I was super excited to read this as I loved the Dollanganger series when I was growing up, but First and foremost- everyone should know going into this book it IS NOT V.C. Andrews writing this book and instead Andrew Neiderman. She died in 1986. I am surprised there is nothing about this within the book. I think this was a great prequel to "Flowers in the Attic". It definitely had the creepy quality that "Flowers" always did for me. It was a quick read, not too deep and gave insight to Corrine and why she was the way she was. Would recommend to V.C. Andrews fans. Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this book.

This was just as awful as all the other reviews have stated. Thankfully, I did not waste too much time on this before I gave up. I just was not able to make any connection with Corrine or any of the other characters.

Many thanks to Netgalley and Gallery Books for this advanced readers copy. This book is set to release August 2019.

Ok, I will start by saying I have always been a fan of V.C. Andrews, and was dying to get my hands on this one. I unfortunately didn’t really enjoy it. It was slow starting and even then, I just could not sink my teeth into it. I wasn’t thrilled, scared or intrigued and simply couldn’t wait for the book to end. It pains me to say this, but I do need to share my honest opinion.

However, simply because it wasn’t my cup of tea, will not make it enjoyable for you. I would suggest you still grab a copy and give it a chance. It wasn’t awful, just not for me.

No. Just no.

Although I was not looking for a lot of depth or mental challenge from this book, I was hoping for a summer read that I enjoyed. The book failed.

It's not even a full story line and seems to just be full of the same information over and over again. It's creepy and falls flat at the kind of intrigue it's attempting to give the reader. None of the characters are developed enough for the reader to become invested. Throw in the historical inaccuracies that a small about of research would have solved, and this book is definitely one to pass by.

Very hard to get into, but once I did. oh boy! V.C. Andrews has not calmed down in writing. This book reminds me of the earlier books. Absolutely loved the story, I just have never thought of anything like this ever happening. to anyone let alone a family.

Beneath the Attic is a prequel to Flowers in the Attic. It gives us insight to why Corrine did the things she did and acted the way she did . Young Corrine Dixon meets Garland Foxworth at her first formal outing with her parents . She enjoys his company and sneaks off to meet him while visiting her family out of town . Upon returning home , Corrine realizes she is pregnant and turns to her father for help.
This book feels like it was kind of rushed and ended suddenly. I usually enjoy reading these books but this one just wasn’t for me. Thank you Netgalley and the Publisher for an ARC for my honest review .

This was supposed to be a companion novel to the Flowers in the Attic series and I like many others grew up reading that series. It was the first "adult" books I had read. This was the story of Corrine Dixon, the Great Grandmother in the Dollanganger saga. Honestly, it didn't have any connection for me. It seemed to just be a random story about a random, spoiled teenager. It didn't offer any insight or backstory for me at all. The house was mentioned, the swan bed was mentioned but that was about it. The story didn't really wrap up either, it just ended. That makes me think this is just beginning of a new series. I am giving it 3 stars though, because it was a fast read and I was interested in the story. I don't think I would recommend it though unless you have an emotional attachment to the series and don't mind reading something that has nothing to do with that!

*I received an ARC of this book from Netgalley in exchange for my honest review. All opinions are my own*

I picked up my first book by V C Andrews when I was about 12. I believe it was one of the books in the "Landry" series. I was at my grandmother's house and I found it in her bedroom, and being from Louisiana, thought hey let's read this! Since then I've read just about all of the books that I could get my hands on. I will say that I stopped with probably the Orphans series, and haven't read too many since then. Looking back as an adult there's no way in hell I'd let my 12 year old read these, but hey... the early 2000s were a different time.

