| Title | : | Dark Angel (Casteel, #2) |
| Author | : | |
| Rating | : | |
| ISBN | : | - |
| Language | : | English |
| Format Type | : | Paperback |
| Number of Pages | : | 443 |
| Publication | : | First published January 1, 1986 |
In her grandmother's fine, rich Boston house, Heaven Leigh Casteel dreamed of a wonderful new life of new friends, the best schools, beautiful clothes and most important, love. The pearls of culture, wisdom and breeding would now be hers. Soon she would make the Casteel name respectable, find her brothers and sisters, and have a family again.
But even in the world of the wealthy, there were strange forebodings, secrets best forgotten. And as Heaven reached out for love, she was slowly ensnared in a sinister web of cruel deceits and hidden passions!
Dark Angel (Casteel, #2) Reviews
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Possibly the book I have read the most in my life. Troy, the man I hold all men up to, hence my horrible track record. Sigh... I love me a tragic hottie!
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Nobody ever accused me of having good taste in books, and I think that my enjoyment of classic V.C. Andrews virtually proves that. These books are like potato chips, in that you can't stop at just one. More often than not, they end on a cliffhanger, so you have to dive right into the next one. HEAVEN sets the stage for the series by introducing us to the super-poor Casteel family who live in a shack by the mountains, are basically trailer trash (except they live in a shack, so shack trash), and cursed with tragic beauty. :tear:
By the end of the book, Heaven's siblings have been auctioned off like cattle, she's been groomed by a predatory hebephile, and rejected by the man she thought she loved. If you think things couldn't possibly get any worse from there, pull on your big girl pants (or big boy pants) and take a seat, because they sure do. Heaven's new guardians are the parents of her birth mother and rich but flawed: Jillian is narcissistic and vapid, Tony is controlling and creepy. The only new "relative" she likes is her step-uncle, Troy, who lounges around in his cottage wearing puffy shirts.
This book was basically an exercise in reminding me why I hate all these characters. Fanny is terrible. Our Jane and Keith are terrible. Heaven's father is terrible. The pastor and his wife are terrible. Jillian and Troy are terrible. Logan is terrible (I knew it, though-- you can't trust boys). The girls at Heaven's boarding school are terrible, although there's this truly epic revenge prank involving a garment bag filled with diarrhea that was especially satisfying. I actually liked the ending, when Heaven goes a little crazy and dyes her hair to look like her dead mum's and wearing her mum's old dress, although I felt like what she did with that was a bit anticlimactic. I would have loved for her to dress up like the ghost of her dead mom and then fuck with Tony, who is a Certified Sick Fuck™.
Do I recommend this series? HECK YES. It's got tons of characters who are fun to despise, lots of over the top drama, and enough cheese to give Wisconsin a run for their Cheese Money™. I loved the FLOWERS IN THE ATTIC vibes this book gave me-- it all felt so claustrophobic and desperate, with enough atmosphere to drown in. Man, nobody can write doom like V.C. Andrews.
3.5 stars -
The second book in the ‘Casteel’ series by Virginia Andrews, still as gloriously stunning, romantic and tragic, as when I first read it, many many years ago. If only real life could be this old fashioned again!!
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This is one of the most romantic stories I have ever read. the character of Troy keeps me coming back to this book again and again. I love the characters, I love the setting, I just really love this book. Best in the series.
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Dark Angel, book 2 of V. C. Andrews' Casteel series is a so-so gothic soap opera book with Ms. Andrews' usual settings: a beautiful poor girl with a questionable parentage, the girl moves to her rich grandparents' mansion, handsome love interests, love triangle, wicked older woman (), seemingly friendly older man who may have ominous intention toward the heroine (), jealous sister/stepsister, kinship which is twisted and corrupted by money, mention of rape, attempted rape......and last but not least, . If you were familiar with Ms. Andrews' stuffs, you will know how these all go.
At first, I can still relate to the heroine Heaven Casteel (that's her name, no kidding), her determination to be educated as finely as she can and her struggle to find acceptance in the high society her grandparents and her schoolmates reside. And don't forget Heaven's desperate attempt at finding acceptance and love happens after being terribly betrayed by her father and years of poverty. Therefore, I can understand where she came from, I can also be understandable to some of her choices.
