Thursday, November 17, 2011

My thoughts on "Family Storms" by VC Andrews


(from Goodreads)

In the eye of the storm . . .
Living on the streets with her destitute mother, selling knickknacks and trinkets just to survive, Sasha Porter dreams of someday having a normal life, with a real house and family. But she never dreamed a devastating tragedy would bring her those very things: on a stormy night by a rainspattered highway, a speeding car veers out of control, striking and killing her mother and badly injuring Sasha.

. . . is anywhere truly safe?

In the hospital, Sasha is whisked off to a fancy private suite at the request of wealthy Mrs. Jordan March, a complete stranger who keeps watch by Sasha’s bedside and insists she come live at her family’s sprawling, luxurious mansion. Sasha soon learns Mrs. March never recovered from the loss of her daughter Alena, and with nowhere else to go, Sasha agrees to use Alena’s room, sleep in her bed, and wear her clothes. But someone will make sure that Sasha never takes Alena’s place: a jealous sister dead set on making Sasha’s life a living hell.

MY THOUGHTS:

** spoiler alert ** Let me start off by saying that this review will contain spoilers, so if you haven't read this book stop reading now.

With that being said, if you have read any of VC Andrews earlier books (that she herself actually wrote) you will understand my review better. But, if you haven't read any of her earlier books, let me just tell you that her books usually have twists, turns, deceit and betrayal in them. And you usually come across one or more of them early on in the book.


"Family Storms" was nothing like that. I was greatly disappointed. Now, if you are wondering why I gave the story 3 stars if I was so disappointed, it was because I still thought the writing wasn't too bad. The writing is what kept me reading when I wanted to stop so many times. There were numerous times that I thought for sure something deceitful was about to happen, but I was so wrong.

This story was about a girl, Keira, who hits a homeless mother and daughter with her car one rainy night. The mother ends up dying and the girl, Sasha, ends up with a broken femur. While Sasha is in the hospital being treated, Keira's mom, Jordan or Mrs. March, shows up telling Sasha who she is and offering her her home to come and stay while she is recuperating.

Sasha agrees and soon finds out that the Marchs are very wealthy and that they had, not to long ago, lost their younger daugher, Alena, to an illness.

When Sasha is given Alenas room to stay in (despite all the empty guest rooms the house has) I thought for sure I knew what was coming and where the story was going. And then when Mrs. March kept referring to Alena and comparing Sasha and Alena, I knew for sure what was going to happen. But, no, I was wrong. What a disappointment. That is one of the things that kept me reading though. I thought for sure that, at least, by the end of the book, what I had been thinking will actually happen. But, no....the story took a different direction.

Sasha soon meets Keira and instead of Keira feeling remorse for what she had done, she feels resentment towards Sasha. And she acts like a total bitch to her; especially after she sees how her mother is doting on her and offering her everything of Alenas and then some.

Mrs. March, in turn, does nothing but put down her daughter, Keira, and call her on all of her faults and wrong doings.

This all goes on through about the first 1/3 of the book. And as I said before, I am certain, that by this time something crazy is gonna happen.

But again, no. Actually what does happen makes no sort of sense to me. Keira befriends Sasha and gets Sasha to believe that she is sorry for everything and that she wants to take her under her wing, so to speak.

That was OK, but not when Keira gets Sasha to wear all these skimpy clothes, that Sasha is even suspect about. They still have their tags on them and Keira doesn't wear stuff like them so why would Sasha believe Keira when Keira says that they are her clothes and she is lending them to her?? C'mon, Sasha is smarting then that. And you know it too.

Then when Keira tells her about the VA Club??? What it meant and the initiation, the tattoo?? How dumb is that! And Sasha goes along with it so easily despite the doubts running through her head....That was another thing that upset me with the book.

And the clincher for me was when Keira came home from the party on the ship saying how miserble it was and her parents believed her story just like that?? After Mrs. March did nothing but point out how horrible her own daughter was and even telling Sasha to watch herself with her....she is going to just believe that story that easily??

The tattoo, the club, Keiras friends just going along with the whole thing??

And then when KeiraKeira wouldn't make it and Sasha really would end up taking the place of Alena. But that didn't happen either.

I can't express enough how upset I am with this story.

It is 3 in the morning and I couldn't go to sleep until I wrote this review.

Like I said at the beginning, if you have ever read one of VC Andrews earlier books you should understand exactly where I am coming from. If you haven't, you should read one because they are great!

I was just over on goodreads reading some reviews on this book and I was surprised at home many people liked this book and how many said it was in the original VC Andrews style...after reading those I thought more about the book and tried to see it as they were, but I just couldn't. Either way, please, if you haven't read this book, yet still chose to read my review and are still reading-go ahead and read it and decide for yourself. Obviously people have differing opinions and you may end up liking the story.

Take Care!

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