Hey lovely people! I'm one of those people that read an insane amount of books every year, usually 200+ titles, and because of this, I ended up starting a book blog on Wordpress years ago, to connect with other bibliophiles. That lead me to working with authors and publishers to review books that they had coming up, and to posting on Bookstagram and Booktok. I was feeling like finding a fresh way to connect with book lovers. So, here we are.
A lot of BookTubers cover YA and Romance, which I do read a little of. My overall taste is really eclectic, genres like Mystery, Literary Fiction, International Fiction, True Crime, Non-Fiction, Horror, and a little bit of everything. I have read a lot of the classics as well (everything from Austen to Tolstoy) and love beautifully bound books. If you're wondering about my accent, I'm Australian, I lived in the UK for a decade, and now live in Canada.
Thanks for stopping by. I hope you'll like it here and want to stick around and subscribe.
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I would enjoy at least a recommendation of which Barbara Michaels to read and which to avoid. The Mary Stewart romantic suspense books have been my comfort reads in the past, so I have a fair idea of what to expect, I think. And yes, I've read a couple of the Peabody books; enjoyed the first one the most. But I might now look out for the one set in London which sounds great.
Loved this book shii was 🔥🔥 back in school I read for fun I’m 28now wish I had a copy
I was a huge fan as a teenager in the 90’s! Devastated when I learned she passed. Did read many of the ghost written books. I went down a huge rabbit home and found out that a number of books were created from her notes she kept. That’s why there is big difference between the originals/the two ghost writer finished, the ones she had notes on and the ones he just recreated based off her brand.
*Cathy does not draw/scetch. She’s a ballerina 🩰 through 3 books. And that’s just one misrepresentation- How do you have so much confidence to create a video getting so many things wrong?
I was the same. I read this book on the way to school and away from school 😂 and I would always hide it in my school bag with shame. But I couldn’t stop reading it. I will read it again ❤️
P.s.- Re: social and cultural differences of that time, I hope readers never write off a very well-done historical book bc our current social justice climate clashes with past values. It’s always educational to hear about differences between then and now, if for no other reason than to simply remember (and to see, despite inequities that still exist, how much better we have it now).
Nice! Love seeing this here. ❤ yayyyyyyy for buddy reads 👯♀️. After reading this one, I would definitely read her works again. It was so well done. xx
Flowers in the Attic was her best work in my opinion. I read the books out of order, I read If There Be Thorns when I was ten or eleven. It was my older sister’s book and I had no idea it was part of a series until I started reading it then I headed for the library to read the first two. Usually my mom would be seriously offended by any kind of sexual content in books or television or movies but she actually borrowed them from me when I finished them and or kept telling me to read faster so she could read them next.
You seem to have a knack of reading books and authors I grew up with. I've read all of Heyer's books multiple times (though not in the last couple of decades). I used to adore this one, though was sad to find it a bit problematic as I got older *coughgroomingcough*. I recommend trying Devil's Cub next, which is a kind of sequel to this one, focusing on their son. Oh btw, I think he's called Satanas because of the link with The Black Moth, where the character Justin is modelled on is the book's villain, whose nickname was (I think) Devil or some such.
I can’t believe the audacity of people complaining about “umms” or scriptwriting. It’s a 0 budget, FREE video on KZread, not a David Attenborough-narrated BBC production. Please ignore the peanut gallery and keep going. You’re doing a great job.
Thank you so much, that's really kind and made my day. I remember comments like yours and don't worry about that haters!
@@cravenwildI too have obviously enjoyed this, as I have listened to it a couple of times now.😊
@@MsBluheart thank you, I feel like that's a huge compliment
Great video! And you are absolutely correct about women in pain not being believed. I was in excruciating pain for 10 years with endometriosis. I finally got a female doctor who sent me to a specialist. She recommended a hysterectomy. I agreed and my insurance company denied my claim. 😮. And I have great medical insurance. My doctor appealed the decision, and it was rejected. I fought my insurance company myself and won. Turns out that it was more than endometriosis 😡. Had I not fought for it, it would’ve eventually killed me.