The love triangle is doing okay as well...although it looks very cliched for Heaven to go back and froth between her old fame Logan and the a-bit-too-good-to-be-true Troy, still I find her relationship with Troy to be quite tricky so I won't complain too much about the romance in the book.
However, after the book reaches the middle point, I get increasingly annoyed by Heaven and how the story goes. I mean, the girl agreed to forsake her hillbilly family in order to be accepted into her grandparents' house! So would she just....own up to her own choice instead of going on and on about how much she misses the family she left behind? You can't have the best of both worlds, for goodness' sake.
Also, how unrealistic can she get when she tries to pawn her younger siblings and niece away from their adoptive families? I know, it's unfair for her father to sell those children for money, but taking them away from their adoptive parents years later...that really isn't how thing should be done!
Plus the ending.............I can only say it truly brings soap opera to a whole freaking new level. I mean...
All those melodramas wear me out, so in the end, it's only a 3.5 stars read. The extra 0.5 star is added for the shock value and Ms. Andrews' amazing ability to get me hooked with her soap operas, no matter what.
PS: I noticed that the first two books of the Casteel series are unofficially listed as one of the last books wrote by Ms. Andrews herself, not her ghostwriters. -
****SPOILERS, YA'LL****
Sweet baby Jesus, Heaven Leigh Casteel... you cannot catch a break, can you, girl?!? I first read Dark Angel in the early 1990s (when I was a teenager). Loved it then, and hot damn, I loved it again last night when I finished it pretty much in one sitting.
You know who was sort of a douche in this book? Everyone. Yup, everyone. Even Heaven. It wouldn't be a VC Andrews book unless something bad/wrong/terrible happened every page. Sometimes twice a page. Even after Heaven lands in Boston and her grandmother, Jillian, and step-grandfather, Tony, pick her up, it all starts wrong. She lies about her age, about how her dead mother met her Pa/Daddy (Heaven calls him both through-out the book), and lies that Leigh (Heaven's mom) only recently died... and not giving birth to her.
Let's state right from the start that "Aunt" Jillian (not Grandmother... can't have her feeling old and heaven forbid others find out that Leigh had a child) and step-grandfather Tony are flat-out crazy. They live in this old mansion. I'm told this. It's sort of described, but I swear, Heaven Leigh Casteel, after living there for, what, two years, I think she only ever visited her bedroom, the kitchen, the dining room, Jillian's room, and Troy's cottage. I'll get to our wounded hero, Troy in a minute. If I lived in a mansion, I'd sleep in a different room every night. After the life that Heaven lived before arriving Boston (minus the two years with the bi-polar Kitty and lame-noddle Cal Dennison in Atlanta...oh, just go read Heaven first!), I thought she'd invite every homeless person in the city to come over, eat a hot meal, and maybe take a frickin' shower or something.
What does she do? She's told she cannot visit Troy. So she immediately sets out to meet him. Strange that weather in Boston in how she cannot find a HUGE FRICKIN' MANSION when the fog sets in, but she can find Troy's cottage.
Who is Troy? He's Tony's younger brother. He's 23. He smolders when Heaven barges into his life on that cold, rainy, foggy night as he works on toys. Not just regular old toys, tiny toys. Collectable toys. Is he a genius? Is he demented? Is he tormented? Maybe, but is he hot? Yup, so all other things about him don't matter. And Heaven isn't supposed to see him, look at him, acknowledge that he exists, etc., yet every day she ends up in his cottage, even after Tony verbally forbids it.
Everything thinks she's 16... and Troy is 23. Nope. No problem at all, friends. By VC Andrews standards, Heaven, at 17 (or was it 18) is already too old. Give me another 14 year old girl pronto, please!!!
Oh, I forgot to add that in order for Heaven to even live at Farthy, she must abide by his rules 100% of the time. This includes things like she cannot 1) See Troy 2) Talk to any of her hillbilly family 3) Date any boy until Tony investigates their family 4) call Jillian "Grandmother". Tony also has all control over the high school she attends, and then which college she attends. If she obeys him, he will pay for everything, and then when she graduates, she can do as she pleases.
Heaven just ain't good at following one damn rule. Not that I blame her, of course. Other than not calling Jillian "Grandmother" she disregards everything else. Heaven's goal is to get an education, yet her education is at risk if she goes against Tony. Even her brother, Tom, urges her to "forget about them". Hell, I'm agreeing with Tom. However, Heaven does receive her education. I'm told about this. I don't actually remember reading anything about her studying or taking tests. Though, there was a touching scene at her high school graduation.
