I have to say, I am so glad that I read the last novel in the series first. There was nothing in the last novel "Eye of the Storm" that said there were two previous novels. Throughout the novel, I saw areas that really should have been developed on. As I mentioned in my "Eye of the Storm" novel, I only found out halfway through the book, that the main character is African-American. This shouldn't be a big deal in real life, but in the novel, she's forced to live with an Aristocratic family. I never could understand why they hated her so much, until half way through, when I realized the family was prejudiced. One other reason I'm glad that I read the last novel first: I get incredibly involved with the books, especially series, that I read. I would have been horribly upset that V.C. Andrews (or underwriter) spend so much time developing Rain, just for her to become parazlyed in a wheelchair.
Okay, this is the first novel in the "Rain" series. Rain lives in "the Projects" in Washington D.C. I can't figure out Rain's character in this novel. At sometimes, we're supposed to believe she's the most polite person. Then suddenly, she's acting almost like a spoiled brat. (Even more so in the middle novel, which I will surely write a review about!) She's also not very bright. I don't think this writer has spent a single day on the streets of ANY major city. Rain's sister, Beni, was drugged at a party by gang members, probably raped (they never say) and taken pictures of while passed out. Beni is black mailed for the photos. Rain pawns a bunch of her stuff for the money, and they go to a deserted warehouse to buy the negatives back from the gang members. How safe is that? On top of it all, Rain starts to get mouthy. She's supposed to be so smart, top of her class, etc. I think this idea and senerio could have been better developed. (Of course, her sister is killed in the warehouse, and Rain runs.)
Since I've been reading a lot of these new V.C. Andrews series lately, I want to say yet another thing about the person writing them. V.C. Andrews is dead. There is an underwriter (or whatever they are called) that was hired by the family to produce books from Ms. Andrews notes that were found. This author seems to think odd is now the thing. My least favorite quote of the book: "The moment I woke the next morning, it felt like my stomache had been turned into a popcorn maker." Since this stuck in my mind, I have thought about it several times. While reading other novels, I've notice basically the exact same quote, in reference to the popcorn maker in her stomache. What is that? Did this actually happen to her (possibly him, I guess.) and she now needs to tell the world? There are other references to the same things, in different books. For instance, in the Orphan series, Pipe Line Dream is mentioned several times. Again in this series, it's mentioned. I don't like reading books where things don't flow smoothly.
So, do I recommend the book? I feel so sorry for V.C. Andrews. She had such incredible ideas. And that's the reason why I still read the books. The ideas and plots are so good. I feel bad that the fillers and the writing is so bad. If you can get through books without constantly picking things apart, then read the book/series. If not, pass this series up.
Rain begins the Hudson series, the first full-length V.C. Andrews series since Logan in 1998. After her sister is killed in a gang-related murder, Rai...More at Buy.com Marketplaces
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