows how to dance ballet, but he always wanted his father to take him hiking and camping. Julian shows what can happen when fathers don't bring their sons up unselfishly.

Then come all the other characters, full of greed, avarice, vengeance, what have you.

It's like a soap opera, but longer and more detailed. Maybe it's a soap opera meant for people who like to read but don't like television (me).

Okay, it's on to book three in the trilogy (If There Be Thorns).

See you there (maybe)!

Diximus.

This second sequel of Dollanganger series was great! My favorite character was christopher . What can i say he's one terrific guy to do all those generous things for his sister cathy. Also I should mention he's madly in love with her too! In this book I cried because it made me so sad that poured his heart out for cathy, but yet somehow she doesn't feel that she should be her brother's girlfriend. chris was protective of cathy when he had his bad feelings. it's just so sad knowing a guy like chris get put down. This book was a romance-suspense kind of novel. If anyone whom is into books with a good combination like this I would reccommend it for you. Hey I like it yay!

After escaping from the attic in the first novel of the series(flowers in the attic),the three kids go out into the world to face it for the "first" time.But their luck strikes when they are offered a place to stay and a chance to be educated by a great person.This story is great and it will make you wonder how life can really be like this,scary in a natural sort of way.But this book gives hope.It's name is great as the story itself.I will really have to say that the name summarizes the story,in a sense...anyway,I don't want to give away this story,but I can say that their are a lot of things hidden in this story,which are well worth discovering...enjoy...Nigel.

The second of the "Flowers in the Attic" series, I believe, is the best book in the aforementioned series. It tells of Cathy's incline in the world of ballet, her affairs, and the bitterness she harbors towards her grandmother, her mother, and her mother's betrayal. She wants revenge on the two and will stop at nothing to gain it, but even better is the longing that Chris has for her, and her passionate relationship with another prominent ballet dancer, Julian. I enjoyed this book, and I most definitely recommend it for anyone looking into VC Andrews.

This is the original sequel to "Flowers In The Attic". The 3 Dollanganger children escape Foxworth Hall, and into a world that in someways stood still in time, but others changed since being locked in the attic almost 4 years earlier. This is still Cathy's story as she chronolizes what happens after the escape. They find themselves on a bus going south to Florida originally, but make it only as far as South Carolina where Carrie is so violently ill that they can't go on, and make acquaintance with a black woman who's a maid to a local doctor and take them to his house. This doctor has a checkered past of the mysterious death of his wife and son, and he decides to take care of them, and gives them a new life, a new outlook, but this is not enough for Cathy as she wants her mother to pay as she continues to read about her mother, and how her life is so gratifying. Chris tries to make her see that it is better to just let go, but to Cathy this just cuts way too deep as she feels betrayed by her mother making her lose out on her innocence, and losing all her friends, and her identity. I'm here to say that the minute a person moves towards freedom it's assumed that they know what they're doing otherwise they wouldn't have made such a bold daring move, but in reality that's not necessarily the case. Here they cast thier fates to the wind, and it was here that the 2 stronger children had to mother over the youngest one as her twin died, and now she's not able to be strong independent anymore, and they had to learn things on thier own. Alot of people seem to hold stock in this theory called "The School Of Hard Knocks", and it's praised as a hallowed university that is to be revered, and honored. To be honest it's a wilderness that can make a person all devoid of love, sensitivity especially when the drugs are applied, and the systems are all dried up, and out. After all that's what drug means is to dry up, and out. People tend to get tougher when this happens, and most tend to forget about the pains, and hardship after taking this drug administered by the school of hard knocks, and that drug is Stoicism. It's where we convince ourselves that this happened for a reason, and there's nothing that can be done about it...especially now, so it's best to drop it, and move on, but the side effects are, and they have not studied this to see if little, or no effect went on is the loss of love, compassion, and innocence. I admit this is a rather long drawn-out book, and at times it was hard for me to read as I would see poor Carrie just trying everything to get herself on with living only to see her kill herself the same way that her beloved twin was murdered, Chris even I don't feel that it's morally correct for a brother and sister to be married, and having babies together my heart ached for him to see him going through the story without the one love of his life. I know that feeling all too well, and when Cathy fell on her face I'm sure that Chris wanted so much for her to just come to him, and allow him to make it all better; I know with girls I was interested in dating that I'd see them fall flat, and wanted so much to be the one to rescue them, but I'd see them dig thier heels in even deeper, and more determined not to come to me. However, I know that Cathy with all the positive things happening to her it didn't mean a thing because I'm sure that while the best thing a person can do for themselves is to learn to be self-sufficent the worst thing is to not have someone teach you how to do this, and find out you have to do it all on your own, and you have to pick and choose the people that will teach you when you haven't really had the experience that would've helped you out. Cathy would try, and try, but it was no use her soul would not be calm until she confronted her mother, and see why she just left her children up in the attic to rot. Alot of confrontation would go down in this book, but to be honest it was hard to really get into this book until about page 200 which is about two-thirds of this book. I feel that it was a little too long, but considering the way it had to tie into where Chris and Cathy took Cathy's two boys, and moved to California alot of things had to be tied up. This is a guidebook for revenge if I ever read one, and I know that in alot of people it's a driving force. I know it is with me, so I want to caution those who want to pursue it don't forget how human you are. I mean it don't forget how human you are because we're all cut from the same cloth, and that was cast by Adam and Eve in the Garden Of Eden.

WARNING!!! SPOILERS AHEAD!!!

This one's a rather disappointing follow-up to the tight and engrossing Flowers In The Attic. In the first book, we become so involved with the plight of the four Dollanganger children and the torment they suffer under the hands of Momma and Grandmother. We also find ourselves shocked but sympathetic to the love that blossoms between the two eldest children. We cheered when they finally find freedom. And how do the kids find freedom?

Well, each has their own trauma but I have to say that even if traumatized, Catherine the protagonist becomes the most annoying and hateful character in this sequel. My sympathy for her went out the window. She is so obsessed in getting revenge that she manages to mess up so many lives including her own yet always blames Momma for her trouble. I nearly cheered for Momma in this sequel. Seriously. That's how annoying Cathy becomes. It's like she left her brain behind in the attic. In trying so hard to be not like Momma and not surrender to her incestuous love for her brother, the golden-boy Chris (who is forever faithfully in love with her and saves her from disasters everytime!), she goes from one man after another...each man getting worse as she progresses. First it's her kind but somewhat lecherous guardian who is at least 25 years older than her, then she goes to an abusive dancer named Julian who becomes her husband, then the biggest jerk of the lot, her philandering stepfather Bart (a.k.a. Corrine/Momma's lapdog). Isn't that nice? Her love life , or more appropriately her sex life ( I don't think she loved any of these men despite her protests that she loved them...AFTER they're dead!) is the stuff Jerry Springer producers would kill for. By the end of it all, I started wishing Chris would do a Rhett Butler and tell Cathy, "Frankly my dear, I don't give a damn!" Then slam the door on her stupid face.