I also want to point out that there are just too many "T" names in this book. Tony (step-grandfather); Troy (love interest); Tom (half-brother); Toby (Pa's father). At times I had to re-read a passage because I thought Heaven and Tony were talking, only to realize it was Heaven and TROY. Oh... now that love scene makes more sense. (just kidding) In fact, I liked Troy a lot. I liked his mysteriousness. I liked his slow burning melodrama. I'm pretty sure I had a big crush on Troy back in the day, which is why when boys didn't talk to me all through high school, I was confident that they all secretly were in love with me, but were afraid to show it. I'm sure you all can relate, right? :)
Fanny... oh girl, just f*ck off already. Heaven is a wimp when it comes to Fanny. She knows she isn't a good sister, nor is she true to her word (hint, Heaven, you ain't doing so hot in the truth department these days, either), but Fanny is a product of her upbringing. In a way, Fanny reminds me of Kitty. Which, of course, isn't a good comparison.
Dark Angel sees that Heaven, after graduating high school, visits all of her family, to include wanting to bring back Our Jane and Keith. She sets off to find them, and then torments them into thinking she's going to bring them back to the shack up in the Willies. Stupid x 100000. Our Jane and Keith are happy, healthy, and living in a wonderful adoptive home. Heaven, you're so selfish! Leave those babies alone. Thankfully, she leaves.
She's off to see Fanny in Nashville. Fanny wants her to buy back her baby that she sold to the Reverend and his wife back in Winnerrow. Seriously? The fact that Heaven AGREED to this scheme blew my brains out onto my kindle. Gawd... just impale yourself on a butter knife. Once back in Willerrow, Heaven sees Logan again. Maybe he's a slut. Maybe not. Heaven, girl, you're engaged to Troy. There's a nine-caret diamond on your finger. Who cares who Logan dates?
Tragedy strikes when Troy dies (I haven't read the third book, but I've read enough reviews to know that he ain't dead, ya'll). Heaven finishes her college education. She's gonna be the next Marianne Deal. Whatever happened to that woman? She just up and left when Heaven needed her most in Book 1. Don't tell me, she comes back in book 5? She's a long-lost Aunt? Leigh really isn't dead--she wasn't Marianne Deal all along? Just messing with ya. But I wouldn't be surprised.
I think four years go by in Dark Angel. Heaven's last plan is to exact her revenge on Pa. She gets it, but it backfires in a big way. Way to go, Heaven! I hope you're happy with yourself.
If after reading all of the above you think that I hated this book... you are way wrong. I loved it. Loved every frickin word of it. Now I'm off to read Flowers in the Attic. I'm on a VC Andrews binge. -
At 4.5/5 stars, Dark Angel serves as an excellent follow-up to 'Heaven' and is a good chronicle of Heaven's further adventures. I am just sad that Kitty destroyed Leigh's doll in the previous book, but Heaven should have confronted Tony about it, it wouldn't have hurt to press the issue (especially after the revelation about Leigh near the end of this book) More of the doll's origins are revealed in the fifth Casteel book, 'Web of Dreams', but it still would have helped this story to see Heaven ask Tony about the doll and seeing how he reacted to it. It is possible that VCA did intend to cover this in the next book, Fallen Hearts, but she passed away before she could finish 'Fallen Hearts'.
Heaven's idea to screw around with Luke's mind was a great idea. After the mistreatment he gave her, he deserved it though I felt bad about what happened to Tom. Tony's revelations about Leigh are shocking, but I got the feeling that Tony was painting himself to be a... well, not a victim, per se, but he did try to paint himself in a way that tried to shrug/shake off the blame of a grown-ass man having sex with a young teenage girl. It seemed like VCA was going to explore that in the next book and reveal more about Tony, ala how If There Be Thorns revealed more about Malcolm, but breast cancer is a real bitch.
Overall a decent continuation of Heaven Casteel's story, it's a real shame VCA died before she could finish this series. -
I will shamelessly always adore this book. Troy was my teen-aged self's ideal man. It oozed romance, intrigue, and drama that sucked me in then and continues to bring me back. Tony, Jillian, The Casteel family, even Rye Whiskey and Curtis all hold a special place in my heart.