Cheese and whiskers! That's awful. I'm so sorry to hear that happened to you. Good on you for fighting and advocating for yourself. That's not easy. And thankyou for sharing your story with me as well. 🐈⬛
Putting the "camp" in camp" LOL - thanks for this.
hahahah very punny 🐈⬛
@@cravenwild I was quoting you! 😆😁
@@coffemuse ha ha! Really? I'd forgotten I said that. 😂 Just laughing at my own jokes over here....
I was 13 or 14 when I read Flowers in the Attic and Petals in the Wind. I still LOVE those books, and your video inspired me to reread them and continue the reading of VC's books. Thank you so much <3
ah that's so lovely. Thank you for watching and your kind words.🐈⬛
I remember secretly reading the Flowers in the attic series as a kid🙈. Thought it was just me haha
Ha ha! No, you're definitely in good company there! Thankyou for your watching. 🐈⬛
Tbh I wouldn’t be surprised if some of the flowers in the attic series was a very dramatized version of what she went through. The claustrophobia from being locked away in an attic, the narcissistic mother, the controlling and religious zealot grandmother, and the way the different ways the children coped with their trauma might be loosely inspired from her life. Definitely think she added in a lot of things for shock value, but I don’t think everything she wrote in the books was foreign to her. In the second book, Cathy becomes a professional dancer, but her abusive husband (who’s also her dance partner) breaks the bones in her feet so she can’t dance any longer. And he partially does this from jealousy. I can almost see parallels to what you said about her mother being jealous ands attacking her cousin. I’m just glad she finally got to live out dreams the last few years of her life, though it’s sad she passed at a young age.
Yes, I'm really glad she got to live out her dreams in those last years of her life as well. So sad she passed so young. Thank you for watching and your comment.
I really like the sound of this - ensemble cast of characters, with links to each other's lives etc. It also sounds very short and as my physical reading has taken a big knock over recent years this kind of book length might help me get back into it. (Btw, I managed to get a set of second hand Mignon G. Eberhart books from eBay a little while ago, although I haven't read any yet.)
Thank you for watching. I think you might like this one. Especially as the chapters function a bit like short stories, so you can dip into it as you get back into reading. I really liked it. Oooh! That's exciting! Which ones did you get? Please send me reccomendations if they're good? Also, you influenced me to buy a silkstone Barbie this week! he he. (It's the new one with the platinum blonde swirl ponytail)
I think I was about 14 or 15 when I read this series. I was on vacation with my dad, his wife and her kids. My step-mother made me "share" the books with my step-sister and considering neither one of them were well-read, they didn't understand that the books were a SERIES, not stand alone novels. Because my step-sister couldn't really read, she decided to splash me as much as possible trying to ruin my copy of my book by soaking it with pool water. The joke is on her because I loved the series, I am an avid reader and as far as I know, she is still dumb as a post. I am now 57. Thank you for the opportunity to release that grudge I've been carrying for the last several decades. 🙂
This made me cackle! ha ha! I have also had step siblings in my time, and can relate to this. Thank you for sharing. 🐈⬛
I'm approximately 6 chapters into the novel now and I'm really enjoying it so far. But I gotta be honest, The incident at the park with the performer/Max's colleague made me chuckle. It felt comical. Sounds like later deaths in the novel are likewise comical from the sounds of it.
They are loosely inspired by comical 80s slasher movie deaths, so i think/hope they are meant to be darkly funny.. I'm pretty sure. - Thank you for watching 🐈⬛
For anyone who cares, VCA is(was) Gemini sun, Pisces moon, and Virgo asc💫
Ohh, interesting - Thanks for Watching 🐈⬛
That was cosy, thanks! I read the main series as a kid, but not the mysteries. I always wanted to be Claudia but suspected I was probably more of a Mary Anne.
Well I think you're a cool Claudia! and yes, the mystery line does feel more cozy - Thank you for watching!
This might sound strange but I like them all but I'm also used to horror movies and everything else so to me it's just a normal read let's just saying the grandmother Olivia what is the most insane character in all literature in my opinion
I don't think that's strange and I agree about Olivia, except maybe Annie Wilkes? - Thank you for watching 🐈⬛
I loved these books . I read them in my early teens. Also loved the Heaven series.