I read this book as a teenager back in the early 80's. I actually read this story first not knowing it was the 2nd installment of a series. I loved this book, one of my favorites of all time. It's been a very long time since I've read this book but it's still has a place in my heart. Cathy, Chris and poor Carrie.

The second book in the thrilling Flowers in the Attic saga. After years of torture and suffering in the Attic of Foxworth Hall Cathy, Chris, and Carrie are finally free (!), but the twisted story doesn't end there. After a long trip they are forced to go to a doctor when Carrie becomes violently ill. This is where they meet Dr. Paul Sheffeild who soon takes them into his home when he hears their unfortunate story. Cathy continues to persue her dream of becoming a prima ballerina and winds in and out of various relationships. After her dancing partner and lover, Julian, dies she goes to Barthomelow Winslow to have him get money from Julian's life insurance. After a few run-ons she decides to move next to him and make him fall in love with her as she gets revenge on her mother. (finally) One word for this book : WOW! It was very exiting. I couldn't put it down. If you want to see what happens to the Dollanger family and want to see Cathy give some serious payback to their selfish mother read this book! If you like horror, romance, and a dash of suspence rolled up in one, go for V.C. Andrews. But be sure to read Flowers in the Attic before this one or you may be left in the dark. Then you may move on to the next book,If There be Thorns, which only gets crazier!

cathy, chris and carrie finally escape and try to lead normal lifes. but how can they? they have a mother who want acknowledge
their existence, cory is dead and a horrible past that you just
can't sit down and talk to anyone about over a cup of cappucinno.
but cathy has decided that her mother must pay at all costs. she
plots for her big revenge against the mother and grandmother who
wronged four children so badly that the finale to see how she
pulls this off is well worth getting the second book in this series.

The continuation of the three remaining Dresden dolls' journey. They make their mark in the world after a kind doctor takes them in as his own. Chris follows his dream to be a doctor, and Cathy sets out to be a ballerina. In her quest to follow her dream, Cathy also sets out to get revenge on her mother and grandmother. Her children: Jory and Bart are born, with one as a revenge on her mother and the other from her first husband, Julian. This book is really confusing. Cathy becomes someone much different than in the first book as she sets out on revenge.

It took me a long time to read VC Andrews, I kept looking at her books and reading the blurb and wondering about them. Eventually I gave in and read FITA. I was astounded, how could I have missed such a deeply emotional, gripping story? Having eagerly read to the end and cheered at their freedom, I reached for the sequel and started to read...and boy did I wish I had stopped at book 1. Cathy, our protagonist, turns into the most feather-headed, sex obsessed victim I've ever seen. I could understand Paul (the whole gratitude thing) and I could see why she had the hots for Chris, (the whole attic thing) but Julian? From the strong, fairly mature character in the 1st book, she transforms into a petulant, whining, constantly crying version of her mother.
VC Andrews should have stopped at FITA. Their lives slipped from drama to melodrama and Cathy (who was the only sane voice in the FITA) turns into a throughly dependent, foolish bitch. The book stumbles from crisis to crisis, with half the cast dying and Cathy moving in with her brother, who can't seem to get over his 'love' for her. I was so disappointed that I read it in bits and ignored most of the book. Read FITA but leave the rest on the shelf.

I first watched the movie for "Flowers in the Attic" and decided to read the book and I wasn't dissapointed. In "Flowers" V.C. Andrews gives us strong, beautiful characters. However, in " Petals on the Wind" I found myself thinking how annoying the main character, Cathy, was. V.C. Andrews has us reading a cat and mouse game all throughout the book with Cathy and all of these men which got quite tiring after awhile. I still plan to read the last three books in the series but I would have enjoyed this book sooo much more if V.C. Andrews didn't repeat the same dialog, the same events with Cathy and Chris, with Cathy and Julian, with Cathy and Bart, with Cathy and Paul, etc. Do you kind of sense a pattern? Also V.C. Andrews creates so many times when Cathy sits and sobs a river when Cathy is the one that creates all the drama. I think V.C. Andrews could have written Cathy as a stronger character, anyways I do reccomend it if you have patience and if you are a die hard V.C. Andrews fan.
Small summary:
Cathy, Chris, and Carrie finally escape from the dark attic where they were hidden for over three years. They get on a bus where Carrie becomes very ill. With the help of Henrietta Beech, the siblings are introduced to Dr. Paul Sheffield who generously takes them in and gives them a place to say. Cathy soon enters a ballet school and follows her dreams of being a professional dancer, while Chris goes to school to become a doctor. Carrie, however, is very miserable and wants to be excepted and isn't because her head is to large for her body... the story basically just follows them throughout their lives. In the book Cathy gives birth to two sons ( I won't give the fathers away) and Cathy plans every day for revenge on her mother and the grandmother.

I like Cathy, except the way she treats Chris. It really isn't his fault. Most people say it's a "sick, sad relationship. ", but I say it's just sad. Sad that Cathy won't admit that she, too, has sinful feelings for her sibling. She runs from man to man, trying to fight off Chris, but only ends up in his arms (my favorite part). I don't think Jullian was useful, I personally hated his guts for what he did with Carrie and other younger girls, and then ran back to Cathy, claiming he was lonely. He's a sick, sad jerk, and I hate him for ruining her like that, and hating Chris and Paul, becuase he knew Cathy had feelings for them. Cathy annoyed me in her relationship with Paul, that's worse that the Cathy/Chris relationship, which is sweet and sad, but hers' and Pauls' is disgusting! She's his legal DAUGHTER! Hello! Her affair with Bart was stupid, I think he's a loser, cheating on his wife for Cathy, and then refusing to marry her, even when he knew she was carrying his only child. I loved the way she confronted her mother, and grandmother. Yessss! But that thing with Carrie.... oh, how I cried! It was sooooo sad. Corrine was still the evil, disgusting, revolting person she became in Flowers In The Attic, and it was annyoing with her denying Cathy, Carrie, and Jory. Ohhhh, how I wish to punch that woman! Take my advice, read this book if you like twisted, interesting stories, but make sure to read Flowers In The Attic first, because you'd be lost in the plot. Then, you can finish the series, and take it from me, it just gets better, crazier, but better!