Novels that were truly written by Ms. Andrews were Flowers in the Attic, Petals on the Wind, If There Be Thorns, Seeds of Yesterday, My Sweet Audrina, Heaven, and Dark Angel. When Virginia became seriously ill while writing the Casteel series, she began to work even harder, hoping to finish as many stories as possible so that her fans could one day share them. Since her death many have wondered whether there would continue to be new V.C. Andrews novels. Beginning with the final books in the Casteel series they worked closely with a carefully selected writer to organize and complete Virginia's stories and to expand upon them. The identity of this writer was kept a secret from the general public at the request of the Andrews family for years. The ghostwriter has since been identified as thriller and horror novelist Andrew Niederman.
The novels that may have been begun by Andrews and finished by Neiderman were Garden of Shadows, Fallen Hearts, Gates of Paradise, and Web of Dreams. Everything after Dawn was written by Neiderman. -
SPOILER WARNING!!! Although there are no spoilers for this book. There may be spoilers in this review for those who haven't read the first book. So if you haven't already read the first book of the series then you may not want to read my review.
I try to express only my most honest opinion in a spoiler free way. If you feel anything in my review is a spoiler and is not already hidden in spoiler brackets please let me know. Thank you.Heaven has made it to her grandparents. The mother and step-father of her mother. But it isn't everything she hoped it would be. Jillian self-centered and Tony is controlling, but she does find a friend in Tony's younger brother Troy. While a bit stand-offish. They eventually develope a close friendship and Heaven soon finds herself having strong feeling for him. Meanwhile she is experience what it is like to be rich. While she can have anything money can buy. She isn't accepted into her new school. And she wants to do well there as she continues toward her dream of being a teacher just like her idol and reuniting her family.
The problem that I find with V.C. Andrew books is that you know things are going to go wrong. Just when things in there life seem to be improving or going perfectly, you know that some huge tragedy is coming. This book is no different. There is a lot of drama and suspense in the book which make so entertaining. However, as an adult, I see how petty the main character is in a way I couldn't see as a young adult. And she can be very petty and immature. There were some definite shocks and plot twists in the book. All in all a good series so far.
How I choose my rating:
1* Did not finish, or hated it but forced myself to finish.
2** Didn't really like it. Didn't hate it but not sure why I finished it other then for some closure.
3*** I liked it. I had some issues with it, but as a whole it was good. I probably won't reread again ever, but there is a chance I might finish the series. (If part of one) But if not it's not a huge loss.
4**** I really liked this book. Maybe not a work of genius, but highly entertaining. I might reread this again, and I will finish the series. (If part of one) I would recommend to those I know hold interest in this books content.
5***** I loved this book. I found little to no issues with it at all. I will definitely be rereading this and probably more than once. I will finish the series and reread it multiple times. (If part of one) I will recommend this book to EVERYONE!!!! -
I read this book thirty years ago when I was 13. I love loved it. Not as much now. But that's ok it just made me wonder how I interpreted some of these situations so young, and why was I reading smut.
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Yes, that's right, this book deserves an "it was amazing" ranking. In the short span of 30 pages, the following two things happen:
(1) Heaven Leigh Casteel approaches her step-grandfather/actual father on their manor Farthinggale's beach and he tells her how Troy, Heaven's depressed lover/uncle(!) took off on Abdulla Bar, an unridable stallion, rode round and round through a large English-style maze, confusing the horse, which then ran to the beach and into the water, drowning Troy.
(2) Heaven Leigh Casteel, her hair now dyed blond and wearing an ancient dress of her mother's so she is now her spitting image, goes back to her hometown in the mountains of West Virginia to attend her pa's circus, which happens to be traveling though Winnerow. She intends to shock the locals but especially her mean-spirited pa, but instead, she confuses him while he is helping with the lions, which go out of control, leading her brother Tom, wearing a clown's outfit complete with red wig, to courageously go into the lion's cage with a gun, and though he saves others, he is mauled to death.
See? Amazing, right?
Also, there's this:
"All right!" Tony yelled, abruptly out of patience, jumping up and seizing my arm and whipping me about so I saw his usually pleasant and handsome face turned monstrous with anger. "Go back to Troy! Go on! Destroy him! And when you're done with him, run to Jill and destroy her! And when you've finished off everyone in Farthy, run to your father and ruin his life! Ruin Tom's and Fanny's, and don't leave out Our Jane and Keith! You want revenge, Heaven Leigh Casteel! I see it in your eyes, those incredible blue eyes that speak of a devil inside more than they speak of an angel!"
