Garden of Shadows (Dollanganger Book 5) Kindle Edition

I’ve always wanted to marry a rich man. Live in a big house. Be pampered. Have servants at my every beck and call and live the life of luxury. However, after reading this novel, I don’t think I want that anymore. Apparently, living that kind of life comes with the notion that money can’t buy everything; especially love.In this, the prequel to Flowers in the Attic (which is also a major Lifetime Original Movie), Olivia Winfield Foxworth recounts the events of her life before the attic. From the meeting of the handsomely rich Malcolm Neal Foxworth, to the small wedding which lacked all emotion, to the birth of her three children Mal, Joel and Corinne, followed by the years of imprisonment spent in a loveless marriage filled with nothing but lies and deceit.If you’re like me and you did not read this book before the flowers in the attic series then you are in for the shock of your life. Everything you thought you knew about the Foxworth family secrets wasn’t entirely accurate. The truth comes at you like a bombshell and the treachery runs even deeper then anyone ever could have imagined.Even though it ended just as I thought it would I was still just a little bit disappointed because it left me wanting just a little bit more. Like the first conversation between Corinne and Malcolm the morning after her return to Foxworth Hall. What transpired below that north wing during those first few weeks and what was said and done exactly to make Corinne turn against her children. We get Corinne’s twisted version at the end of Petals on the Wind but I would have loved to have heard the same version of events in Malcolm and Olivia’s point of view.V.C. Andrews thrilling and page turning fifth novel in the Dollanganger Series will really leave you wondering. Are Corinne’s children really the devil’s spawn? Or simply the product of one hateful disgraceful choice that put everything into motion? Only you yourself can be the judge of that.

This book is very dark and not for the faint of heart. That being said, if you don't mind darkness and exploration of twisted characters and the events that twist them in your books, then this might be the book for you. Now, if you are reading this book, most likely you are already very familiar with the Foxworth family and many of these characters from the previous books in the Dollanganger series and you are also no stranger to V.C. Andrews' love of tragedy. I have mixed feelings about the series as a whole and this book as well. I think Andrews is a good writer. Do I think she is the best writer I have ever read? No. But, she can spin a good web and knows how to keep the reader engaged enough to want to know more, even if they already know some of it. Her books are always a fast read and I do enjoy some of her creative style and description. All of her books have a certain mood and the reader definitely gets wrapped up in that mood while reading one of her books. I do feel Andrews accomplished what she set out to do in this book. She successfully wove a tale explaining how a grandmother could come to be so cruel to her own grandchildren. So, after reading this book, it is not hard to see why Olivia became the woman she became.Some spoilers next, but I will try not to give too much away.I quite enjoyed the beginning of this book and became less enchanted with it by the end, much I imagine like Olivia felt about her marriage to Malcolm Foxworth. Other reviewers have stated it was hard to feel sorry for Olivia based on her actions. I disagree. I feel what Andrews did is entirely plausible given the time period this book starts out in. Olivia starts out a good and just woman of strong faith and propriety. That same faith and sense of propriety and duty are inevitably her downfall. Back in the day it would have been unheard of for a woman to up and leave her husband and family, no matter the circumstances, and a part of Olivia's decisions were also prideful. No woman wants to admit their husband doesn't love them and treats them vilely. And for all of Olivia's strengths, she also has a very low opinion of herself, thus which allows her to accept her fate as Malcolm's unappreciated, cruelly treated wife. Her own father, as much as he loved her, shared a typical view of the time, 'ugly girls are unlikely to find suitable husbands' and further engrained into Olivia to accept whatever her lot in life would be. She herself was naïve in love and doomed herself to a horrible marriage by rushing in. And her own pride and character prevented her from choosing a path that although would have undoubtedly made her life better would have strayed from societal expectations, which was unacceptable to her moral sense of character. Does that excuse her actions, no. But the course of her life and character makes sense as to why she becomes so twisted and lonely by the end of this saga. My rating says 3 stars, but it is more like 3 and a half stars. I think Andrews did a great job of showing how someone good can turn bad and I did feel the need to want to read it to the end. I finished this book in about 2 days. The only time I felt a lull was at the very end when John Amos's character became a more prominent figure and he began to weigh the prose down with his religious fanaticism. Although, his character also shows how the influence of someone can be pivotal to twisting a person to something they are not as well. However, by the time you reach this novel if you are starting from the very first book in the series that type of character has been seen and done many times over in this series, so starts to feel like Andrews is hitting us over the head with a book saying, "See how influential these characters are!" Andrews also likes to make a character's fault an extreme and that character ends up being the living embodiment of that fault. Not many characters are grey or in between and that makes for a less complex feel overall. My biggest complaint is more about the series as a whole. By the time you reach book 5 so much death and tragedy have occurred you start to feel drained and wiped out. How can one family possibly undergo so much tragedy? And not a single one of them seems to learn from past mistakes. There is no silver lining and not one character seems to have bettered themselves, so it leaves the reader feeling a bit depressed. However, this book is a good example of a character study of how a good person can become twisted into something else by the events around them and their own failings as a human being.