Petals on the wind...a revenge packed rampage to the bitter end. A very well put together book that carries the "Dresden Dolls" into their adulthood years and Cathys building tower of revenge and hate for her mother and grandmother. I read this book within a matter of 3 days knowing that with each turn of the page I was one page closer to the confrontation and destruction of Foxworth Hall. Even though it was an exceptionally well written masterpiece and still a must read, it's not as good as the first book...but then again nothing ever is.

This is a strange book and, if you get into the characters and situations like I tend to do when I read a book, it's a disturbing book. I've reread different parts of the book several times, and I find the characters too much over the psychological edge.

It supposedly took place in the 1950's and `60's. As someone suggested in one of the less-than-favorable reviews, the kids needed psychological help to get adjusted to their new situation now that they were out of the attic and to deal with their feelings about being abandoned by their mother.

The doctor seduced a vulnerable teenage girl, and legally it would have been statutory rape. Also, he should have guided Cathy's need toward revenge to getting the mother and grandmother reported to the authorities; even though that was not the route she wanted to take. He could have treated Carrie with Human Growth Hormones, at least to give the kid a little hope. In addition, V.C. Andrews has Cathy drinking alcoholic drinks in public restaurants while she is still a teenager without being carded. In real life, this would not have happened during those times.

I know this is not "real life"...it's fiction. I think I have been reading too many self-help books which are still half-read to give this book an adequate review. I've researched the plots of the other Dollanganger books by V.C. Andrews and I don't think I will pursue them any further.

In this sequel, the Dollanganger/Foxworth children finally manage to escape the hellish prison of the attic. However they are not equipped to deal with the "real world". As Cathy gets older, she is obviously more affected by the loss of her father then she knows, because she seeks out and seduces men (especially older ones) left and right! Poor Christopher hangs on to his "sinful" lust for his sister and refuses to find another girl, even though he is quite a catch. And Carrie slowly wastes away, living in Cathy's shadow, thinking (probably rightly so) that no man will ever look at her as long as her sexy sister is around. If any kids ever needed a psychiatrist, it's these three! This book isn't that great, I would say that "Flowers in the Attic" is the only book in the series worth reading, because the other ones get deeper and deeper into soap opera territory.

I had rated "Petals on the Wind" 3 stars because I was kinda disappointed.FIRST OFF I "used to" adore the kind and caring Cathy, but after reading this novel I didn't like much anymore because she became whore. Cathy being the seductive brat, had came on to the 24 years old doctor named Dr.Paul Sheffield whom let her and her older brother and little sister in. She thought a proper repayment to paul was to sleep with him! She was 16 years old and he's old enough to be her father.

Cathy in this book didn't accept Chris's love for her. Chris is Cathy's older brother whom fallen in in love with her. Cathy is a brat for playing with his emotions and dropped him down. I loved chris he was sweet, smart and concerned. But don't worry Cathy X Chris fans they get married in the THIRD Novel. Cathy truly hurt her brother's feelings in this novel. She's such an ingrate after all the nice the things her brother had done for her.

Cathy went on to her revenge work on her mon by sleeping with her mom's husband Bart Winslow. She also kicked the evil Grandmother's butt , physically. Cathy was stupid and superficial enough to marry her insane and violent dance partner, Julian. I think Paul, Bart and Julian were not mean't for Cathy at all. I think Chris and Cathy were meant to be even though it may be wrong, but it feels right because Chris was watching Cathy in the shadows. If you all read "Flowers in the attic" you will notice that Chris and Cathy fallen in love with each other. Their love story had captured my heart because it was so beautiful.

The few good points in this book was that Cathy still had feelings for her brother somewhat. And Chris was a wonderful and adoring character. Well I gotta say this book was interesting but it wasn't as good as The first Dollanganer novel "Flowers in the attic"

The "Petals in the Wind" was a dramatic,sad,mushy love story. It was well a kinda X-rated. The reason why I read on to this novel was becuase I wanted to find out how all the Dollanganger children came out to be. This book is for people who can handle the Mature stuff. If Cathy was still innocent and pure unlike the mirror image of her mom she came out to be and If she hadn't been so cold rowards chris I would've gave the book 5 stars.

Overall I would recommend this book to Dollanganger fans and people who were wondering how the children were doing. And also as I said before the main reason for 3 stars were about the cathy being a brat thing. If you ladies and gentleman hadn't guessed it by now I liked the book "petals on the wind" :) somewhat. But the "Flowers in the Attic" was Fantastic! But This second sequel to it was "pretty good". Well thats how i feel about it.

Petals On The Wind takes place the very day that Flowers In The Attic ends. Cathy, Chris, and Carrie are headed for Florida until Carrie's illness leads them to a doctor. After hearing the horrible tale of their last few years the doctor comes to a decision and adopts them. But Cathy still hurts from her mother's betrayel and plans to take everything from her. As Cathy strives to be the best ballerina in her troupe she is inching ever closer to her mother and to the horrifying revenge she has planned.

Sequels are a tough nut to crack. Especially when the original source material is as revered as Flowers In The Attic. And yet, with Petals On The Wind, V.C. Andrews achieved the near-impossible. Despite the sequel being completely different from the work which came before, it retains the same spirit and tone.

Chris, Cathy and Carrie have finally escaped the horrors of the attic... and yet life will not be simple for them, as the attic has left a harsh impression upon them. Chris finds it impossible to move beyond the unholy love born in the attic. Cathy burns with a desire for revenge against those who took so much from her. And Carrie... well, let's just say the fates aren't kind to poor Carrie.

As with most of the early works by VC Andrews, the tone is most definitely gothic. The descriptions are lush and lavish, and lust often permiates the air... especially whenever nubile young Cathy, our narrator, begins speaking of her sensual exploits. To say that Cathy has a well-defined sense of self and sensuality would be an understatement, to be certain!

Perhaps the best reason to read Petals On The Wind is to finally know the answer to the age-old question any good book (aka Flowers In The Attic) leaves the reader asking: What happened next?

Chris and Cathy escape, and Chris still can't get over Cathy. Not that I think Cathy is over Chris but at least she's trying. She keeps running from guy to guy trying to forget him but she is just like Chris. She should never have married Julian! She shouldn't have married Paul either. I would have done the same thing to her mother and grandmother! This story has touch me deeply!! I really think that her and Bart should have lived on happily but Its regretful!!

