Heaven movie adaption review

You know what's disappointing?
Reading the same book for 17 years, only to have a pathetic movie made about it.

Lifetime network has been making the VC Andrews books into TV movies over the past few years.
It started with the Dollanganger series (starting with Flowers in the attic), then My Sweet Audrina (a stand alone story only until recently) and now the Casteel series (starting with Heaven).

SPOILER ALERT. I write as if you have read the whole story. Also, I rant a lot *grins*


Based in the 60's, Heaven is the story of the Casteels, hillbilly trash that live in Virginia. 5 children - Heaven, Tom, Fanny, Keith and "Our Jane" - live with their parents, Sarah and Luke, and Luke's parents Toby and Annie. They are known as "the scum of the hills" as they are one of the poorest families around and the reputation of the Casteel boys (Luke's brothers) precedes them.

As they struggle to make ends-meet and have at least one meal a day (usually of biscuits and lard-gravy), Heaven remains strong willed that things will be better, with the help of her brother Tom to keep her optimistic.  Until the faithful day that Sarah leaves, Granny dies, and Luke decides that his children would be better off if they had other families. So he sells them all. For $500 a piece.

Now, the movie.

I hated it.
Sure, it would've been fine as a general movie but as an adaptation?

The heart of it was missing.

The tiny shack where all 4 kids sleep in the same bed?
Now bunk beds.
Modern everything.
THEY HAVE A PIANO FFS!
Where is the struggle to survive? How are we supposed to feel compassion for these kids? (I mean, sure, they don't live in a mansion, but they have a new outfit in almost every scene and Heaven even has a purse!)

Keep in mind, the storyline of book vs movie is all over the place and choppy so it's hard to review this in a linear way.


Fanny is one of the fanbases' most love-to-hate character, as she is stuck up, slutty and always trying to prove to Heaven that she is Pa's favourite. Her attitude toward her sister, and the family situation, is terrible but she does provide some "comedic relief" if you will with her ridiculous antics. 
Movie Fanny is timid, covered up and does not lash out at Heaven the way she should. Many who were chatting with this reviewer agreed that the actress who played Fanny would have made a more convincing Heaven (and she had the right hair colour).

Writing out the grandpa was a bad move. He plays an intricate part of the story later on and now they will have to come up with another way for the events of the story to take place. 


When the children go with their new families, the reactions are not at all as they should be. Heaven is upset at the two smallest leaving (who are NOT twins btw), Fanny's performance is confusing - book Fanny wanted to go and have a better life that she feels she is entitled too, but movie Fanny just walks out sombrely.

Tom and Heaven's goodbye, when Tom goes off to his "job" that Pa got him, is more like a brother going out with his friends than a separating of best friends/siblings. Tom fights harder to stay with Heaven, and not be taken as a work-mule for a local farmer.


In the story, Luke is there for each child being picked up. Movie Luke is no where to be seen, except for the smallest two leaving.  Luke's overbearing presence, and his distaste for Heaven, is not anywhere to be seen.   Luke is not present much in the story, we learn about his behaviour more from Heaven's dialogue, but when he is there you can feel his strong-will seeping off the pages. They really dropped the ball on his attitude towards his life.

Finally, we get to Heaven's new family. While I understand the choice to not give Heaven a choice between two families (for timing and the relationship with Luke being ignored), I still think there should have been more of a confrontation with daughter and father when Kitty and Cal show up.  At least they got the fact that Kitty and Cal live in Atlanta right.     

Also, while we are on this note, the only confrontation we see is Luke being inappropriate with Heaven, thinking that she is her dead mother.  Leigh "Angel" VanVoreen is the biological mother of Heaven, who dies giving birth to her.  This causes Luke to resent her for her whole life, and is a trigger for the relationship with her and Fanny. Heaven is also supposed to be identical to her mother, except in hair colour (blonde mother, brunette daughter) but movie Heaven has red hair. Uhm, what?! This plot point becomes a catalyst for many of the events to follow, but the directors etc have ignored that completely.  Most fans are outraged at this.