HAHAHAHAHAHA. You were an amazing writer, V.C. Andrews. And, no, I'm not being sarcastic. -
Pretty darn trashy. I read it when I was very young though, so I loved it. Troy and Heaven were awesome, even with the weird incest twist and dramatics. Still, it made my pre-teen heart flutter.
I was a weird child, but it wasn't that unusual -- there were a lot of us under-aged V.C. Andrews readers back in the day. -
This book took me over a month to finish because it was so terrible.
There were multiple instances when the main characters would do things that made absolutely NO sense, and I would read these passages thinking, "WTF? Who would do that?" only to later realize that the previous passage was contrived in order to make some "shocking" event possible in the future.
Spoiler alert- it's a bad book, but I still don't want to ruin it for those devoted VCA fans.
Example: the incident with the "bag of filth." Who on earth would dispose of a "bag of filth" down a laundry chute? It made ZERO sense, especially for one who was supposedly so resourceful as Heaven. But then later the reader discovers that she had to get rid of it in that way so that the mean girl can land in it after that lame initiation thing.
And the whole Troy has a devastating dark secret side that turns out to be... pause for dramatic effect... depression. Please. And did anyone else realize that he was completely healthy for the ENTIRE book until suddenly his "secret" is revealed and he's ready to join the land of the happy- then... omg! He sleeps with his window open for one night during a storm and is instantly seconds away from death. Lame.
Also, a little FYI- horses are smart. They don't go galloping into the f*ing ocean in a fit of hysteria. This passage was so RETARDED that I was laughing and read it aloud to my husband so he could share the forced melodrama with me. -
I thought it couldn't get any darker than Heaven but boy is this one a bleak fest. Most books have maybe one or two major conflicts but the poor, beautiful girl from the hills who already came out of unimaginable abuse and neglect from her childhood gets hit with an avalanche of like 50. It's hard to go into the nitty gritty of just how awful the turnout is on even the most promising relationships from the first book without spoiling anything, but just trust me when I say that this book is so sad and downward spiraling that I actually laughed in disbelief multiple times when I wasn't crying. I'm theorizing that V.C. Andrews wrote this last work (before the ghostwriter) in the darkest phase of her processing her oncoming death through debilitating illness, because sickness, premature death, and star crossed misfortune make their way into this one even more than the first. There's also an almost self destructive clearing out of characters she clearly put a lot of love and heart into in the first book, such as the case of Tom.
I still wanted a perfect happily ever after to re-compensate Heaven for all the bullshit she endures, but it ended with a hint of promise through the disillusionment that felt consistent for the tragic tone I guess. I read the first page of the next book's prologue, Fallen Hearts, and already I can tell it is way off base with character development as it opens with a letter from Heaven to her "pa" begging his forgiveness and for him to walk her down the aisle in her marriage to Logan. What. the. fuck. If nothing else gets through about Heaven's mindset from the first two Casteel books, you at least know full well that she hates Luke. At best, her feelings are complicated after his getting mauled, but there's no way she would be like "let's put the past where you sold me to your abusive, psychotic ex-girlfriend for $500 behind us and be close". Rant over- I just don't know if it's worth carrying on the series when the third book is so immediately off base.
Anywho, beware all thee who pick up Dark Angel - this sequel ain't fucking around! -
One of the better VCA novels.
Heaven was kinda bitchy in this one, but overall I like her. I can forgive the knee-jerk reactions to posh millions vs impoverished memories; for much of the book she's only 17ish, & that's not the most brainy time of our existence. Her final scheme o' revenge with the dyed hair & her mom's dress, though...wtf. That made no sense.
Plenty of WTFery abounds -- boarding school shenanigans (lolz, the laundry chute), backstabby incest-laden family trees, toy companies, dolls, insanity, circuses, hedge mazes, old boyfriends returning at awkward moments, menacing preachers, etc. All the goodies you'd expect from VC's bag of tricks. :D Even Cal makes a cameo. And he CRIES, natch. Bwahahaha. Stupid mimbo Cal. 😈 He makes artsy-tragic toymaker Troy look like Captain America.
