Rating: 
Summary: This was better than the last 2
Review: This book was sort of real...more real than the other 2. After Dr Paul Sheffield dies,Cathy and Chris continue their incestuous relationship.Bart feels unloved and jealous of his brother, Jory.It becomes worse when Cathy adopts her student's younger sister,Cindy.Soon,he visits the house next door...which belongs to Corrine who has just come back from the loonybin.But don't misunderstand,it's her butler John who causes trouble for him. He gives Malcolm's diary to Bart to read and teach him about his cruel ways.Bart hangs over the edge of insanity as he learns more.But all Corrine wants is to have the love of her grandchild and the forgiveness of her children.The only thing is that Bart keeps on killing animals.Cathy finally visits the house and gets locked in the wine cellar with Corrine by John.There,Corrine explains the whole story and seeks her forgiveness.Cathy refuses. There was once when Cathy nearly went over the edge while reliving the days of horror.The house gets burnt like at the Christmas confrontation in Petals on the wind but this time Corrine dies. At her funeral, Cathy finally shouts out the words Corrine once longed to hear:"Momma I forgive you!Can you hear me now where you are?God please let her know I forgive her."
Rating: 
Summary: It's not as good as the first two
Review: It's the pretty good story of Cathy's two sons' encounter with her mother Corrine. After years in a mental institution Corrine comes back to live in the house next door. While she's there she's secretly having her younger grandson Bart over to play. As he slowly changes he begins to hate all women, especially his mother, the bad things start to happen, and Cathy and Chris' dear secret starts to unravel. V.C. uses an enteresting style of writing in this book. In each chapter either Jory or Bart is in the narritive position as they tell the story from their point of view. It definately wasn't as good as the first two books because it is a little slow. But go ahead and read it if you'd like to know what happens to them, or if you're the type who likes to finish the series. It is very interesting.
Rating:
Summary: not as good as the others in the series
Review: I didn't think this book was as good as the others in the series, but it includes a lot of information about Jory and Bart in it that you probably want to know if you plan on reading the fourth book. Jory and Bart alternate telling the story, so it wasn't narrated by Cathy, but if she were to tell it, half of the information just wouldn't be there.
Rating: 
Summary: Good, but not like the rest.
Review: This is the third book in the Dollanganger series by V. C. Andrews. I found it very powerful and dark, but it was written from a different angle than the first books and for some reason didn't seem as good. But you should still read it! Chris and Cathy have moved far away thinking they have escaped their terrible past. They are living as husband and wife and bringing up Cathy's sons, Bart Winslow Jr. and Jory Marquet, and an adopted daughter, Cindy, as their own. Jory, like his father, has a very promising career in Ballet ahead of him, but Bart doesn't have anything that really makes him unique. One day, someone moves into the house next door. Whoever it is, they aren't very friendly. They haven't come over to introduce themselves, and they are never seen to leave their house. All of a sudden, Bart starts to act very strange. He is posessed. Posessed by the deep, dark secrets that can only live in the heart of a Foxworth. The strange next door neighbor who was thought to just be shy is none other than the dear old mother Cathy and Chris thought they had escaped forever.
Rating:
Summary: The Bad Son
Review: A lot of people don't like this book, and I don't really understand why, besides the fact that it isn't told by Cathy, and it moves along slowly. However, I liked reading from Jory and Bart's point of views (never again will we get a male narrator in a V.C. Andrews book, let alone two) and I found the pacing worked for the story. The most ridiculous complaint I ever read about this book was that every chapter covered only one day. There are whole novels that only span a twenty-four hour period! So what? This is probably my second or third favorite book in the series, my favorite being "Petals". I'm not sure if I like this or "Seeds" better. "Flowers" was too depressing, and I didn't really like the characters that much.
Bart is fascinating, both in the beginning when he is just an introverted weirdo, and after he befriends his new neighbors, an old lady Corrine who dotes on him and an evil old man named John Amos Jackson. Bart slowly becomes creepy, bratty (did you know Brat is an anagram for Bart?), cruel, lonely, yet also funny. Jory is interesting too. It is easy to see him as a goody-two-shoes, however, he really is not. He has his own flaws, the biggest being his reliance on ballet, which grows into an obsession by the fourth book. In his final chapter (the chapters are divided between Bart and Jory, with the prologue and epilogue written from Cathy's point of view), Jory says that he feels bad that Bart cares more about money than love. Jory claims to prefer love over money, just like Cathy, however "first comes dancing".
Besides being little Mr. Perfect, Jory "senses" things; this is both negative and positive. On the one hand, we have a sensitive and understanding narrator (during his parts), but on the other, V.C. Andrews feeds us a bunch of sap and Jory's chapters end with cheesy, pretentious lines that are basically the continuous rephrasing of the idea that he is really scared but that everything will eventually come up roses. Bart is one of my favorite V.C. Andrews characters. The thing about the original Andrews was that her characters were multi-faceted, and even if they were really bad, they rarely were so demonized that you couldn't like them or sympathize with them a little. I thought V.C. Andrews did a great job conveying Bart's myriad of emotional and psychological problems. He also has physical problems; he is clumsy and his nerve endings don't reach his skin. This only adds to his feelings of inferiority. And the fact that he can't feel pain is a convenient way to throw in masochism, though I won't say sadism, because despite what others believe, he does feel guilt. In fact, the masochism stems from his guilt. There is sadism in this book, though, as usual. Bart does horrible things to his family and he does feel bad about it but he rationalizes his guilt away but convincing himself that he and John Amos are good, and the rest of the world, especially women, are evil. There is also a whole lot of talk of fire and pyromania, plenty of animal abuse, and a mountain of incest. This all takes place in an area that seems far from civilization, and like in Flowers, though the characters are not incarcerated in a stuffy attic room, there is the feeling that the family is still separated from society, and perhaps this is why some say it is closer in style to Flowers than Petals. I would like to conclude by saying that I did like the ending. It wasn't really satisfying, but there is a follow-up book, and if you want to know what happens next to the family, it is expected that you will read that.