Anyway, on to Beneath the Attic. This is another book in the Dollanganger series (Flowers in the Attic, Petals on the Wind...etc). This particular book tells the story of the first Corrine, great grandmother to the kids left in the attic in the original story. In Andrews' books we never actually find out what happens to the first Corrine, just that she leaves her husband and her son to be with her lover. This betrayal is what spurns her son (Malcom) into being the God fearing woman hating character that he becomes later on in the series. At first I thought it would be interesting to find out what happened to Corrine, but while reading the book it was just a big cluster. First of all, in the series Garland is painted as a happy go lucky, friendly man; the opposite of his son. In this story however, it's almost as though he has a dark side, never mentioned in the original books, not to mention a weird fascination with his mother. (Isn't that a running theme in all of these books though?) I wasn't overly fond of the ending either, because it doesn't really tell us anything, just left a stupid cliffhanger that you can tell was only done so that the author can bank on another book. NOW FOR THE WORST PART. THE PART THAT SET MY INSIDES ON FIRE. My favorite book was mentioned in this one. Normally, I'd love a Gone With the Wind reference. However, THIS BOOK IS SET IN THE 1890s. GWTW wasn't published until 1936. So unless Corrine was a mind reader or time traveler, there's no way she would have known to compare herself to Scarlette O'Hara.

Side note, the publication date of GWTW was easily found in a Google search, which was clearly more research than the ghostwriter did before putting all of this together. Reading this honestly just made me want to not read any of them ever again, because it was disappointing.

I have seen the movies that were based on the books by this author but never have read the books. Sadly, that is horrible for a book reader like me. I believe some of her books to be classics. With that said. I did read the reviews because I noticed that someone had said this was written by a ghost writer. So me being nosy meant that I needed to do some research before I dived in.....well little ol' me learned that V.C. Andrews passed away in the 60's. Well, since I have never read her work I can't judge on well the ghost writer can or can not write in her name. The only thing I would say is not use her name that confuses people like me.

Any-who, on to the review.

I was actually really into the book from the beginning and I wondered about Corrine. She comes out as a person who is very comfortable in her skin and is not afraid to show that off. When she thinks she finds the one man who has swept her off her feet. Well things don't go as planned and we see that. I have to say I felt uncomfortable with the fact that he was older and she was under age but I guess back in the olden days that is how it was? Not sure on that. When the one scene happens in the room with the liquor I was not cool with that. I wanted to shake her and be like her tell him NO!!! Tell ya dad do something. Take the lashing and the rumors. But what he did was not cool! Now this book does take place in an older time period but it didn't always feel like that at times. Which was nice. I will say I felt bad for Corrine and the fact that she seemed to have no say in her wedding. She seems to have a voice on things but instead doesn't voice them with Garland. Maybe that is the way it was back in the day? I do feel like there was a lot of secrets within Foxworth Hall and I am curious as to what is Garland's fixation on his mother. Something sounds weird there. I may possibly look into the other books and see how they are.

I wish there had been more to this book. The story just ended without really having an ending. How did their marriage end up? Was his mother a ghost in their house? Did she end up going crazy or did she end up murdering him? The storyline was there - just needs to be completed.

From the opening chapter I felt I was in a VC Andrews book and having flashbacks to Flowers in the Attic. The author has never shied away from any topic. That said, in this day and age I felt uncomfortable with some scenes. I had to remind myself the time period the book was taking place. I felt the book synopsis told pretty much the whole story and did not leave much out. I was surprised how it ended as I felt I still did not have answers.

Just like being transported back to my high school years! VC Andrews never changes and doesn’t disappoint! The prequel to the famous novels that “started it all”, we finally get to see where Corinne gets her start and some backstory to the fox worth beginnings! Made me want to go back and read flowers in the Attic all over again!
Thanks for the advanced copy!

I love V.C. Andrews and the works that have been published under her name, but this was not enjoyable it was a struggle to finish.

Traditionally the books under V.C. Andrews banner have been a bit risqué for sure but this was awful, from the beginning Corrine was written in such an unlikable manner I could barely muster the interest to keep reading.

They've always been soapy and tragic, but still FUN this was not that. In fact I found myself disgusted for most of it.

I was shocked at how much trouble I had reading this, I had hoped for so much more but instead got a wildly poor imitation of a series I had once loved. Grateful for the ARC.

I received an ARC copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. One word--horrible. Could not get past 10 percent.

