This week for the Fiction Friday feature, I am reviewing the gothic horror novel, Heaven by V.C. Andrews. This book was originally published in October 1985 by Simon & Schuster with a page count of 440 pages. This is the first novel in the Casteel series. The audiobook is 14 hours & 20 minutes and read by Candace Thaxton. The following overview is provided from Barnes & Noble: Of all the folks on the mountain, the Casteel children are the lowest. Even the families that buy them think so. Heaven Leigh Casteel may be the prettiest, smartest girl in the backwoods, but her cruel father and stepmother work her like a mule. For the sake of her brother Tom and the other little ones, Heaven clings to the hope that someday she can show the world that they are worthy of love and respect. But when the children’s stepmother can’t take it anymore and abandons the family, Heaven’s father hatches a scheme that will alter her young life forever. Being sold to a strange couple is just the beginning; ripping away the thin veneer of civilization and learning the adult secrets of the world around her means Heaven must abandon someone, too—the child she was, to become the woman her mother never had the chance to be.
This book has some intrigue that makes me want to read the next in the series. However, it is not of the same caliber as Flowers in the Attic. Flowers in the Attic caught my attention quickly and made me want to uncover everyone’s secrets. Heaven is a long book laying the groundwork for the rest of the series. But it lacks in making me want to devour all the novels rapidly. I could easily toss this series aside if I found another series that caught my attention faster.
SPOILER WARNING – DO NOT READ ANY FURTHER IF YOU DON’T WANT PLOT SPOILERS.
The moment I knew I wanted to read more was when Heaven’s dad visited Kitty in the hospital and left a note for her. I get that in the time period that this story was set, it was not unheard of for extreme people to sell their children to give them a better life. I want to know what about this new wife of his made him want to get the family back together. I need to know more about his motivations for his actions. I have so many questions that revolve around him. I did not care about Heaven’s new family because I knew it was not going to be an amazing experience (I’m a bit jaded by my own adoption experience). I cannot fathom selling my children and then leaving a note for them later that they can come home because my new wife insists on it. I mean back when I was adopted, your only option was closed. That meant that when you gave your child over you never would see them again. Well, unless the child grew up and was clever or paid for a private investigation to track down their birth family. I could not imagine being raised with my siblings for X amount of years, being placed with a new family, and the X amount of time later my biological parent comes back and saying let’s be a family again. Talk about a fucked-up situation.
SPOILER FREE ZONE AVAILABLE HERE
I have mixed feelings about recommending this book. For me, I would have to read the rest of the series to determine if the first novel is worth the payout. The Dollanganger series had one book it that I did not like, but other than that loved the series. I will have to wait until the next novel to let you know if I recommend this one.
I give this novel 3 out of 5 stars.
Sunday for the Spotcast Sunday feature, I am reviewing the true-crime podcast, True Crime Story Time. Next week for the Fiction Friday feature, I am reviewing the biography, Stay Sexy & Don’t Get Murdered by Karen Kilgariff & Georgia Hardstark. Until then keep reading on; Nerd out!
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