So, back to Kitty and Cal Dennison. Heaven's new parents. Book wise, Kitty is a fierce and crass red-headed, hairdresser, obsessed with cleanliness and the want to stay young and fresh.
Movie Kitty is a blonde, alcoholic dental hygienist who is barely around. The abuse she delivers to Heaven for 2 years is completely missing in the movie. A few moments of her downward spiral into madness, caused by age and illness, come through in the portrayal of our beloved Kitty. Her hillbilly past never comes through, and her relationship with Cal is not accurate - book wise, they are not a loving, happy couple, where we get those vibes more so on screen.

Since Kitty is supposed to be in high demand at her salon, Cal and Heaven end up together a lot for dinners and weekends. Book Heaven is supposed to be in school, but that got deleted completely since the semester was ending soon so Kitty decides she should wait for the new one. Which we never see.
Movie wise, she just works a lot and demands Heaven clean the entire house daily... Cal ends up helping out since he is a stay-at-home writer (which made this reader laugh). The two act more like a newlywed couple than a father-daughter. Book wise, the grooming and seduction of Heaven takes a long time. Cal knows how to play Kitty's jealously and uses Heaven against her. Eventually, Cal has his way with Heaven... though on screen it looked random and more consentual than it was. All of the sudden, they were sleeping together.  Where is the set up for this? besides a few stolen glances at each other does not a taboo-relationship make, lifetime.

There are pivotal scenes that happen in the story that are glossed over or omitted. Heaven's mother had a suitcase full of her stuff at the cabin that Heaven had brought with her. This contained her mother's outfits, vanity items and a doll that is made to look identical to her. Book Kitty ends up burning this in a jealous fit during the story, but instead Heaven comes home to Kitty stroking it and lashing out with the thought of Luke and his Angel (since Kitty was in love with him and is using Heaven as the daughter she never had with Luke Casteel) causing her to bash the doll into pieces, and then Heaven into a table. Book wise, this whole scene takes place after a major confrontation and accusations from Kitty about how Heaven is not the clean daughter Kitty dreamed of.


When Kitty gets sick, they go back to the town of Winnerrow so Kitty's mother can help take care of her. Heaven reunites with Tom and Logan Stonewall, her boyfriend (who is much more important in the series than we see in this first movie). Cal's jealously of both of these men in her life cause him to lash out in non-Cal ways. Book Cal was much more sombre and lost as a person, than this young, attractive man we see. Like Kitty, the portrayal of Kitty's strong-willed mother is missing. Also, Kitty's siblings are missing. Now, while I understand why, her sister Maise is a minor character who does some damage later on.   They seem to put this responsibility into the hands of Mrs Stonewall, who is a substitute teacher (WHAT?)

On a side note, none of the jobs of these characters are correct. Small things like this really annoy fans. Why is it necessary to change the little things?

Book wise, Heaven does not connect with her father again, but he does come through for her. Luke writes to Leigh's parents in Boston and has arranged that Heaven go visit them. Heaven does not demand it and that whole movie scene was laughable. "Get on your knees" ? really. Who wrote this garbage.



Overall, I give it a 1 star for getting most of the names right. None of the characters were true to their book counterpart, and many of the themes were glossed over or overlooked. For an adaptation, it feels like someone read the book years ago and only remembered the basic story of children being sold off.

4 more movies to go, and I would categorise them under Comedy vs Drama as it was a joke.

Lifetime, STOP MAKING THESE CRAPPY MOVIES. Thank you.

*blink* bye bye june

anyone else think June went by way too quick? 

honestly, every year gets faster and faster ... 

hmm. 

well, let's get to it ! 

I read 18 in June. 

which is mind-boggling considering work was decently busy 

and i crocheted a lot. 

and i mean, a lot. 

- yes daddy

- virgin 

- parallel 

- yes professor 

- invisible library 

- the blood spell 

- save the date 

- heroine 

- sherwood 

- opposite of always

 - daughter of the siren queen 

- obsidio

- they both die at the end

- crown of feathers 

- heart of thorns 

- keeper of lost cities #1

- strong suit 

- the sexy one 

that puts me at 92/150 and i'm loving it. (ba-da-da-da-da... ) 

a giant pile is waiting for me for July. 

i seriously doubt i'm going to get them all done 

(some are carry-overs from June too) 

but here's hoping ! 