Anyway... 😶
It was fun. It entertained me. The writing was clunky at times, but not awful. Therefore: the VCA/Dan Ross Special Needs Rating Scale dictates 4 stars. -
The Heaven series is definitely my favorite from VC Andrews.
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I was about 13 years old when I first read this book. I read this book in one day and I fell in love with the character Troy.
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“It’s not that I’m afraid to die, it’s only the road to death that terrifies me, for sometimes it can be so drawn out.”
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This book gave me a bit of a reading slump unfortunately.
It was still a good read, the plottwist was good even though it’s a typical VCA one. The deaths in this book were done poorly though. The first one was very weak and the last two were literally in the last 5 pages. They didn’t leave an impact at all bc they were brushed over so fast. -
A good addition the the series but Heaven did start to annoy me in this one.
The way she gets involved in Fanny's drama, always trying to force her ideas onto Tom. Wanting to take Keith and Our Jane away from a home they clearly love. She feels like she is the only one who cares about her family. Then finds out she's not related to them at all.
Ah hello incest, I was waiting for you to rear your ugly head. I remember she did sleep with her uncle but when I started reading, I thought 'oh just an uncle by marriage' But no, spoiler alert....full on blood uncle. Gross. They sleep with each other one last time to say goodbye....sweet.....*look to the left*.
Also she was horrified Tony raped Leigh at 13 and that is awful. But she was brought up in the Willies, where girls were married off at that age and then were left to be used and abused for their husband's pleasure. I wouldn't have thought Heaven would have been so shocked by this as I would have thought to her, it would have been a fact of life. She half seems to forgive him anyways. Which again is odd since she acts so outraged at first.
But the main thing that annoyed me about Heaven was what happened in the end. She's upset about Fanny wanting revenge on everyone but then tries to get her own revenge on Pa and poor Tom winds up getting killed in the process. She literally learned nothing the entire book.
Also the scene at the school with the laundry shoot, I had convinced myself that was in one of the 'Ruby' books and thought I had imaged the whole thing. Found it in this one! Just goes to show how similar these books are.
Don't get me wrong, I loved this book. Read if for about three hours straight last night and it is packed with family drama. Can't wait to start the next one. -
Despite the fact I did enjoy reading this book, I consider it my least favorite of V.C's books. This was written by VCA herself and I felt she could of done so much better. The first book, Heaven, was amazing but Dark Angel wasn't nearly as good or satisfying. Everything here felt rushed, Troy was way too angsty for my taste and the circus thing seemed completely random. With all that said, it's still a good book just lacking V.C just wasn't at her best with this one in my opinion.
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Plot:
This is a re-read for me. I've read this book several times, mostly in high school and college. I was obsessed with V.C. Andrews, her books, and her characters. I decided I missed reading her books and decided I would re-read this series again.
I'm pretty sure that this is not only my favorite of the VCA books, but my favorite book of all time.
Things finally start looking up for Heaven Leigh Casteel, who has had one hell of a tragic life so far. Sadly things do not always go to plan but for the most part, she is at least physically better off. Emotionally, not so much. While I almost love Heaven as much as this one, it's hard to compete since this one has a rich boarding school filled with mean girls, more mystery concerning her mother's past, and of course, the introduction of Troy Tatterton, the hedge maze, and his adorable cottage
For a hilarious, spoiler filled recap, I highly recommend going here:
http://casteelkidsstolemygroceries.tu...
Setting:
This book is mostly set in Boston, at a huge gothic mansion called Farthinggale Manor, though there is also a hedge maze, Troy's cottage, stables, and an old barn near it. Some of the book also occurs at Winterhaven, a rich boarding school full of ice and mean girls, as well as Nashville and Atlanta. Heaven also returns to Winnerow, West Virginia, from the first book.
Characters:
Heaven is still my favorite and maybe becomes even more so in this book. She is still vulnerable from all of the abuse and neglect she has had to endure but she is also intelligent and less willing to take shit from those who seek to control her or do her harm. Even when she agrees to her controlling step-grandfather, she is still secretly doing things behind his back.
I do hate how she continues to occasionally hold Logan Stonewall on a pedestal, though. I used to prefer Logan, but now I think it's because I was so connected to Heaven that I didn't see how much of a bastard he really is. Still, she really grows as a character in this one. It's just a shame that VCA was not able to continue on in life for the next book, when Heaven's character isn't quite as wonderful.
