series review: beneath the attic

alright. 
it's no surprise that i didn't like this series. 
did i read it anyways? yes. 
why? because i can't argue why it's garbage if i have no evidence

beware of spoilers :) 


beneath the attic 

not many of us who are "hardcore" fans were excited for this. he is really beating this horse just to get a paycheck. enough, man. please retire writing under the VCA name. we beg you.

anyways 
i ended up giving this one a 1 star on goodreads.
If it was possible to give a 0, I would have. 
How could anyone enjoy this drivel? An obvious cash-grab with the 40th anniversary of FITA soon after publishing. It felt like he took the outline for Garden of Shadows and just changed (most) of the names and no consideration of the time period.
We learned nothing about the characters and the characters we thought we knew were rewritten into sex-crazed weirdos.A slow build up to nothing happening... all of this could have been 5 chapters, instead of 350 pages that dragged on. The ramblings of Corinne's feelings about sex with her new husband and whether or not they even love each other was slow and difficult to get through.



Such disrespect. 


Out of the attic 

I had no expectations or hopes for this story. 
I find the whole series a waste of time - but, being a vca purist, i had to give it a shot.
It was at least better than the first (though not by much)

I find his writing of a toddler being so evil and rude coming out of left field. This kid is being raised by a sweet nanny, and a decent mother ... and his fathers influence is no where to be found. So why is this kid sucha jerk? The character arc makes no sense.

The author has been hyping this story up for months, but really... I can't figure out why? We all knew she ran off with another man. She seemed quite loving to her kid, well, she tried to be (* see jerk comment above) and her husband is a piece of garbage so I am okay with her running off.

after reading this one, I was curious if we'll be getting different POVs in the next one since, without it, we will have many questions left over (though the author uses that as excuses to butcher our beloved stories)
but we aren't able to find a story synopsis anywhere so us fans are left out. 


also! what does the attic have to do with any of this series? 
insert eye roll here. 


shadows of foxworth  (does not come out til june 2020~. arc was from netgalley) 


honestly sir, find another word! Shadows has been used 4 other times in book titles under the VC andrews name. expand your vocab. (secrets is another one. oy.) 

since the synopsis of the book was not updated on any platform, us readers really have no idea what we are getting into. 
and it is not corinne's story. 
it is her children's. 
conveniently, corinne and her hubby die off in the first few pages. 
oh look, another recycled plot point. 
jeeze. 
it took me a few pages to figure out whose POV i was getting 
and finally, i got it. 
Marlena, corinne's daughter, is telling us how her parents died 
after a wonderful childhood in france 
and now she must go live with an aunt they've never met in america 
(beau's sister) 
with her older brother, the two are off to find out what it means to be a member of the Dawson family in Richmond, VA. where the mysterious Foxworth family lives.
Can you guess the rest of the story? i'm sure you can. 
I did. 

as a "dollanganger" book, this was terrible. 
if he had made it a new series, yes it is all recycled plot but it would've made a good 
first book in a series. 
well, decent, at least. 

