Read this book (and all the other VC Andrews books) back in the day during a summer in high school. Rereading as an adult and still doesn’t fail to impress. So good.

I can never really say I was ever a big fan of VC Andrews. I am starting to rethink that because I really did enjoy this book. Just like the Gates of Paradise tI picked this up because I had planned on watching the lifetime movies with mom. The Casteel series was the last of the family sagas that V.C. Andrews had a hand in before she died and her ghostwriter took over. Which is something I didn’t know. It's impossible not to compare it to the Dollanganger series, especially since both dark melodramatic poor examples of what we or at least what I expect “family” to be
HEAVEN is about a young girl named Heaven Leigh (get it?) Casteel. She lives in the hills, cramped in a small shed with her four other siblings, grandparents, father, and stepmother. She is the only child from her father's first marriage; her mother died in childbirth, and her father kept her on a pedestal in his mind. No other woman can match up, not even his daughters or his new wife, so he mostly ignores his children, abuses his wife, and is a regular attendee of the local "den of ill repute" despite the fact that they're all starving. I found the father repulsive and the kids all charming. The descriptions were beautifully done even though they were brutal and sad.

Heaven catches the eye of a rich boy because of her beauty, and this is a must for of Andrews's, too: there's always a soft and sensitive boy hero figure to whisk the heroine away from her wretched life-- until he proves to be just as disturbing as everyone else, only better at hiding it. Logan doesn't have a chance to show off any true colors he might have, though, as Heaven's father gets an STD, and kind of loses it after his wife has a deformed stillborn child; he gets the brilliant idea that the solution to their money problems is to sell off his children for $500/ea. to local rich people in the area.

Heaven gets sent off to live with a woman named Kitty, but her nickname could be "Mommy Dearest." She lives in a house filled with creepy ceramic animals and everything is pink. She has violent mood swings, and living in Casa de Crazy, you could find yourself having your hair lovingly combed out one minute, only to be thrown into a scalding hot Lysol bath the next Her only solace in this house is Kitty's young husband, Cal, but his feelings towards Heaven-- as you would expect-- aren't exactly pure. The feelings that would later ruin things with someone else.

HEAVEN was a good book and by good book I mean you have to have an open mind for the dark parts of it and you have to be okay with the writing which is great in some areas and falls short in others. I will be continuing the series if only to see how the tornado that is this series finally touches down.

This was the second and last V.C. Andrews I read. I became so disgusted with Kitty’s stupidity regarding her health. At age 13 or 14, I declared that I would chop off my breast(s) if that meant living.
Since then, I survived breast cancer twice, the second time actually receiving a double mastectomy. Not a day goes by that I don’t miss my girls, but I look into the beautiful faces of my children and know I have and will do almost anything to remain with them as long as possible.

Edit: I re-read this again for Peter Monn's book club and enjoyed it as much as before. This time I decided to annotate as I went so it took longer for me to read (about a month!) but I had a great time getting my feelings out as I was reading. I'm going to keep my last review because even though I discover new things or feel new things with each re-read, my general thoughts haven't changed. I can't believe I never made the connection between Kitty and what she feared a hill girl like Heaven would do, though.

5 stars and honestly don't ever see that happening. Can't wait for the movie to come out!


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. A part of me was afraid that I might not love this book anymore because it's been so long and I have changed but if anything, I loved this book even more.

The story is very tragic, but at the same time inspiring. Poor Heaven goes through a lot of abuse, neglect, and overall suffering in this book. People who are easily sensitive or triggered by child abuse, neglect, statutory rape, and graphic descriptions should probably tread carefully. I've always liked Heaven slightly more than Flowers in the Attic. I was surprised to actually find myself in tears at certain parts.

For a hilarious, spoiler filled recap, I highly recommend going here: http://casteelkidsstolemygroceries.tu...


Setting:

V.C. Andrews does a fantastic job with her settings. This book is set in West Virginia, deep in the mountains full of country folk and poverty. The setting is described so well that sometimes I forgot I was there. There are a few other places besides West Virginia in the book but the majority of the story takes place there.