New characters are introduced, such as Tony Tatterton, Heaven's step grandfather, though he's actually her real dad, which just fucks everything up! He seems decent enough at first but he is actually a very controlling and somewhat scary man. While he does seem genuinely saddened about Leigh's fate, he also does a lot of victim blaming when the fact is that HE raped a thirteen-year-old-girl! But anyway. Tony Tatterton actually is a lot like Cal Dennison, except Tony actually has a backbone.
Heaven's grandmother, Jillian, is also introduced even though she doesn't like titles and doesn't want anyone to know she is a grandmother. Jillian is super shallow and more than likely a narcissist. I didn't care much for her when I was younger but now I find her to be a very interesting character, even though she might be even worse than Tony when it comes to Leigh. Not supporting or believing your daughter when she's been abused is probably the worst.
Then of course there is Troy Tatterton. I have always loved him, even though when I was younger I also liked Logan (I connected way too hard with Heaven on that regard, obviously!). He is exactly what Heaven needs. A kind, caring man who actually helps and supports her without the interior motive of getting into her skirt. Sadly Troy suffers from pretty bad depression, which puts a kink in their developing relationship. Add in Jillian revealing to him that he and Heaven are related and everything is ruined. Though honestly, I still rooted for them. They are just that good together. Anyway, Troy is wonderful, though he is definitely melodramatic (what to you expect living with Tony Tatterton though?). He is too sensitive for this world so of course he dies. Though the way it is portrayed is so odd (no funeral for Heaven to attend?) that what happens in the next book definitely makes more sense. Some people believe VCA meant to kill him off but I did not get that feeling at all.
And while I'm not going to go too much into side characters, I did enjoy them. Rye Whiskey seemed nice though he could have used more fleshing out, considering there are so few POC in VCA's books (though I assume that is a product of her time and location more than anything). And while I didn't particularly care for any of the witches from Winterhaven, I still really did enjoy the bitchiness in general and Heaven's standing up to them. Especially in regards to Pru.
I liked that Heaven's "hillbilly" family was still included in this book. It was nice to see all of them again, even though I kind of wanted to shake Tom and his "Logan Stonewall is supreme" BS. It was incredibly sad when he died. He and Heaven had a great relationship and even though they had been apart from one another for a while, their scenes didn't feel much different from when they were growing up together.
I found Fanny to be fascinating, in a train wreck sort of way. And while she is super spoiled and mean, I still feel bad for her and find her to be a strong character despite it all.
Grandpa seems to be doing a lot better since the last book. Keith and Our Jane are even less interesting than in the last book but some of their scenes with Heaven did bring tears to my eyes. Still not a fan of Luke Casteel. Sorry not sorry. Stacie and Drake seemed nice enough though.
Then of course there is Logan Stonewall, who somehow becomes even worse. He is a total dick to Heaven in the beginning and later on acts like a jealous lover even though he wouldn't give her the time of day when he could. I used to find his character to be really romantic, but I was obviously incredibly naive. He still has this Madonna whore complex yet expects Heaven to just submit to him when he does small acts of kindness. I cringed at how he becomes the final love interest when poor Troy Tatteron dies. Ick.
Relationships:
Of course, my favorite is Heaven and Troy. Their relationship starts off with sexual attraction but they are friends before they actually become lovers. I love that Heaven finds she can confide into Troy so easily and that he listens without judgment. He even thinks Logan Stonewall will realize he is being an idiot, which shows just how good of a person Troy is. I liked that they took care of one another in different points of their relationship. They were there for one another. He even got Tatterton Toy employees to come to Heaven's graduation when Tony and Jillian were out of town.
They have conflict, but it's the kind that is really hot to witness. And when they finally get together, it's just perfect! Which is why me and most HeavenxTroy shippers don't even care that they are related. I couldn't get on board with Chris and Cathy but these two, absolutely. Stupid Tony Tatterton.
Heaven's relationship with Tom and Fanny was more or less the same and while I wasn't the biggest fans of Keith and Our Jane, I did find their actions toward seeing Heaven again to be interesting and also sad (but kind of realistic, really). Them reuniting much later on (Thanks again to the lovely Troy) did leave tears in my eyes, though. I did find it admirable that Heaven felt so strongly about family that she was willing to try and get Darcy back for Fanny despite knowing what kind of mother she would more than likely make. I really wished that Heaven would have made things more difficult for the Wises because that situation was really messed up, not to mention illegal.