Thanks for watching and leaving a comment ❤️
HP Lovecraft had a strange mother induced shut-in life style that feed into his work and worldview. Very interesting.
Half uncle means it was the half-sibling of one of her parents and from a purely genetic point of view that makes it much, much better than a „full“ uncle, because she shares less genetic material with him. Technically I think the risk of causing genetic defects in their children isn’t any higher than with a first cousin (who was considered a perfectly acceptable candidate for marriage through much of our history). The social stigma here doesn’t really match the actual impact of their marriage, which is think is purposefully done. They’re juuust related enough that it makes it „unacceptable“.
interesting highlights - thanks for watching and leaving a comment!
It looks like a face with an eye, in behind the chairs!
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I did it backwards. At 10 my dad gave me Stephen King. I had to have read FitA before the movie because I remember being excited for it, so I would have been 11, but I don't remember really geting into the series it until I was in 8th grade at 13. Most of my 8th and 9th grade was reading all the VC Andrews stuff, and I pretty much stopped at the Casteel series. My Sweet Audrina was probably my fave as a kid though. I did keep up the King for another decade after this, lol.. I recently started re-reading the Dollanganger series this year though.
I think you were cooler than me in high-school haha. I love that your dad was giving you books to read - Thanks for watching!
I’m so glad I discovered your channel, I listened to this last night and it was really in depth. I’m currently reading the books for the first time after seeing the original 1987 movie as a kid. Great video!
Thank you, that's so lovely! did you spot the cameo in the movie when you watched it?
I’m 53 and I was 15 when I first started reading VC Andrew’s. She was my favorite author and I actually recommended Flowers in the Attic to my children. I’m a fan and so are my adult children. My daughter 29 sent me this podcast. Thank you!!!
That's really lovely, I love that you and your daughter share these books! 🐈⬛ Thanks so much for watching ❤️
Same here. My mum suggested it to me when I was at a Christmas fair. She always encourages me to read even today 😂 but flowers in the attic impacted me greatly in high school. I also love that it read like a dark fairytale which is one of my favourite genres. Angela Carter is also a good writer in that realm ❤️
I wouldn't call her books "exploitative" of women. They're a testament to things that actually happen to women. The fact that the main characters endure these hardships and come out the other side is empowering.
You make a valid point and I like your username! - Thanks for watching ❤️
I loved this book as a kid. I still think about it from time to time, and I'm in my late 40s 😅 Great video ❤ Have you ever read Behind the Attic Wall by Sylvia Cassedy? That was another good one with a similar vibe.
omg yes, i have read that book - its a good one ! Thanks for the comment
I was 19 when I read Flowers 🌸 in The Attic, and Petals in The Wind 💨. I couldn’t put them down.
ha, I guess they are best-sellers for a reason! - Thank you for watching.
The sniffles and ums are a bit distracting, as are what appear to be AI-generated images for some of your backgrounds(Side note: there are actually free stock image sites, if you did not know. I'm sorry if that comes off as backhanded, that's not how I mean it, I'm just a creative myself and recently discovered that free stock images are a thing). Still, this is a high quality, well-written dive into an author who doesn't have much biographical information available on wikipedia and the like, and I'm glad you made it.
Yes, Still working on my scripts and learning stuff - Thanks so much for comment and tips!
I loved these books in middle school in the 80s and we traded them between friends. I convinced my immigrant parents they were required reading for school.
Hahaha so sneaky, i love that! - Thanks for watching
Very much enjoy your commentary. Would love to hear you discuss some Shirley Jackson.
Oh, I absolutely love Shirley Jackson - maybe i'll do that! 🐈⬛ Thanks for your comment.
