Four by V.C. Andrews

Heart Song, V.C. Andrews, 1997, Pocket Books. Genre: Young Adult. 378 pages. Finished 8/7/12.

Unfinished Symphony, V.C. Andrews, 1997, Pocket Books. Genre: Young Adult. 344 pages. Finished 8/10/12.

Into the Garden, V.C. Andrews, 1999, Pocket Books. Genre: Young Adult, 373 pages. Finished 8/14/12.

Lightning Strikes, V.C. Andrews, 2000, Pocket Books. Genre: Young Adult, 359 pages. Finished 8/21/12.

LesOpinion: I remember when V.C. Andrews made a splash with her debut novel, Flowers in the Attic. All the girls at school were reading it--well, all the girls except me. If it was anything like these four pathetic excuses for novels, I'm glad I spared myself the pain.

Despite the raging mediocrity of her writing, her family knew a gold mine when they had one.  When V.C. died in 1986, the family had her name turned into a registered trademark and hired a ghostwriter to "complete" her "unfinished works." All of these books are exactly the same: a young woman is unmoored from her immediate family, mistreated by relatives, wastes everyone's precious time beating the dead horse of her identity and plight with countless rhetorical questions, and has an incestuous relationship with the nearest brother, uncle, father, first cousin, or other male relative. The whole thing is so creepy that the fact that the novels are aimed at young women makes me want to notify the authorities.

Circumstances under which I recommend any of these books: Run! Run for your life!

The Blood of Flowers

Rest in peace, Grampy

The Blood of Flowers, Anita Amirrezvani, 2007, Little Brown & Co. Genre: Fiction. 368 pages. Finished 8/4/12.

Note: The chair of the LibraryQuest Editorial Board, Grampy, died unexpectedly on August 5, 2012. We dedicate this entry to Grampy's memory and mourn his passing.

LesOpinion:17th Century Iran comes alive in this tale of a young woman from a small village making her way in a bustling city. While in some ways it covers the same ground as Girls of Riyadh--arranged marriages, restrictive Islamic laws for both genders, and tragic romance--The Blood of Flowers manages these topics with art, suspense, and an enormous heart for its heroine. Oh, and we get to learn amazing details about the art of Persian rug-making.

Circumstances under which I recommend this book: You want to read a book.

Goliath

Goliath, Steve Alten, 2002, Forge. Genre: SciFi. 415 pages. Finished 7/31/12.

LesOpinion: Goliath is a fantastical action tale about lethal submarine warfare and a hostile takeover by artificial intelligence. Spare me the modern day warrior angst, Mr. Alten, you know your plot doesn't hold its salt water when anti-nuclear activists and victims of genocide are the villains of your tale.

If you like books that read more like scripts for overblown special effects movies, this book is for you. If you like books with fully developed characters, politics anywhere left of the Tea Party, and a reasonable level of editing, move along, there's nothing here for you.