Poor Heaven still has a lot of issues with her "father" Luke Casteel, even after she discovers Tony is her real dad. Even though she has to really come to grips with that, she still seems to need Luke Casteel's love and acknowledgement so bad. He really did a number on her. I did like that Heaven seemed to realize (though sadly a little too late) that her revenge plot was stupid. I hated that it ended up costing Tom his life but I feel it helped Heaven to finally move on from Luke Casteel.
I also enjoyed Heaven's relationship with Tony and Jillian. With Jillian it was confusing and then sadness that her grandmother would never accept her. With Tony, he was more invested in her but also very creepily so (OK, I am on the TroyxHeaven train but the idea of letting Heaven stay in hopes she would fall for Troy is a bit much). I did not like his need for control but I loved how Heaven would secretly and quietly rebel against him, even though Tony seemed omniscient and knew what she was doing anyway. I also like how she calls him out for raping her mother even when he tries to paint it otherwise to confuse her.
And then there is HeavenxLogan, which I used to ship. Gag. I feel like shaking my younger self. Logan is a total douche in this book and has few redeeming qualities because the kindness he does show Heaven just seems to be an attempt to get all mad when he discovers her with other men. Since he didn't want anything to do with her after he deemed her "ruined", he has no right to be jealous or to keep making her feel better. But of course Heaven is already thinking of marrying him toward the end because she has returned to Winnerow, Troy is dead, and she just can't seem to shove him off of his pedestal. Sigh.
Writing/Voice:
Love it, love Heaven's voice. Obviously you can tell from this giant review.
Ending:
I wasn't a huge fan of the ending. While I'm fine with Heaven returning to Winnerow to teach, I just can't with Logan. I wish she had ended up alone if she couldn't have Troy.
Overall, I loved it even more than I first read it. Re-reading it again was wonderful. I've missed this book so much even though it definitely has its rantable moments! -
Over-the-top excellence.
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I thought that I would like Heaven better than Dark Angel. Nope, my opinion changed!
The beginning of Dark Angel really tugged me in. Heaven is living in a new home, new state,and with a new family. I was so curious. Heaven even meets a man named Troy. They fall in love. Oh, finally Heaven has met a man who isn't abusive like all the other men her life.
The middle of the book really bored me. At times, I really considered just dropping the book. The middle is just basically a cycle of Heaven seeing her siblings, seeing Logan, thinking of Troy, repeat.
It really shocked me when Tony was so acceptable of Troy and Heaven's engagement. Like what?!
The plot twist towards the end sparked my interest again. Tony is the real father of Heaven! I literally gasped. So Troy is Heaven's uncle. Surely, they would still be together, right?
N O P E.
Troy leaves Boston. He wanted to put distance between Heaven. I thought he would be back in a few weeks. ANOTHER NOPE. He is gone for YEARS. YEARS. Wow, I thought my favorite couple would actually stay together. Troy dies. HIS DEATH MADE ME SO ANGRY.
Heaven sees Jane and Keith again. They're happy to see each other. My heart!
Tom dies. MORE ANGER. Ugh. Why? Heaven needs Tom so much. Grandpa dies. PEOPLE!!!!
It seems as if Heaven and Logan have decided to reconcile. No, just one big no. Logan has treated Heaven so poorly. He does not deserve her.
Sigh. 4.5/5 stars. -
This is my all time favorite VC Andrew's book and I reference it in a novel I'm still working on. I loved the love story between Heaven and Troy and made this book a page turner to find out what happened between them. I passed my collection of VC Andrew's books to my little sister because I enjoyed them so much when I was young.
There is a lot of darkness and pain in this series, but for me it surpassed Flowers in the Attic. -
VC Andrews has always been a favorite of mine since my childhood days. I have read (and re-read) all of her books, and although I am much older now and find that some of her work is better than others, I still enjoy the twists and turns, strangeness and mystery that continues to captivate my interest.
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another one of my favorites. For some reason, I loved the Heaven/Troy relationship so much (minus the incest) that I wrote a couple stories about them!! How embarrassing :) Anyway, another book that I will never forget.
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I forgot what a solid sequel this is. I think this is the last full book written by Ms Andrew's. This book and half of book 3 is the last of her contribution to this series.