Characters:

While VCA is a fantastic storyteller and great with description, it's really the characters that have always touched me. It's exactly why I spent most of my high school and some of my college days participating in writing roleplays that featured her wonderful characters with their deep and complex backstories.

Heaven Leigh Casteel is one of my favorite female characters of all time. I found her easy to relate to despite never having to go through most of what she did. She was likable, inspirational, and kind. There were times in which she was definitely very naive or thought she was better than others, but I think it's great to have flaws. I also like that she grows as a character. She values education, reading, and family more than anything.

Then there's Tom, Heaven's slightly younger brother. He's more optimistic than Heaven about their life and family members, devoted, and funny. In the past I didn't like Fanny at all to be honest but she kind of grew on me this time. Maybe it's because as an adult I have learned that life isn't always black and white and that Fanny's upbringing has definitely made her into what she is. While I did find some of her actions to be very selfish, for the majority of the time I just felt sorry for her. She also brought comic relief to the story, especially when it involved her trying to unsuccessfully woo Heaven's boyfriend.

Granny and Grandpa were endearing but could also be frustrating when they would excuse child abuse and neglect. And while I didn't like Sarah or Luke Casteel, I did feel they were authentic characters. Luke also goes through a lot of character growth and while his remorse later on doesn't make up for what he did in the past, I also ended up feeling sorry for him. Keith and Our Jane were decent characters but could also be slightly annoying. I also liked Miss Deale, though she also felt a little too perfect at times. It was nice to see at least one adult be caring and generous, though.

Now here's the embarrassing character--Logan Stonewall. Heaven's boyfriend. Back in high school, I really loved his character for whatever reason. Maybe I had the same naivety that Heaven did. He just seemed very sweet and devoted. This time around, I saw him differently. He started out sweet, if not somewhat creepy with the love-at-first-sight thing. Then he became clingy and I didn't care much for his slut shaming in regards to Fanny and in thinking Heaven was just "so pure" and that he hoped she would stay that way.

It gets worse when they get older and he turns his back on her when she admits that she isn't quite as pure as he thinks she is. And when she tries to explain that her foster father basically seduced her, he won't hear of that either. Just thinking of how I used to idolize his character makes my stomach turn. He's a bastard. Not the worst bastard in this book, but definitely a bastard.

The worst bastard is Cal Dennison. There will be SPOILERS here so skip to the next part if you don't want to be spoiled.

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Okay. So Cal seems nice enough in the beginning, but over time he shows himself to be a coward. Even when he tries to help and shower Heaven with gifts and affection, he doesn't stand up to his wife when she abuses the poor girl. He lets Heaven be abused, makes her love him as a father figure, then takes serious advantage of her. He knows her situation as she's told him everything, given him all the ammo he needs.

While I'm not sure if he purposefully meant to go after Heaven (I don't believe he did in the beginning), there is definitely a point in which you can feel him trapping Heaven. His behavior once they returned to Winnerow was almost worse since he continued to try and control her. I was so glad when he finally let her go!

While Kitty was most definitely a terrible, abusive character, at the same time she was also pretty interesting. I hated her for abusing Heaven though. She seems to become remorseful at the end, which honestly touched me, but at the same time I couldn't help but wonder if it was only because she knew she was dying. Would she have ever been remorseful otherwise? Her death didn't make me sad. She had a tragic past as well but allowed it to shape her into granite for the most part.


Relationships:

The best relationship is the brother-sister one between Heaven and Tom. For once there is no incest or even vibe/suggestion other than Tom jokingly wanting to marry someone like Heaven. Being the oldest and most responsible of their siblings, they had to take on a lot as kids and it just cemented their already close relationship. One of the hardest things was seeing their relationship strain as each were taken away from one another. They don't seem quite as close after that, which is a real shame.