What a thrilling and suspenseful look into the twisted beginnings of one of the most intense series I have evert read. Just to really be able to get a look at the start of it all, it really makes you open your eyes and realize why the series went the way it did. Such a good read, full of twists and a trip into history.

I remember reading Flowers in the Attic and the other stories starting in Jr high. I was so intrigued by the story and wanted to understand the why of it all. Sadly this didn't really stand up to the quality of the original books or really provide any answers. I think the story should have just been left alone and not tried to explain it with a prequel...didn't help. Thank you NetGalley for an e-arc of this in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to NetGalley and V.C. Andrews for this ARC.

UGH. Why do they keep writing more Flowers in the Attic prequels? I wanted to like this book, as I love the Dollanganger series but this was just TERRIBLE. The writing was terrible, the story was terrible...this was just a terrible, terrible book.

Please stop writing Dollanganger prequel stories. These are tarnishing the greatness of the original five novels.

I was a huge fan of the original Dollanganger series, but I'm not a fan of the books that were published after V. C. Andrews' death in the late eighties. Flowers in the Attic and Petals on the Wind are two of the foundational books of my adolescence. I was disheartened when the ghostwriter, Andrew Neiderman, published some additional, and very unnecessary, books in the series a couple of years ago. Those books told the story of Flowers in the Attic from Christopher Dollanganger's point of view, and in my opinion, they were completely unnecessary. Neiderman has never been able to capture the tone of the original V. C. Andrews. His books are mashup of the various plots that VCA created in the seven novels she published during her lifetime, but Neiderman's books just don't have the same effect as her books did. While the original V. C. Andrews was not a great novelist, she WAS a fantastic storyteller. She had a unique gothic style that made it impossible to stop reading. She somehow captured the angsty voice of her teenage heroines and never talked down to her audience. But Neiderman's characters are mere shadows of the original characters. Almost all the books he has written (which is about 90% of the VCA oeuvre) have bored me to death. Every paragraph is full of cliches and melodramatic metaphors that make me roll my eyes.

And yet ... I didn't hate this book as much as I expected to. It doesn't have the same shock value that the original Dollanganger books had, but it wasn't as boring as many of the other VCA books written since the late eighties, when Neiderman took over the VCA franchise. This book tells the story of Catherine and Christopher's great-grandmother, the original Corrine, mother of their "grandfather" Malcolm Foxworth. Anyone who has read the remarkable third book in the Dollanganger saga, If There Be Thorns, will remember the references Malcolm made to his mother in his secret diary: Corrine abandoned Malcolm as a young child and lay the groundwork for the monster he became later in his life. This book tells the story of how Corrine met Garland and came to live in Foxworth Hall, and I'm sure the story will continue in yet another installment in the coming months.

I'm not completely against ghostwriters taking over the reigns of dead authors. I just wish Virginia's family had chosen a writer who could more closely match her voice. It's beyond frustrating that the publishers are churning out these novels to capitalize on the original V. C. Andrews name, and they have allowed the books to become a ghost (pun intended) of what they used to be. Surely there's someone more qualified?

As much as it annoys me that there will be more books in this series, I'm just as annoyed at myself for continuing to read them.

This book is the prequel to Garden of Shadows which is the prequel to the well-known saga Flowers In the Attic. In this story, we learn the back-story of Malcolm's mother, Corrine Dixon. She was the spoiled daughter of a wealthy bank manager. She met Garland Foxworth at a gala and was immediately infatuated despite the gap in their ages. I would love to tell you more, but I don't want to spoil anything for you.
This book was illuminating. I really enjoyed getting the back-story but wish it had gone further into the future and showed Corrine as a mother and when Malcolm's obsession with her began. If you are a fan of this series, you do not want to pass this book by.

I really enjoyed this book. I was a bit fan of V.C Andrews & the "Flowers in the Attic" series, so I had to read this one. I couldn't wait to read more about the Dollanger family.
It was just as I hoped it would be; answering so many questions I had about Corrine.
Well written, intriguing, a must read for anyone who was/is a fan of "Flowers in the Attic" books.