- finale (yay!) 

- sawkill girls 

- savage song / dark duet 

- keepers of lost cities #2 

- serious moonlight 

- bright smoke, cold fire / endless water, starless sky 

- stain 

- wicked saints 

- stepsister 

- we hunt the flame 

- the bird and the blade 

im pretty sure only the library books will get done again. 

im okay with it 😂

so besides my giant pile of yarn that is slowly going down, i also wana do july's camp #nanowrimo in which i develop my superhero story (i know, I know, another one... but mine has an interesting twist. at least, i hope it does) 

work is essentially over haha i hate summers... i have a few other things I can do but overall, i'm going to be staying at home quite a bit... 

which is fine. it's not like i dont have things to do ! 

June went by in a blink! i'm surprised at what i accomplished but how it's over, i'll never know. 

gnomes are messing with time, i swear. 

July should be a fun one ! 

... bring may flowers

What a month! 

I'm super behind in my update but life has been kinda crazy lately. 

in both good and not-so-good ways 

*drum roll* 

I cannot believe i broke my record last month. My highest book total has been 20 in the past couple of years that I've been tracking... This month I did 27.5! 

amaze-balls ! 

Sailor Moon V3 

Sailor moon short stories V1 

Sailor Moon short Stories V2

Sailor Moon 5 

Josh and Hazels guide to not dating 

surprise me 

the healer 

six of crows 

the body 

ruin and rising 

the devouring gray 

the mister 

gamer's guide to getting the girl (netgalley) 

morning star 

tyrant 

crooked kingdom

iron gold (half of it... DNF!) 

sadie 

lawless 

king of fools 

undeniable 

gilded wolves 

sailor moon V4 

my favourite half night stand

damsel 

honor among thieves 

astonishing colour of after 

soulless  

which has me at 74 / 150 for the year. 

 im so happy 

Another big pile on the schedule for June. 

Will I get to all of them? who knows... work is busier than I thought it would be 

not that that's a bad thing 

also, crocheting projects have distracted me ! 

obsidio 

daughter of the siren queen 

sawkill girls 

keeper of lost cities (1) 

the invisible library 

this savage song / our dark duet 

save the date 

heroine 

the blood spell 

they both die at the end 

opposite of always 

crown of feathers 

wicked saints 

sherwood 

the bird and the blade

heart of thorns 

plus a few arcs i signed up for. and whatever ebooks i find on my kindle 

fingers crossed ! 

life has been kinda crazy lately. Work has been hit and miss since it's now summer time, and every year it slows right down in May. 

I was busier than I expected though, so yay. 

I've decided to look for other stuff to get me through til the fall, so we will see how that turns out... I applied for my local library and *squeel* i want it. but 

i doubt it's going to happen. *shrugs* oh well... 

doggy has been great. manfriend has been great. that part of my life is doing pretty sweet. 

i've been crocheting a lot more too. started up a different 'gram just for my projects. I'd love to start selling stuff - maybe a craft show or something. why i shrunk my goal from 200 books to 150 is so i can yarn more. and maybe in a year or so look into my local fairs for opportunities. 

I still have a lot of learning to do but i love it. 

worst case, i keep them for future babies and friends with babies. 

which is also fine. 

the weather has been so wet lately that it's not fun. 

also, granite gets super anxious when it rains. poor rescue pup. 

I wish i could read minds and he could tell me about his awful past owners so i know how to help him more. I do what I can, but still... 

Hopefully June balances out more. the agenda is getting more full but not enough for 3 months 

it usually works out so i'm not sweating the small things these days. 

Back to reading ! 

- A 

April book showers

What a great month. 
life is just pretty great lately ... 

plus a massive book pile that I can check off the tbr is a bonus 

oy with the poodles, this month had a lot of reading! 

19 total. 

and they were mostly awesome. 

