Dark Angel

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 show more 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. show less

"Dark Angel" has Heaven going off in search of her mother's Bostonian relatives and finding out they're fabulously rich (there is always a pattern like this in Andrews' books, God love her) but very twisted. Turns out her step-grandfather was the one who got her 13 year old mother pregnant, and that's why Leigh ran away from her wealthy Boston home and ended up with Luke Casteel. Awesome. Of course she found out after she had fallen in love and decided to marry Tony's younger brother Troy, who is her uncle. Whoops. He's kind of annoying, all doom and gloom and "oh my God I just know I'm going to die before I'm thirty" blah, blah, blah. Dude! You're fantastically wealthy, a talented artist who gets to spend his whole day doing whatever show more he wants, and gorgeous. WHAT DO YOU HAVE TO BE DEPRESSED ABOUT?? Seriously? Anyway, Heaven graduates from college and returns to Winnerrow, the little town in the valley of the Willies, to teach school there to the poor hill children like she always planned. show less

In the second book of the Casteel Saga, Heaven is reunited with her maternal grandparents and goes to live at Farthinggale Manor, Tony Tatterton's ancestral home. There she learns how the very rich live and is sent to a posh girl's school, where she has considerable trouble fitting in and misses her family. Drawn to Tony's brother, Troy, Heaven begins a secret love affair with him to fill the void left by being uprooted from her brother, Tom, and boyfriend, Logan. After Troy helps her get in touch with her past, she learns the truth of her paternity then suffers several losses, which help lead her back home where her future lies. I found this book fairly well written and full of the drama expected from V. C. Andrews.

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.

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 show more 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!!!! show less

This book is a continuation of the Casteel family & I feel it is the last 5 star worthy one. We start with Heaven moving into her grandmother and step-grandfathers home on a temporary basis, this becomes permanent and Heaven is finally happy...but soon enough she finds out a chilling secret that changes everything she thought she knew.

The last of the V. C. Andrews books actually written by her and not the current ghost writer. This series was not my favorite of Andrews but this was probably my favorite of the series. Don't bother reading after this book though; you can immediately tell its not the original author anymore.