Well,firstly the 3,Christopher,Catherine and Carrie ride the bus to Sarasota and Carrie suddenly throws up violently.A mute woman,Henrietta Beech,brings them to her employer's (Dr Paul Sheffield) house.There,he accepts the chidren when he believes their pitiful story and takes them in.Cathy seduces him disgustingly. Chris goes on to be a doctor and Cathy a ballerina.As for Carrie,she is horribly teased in school by Sissy Towers,her roommate and some others.Carrie also does not grow very much and is ashamed of it.While in ballet,Cathy meets a dancer called Julian and she marries him.He is overpossessive while plays the field himself!Shortly after he dies from a car accident,(like her dad)or more likely suicide by cutting the tube, Cathy gives birth to baby Jory.(J for Julian,the rest for Cory)Soon, Carrie poisons herself from arsenic and dies too.While all of this was happening, Cathy plotts her revenge and seduced her mother's husband,resulting in her child Bart(same name)a long time later. At their Christmas party, Cathy confronted her mother and the truth spilled out.Even Bart turned away. She turned nuts and burnt the house down. She even told Bart that her mother was in the house to kill him while saving her.With their mother gone in the nuthouse, Cathy and Chris start a new life with Jory and Bart...

I loved flowers in the attic and I loved the Dresden dolls!! Cathy is so much like me - we both like being independent and we can both be very unforgiving. I even have the actress's short haircut from the movie of f in attic!! but if i were cathy i wouldnt wait three and a half years i reckon id have waited a week then busted out by beating up the grandmother or my mother when she visited!!! Also i would have tried to forgive my mother i wouldnt seduce her husband

Can anyone create characters like VCA? Everyone is developed well, but not too grandiose so you know EVERYTHING about them...that way, there's a little mystery. Julian has to be one of VC's best characters...so well-thought-of. When I read her books, I can hear Madame Marisha's Russian accent, see Jory dance, understand Chris's love for Cathy, and understand Cathy's need for revenge. I can feel their heartbreak when Carrie dies, feel Paul's mixed emotions about falling for Cathy, etc. etc.
As for the incest. I just have to set this straight. What would the books have been like without it? I for one like Chris and Cathy better than Cathy and Paul....

With the glut of teen-geared, posthumously-published, ghostwritten V.C. Andrews paperbacks that have been flooding the book world of late, it might be easy to forget that Virginia Andrews had the ability to create wrenching drama and unique characters who struggle to open the door to happiness even when the key is placed right in their hands.
In "Petals on the Wind", the second volume of a five-book series, the three remaining "flowers in the attic" - Cathy, Christopher and Carrie Dollanganger - escape Foxworth Hall and certain death by poisoning at the hands of their gold-digging mother.
As they heal, Chris, the sunshine of Cathy's heart, continues to try and care for his sisters while pursuing his dream of becoming a doctor. Through Cathy's adoring eyes, the reader sees him grow into a man who is handsome, protective and giving, with the flaws of an occasional temper and an inability - and unwillingness - to love any woman except his younger sister, who yearns to be a prima ballerina.
And it's here that the book hits a snag - in Cathy's tortured relationship with her ballet partner Julian, a selfish brat who beats her, cheats on her and allows her no privacy. Given the singular experiences she has endured, it is plausible that Cathy would be torn between her love and gratitude for Dr. Paul Sheffield, the man who takes the children in and becomes their guardian angel, and her forbidden adoration for her brother Chris.
However, it seems unfathomable that Julian, whom Cathy accurately calls a "nasty, inconsiderate brute", would fit into the equation. She and have both fiery natures and good physical chemistry that allows them to dance well together, but Cathy has been written to have too much fierce self-preservation (if not self-esteem) to put up with such horrendous treatment.
A little more understandable is Cathy's later passion for Bart Winslow, the stepfather who never knew she existed. After all, her infatuation for him has slept inside her since she was fifteen and came across him dozing in Foxworth Hall's infamous Swan Room.
V.C. Andrew's books are not for everyone. Readers who want stoic realism and sensible characters that find it easy to live by society's rules might have a hard time swallowing these stories. Some of their events are as fantastic of those that unwound in the soap operas Chris and Cathy watched while locked up in Foxworth Hall. Also, Cathy's deep romantic feelings for her brother, her mother's husband and the man who becomes her surrogate father might certainly be disturbing to some.
But for fans who enjoy the struggles of Andrews's characters to find inner peace, artistic fulfillment and true love, "Petals on the Wind" is undoubtedly one of the best choices.

I've been a big VC Andrews fan since high school, making that a little over ten years now. For some reason, I never read the Dollanganger saga before, but now that I have, it has to be the best series out of all of them! I got through the first three books in 4 days, completely unable to put them down. Andrews hits it right on the nose for me, putting everything I love to read about in one novel, including angst, drama, love. I don't seem to mind the incest either. I think Chris' and Cathy's love is beautiful. The only flaw in this book, and in If There Be Thorns, is that Cathy sometimes seems very selfish and self absorbed, too focused on getting even with her mother than what is going on around her. Even so, the books are fantastic and I can't wait to get started on the fourth one!

I decided to take a go at reading a genre I wouldn't normally & started with V. C Andrews "Flowers in the Attic", this book totally changed my mind about the things I had been reading previously, as it was so good. I went onto reading "Petals on the Wind", I wondered whether like most series it would be a let down, but it was nothing close. It was full of emotions most books can't portray. It gives you deeper insite into the Dresden Dolls growing up, the now older & seductive Cathy, the painfully depressing Carrie, and the handsome, intellectual Chris. All with their own new issues entering adulthood. It is full of entertainment. I wasn't once bored with this story, I read it in a couple of days. Yes, it was depressing in places, but it made up for it in others. The only downside I thought was that the story made them all grow up to fast, there wasn't much youth & vibrance left by the end like in-Flowers in the attic. I think the fact there was so much loss & change made the story all the more interesting.
I would recommend this book to anyone wanting a good entertaining, hearty read. I can definitely say it is on my top of the list for good reading material.

While I trully enjoyed this book, it is in no way as good as Flowers In The Attic. However, the last four or five chapters are SO worth it. The books has perhaps one of the best climaxes that I've ever read and it twists and turns just about as much as the first book did.

If you have to read these novels, I'd have to say stop after this one. The next three books in the series just aren't as good as the first two.

Petals On The Wind delivers, but just as good as Flowers In The Attic.

I really enjoy reading any of this author's books and I would suggest any of them to those who like this kind of book. I looked forward to reading or of her books. Each book is a story on its own, and I really enjoy that kind of series. Get the whole series, I am sure you will enjoy it.