I read several of her books. I had to stop. I love her writing and love the author but the books were just soooo bleak. I got depressed at the ending of each book I read. It’s like a generation after generation of family members having the worst of luck. It didn’t matter poor or rich they just had the worst happen. There never was a happy ending lol. Like give me one happy ending people. I still don’t have the courage to read the rest of the volumes. I read about a few of the families volume before I had to stop. My sweet Audrina was the only one I remember at the time that didn’t have a continuation and am glad it didn’t. I can’t help but feel sadness every time I see V.C Andrews name. But a wonderful author indeed
Yes, the are still printing them.. and then are still relentlessly bleak.... lol. They ghost wrote a sequel to Sweet Audrina and i'm pretty sure that has a bad ending 😅 Thank you for this great comment ❤️
I really love these books, thank you for making this video, (Koontz is my favorite author so I am no stranger to the disturbing) and I relate to the protagonists a lot but I do know they are fiction. I did not know ANYHING about VC. I also learned a lot from them and they were helpful to me during a very hard time in my life, though some lessons only life can teach like my 6 year relationship with my abusive (narcissitic) ex who nobody tried to help me realize the abuse because he is so charming. Thanks, you bastard. My mother actually gave my her collection and gave me a warning about the subject matter when I was 12 which is the right age I think. My favorite is Heaven. I understand the controversey over the SA but as a victim myself there is a normalization of it not being your fault, even if you felt you 'wanted it'/didn't hate it, not letting men determine your worth, being strong but not hardened, not being beaten down, generational trauma, a lot to learn there as well. It is a taboo subject no matter how you approach it so I absolutely love it being broached especially with the shades of gray. Also as a fellow daydreamer it is just lovely fantasy Herculean journey.
Thank you for this lovely, heartfelt comment. And i like hearing your perspective on how it was useful or had lessons as a survivor. That's really powerful. Also, booo to your narc ex! They can be very charming and convincing. xx
So glad your video came up on my FYP…new subscriber 💕
Yay! Thank you! ❤️
I remember reading the Landry series (Ruby) when I was...I don't know, 9-11 ish. All of the Ghost written works really do seem to follow the pattern or tropes, so when I finally, in adulthood went back and read FitA I was floored by it's literary merit. It was genuinely compelling.
VC could really write... Totally agree, she was a really good writer!
Jesus, write a better script.
😩 I'll keep working on it, thanks for watching!
I'm 47. I read these when I was very young. I remember it being shocking to me, but I read every book. And, the prequels and the sequels. The incest was always cringe. Kinda like the sibling romance in game of thrones.
That's a really accurate comparison- Thanks watching 🐈⬛
So her female lead characters were her self inserts into her work, it sounds like her mother could have been the mother in one of her stories..
It's debated online , she for sure got her stories from somewhere. Thanks so much for watching!
@@cravenwild of course! Thank you for making such a great video
I read them as a 12-13 year old - loved them and still think of them as a 54 year old lady. I am now a librarian working with children and young adults. ❤️from Sweden
I love Sweden & I love librarians. Dumle for life!!! 🐈⬛
I was 13. Flowers in the Attic was my first novel. I’m 43 now and that astounds me.
omg so many of us were so young! - Thanks for watching ❤️
I wonder if the 70s was the heyday of suggesting novels were based on true events (Go Ask Alice, for example). I also read these as a teen, which felt very rebellious.
Go Ask Alice is apparently all made up.. A story for another time. Thanks for watching! 🥂
I don't remember how old I was, but I read them when I was in middle school. In hindsight, I don't know why my mom let me read them, LoL.
Hahahah I love that ❤️
WHAT DO U MEAN. It was the biggest best plot twist there could have been, I freaking love that book and will forever recommend it!! ❤😂
hahaha, so glad you liked it though !
I had no idea that there was an actual genre of feline crime fighters!
Yes there are!!!! and some of them are actually O.K. reads! - Also I love your channel !!!
i've read this book and also loved it! i actually read it before i even knew about Caitlin's youtube.
I love her KZread Channel, Im so glad you enjoyed this book too!
Yep, GenX kid here too. I remember first reading Flowers in the Attic when I was 9! My mom had a copy, I was reading at an advanced level for my age, so she let me read whatever books I wanted. All I remember after reading that the first time was, "good thing I don't have a brother!"
You're hilarious! 9 is so young lol. Thanks for the comment ❤️
I thought this was an interesting review, very nicely illustrated. I only know the film, which I found nasty and disturbing. I thought its exploration of race and class divisions was interesting. Joel’s possessor took out his class resentments on women and children, which cheapened their validity, I thought
Yes, I agree about the movie! Thanks you for the nice comment.