Rating:
Summary: the most disturbing book in the series
Review: if you read flowers in the attic & petals on the wind, you might be ready to prick your finger with if there be thorns. out of all the books in this series, thorns is by far the most disturbing & suspenseful. cathy & chris are married with children & they would seem to be a pretty normal family if you didn't know any better. what seems to be an ideal home is threatened by a mysterious butler & an old lady dressed in only black who live next door. ofcourse, we don't have to be rocket scientists to figure out who the lady in black is or the creepy as sin butler. naturally, one of cathy's boys spend some time(a bit too much if you ask me) around these weirdos & the plot thickens. will jory & bart survive or will they suffer a fate worse than death such as depravity? will cathy & chris bring closure to their problems & the terrible memories of what happened not so long ago? v.c. andrews takes the pen away from our herione cathy this time around & places it in the hands of her sons bart & jory who give their perspectives on growing up & the unspeakable horrors or trangressions which take place in their young lives. once again, andrews enthralls with her woven tale of greed & punishment or tortured souls who seek out love & acceptance in all the wrong places. if you loved the first 2 books, you will absolutely love if their be thorns. if you were bored with the first two, this one has a better pace & really cuts to the chase quickly. the ending is truly touching but does give closure to the relationship of cathy & her mother. i, personally, feel flowers in the attic or if there be thorns are the best books in this series but i think petals on the wind was necessary & does answer our questions of how the children survived once they escaped the dreaded attic in their grnadmother's mansion. seeds of yesterday is also quite good but may be a bit far fetched for some. however, the ending of seeds of yesterday is bittersweet & finally puts an end to all the miseries which manifested in an attic nearly forty some odd years ago. thank you v.c andrews for the flowers. i loved--------your books. the writer that was hired to take your place sucks sad to say. :(
Rating:
Summary: 4.5 stars
Review: This is probably the least fabulous book in the Dollanger series. But I didn't really care. I can't get enough of these stories. I can talk about them for hours. This book explores Jory and Bart's childhood. It is told from both perspectives. One chapter is "Jory" the next, "Bart" and so on. Bart is an interesting kid. He is disrespectful to his parents (mom and uncle technicually but Chris really is a father in this story.) and insensitive to everyone around him. He seems to genuinely be his father's (the late Bart Sr.) boy. Bart's nerves are also not fully developed, so a spanking doesn't cause him pain. This is also symbolic of his behavior and how he feels no guilt for his actions. Bart becomes friends with an old woman next door who influences his behavior. I would have liked to have seen Jory developed more. He seems like the model child. There isn't much more to him than a well-behaved little boy who loves his mother and loves to dance. Cathy is still interesting in this book. A fabulous scene in "Thorns" happens when Chris points out that Cathy behaved in a similar way her mother did. This freaks Cathy out and makes her do some major soul searching. Cathy also has a wonderful scene at the end in reaction to someone's death. I won't say anymore for the sake of surprise. This book is important to read if you plan on reading Seeds of Yesterday. Also it is a good read if you are a die-hard Dollanger fan like me!
Rating:
Summary: I think I said the word "Gothic" too many times....
Review: Darkness. Horror. Suspense. Creepingly realistic. Maddening. Frightening. Haunting. The darkest fears of the soul... Hello! It's a GOTHIC story. If you don't want to read something that will spoil your happiness, don't buy it. Believe me, if you ARE searching for something gothic, dark, grisly, and terrifying, then buy "If There be Thorns". This is ALL gothic.I love Cathy. She's a total ditz in this book though, but in "Flowers in the Attic", "Petals on the Wind", and "Seeds of Yesterday", Cathy seemed almost as real as YOU are. As for Jory, Bart, "The Lady in Black", John Amos, Malcolm Foxworth...they're almost alive in this book! I'm impressed at how V.C. Andrews persuades you that Cathy and Chris's marriage is not okay but okay (I know that it just sounded confusing, but it's hard to explain). Chris, as always, breaths just like Cathy. I am a major fan of the Dollanganger Saga, and, as I mentioned before, you gotta get this book if you are searching for gothic. You won't be disappointed, just as long as you get one of the first two books to understand what's going on. Believe me, the climatic ending won't disappoint you!
Rating:
Summary: Great!
Review: I LOVE THIS NOVEL IT WAS SUSPENSEFUL AND CREEPY, I READ IT IN 2 DAYS!
Rating:
Summary: Good read
Review: I think this book could have been better written. I didn't like how it was written in the two boys' views. I like Cathy's, and the constant switching and the use of the grammer to portray a boy was constantly irritating. The story, however - was very pleasing. I could not put the book down, despite the way it was written. This is definetly a must read for everyone that loves the series!
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