I think this book was terrific!Cathy has alot of grit and determanation. I don`t really like the way Chris thinks about Cathy. I feel bad for Carrie who has to go to the that snobby school and breaks her leg. I love the part when Carrie falls in love! Cathy is really the main character. To many people died in this book though. V.C. Andrews really outdid herself this time. You must read this book!!!!!!!
Candice Brown

Reading this book was like watching a car accident in super extra slow millisecond by millisecond slow motion. Petals in the Wind is excrutiatingly repetitive in its dialogue, narration, and plot.

The book dragged on and on, repeating the same coda. It may have made a decent short story but it could not sustain itself over 400+ pages. As for the characters, Catherine makes a particularly unsympathetic protagonist. In the first novel, it was refreshing to have a flawed main character as trashy novels usually make them out to be perfect, but in Petals on the Wind, her flaws were so deep I wished for her to meet the same fate as her many lovers. Vain, self-centered, needy, bitter, and angry--why any man would fall in love with her is beyond understanding. In addition, the scenes between her and her brother were nothing short of nauseating. To compare this book to the far superior Flowers in the Attic, in that novel there was a compelling reason as to why two confused children would be drawn together by their burgeoning sexuality, trapped in a attic with no one but each other, their hormones, and their two younger siblings which they "parented". In this novel, there is no understandble reason other than Catherine's vanity for she kept leading her brother on. The characters are untrue to life, and the dialogue is stilted and overdramatic. In gothic novels you do have to suspend some reality, but this novel was so unrealistic as to be laughable.

If it was so bad, why did I continue reading? I ask myself the same question. To use the car accident analogy again, it was horrible but I had to keep looking simply to see how it would play out. Do yourself a favor and don't pick it up so you don't end up ensnared in that inane book like I did. I wish I had been warned--I believed all the positive reviews here and I was so disappointed. Read Flowers in the Attic and use your imagination as to what happens to the Dollanganger children once they escaped. Anything you can imagine is better than the trash in this book.

Flowers in the attic,have you ever read this book ?If not well sorry,to those your lucky.Flowers in the attic is the story of four children,that have been locked in an attic for 3 years 5 months and 6 weeks.While being there they knew the whole truth.The truth about their mothers life ,that she's disinherited because she married her half uncle,Garland Christopher Foxworth their father.Somehow they manage to escape from Foxworth Hall,going to Sarasota,there they're going to spend their new life without Cory.Cory was killed by arsenic poisoning.It is coated in the dougnut that their grandmother brought.They use a wooden key to escape.They steal the money they needed for their escape.They steal their mom's money.When they knew that their mother was gone,even though they dont have enough money,they still escape.

"Flowers in the Attic" was my first step into this genre, and I found it one of the best books I've read. I looked to "Petals on the Wind" with great anticipation, but a short ways in, my enjoyment nearly flatlined.
Bad points of the story:
The story jumps around a bit too much, and what there is of the story seems to be too many people trying to get into Cathy's tutu. It seems half the time she's sobbing, a word used a bit too often throughout the book. And if she's not sobbing, someone is gripping her to them and telling her how exquisitely beautiful she is and that she belongs to him. Another annoying habit in the story is the placing of an exclamation mark behind Chris' name, as if Cathy is surprised her brother actually shows up. Chris himself doesn't seem to have much personality outside of studying and trying to convince his sister that his love for her isn't wrong, and if it is, oh well. Through some pieces of the story you have to wonder if Cathy left her brain in the attic. At one point I was so disappointed in Catherine, I really didn't want to finish the story, as she thought to herself "Life seemed to me nothing without a man." Lastly, I felt there was excess character killing, with eight deaths (that I counted) throughout the story.
Good points of the story:
Carrie gets some more attention in the story, but it's mostly bittersweet. The only real redeeming part of the story was settled in the last fifty or so pages, with an excellent revenge set loose on the mother and grandmother. Which almost makes the rest of the story worth reading.
In conclusion:
Between "I sobbed.", "You're beautiful. You belong to me!" and "Chris!", the author manages to create a mildly entertaining story. But if I had it to do over again, I would have stopped at "Flowers in the Attic" and let my prior image of Cathy's character be.

Can anyone create characters like VCA? Everyone is developed well, but not too grandiose so you know EVERYTHING about them...that way, there's a little mystery. Julian has to be one of VC's best characters...so well-thought-of. When I read her books, I can hear Madame Marisha's Russian accent, see Jory dance, understand Chris's love for Cathy, and understand Cathy's need for revenge. I can feel their heartbreak when Carrie dies, feel Paul's mixed emotions about falling for Cathy, etc. etc.
As for the incest. I just have to set this straight. What would the books have been like without it? I for one like Chris and Cathy better than Cathy and Paul....

Hmmmmmm . . .I have read every single V. C. Andrews book out, I only wish I could read the Gods of the Green Mountain, her first novel that was never published. But this book, Petals on the Wind was her second published work. I can still remember when I was sitting on my parents sofa and I picked up Flowers in the Attic, a book I saw laying on the table, I opened it up unsuspectedly, not knowing what I would find in these pages. What I found was the voice of my passion, every chapter, ever word, held such meaning for my soul. I never thought I would find a book that I adored as much as Flowers in the Attic, I was wrong, and twice! Then came along Petals on the Wind, now sequels are normally not that great, with the exception of Anne Rice's witch and vampire books, and ofcourse the V. C. Andrews' series, but this novel was far more outstanding than Flowers in the Attic, it goes into the deep motivations of Cathy's hatred towards her mother, Corrine. You sensed that majorly in Flowers in the Attic, but it is so clear in Petals on the Wind that it definityly places this book and all of V. C.'s books into the horror category, and they are horror, yet they're told in romantic fairy tale tones, they're absolutley incredible. And I said I was wrong twice about Flowers in the Attic being the best novel, with Petals on the Wind being my absolute favorite, Dark Angel comes in second. I wrote a rather lengthy review for Dark Angel, but that's another story, it goes into the brilliance of the Casteel series and how it is 99.8% in comparison to the geniusly written Dollanganger series. All in all, Virginia Cleo Andrews had an extraordinary talent and she gave me the opportunity to travel to different worlds and into the minds of incredible characters. Cathy will always be my most favorite fictional character. But if you want to know, my second favorite is The vampire Lestat. But this isn't about Rice, it's about Andrews's amazing skill.
~Tom Nordlum

