Broken Flower

Jordan March begins to develop into womanhood much too early, at the age of 7, in fact. Unfortunately, she's in a V.C. Andrews novel, so this is not the only terrible thing that is about to befall her. Actually, at first her parents seemed pretty nice, and even the "wicked" grandmother wasn't as evil as some Andrews (or even "Andrews") has written, but fans of her work should not worry, as horrifying things begin to befall the family and just stack on top of each other until you can't imagine worse. Seriously, save some tragedy for the next book! Or even the next series!
As always, our young narrator tries hard to sound like a child and relate things that are going on "over her head," but not in a terribly convincing way. Which is show more probably good, because if the childlike perspective voice was any better the book would probably come off way creepier.
Even though these soap-opera style novels don't tend to serve up anything in the way of new territory or unexpected twists, they're still compelling reading. I'll probably keep buying "Andrews" books until I die...because they probably won't run out of ghostwriters before then. show less

My problem is not the precocious puberty or what her brother is doing - this kind of stuff happens in real life, but the ghostwriter has handled this matter in a very sloppy, tasteless, tacky, and poorly-written and thought-out manner. But then, that's how he has approached all the sensitive topics that have come up in previous books. It wasn't so bad in his earlier books, but the last few series have been quite abysmal. Characterization and details are inconsistent, and honestly, this book and its sequel had no need to ever exist.

Mr. Neriderman, please stop writing for VCA and go back to your own work. You're a old man, stop writing from the POVs of girls and women, at this point it has gotten past the point of creepy.

Forty-seven pages in and I was confused. The poor little girl of a main character was only six years old and had gotten her first period. Her mother did the right thing by contacting a doctor to see why her daughter had early-onset puberty and what could be done about it, but then when it came time to tell Jordan's father they seemed overly concerned about not telling Jordan's grandmother. Why would her grandmother be so appalled that Jordan had some sort of hormone problem? Being sick shouldn't make you some kind of an outcast with your own family, or anyone for that matter. That's something I just couldn't wrap my head around...Then things got a little creepy, awkward, and even more creepy. Suddenly, Grandma learns about the problem show more and it seems there is some mysterious connection between Jordan her her Grandmothers sister, her great-aunt Francis, which it seems we won't learn about until the second and final novel in this short series.The plot was interesting, to say the least, and well thought-out, and the characters, even Jordan's character, had depth, feeling, and points-of-view. I think Jordan was just a little girl who wanted to have a normal life while everything around her was crumbling.Absolutely nothing happy happened in this novel and by the end a little girl's life as she knew it was destroyed. Thankfully for V.C. Andrews, a book doesn't have to be happy for it to be good. I think most V.C. Andrews books are shelved with YA, but I found this one in the adult fiction section. I have to say, it was appropriately shelved. I wouldn't recommend this novel for anyway under sixteen. show less

I will NEVER read another V.C. Andrews book again. This book was probably one of the worst books I ever attempted to read. I read about 300 of the 400 pages in hopes that it would get better but I wasted my time in doing so. Let's discuss the plot. Jordan is 6, almost 7 years old and going through puberty at a VERY EARLY AGE! Okay, that isn't that unbelievable. Based on what I've heard and discussed with coworkers, this can happen. What is unbelievable is the fact that Jordan is writing this book from the future and remembering extreme details such as full conversations. I don't care what anyone says, I highly doubt a 6 year old has that good of a memory. The book is written in the typical V.C. Andrews formula: a mean caretaker, a show more tragic accident, and sick and twisted sexual type abuse. There isn't a likable character in this book, and the fact that Jordan pines away from her mother who is in a coma (how original!!!) is not believable in the least because of how wretched and unlikeable her mother was portrayed. The sequel is coming out soon and let's just say that this book is soon to gather dust before meeting its companion! show less

It had been a while since I last read Andrews. I saw Broken Flower in a store and grabbed it up. It was good, but like most new "Andrews" books it seemed watered down compared to her early work. Still a good read.