This is the final book in the Dollanganger series and this time we have gone back in time to ‘the grandmother’s’ origin story.Olivia is an ordinary girl, tall and not much to look at, so when she catches the eye of Malcolm Foxworth, she thinks all of her dreams have come true, and she is loveable after all. She is in for a harsh shock when they start their lives together at Foxworth Hall, and it is the beginning of what will become a harrowing story for the Dresden Dolls, as they will pay the ultimate price in the deception and corruption that begins here.I didn’t think a story about Olivia was needed, we know what she becomes, but this story does fill us in on the whys and hows. Her sweetness is chipped away at over the years until she is left as nothing more than the grey column of slate that she is in ‘Flowers in the Attic’. There are also a few surprising shocks, so I’m glad there was a book after all.I did think it was a shame she allowed herself to become such a harsh creature, she loved her own children, and she loved Christopher and Corrine. She could have embraced her grandchildren and had more love and joy in her life. She could have ignored her worries and been happy.There were quite a few small plot holes mainly concerning John Amos. In this book, he is portrayed as being older than he could have been. When Chris is hiding behind the sofa in ‘Flowers in the Attic’, John comes in and seduces a young girl. He is described as a young man himself; however, his actions and knowledge of the family don’t fit how he is portrayed in this book. Also, in ‘If There Be Thorns’ he waxes lyrical about the God-fearing Malcolm and how he looked up to him, however, it is the opposite, John was the religious one, and he influences both Malcolm and Olivia.I know this was written by the ghostwriter and not Virginia Andrews herself, but it wouldn’t have been difficult to have read the first books first before delving into this one and getting the continuity perfect.The ending is somewhat rushed; I know we know how it ended as it is how the series begins. However, I wanted more. Olivia’s final transformation happens so quickly; it is hard to believe she manages to keep it up and not succumb to her grandchildren’s wiles. I almost wanted the book to continue to see her full reasoning and emotions throughout the three years the children were locked up. However, this was not meant to be, and the book ends quite abruptly.I am quite sad to be leaving this world behind once again. I know there are three more books, two centring around Chris’ diaries and one following Corey who isn’t dead. However, none of these were written by Virginia, so I wonder if this is what she intended for Corey? In addition, the reviews for these books are quite abysmal, so I have decided to give them a miss this time around, maybe one day in the future when I reread this series I will give them a go too. However, for now, I bid farewell to this very messed up family.

Ive read this book and the others in this series several times. They tell the most harrowingly sad tale you've ever heard. It's a love story, a story of betrayal and revenge too. As far as I know, its based loosely on a true story. There is a film of the first book I believe but it's not very good from what I've heard. The first book is called "Flowers In The Attic" please look it up, try a sample, you will deffo want to read it if you do!!

I loved the early books in this series so thought I had to read this as the final one. It did not seem to tie in properly with the earlier books. I would have been happier leaving it at just having read the 4 it does not add to or improve the story.

By the end I was tearing-up because a wonderful story had come to an end and I had to take my leave of the characters with whom I had shared so many adventures, whom I had loved and admired, for whom I hoped and feared. I Highly Recommend everyone read the entire series!

Wonderful book.read it years ago when it was first published and have just finished it again.Will now continue with the entire series.saw the DVD of flowers in the attic and petals on the wind.can't wait to see if there be thorns and seeds of yesterday and hope that garden of shadows will also be made.it's just a shame I had to order the DVD from the state's and then had to have them copied to other discs as the would not play on UK DVD players.