Heaven's relationship with Logan was sweet in the beginning but he was way too clingy and had high standards, especially as they got much older. It's almost ironic considering what happens in the third book. Logan has one hell of a virginity/purity complex. He also seemed to be less considerate toward Heaven as they got older and things got worse for her. I did feel sorry for him when she snapped at him in one scene but I didn't feel sorry any other time.

I found Heaven and Fanny's relationship to be interesting. Heaven clearly cares more about Fanny than Fanny does her but even Fanny has her sweet moments. The rivalry between them was amusing at times, though.

The entire Casteel family aspect was actually interesting. They felt like a real family with complex issues. I would have liked to see Granny stick around longer, though.

Heaven's relationship with Cal and Kitty was also interesting, though at the same time sometimes very hard to get through. I do like that while Heaven initially blames herself for the abuse both of them deal her that she later realizes she did nothing wrong except try to love them. Good girl, Heaven!


Writing/Voice:

While VCA can get really flowery and some of the dialogue seems a bit advanced when some of the Casteels are still kids, I love the writing. Her descriptions are wonderful, the dialect felt authentic, and the dialogue is good.

Ending:

The ending is so satisfying because Heaven is finally free from Luke, Kitty, Cal, and Logan! Some of her loose ends, such as Grandpa, Fanny, Tom, Our Jane & Keith are also tied up. I did wonder what had ever happened to Sarah and Miss Deale though. There is such promise at the end as Heaven looks forward to meeting her mother's family and attempting to (at least for now) leave her dark past behind her.


Overall, I loved it even more than I first read it. It made me smile, laugh, and cry. It made me feel awful, disgusted, happy, and exhilarated. It's an emotional read that I'm pretty sure I'll always enjoy. I can't wait to re-read the rest, especially Dark Angel, which has always been my favorite out of all of her original books and also of this series, though Heaven is definitely #2!

Going through a V.C. Andrews nostalgia revisit. When I was a kid they really didn’t have a lot of YA reads so I read a lot of Stephen King and V.C. Andrews. What was I reading?!? In 8th grade?!?

OK so I went through a phase in my teens where I read and owned every VC Andrews book, as evident by the 46+ books listed here! (I just sold them on ebay when I bought my house, so I didn't have to pack them up and move them for the millionth time!) But this series, marked by Heaven Casteel was by far my favorite series and I read it many many times. I stopped reading the newer books in college, since they weren't really by VC anymore and every new book that came out seemed dumber and was written poorly. Her earlier books were the best!

This series is one of my all time favorite of all of V.C. Andrews' series novels! As always, I fell in love with all of the characters! <3

Such a great book, I really enjoyed this after being recommended it for ages! Cant wait to read the others.

She's really obsessed with incest isn't she?? ...and this didn't evwn have the same pull to it that Flowers In The Attic had. Not continuing with this series. It's just not even worth it.

I've never read a book quite like this. While it wasn't the worst written book I've ever encountered it definitely was a soap opera. I can't say I'm that motivated to keep reading the series. While some of the sexual descriptions kind of shocked me, it was only because the type of books I generally read don't describe such things as frankly... but even if it initially shocked me it was also humorous. Sometimes the author would add a detail where I'd just laughingly ask "why?" in my head. Why is it important? What's the obsession with creepy relationships? Looking through reviews it was made clear the VCA likes to include incest, and while Heaven doesn't have direct incest there's still a relationship that's quite... warped, to say the least. The main character was so maddeningly naive. The only thing I wanted really answered after this installment was whether Heaven ends up with Logan and I looked ahead to the other sequels and as long as I know she ends up with Logan Stonewall, I don't need to pursue anymore of this series. Let's just say this was interesting and a good change-up from the things I usually read. LOL it was entertaining!

This is my favorite Andrews' series. It's dramatic and far fetched and taboo and I fucking love it.

Reread this wonderful book in paperback, after being without my kindle for a week, and it’s still as beautiful as when I first read it, in my teens. The Casteel series is my favourite of Virginia Andrews’ books!