With the glut of teen-geared, posthumously-published, ghostwritten V.C. Andrews paperbacks that have been flooding the book world of late, it might be easy to forget that Virginia Andrews had the ability to create wrenching drama and unique characters who struggle to open the door to happiness even when the key is placed right in their hands.
In "Petals on the Wind", the second volume of a five-book series, the three remaining "flowers in the attic" - Cathy, Christopher and Carrie Dollanganger - escape Foxworth Hall and certain death by poisoning at the hands of their gold-digging mother.
As they heal, Chris, the sunshine of Cathy's heart, continues to try and care for his sisters while pursuing his dream of becoming a doctor. Through Cathy's adoring eyes, the reader sees him grow into a man who is handsome, protective and giving, with the flaws of an occasional temper and an inability - and unwillingness - to love any woman except his younger sister, who yearns to be a prima ballerina.
And it's here that the book hits a snag - in Cathy's tortured relationship with her ballet partner Julian, a selfish brat who beats her, cheats on her and allows her no privacy. Given the singular experiences she has endured, it is plausible that Cathy would be torn between her love and gratitude for Dr. Paul Sheffield, the man who takes the children in and becomes their guardian angel, and her forbidden adoration for her brother Chris.
However, it seems unfathomable that Julian, whom Cathy accurately calls a "nasty, inconsiderate brute", would fit into the equation. She and have both fiery natures and good physical chemistry that allows them to dance well together, but Cathy has been written to have too much fierce self-preservation (if not self-esteem) to put up with such horrendous treatment.
A little more understandable is Cathy's later passion for Bart Winslow, the stepfather who never knew she existed. After all, her infatuation for him has slept inside her since she was fifteen and came across him dozing in Foxworth Hall's infamous Swan Room.
V.C. Andrew's books are not for everyone. Readers who want stoic realism and sensible characters that find it easy to live by society's rules might have a hard time swallowing these stories. Some of their events are as fantastic of those that unwound in the soap operas Chris and Cathy watched while locked up in Foxworth Hall. Also, Cathy's deep romantic feelings for her brother, her mother's husband and the man who becomes her surrogate father might certainly be disturbing to some.
But for fans who enjoy the struggles of Andrews's characters to find inner peace, artistic fulfillment and true love, "Petals on the Wind" is undoubtedly one of the best choices.

I've been a big VC Andrews fan since high school, making that a little over ten years now. For some reason, I never read the Dollanganger saga before, but now that I have, it has to be the best series out of all of them! I got through the first three books in 4 days, completely unable to put them down. Andrews hits it right on the nose for me, putting everything I love to read about in one novel, including angst, drama, love. I don't seem to mind the incest either. I think Chris' and Cathy's love is beautiful. The only flaw in this book, and in If There Be Thorns, is that Cathy sometimes seems very selfish and self absorbed, too focused on getting even with her mother than what is going on around her. Even so, the books are fantastic and I can't wait to get started on the fourth one!

I decided to take a go at reading a genre I wouldn't normally & started with V. C Andrews "Flowers in the Attic", this book totally changed my mind about the things I had been reading previously, as it was so good. I went onto reading "Petals on the Wind", I wondered whether like most series it would be a let down, but it was nothing close. It was full of emotions most books can't portray. It gives you deeper insite into the Dresden Dolls growing up, the now older & seductive Cathy, the painfully depressing Carrie, and the handsome, intellectual Chris. All with their own new issues entering adulthood. It is full of entertainment. I wasn't once bored with this story, I read it in a couple of days. Yes, it was depressing in places, but it made up for it in others. The only downside I thought was that the story made them all grow up to fast, there wasn't much youth & vibrance left by the end like in-Flowers in the attic. I think the fact there was so much loss & change made the story all the more interesting.
I would recommend this book to anyone wanting a good entertaining, hearty read. I can definitely say it is on my top of the list for good reading material.

While I trully enjoyed this book, it is in no way as good as Flowers In The Attic. However, the last four or five chapters are SO worth it. The books has perhaps one of the best climaxes that I've ever read and it twists and turns just about as much as the first book did.

If you have to read these novels, I'd have to say stop after this one. The next three books in the series just aren't as good as the first two.

Petals On The Wind delivers, but just as good as Flowers In The Attic.

I really enjoy reading any of this author's books and I would suggest any of them to those who like this kind of book. I looked forward to reading or of her books. Each book is a story on its own, and I really enjoy that kind of series. Get the whole series, I am sure you will enjoy it.

I think this book was terrific!Cathy has alot of grit and determanation. I don`t really like the way Chris thinks about Cathy. I feel bad for Carrie who has to go to the that snobby school and breaks her leg. I love the part when Carrie falls in love! Cathy is really the main character. To many people died in this book though. V.C. Andrews really outdid herself this time. You must read this book!!!!!!!
Candice Brown

Reading this book was like watching a car accident in super extra slow millisecond by millisecond slow motion. Petals in the Wind is excrutiatingly repetitive in its dialogue, narration, and plot.

The book dragged on and on, repeating the same coda. It may have made a decent short story but it could not sustain itself over 400+ pages. As for the characters, Catherine makes a particularly unsympathetic protagonist. In the first novel, it was refreshing to have a flawed main character as trashy novels usually make them out to be perfect, but in Petals on the Wind, her flaws were so deep I wished for her to meet the same fate as her many lovers. Vain, self-centered, needy, bitter, and angry--why any man would fall in love with her is beyond understanding. In addition, the scenes between her and her brother were nothing short of nauseating. To compare this book to the far superior Flowers in the Attic, in that novel there was a compelling reason as to why two confused children would be drawn together by their burgeoning sexuality, trapped in a attic with no one but each other, their hormones, and their two younger siblings which they "parented". In this novel, there is no understandble reason other than Catherine's vanity for she kept leading her brother on. The characters are untrue to life, and the dialogue is stilted and overdramatic. In gothic novels you do have to suspend some reality, but this novel was so unrealistic as to be laughable.

If it was so bad, why did I continue reading? I ask myself the same question. To use the car accident analogy again, it was horrible but I had to keep looking simply to see how it would play out. Do yourself a favor and don't pick it up so you don't end up ensnared in that inane book like I did. I wish I had been warned--I believed all the positive reviews here and I was so disappointed. Read Flowers in the Attic and use your imagination as to what happens to the Dollanganger children once they escaped. Anything you can imagine is better than the trash in this book.

Flowers in the attic,have you ever read this book ?If not well sorry,to those your lucky.Flowers in the attic is the story of four children,that have been locked in an attic for 3 years 5 months and 6 weeks.While being there they knew the whole truth.The truth about their mothers life ,that she's disinherited because she married her half uncle,Garland Christopher Foxworth their father.Somehow they manage to escape from Foxworth Hall,going to Sarasota,there they're going to spend their new life without Cory.Cory was killed by arsenic poisoning.It is coated in the dougnut that their grandmother brought.They use a wooden key to escape.They steal the money they needed for their escape.They steal their mom's money.When they knew that their mother was gone,even though they dont have enough money,they still escape.

