Rating: 
Summary: V.C. Andrews at her best!!!!!
Review: I admit...i really wanted to stop reading all of V.C. Andrews' books after she died in 1987...none of the books thereafter had that special touch. I blundered through the Cutler,Landry and Logan series..and didn't feel any were too great...same story...same basic people, etc. I finally decided to try out the Hudson series and was pleasantly surprised...Rain was gutsy, mouthy and not a little miss goody two shoes like the rest! I read the book in 1 day and will move on to Lightning Strikes.P.S. To the reader from D.C.-----the Dollganger series was made into a movie quite a few yrs. ago..."Flowers in the Attic."
Rating: 
Summary: Finally, a V C Andrews character with a little backbone!!
Review: Wow, what a refreshing change from previous Andrews books!! Rain Arnold is the strongest, gutsiest, I'd-want-her-on-my-side character that has yet been introduced in all Andrews books. The book starts by spinning the sad tale of Rain Arnold and her poverty-stricken family in the ghetto of Washington, D.C. To do this successfully, you must have one part drunken, no-good father, one part sassy, trouble-making sister and one part tired, overworked, underappreciated Mama. Mix this all with a delapidated apartment and a few gang members and you've got yourself a winner. Rain must navigate herself through a world ripe with death, pain, poverty and the unsympathetic reactions from those around her. The ultimate question on every die-hard Andrews fan's mind is, will Rain get herself the heck out of there? But of course, a true fan already knows that she'll go from rags to riches in soap opera fashion and jump from one crazy, dangerous world right into another. The only difference is that she'll be wearing designer jeans and will have the money to afford a plane ticket out of there, should she choose. I won't spoil the story for you. Suffice it to say that this story is different from others due to Rain's personality -- not one-sided at all and I truly enjoyed getting to know her. I also love that that many of the characters in the story are black, not blonde haired and blue eyed like so many others. However, it's similar in it's forbidden relationships and the aloofness that the wealthy seem to have in all Andrews' stories. Ruby was my favorite before, but I think Rain's depth of character has made this one tops for me.
Rating:
Summary: Finally, a Quality Story!
Review: I really felt close to Rain's character because I am, too, of multiracial descent. I faced a lot of the same prejudices she's faced also so I know how she felt.
Rating:
Summary: I'm addicted
Review: I've been reading VC Andrews since I was a little girl. The Casteel, Cutler, and Dollanganger series were classics. I'd love for one day to turn them into a movie. But Rain, as good as it is, is just a recreation of Dawn but using a black girl. I'm also African-American and took delight in telling the story of someone who wasn't blue-eyed, but it's still all formulaic. A girl finds out her family isn't really her family, her real family is rich but doesn't want to claim her, her brother lusts after her, she sleeps with the good-looking guy (though I love that part) but then she gets burned. I'm just now finishing this book, and as good as it is, it doesn't live up to Andrews real work and is way too predictable. I just hope the remainder of this series get a lot better. Also growing up in Seattle and all the stories taking place in Virginia made me wonder about the place. Now I go to Howard U. in Washington DC and I think the author could have taken a little time to describe the place and use actual names of places. The whole time I tried to imagine the 'Projects', I live in downtown NW DC too, and would like to know which apartment building the ghostwriter was describing. For people that don't live here I know it could have been helpful to describe the eye candy of the nation's capital; such as Wisconsin Ave that the Sak's Fifth Ave is located, or which High School she attended and such. This story was flat, vague, had one-dimensional characters and felt rushed compared to all the others.
Rating: 
Summary: The Adventures of Inane Rain
Review: It is good to finally have a black character in a V.C. Andrews book. However, I have found the latest characters to be flat and stereotypical. This spells disaster when writing about an African-American girl. I know that some readers have been disturbed by the fact that the darker-skinned sister, Beni, is the wild one. I must say in response that all V.C. Andrews sisters are wild, just as all the brothers are incestuous rapists. There are certain characters that are just not meant to be placed into certain plots, as they will inevitably come across as being very offensive. This is why a story should revolve around the characters rather than the characters revolve around the story. This is the first thing you learn in a writing class. Oh, and by the way, even though I think Rain is a beautiful name, why must all V.C. Andrews characters, or the ghost writer characters, have eccentric names. I think it is because all the series begin with a book that's title is the same as the protagonist's first name, and that name must be stretched out into four more titles of a similar nature (no pun intended). Why can't the ghost writer write an opening book with a real title, like Flowers in the Attic? That would be, I believe, a very welcomed change.
Rating:
Summary: Mr. Ghost Writer Goes To Washington
Review: Rain Arnold is a seventeen-year-old african-american girl who lives in the ghetto in Washington, D.C. where drugs, promiscuous sex and murder is a way of life (according to the author that is. I wouldn't know). Rain loves her family, especially her Mama and overprotective brother Roy. Her stepfather is no-good and her sister is a source of endless worry for her. Then one day, Rain learns that she is not who she thinks she is. Her real family is filthy rich and her whole life, she has been living with strangers (think Dawn from the Cutler series). Soon after, something bad happens and Mama Arnold decides to send Rain to live with her real family, the Hudsons. Horror and heartache follow, as always in a GW/V.C.A book.