- what if it's us 

- ace of shades 

- love, hate and other filters 

- carry on 

- library of fates 

- price guide to the occult 

- naked '76 

- grim lovelies 

- tempt the boss 

- daughter of the burning city 

- muse of nightmares 

- bitterblue / fire (rereads) 

 - seige and storm 

- conjuring of light 

- sailor moon: pretty guardians 1 - 2 

- red rising / golden son

which is fantastic ! and puts me at 50/150 for the year. 

woooooot. 

i am so behind on reviews though, eek. 

like usual, the library books have taken over! 

not that i'm complaining because theyre awesome 

but my personal library is still in need of attention lol 

what i wana read: 

- king of fools 

- morning star / iron gold 

- six of crows / crooked kingdom 

- surprise me 

- the healer 

- josh and hazel's guide to not dating 

 - sailor moon: pretty guardians 3-4 

- the body 

- sadie 

 - the devouring grey 

- Tyrant 

- xmen graphic novel (days of future past) 

- avatar graphic novels (post-tv series) 

plus whatever else comes in! 

i also got a decent bookhaul this month and i may 

need to look into those piles too *looks at ceiling* 

like i said, life has been pretty fancy lately. work has slowed right down which blows but i'm working on finding something for the summer. 

and my weekends are manfriend filled *squee* hes kinda my favourite thing right now. plus i get so much reading done since he plays his game/watches wrestling and we just cuddle up. 

going home quite a bit this month to see my parents for my/my brothers bday, and mothers day. should be fun. mommy brought me a stand mixer and i can get back to my baking! so excite. 

i also picked up pokemon and sailor moon dvds from the library because a) i'm 5 apparently and 2) i love them. plus i've never watched pokemon in order so its nice background noise. 

puppy has been sick with the crazy rain weather we've been having so i try to spend time with him so he feels loved (and doesn't have to hold it too long) poor guy. at least if something comes up i know i can trust manfriend with him. hoping to live together by the Fall but we shall see how all that goes. it's on the to-do list this month to start the research 

thats about it these days ; ive got my stride back with reading and hopefully this month is just as fab as april was. 

- A 

springtime updates

So, apparently i didn't update anything for February. 
i barely remember that month. 
and march was gone in just as quick. 

what is going on lately? 
anyone else feeling like its another whirlwind year... 

well, let's see. February involved 

- harry potter  2 - 5 

- the silhouette girl 

- pendragon 8 & 9 

- the wrong girl 

- you may now kill the bride 

which wasn't too bad at 9 

and March was ridiculously slow with only 7 books 

- Graceling 

- a gathering of shadows 

- pendragon 10

- harry potter and the half blood prince

- harry potter and the deathly hallows 

- shadow and bone 

- inconvenient marriage (kindle) 

which puts me at 27/150 so far. 

april i am hoping to pack it with all the books! 

- what if it's us 

- naked '76 

- price guide to the occult 

- love, hate and other filters 

- fire / bitterblue 

- conjuring of light 

plus whatever other library books come in 

and a few kindle books that have my attention 

i need to put my crochet hook down and focus on the reads. 

plus get back into my reviewing. oy vey i'm so behind *hides* 

Feb and March were fun, but went by quick. My weekends are still full of manfriend time since that's our only time together. though we are making plans for the next few months to get more serious. *happy squeel* 

i took my niece for her birthday tea party. and my nephew's birthday craft activity. Man, i love being an aunt. can't wait til they are older and i can introduce them to all the nerdy things ; neither parent is nerdy so it's my job to make sure they grow up cool *winks* 

i had a friend come up for a weekend of random serial killer docs and so much gossip. it was nice to hang out with a friend who i've known for a while and didn't have to explain my background life story too haha 

March i celebrated the one year adoption of my puppy. Honestly, this doggy has my heart and adopting him was one of the smartest moves i've made. tho manfriend has taken 25% ownership since the dog loves him when hes here (well, usually. if he hugs me the pup freaks out haha protective much?) 

april is bittersweet for me. work slows down halfway through and i start my "summer" so i'm going to be looking for a part-time job to offset the less hours. but at the same time, i got more free time to hang with the puppers and get my reading in. also get to go home a few times in the next few weeks for easter and then my birthday *grin* 

hopefully i stay on top of everything this month. its also tax time and thats so depressing haha i miss being a student and getting a return. being self employed is not all its cracked up to be :p 


- A 

* Mr granite and all his toys