"Flowers in the Attic" was my first step into this genre, and I found it one of the best books I've read. I looked to "Petals on the Wind" with great anticipation, but a short ways in, my enjoyment nearly flatlined.
Bad points of the story:
The story jumps around a bit too much, and what there is of the story seems to be too many people trying to get into Cathy's tutu. It seems half the time she's sobbing, a word used a bit too often throughout the book. And if she's not sobbing, someone is gripping her to them and telling her how exquisitely beautiful she is and that she belongs to him. Another annoying habit in the story is the placing of an exclamation mark behind Chris' name, as if Cathy is surprised her brother actually shows up. Chris himself doesn't seem to have much personality outside of studying and trying to convince his sister that his love for her isn't wrong, and if it is, oh well. Through some pieces of the story you have to wonder if Cathy left her brain in the attic. At one point I was so disappointed in Catherine, I really didn't want to finish the story, as she thought to herself "Life seemed to me nothing without a man." Lastly, I felt there was excess character killing, with eight deaths (that I counted) throughout the story.
Good points of the story:
Carrie gets some more attention in the story, but it's mostly bittersweet. The only real redeeming part of the story was settled in the last fifty or so pages, with an excellent revenge set loose on the mother and grandmother. Which almost makes the rest of the story worth reading.
In conclusion:
Between "I sobbed.", "You're beautiful. You belong to me!" and "Chris!", the author manages to create a mildly entertaining story. But if I had it to do over again, I would have stopped at "Flowers in the Attic" and let my prior image of Cathy's character be.

The beginning of this book was pretty promising, because I wanted to see what these poor kids who had grown up so much in the attic in the last book would become now that they were on their own. But it kinda disappointed me because it just got more and more screwed up from there. They were irrevocably intertwined with other members of their dysfunctional family (and it doesn't hurt that the main characters are a brother and sister sleeping together) and could not escape the poison in their family tree. . . .

I have read this book so much that I could quote you a couple of chapters. This book is very captivating and the plot doesn't get old like Flowers in the Attic. After reading this book, you will have a mental picture of all the main characters. The only things that are annoying the use of the word "thousandfold" over and over, and the fact that Cathy stays with an abusive husband. I won't say anymore and give away the story. ENJOY!

Petals on the Wind is a good book. It is a really good book because it has lots of mysterious, strange, and enjoyable events. It was a very detailed book; V.C. Andrews does a good job at that. Andrews really explains events well and will not get you lost. Anyone interested in this book should really find it easy to read. This book was so fun to read, I could not put it down. There was not one thing that I disliked about this book it was good until the very end.
If you are familiar with Andrews books, you'll know that she likes to write many in series. This sereies of books are about the Dollanganger family. There are five books in the series all together. To really understand this book it would help if you read Flowers In the Attic first. You'll really enjoy this book and the secrets that lie behind Foxworth Hall.

Cathy really make somethig of herself. From being an attic child, to a mature ballerina. It was cool that she finally go back at her mother Corine. But it was sad how most of her relationships end in tragedy. Julian believed he was nothing without the dance, Bart died in an alleged fire that Corine started in Foxworth Hall, and her foster father died of old age. This is a good book, and it is worth reading in the series.

Petals on the wind would have to be my favorite out of the series to me this book was just a great page turner I kept thinking what will happen next although the were somethings I didn't like in the book for example I never really like the Julian charcter nor did I care for how Cathy pretty much slept around with certain guys and yes granted this was her idea of revenge which she gets in this book the things that stand out in my mind where towards the end of the book like did the grandfather really know that Corrine had the children and urged her to kill them and what really happened to Cory's body and this is also the only time I have ever felt compassion for the grandmother after Cathy confronted her in the end the book was a great sequel to F I T A

The story takes place after the events of Flowers in the Attic. Christopher, Cathy, and Carrie are on a bus heading toward Florida; when Carrie starts getting sick on the bus that upsets some of the passengers. One of the passengers is a maid to a doctor and takes the children to the doctor that she is employed by. The doctor takes them in and sends them to school. Christopher ends up becoming a doctor just like he wanted too. Cathy becomes a ballerina and becomes somewhat famous. Cathy was going to marry the doctor but the doctor's sister interferes and Cathy's ends up marrying her dancing partner Julian. Julian then becomes violent with Cathy and eventually Cathy becomes pregnant. But before Cathy could tell Julian about it; Julian gets into a nasty car accident and ends up paralyzed. While in the hospital Julian commits suicide after Cathy tells him she is pregnant. Cathy give birth to a son and names him Jory. She ends up moving back to the town that the nightmare began for Cathy and her siblings. While there she meets up with her mother, Corrine's, new husband, Bartholomew Winslow. She seduces him and too ends up pregnant by him also. Also her sister Carrie feels that she won't amount to anything and kills herself the way her mother killed her twin brother. She then decides to crash a party her mother is hosting and reveals that she is Corrine's daughter and that Corrine had three other children also and that one was killed by Corrine. When Christopher arrives is when Corrine confesses to everything. Then Foxworth hall catches fire and everyone is scrambling to get out. Once outside Corrine screams that her mother is still inside the house and Bart runs back in to save her. Bart ends up dying in the fire with the grandmother and Corrine is put in a straight jacket and taken to a hospital. Flash forward a few year and Cathy has married the doctor. She has moved back in with him and is raising her two sons now with him.
I loved how this book was written. I'm glad that the author kept it on Cathy's point of view the whole time. I really liked seeing how the characters developed after getting out of the prison that they had been in for three years. I can hardly wait to read the next book in the series.

I was first captivated by Flowers in the Attic many years ago when I first lifted the cover and engrossed myself in the poetic style of the author's chilling tale. The story itself is a phenomenal surprise. The events that occur for the four children from Gladstone, PA left me feeling bitter and restless. Luring me into the rest of the series, which is the most captivating of all the V.C. Andrews series, in my opinion. Petals on the Wind is a spectacular journey of Catherine Dahl's life that makes the reader feel the bitter vengence that boils through the heroine's veins. It is a sad and beguiling tale, but truly a great accomplishment for the wonderful author, Cleo Virgina Andrews. It has remained among my favorite books for years, and to this day, I still pick it up periodically to re-read. It is a must-have for any book lover!!!

