Black Cat

IF YOU HAVE NOT READ "CELESTE", THE FIRST BOOK IN THIS SERIES, SPOILER ALERT!!!
Celeste is forced by her (possibly schizophrenic) mother to live as her twin brother Noble after Noble's tragic, accidental death. In the last book, Celeste gave birth to "Baby Celeste" as the result of a neighbor boy finding out about her gender and blackmailing her into having sex with him. Noble/Celeste and her mother see the spirits of their dead ancestors and take advice from them. Although, since Celeste became Noble, they've been largely ignoring her. It's possible Baby Celeste is seeing and hearing them, too. When Mama decides the way to reveal Baby Celeste to the world is to marry the neighbor man, and tell everyone her cousin died and left the baby show more to her, the family's secrets must be guarded even closer.
I'm still not sure whether the author means for her protagonist and family to "actually" be seeing and hearing spirits, or if the implication is that they're mentally ill, but I would really like that cleared up. Also, I find it very difficult to like any of the characters in this book, including Noble/Celeste, our narrator. Mama is mean and controlling, Noble/Celeste is weak and whiny, Dave is completely clueless, Betsy (Dave's daughter) is spoiled and nasty, and Baby Celeste is just creepy. Even so, I want nice things to happen to them, but this being V.C. Andrews, that'll never happen. show less

Celeste and Black Cat had a interesting premise, with what happened to the twins. But no reason is given for Mom's madness, or obsessive love for Noble. In the Flowers in the Attic, Casteel, and Cutler series, it is eventually revealed why the villains of these books did what they did - not necessarily a excuse, but a explanation.

There is none given here for why Celeste's mom is such a dumb, selfish, thoughtless cunt. I felt angry and frustrated at the end of Black Cat because Celeste HAS NO FREAKING BACKBONE. Not once does she assert herself as Celeste even when she has (several) opportunities to do so! The ending fell flat on its face and was completely lackluster, and the last book in this series offers no answers. Overall a terrible show more series.

This was actually the last book that I paid money for. I had been struggling to keep my faith in Andrew Neiderman through the last few series, however lackluster they had been. (Hudson, DeBeers, Broken Wings) Midnight Flight very nearly broke me, but I was young and stupid back then and still had a shred of faith in Andy-boy. However, Black Cat broke me. After dealing with over like, a dozen crappy ghostwritten books of steadily-decreasing quality, I just could not take it anymore, and vowed that would be the last I spent on Andrew Neiderman and his piss-poor work.

Since then, I only read his work when it was in the library or the local mega-mart or wherever I could skim through his garbage for free. show less

The premise of this story is interesting. A psychotic and possibly psychic woman forces her daughter to take on the identity of her dead twin brother, and when the daughter becomes pregnant, her mother weaves an even more complex scheme to hide the true identity of her daughter and her daughter's child. Whether the whole family is psychotic or actually psychic and seeing family spirits, their schemes prove lethal to just about everyone who gets too close, and may prove just as dangerous to the as-yet innocent children of their own family. The characters in this story are not always believable, and the 'black cat' that is referenced early in the book doesn't seem to figure in the rest of the novel at all, despite the fact that the title show more derives from it. Still, this novel presents an interesting, entertaining, and unusual story. show less

It was a sad day when this lady died. I do believe that her ghost writer Andrew Neiderman has done a fantastic job. This series to me is one of the better ones it feels more believable as far as characters and plot. Although I'm hard-pressed to find a series that I don't like by this author most stay in the 'just fiction' part of my brain this series feels more like this person is real and this really happened, like a memoir.

Second in the Gemini series. Reminded me of VC Andrews first books. One of my favorites from her ghost writer. I would recommend.