that ending was rushed and made no sense 
and while i'm happy malcolm doesn't become a baby daddy to his half sister 
(enough with this story too!) 
it made for a flat ending of happily ever after. 

~~~ 


I do NOT recommend this series to anyone. 
everything under the VCA name until 2004 was great, and since then, the stories have decreased in creativity and excitement 
there was a time when he jumped on the supernatural bandwagon, and we got some interesting stories, but nothing beloved like those original stories. 

if you are interested in the vca fellowship, start at flowers in the attic and work your way through the books following publication order. that's really the best way to see the progression of the writing and characters*.

*i mostly say this because if you read My Sweet Audrina, and then Whitefern you will be very, very confused. wait 40 years (or longer). same with the diary series and now the above garbage. wait at least 40 years. i promise you, you'll thank yourself. 



i am also happy to report i got these off netgalley/the library and spent no money. 
i would be returning them. 

march madness

welp. this month is FINALLY over. 
hallelujah. 
because this was a ridiculous time for the world.
in both good and bad ways. 

but honestly, yes I was more careful
but i didn't freak out like many people did 
unnecessarily 

so
with everything being cancelled 
i got to stay home 
and read 
which, lets be honest, work was taking up too much time anyways 

i got sick with a yearly cold 

so my reading wasn't as great as the past few months 

which is fine by me 

but i managed to get these beauties read: 

- ruthless

- girls made of glass and snow 

- fix her up 

- into the woods

- daughter of smoke and bone

- red hood 

- unexpected reality 

- a heart so fierce and broken 

- unexpected odds (arc) 

- straight on till morning

- tweet cute 

- midnight at the electric

- harry potter & philosopher's stone

- down and across

- knife of never letting go 

- crazy rich asians

- the ask & the answer 

- subtle art of not giving a fuck 

plus i'm in the middle of an ebook and little women. 

so overall, 19 done. 

putting me at 70/200 for the year 

yay ! 

as long as i don't get sick again

i should be able to read 

- monsters of men 

- is it just me 

- MMPR: pink (graphic novel) 

- ghost spider (GN) 

- spider gwen collection (GN)

- someday, someday, maybe 

- days of blood and starlight 

- stain 

- land of stories V2 

- kingdom hearts

- satisfaction / revenge 

- the library of lost and found 

- suggested reading 

however

 i've noticed that since manfriend is living with me during this nonsense 

that i've been reading less

and playing more mario party 

so we will see ! 

i also wana do camp NaNo ... but my motivation is not there to keep to a schedule. who knows. my mom keeps bugging me to edit my 2017 NaNo book and it's been in my head lately so there's a good chance i get to it.  fingers crossed. (anyone else doing it? i want a good cabin!) 

other than that, nothing really is going on. work getting cancelled was not fun (for anyone) because it gave me an excuse to get out of the house. sigh. my life is really boring. 

i also want to be crocheting but i don't have a project and i hate making things just for the sake of it. it's fun having a reason to make it, y'know.  if anyone wants a blanket or scarf, let me know! 

april is going to be quiet, which is fine. hopefully those who celebrate easter will be able to use technology to do it (i'm just in it for the chocolate) 

i hope you're all being safe and using your best judgement (or ask someone in a different house for a second opinion) on how to take care of yourself and your family in this difficult time. 


- A

i'm all alone, theres no one here besides me ...

it's been a crazy few weeks 
and while the self- isolation has been enforced more in the last week-ish 
not much has changed in my life, since i stay home most of the time anyways 
i've been mostly ignoring the news 
bc it's all the same stuff


however 
it's been a.week! 

to escape the craziness, and my cold, i grabbed a bunch of books

so here's what's on my lap these days 



Straight on til morning - twisted tale 

i love the twisted tale series, and i love peter pan, so this seemed perfect. but there was too much tinkerbell for my liking. i hate her lol no idea why, always have. 
hook and wendy should've had more time together... but that's just me cheering for the villain 


because you'll never meet me

i liked this one in the beginning, and then it got weird. Ollie was cool, but Mo is a jerk. the boys are unable to meet each other for medical reasons, so their common doctor puts them in contact via letter writing. 
The "twist" at the end was ... weird, to say the least. i'm not going to bother with book two. 


girl from everywhere 

i couldn't even tell you what this one is about. pirates and maps ... that's all i remember. the writing wasn't great and the story wasn't captivating. i hate dnf'ing but it definitely wasn't memorable. 


tweet cute 

a new ya contemp that everyone seems to love. I thought it was cute... but that's about it. when two kids take over their parent's twitter accounts for their businesses, they don't realize that they are each other's competition. a local mom&pop bakery fighting a massive burger chain fighting over a grilled cheese sandwich makes for a recipe of cute teen lit. 


midnight at the electric 

this one had been on my list forever. finally picked it up at the library, randomly, while i was grabbing my holds before everything closed. and i loved it. 
a story spanning generations (of 120 years) told through letters of the past, and jumping back into the present, it keeps you glued to the pages to find out what happens next. Slowly it begins to get predictable, but that doesn't change how fascinating it is. 



knife of never letting go 

this is my final book for the week, and its about time! i've had this one since it first came out, but i finally found the other two in the series with the same cover (bc bookwormproblems!) so i can finally start it. so excited, hopefully my expectations are met. 



Hope everyone is staying safe <3 

Review: unexpected odds

Unexpected odds 
Kaylee Ryan 
(unexpected arrivals #5) 


*Thank you to GiveMeBooks for the ARC 



Everything has been unexpected in this series, and Kent's story is no different.
Kent and Delaney's story is an adorable tale of second chances and knowing your heart.

Kent can't get the girl from his past out of his mind. She may have been a part time fling, but he felt so much more for her. When the construction company gets a contract for her childhood home, Kent is shocked to find out that Delaney has no idea who he is, or what they were to each other.

As we get further into the story, more secrets are found about what happened back in the day, but Kent is determined to show Delaney that he hasn't stopped loving her and will do what it takes to keep their family together.

While the dialogue was a bit repetitive (we get it Kent, you're sorry for what happened that night), this was just as adorable as the previous books - though, heads up to readers, read them in order or beware spoilers! Ryan's stories always leave us wanting more and this series is no different. Her characters quickly become best friends and a place of comfort for us readers. 

Lovely read, 4 stars.


Get it here: https://amzn.to/2U1kmfq 

leaping in february

what another crazy month

at least, as far as books go 

how i am reading so much, i dont know. 

but i'm not complaining 

- possession 

- pippi longstocking 

- perversion 

- lady midnight 

- bookworm crush 

- the right swipe 

- two can keep a secret 

- ps i still love you (reread) 

- maze runner (reread) 

- peep show 

- pretty little player 

- tycoons pregnant lover

- tycoons fake fiance 

- highfire 

- home, a memoir 

- land of stories: wishing spell 

- curse so dark and lonely

- once and future 

- delayed satisfaction

- yes no maybe so 

- school of good and evil (#1) 

- lord of shadows 

- scavenge the stars

- star touched queen 

- queens assassin 

sheesh. 25 total 

this puts me at 51/200 for the year. 

which is wicked! 

maybe i'll calm down in march 

(but doubtful) 

another giant pile is ready on my cart 

- Ruthless (trilogy) 

- Daughter of Smoke and Bone (trilogy) 

- knife of never letting go (trilogy) 

- girls made of snow and ice

- the girl from everywhere

- bc you'll never meet me 

- the library of lost and found 

- crazy rich asians 

- straight on til morning 

- little women 

- down and across

- a heart so fierce and broken 

- queen of air and darkness 

- into the woods/ hidden leaves (for book group) 

21 is the goal. not sure if QoAaD is going to make it through 

but we shall see ! 

i can't see anything changing in the next few weeks. 

which is annoying. 

life is pretty stale these days 

but i'm unsure how to change it ... 

work is decent 

boyfriend is still amazing 

honestly, 

life is pretty good 

it's just not exciting 

and i wouldn't mind some excitement these days 

it's also ridiculously cold out 

so maybe the excitement could wait til spring 

happy reading everyone 

- A