After being locked up in the attic for 4 long years in the book "flowers in the attic" Cathy and her two siblings finally escape the clutches of foxworth hall. In this book "petals on the wind" Cathy seeks revenge from her mother for locking she, her sister, and two brothers up in the attic of foxworth hall. She goes to new lengths to see that her mother gets what she deserves and as a result ends up meeting a new/old people on the way and the burning down of foxworth hall. In this tale there are a few weddings and new children "petals on the wind" is one of Vc. Andrews's best and a must read, I give this book 4 stars.

I know the whole book makes you almost think Cathy is willing to have sex with anyone! But come on the way they write about it keeps you intrigured!! I loved it! Sure it was different, but thats what made it good! Keep writing like this!!!!

In this book, Cathy, Chris and Carrie have managed to escape from Foxworth Hall. They have new lives living with Dr. Paul Sheffield, who has adopted them. But, Cathy longs to get revenage on their mother. Will Cathy get her revenage?

After the end of Flowers in the Attic V.C. Andrews left me desperate to see Chris and Cathy's revenge. Oh, it was delivered. This book took on a fantasy thrill ride through Cathy Dollangangers life. From marriage to Ballet performances all the way to tragic death. I was very satisfied by the ending! I will continue with this series and read If There Be Thorns!

This book was just as great as the first one. I felt as though the characters really did exsist once! God i felt so attached to them, it was amazing. This was one book that totally mesmerized me and i just couldn't put it down and if i had to it would pull me back as soon as it could. Its a rollercoaster of emotions! A must read! Although i felt uncomfortable with the whole idea of brother & sister...It felt right in the end for them 2 be together. I can't wait till i get hold of the next one!

I am so glad I decided to read this series...the movie did this book no justice at all. V.C. Andrews has great imagination makes me wonder is this the work of a creative mind or partial truth? Well, either way thanks for a great read....on to the next. #iftherebethorns

I really enjoyed reading this book, i stole it from my Engl. teacher who was goin to throw it away, im glad i got it. At first i thought this book would be scary, and when it wasnt i stopped reading it, but i picked it up again and couldnt put it down...its a great book and i def. recommend it to anyone.

I've read the other reviews on here...I can't believe anyone can dislike this book! I thought it was so good I cannot decide my favorite between it and Flowers in the Attic! I thought it was an awesome sequel. This series is the BEST of V.C Andrews in my opinion and I'll never get tired of reading them.

I admit the plot with Chris wanting Cathy to love him in that way was a little far-fetched. But I loved Cathy and her revenge against her mother. Although seducing Bart Winslow was down right cruel, and then having his kid.. not to mention, she practically killed him. But I think that Corrine Foxworth Winslow deserved it for locking her four kids up in an attic, and then trying to kill all of them, and secceeded on killing Cory, but that's in "Flowers in the Attic", which I also have a review on. But I recommend this book entirely and totally. (That is, for teenagers. The seducing and some of the description is just not for readers under 12.)

Cathy Dollanganger goes from being a good kid with a good head on her shoulders to becoming a messed up, desperate basket case! This book drags on and on about her dysfunctional relationships with men before finally getting to her revenge on Corrine. Check it out at your library if you really need to read it, but save your money to purchase one of Andrews' better works.

all i have to say is wow my mom had gotten me hooked after reading flowers in the attic and this book is insane poor cathy. poor chris . poor carrie. when they die they all deserve a mansion in heaven. i feel like these characters are so real sometimes. V.C. Andrew is the shiznit my fav.!!!!!!

I loved this book and Flowers in the Attic. I loved that Cathy finally got revenge with her mother. But the ending was freaky. It sounded as if cathy was really going to lock up Bary and Jory? I can't wait to read the next one! May V.C. Andrews Rest In Peace:(

You wrote down that the children were locked in the room and attic for three years, five months and six weeks. Have you EVER looked at a calender in your life? THERE IS NOT MORE THAN SIX WEEKS IN A MONTH!!! Also, that is wrong, anyway. There were locked away for three years, four months, and sixteen days (page 18 of Petals on the Wind) Since when is that span of time considered three years, five months and six weeks (which, in the real world, is called three years, six months and two weeks).

This book is a HORRIBLE read!!!! I wouldnt attempt it unless you want to fall asleep!!! Its sooooo far from real it makes me want to scream!!! I cant even finish it im half way through and its going to the used bookstore as a trade so i can hopefully get something better!! Dont waste your time!!!

Do half of you dumb asses realize that V.C Andrews DID INDEED write this novel?
It wasn't until 1987 that she finally passed away. So how about you make sure that your information is correct before writing a review that rips apart a great novel by a great author.

The book Petals on the Wind is the best book ever written. It never gets dull and is filled with suprises. Once you pick it up you can't put it down! The sequels to books aren't normally as good as the first one but this book is BETTER than Flowers in the Attic. I highly recommend reading this book

Hmmmmmm . . .I have read every single V. C. Andrews book out, I only wish I could read the Gods of the Green Mountain, her first novel that was never published. But this book, Petals on the Wind was her second published work. I can still remember when I was sitting on my parents sofa and I picked up Flowers in the Attic, a book I saw laying on the table, I opened it up unsuspectedly, not knowing what I would find in these pages. What I found was the voice of my passion, every chapter, ever word, held such meaning for my soul. I never thought I would find a book that I adored as much as Flowers in the Attic, I was wrong, and twice! Then came along Petals on the Wind, now sequels are normally not that great, with the exception of Anne Rice's witch and vampire books, and ofcourse the V. C. Andrews' series, but this novel was far more outstanding than Flowers in the Attic, it goes into the deep motivations of Cathy's hatred towards her mother, Corrine. You sensed that majorly in Flowers in the Attic, but it is so clear in Petals on the Wind that it definityly places this book and all of V. C.'s books into the horror category, and they are horror, yet they're told in romantic fairy tale tones, they're absolutley incredible. And I said I was wrong twice about Flowers in the Attic being the best novel, with Petals on the Wind being my absolute favorite, Dark Angel comes in second. I wrote a rather lengthy review for Dark Angel, but that's another story, it goes into the brilliance of the Casteel series and how it is 99.8% in comparison to the geniusly written Dollanganger series. All in all, Virginia Cleo Andrews had an extraordinary talent and she gave me the opportunity to travel to different worlds and into the minds of incredible characters. Cathy will always be my most favorite fictional character. But if you want to know, my second favorite is The vampire Lestat. But this isn't about Rice, it's about Andrews's amazing skill.
~Tom Nordlum