This book was ok, and Rain was ok, until she started sleeping with anyone who looked her way.
Rating: 
Summary: Typical VC Andrews Tragedies
Review: I hadn't read a VCA book in many years, and even though she is gone and others are writing her books, it is written in the same style. I found it interesting for a change from what I have been reading, but yet one wonders how so much tragedy could happen to such a young girl in such a short time. The characters were typical to others in her books, just different names and places, but the main character is usually a young, good girl in poor circumstances. This is the first of a series of 4. I am on the 4th now, so it has kept my interest enough to finish the series. If you like this style of writing, and keep in mind that there are no vulgar "f" type words in VCA books, but a lot of insight, soul searching and definitely "tragedy" making women stronger, then you will enjoy the series.
Rating: 
Summary: A Familiar Scenario
Review: I admit it. The only reason I purchased a copy of this book is to see how well a black lead character would fare in a V.C. Andrews novel. I admit it, I'll be reading the next two as well. I should have known better than to expect anything than trite stereotypes. Rain Arnold, hardworking black girl from the ghetto (why are all black people assumed to be 'from the ghetto'?) with a long-suffering mother, a wild sister, a strong brother and a father for an alcoholic. Where have we heard this all before? I thought it was from one of Oprah's books. I know that a V.C. Andrews novel is the literary equivalent of a Twinkie--bad for you but, oh so very good--but my sweet tooth just went sour after finishing this book. And finish it I did, hoping against hope that Rain Arnold would become a character I could have a modicum of sympathy for. Doesn't it get tiresome using the same scenario ad nauseaum? The big secret-Rain finds out that she's half-black because her real mother, Megan Hudson Randolph, is filthy rich and white. Rain finds out that her real mother couldn't keep her because a half-black child conceived out of wedlock would have been an embarrassment to her upper-crust family. Rain's "brother" Roy suddenly finds himself attracted to his sister/not blood sister. Rain finds herself living with her real family, the Hudsons, who are fabulously wealthy and absolutely dysfunctional. The grandmother, Victoria, is a stern matriarch who comes to like Rain a little. Rain attends a snobby girls' school and ends up the belle of the school play. Rain's "real" brother, Brody, seems to like his new "sister" a whole lot... Rain gets drunk and foolishly loses her virginity to the first sweet-talking playboy she meets. Not, a great role-model for teenage girls. And, in this age of sexually-transmitted diseases, where's any mention of safe sex? And, she finds out that the woman who has been her mother thus far has died of cancer--how convienient. Oh, and now she's on her way to London to further screw up her already messed-up life. Rain is merely another stock character in a long line of stock characters with cutesy names from the mind of the so-called "V.C. Andrews"...
Rating:
Summary: An awesome book!
Review: This is my fav book out of all of her books! I luv this series! It is so kool! Rain has such courage and faces so many difficulties to over come but in the end she always does. I majorly suggest this book to anyone who likes a suspense thriller type book. Have fun reading! Julia <3 huggs kisses and strawberrys!
Rating:
Summary: Rain
Review: I had recently read teh book Rain by V.CAndrews. Rain takes place in the ghettos of Washington D.C. where the main character, Rain Arnold, lives. Rain grows up in "The Projects" with her mother, stepfather, sister Beni, and brother Roy where gangsters live,people kill people as an everyday living, and everyone does "pot" there too. Rain is smart and gets good grades; she is always helping her mother around the house and tries to be a good daughter. Her sister Beni on the other hand always gets herself into trouble and hangs with the wrong crowd. Rain tries to avoid the streets as much as she can. Her brother Roy looks over the two girls and warns them to stay away from trouble. In a few situations both Rain and her sister are forced in bad situations that lead her sister,Benji, to death. Their mother is hard working and caring, while her husband is a drunk who loses every job he gets. Rian's mother was so devastated by haering this awful news so one day, Rain's mother decides to tell Rain that she isn't really her real mother. Her real mother is living somewhere else and her mother wants to send Rain to her mother's house.She says that it is too dangerous for Rain to live in this horrible, unnsafe place.So Rain is sent to live with the wealthy Hudson family. Even though Rain always thought that she didn't fit into the place she was raised, she is also out of place living in the big mansion and all the wealthy things given to her that she never had. Rain joins an all girls school and finds a talent in theater and soon finds a guy that she likes too. But bad things happen with her and hte boy and soon she may find out that she is pregnant. Her brother Roy, then calls Rain and tells her that her mother is really sick and has just passed away because of cancer. Rain's life is really depressing yet joyful at some times. I really enjoyed this book and I think that you should read it.
My favorite part in the story was hte part where Rain had found out that her sister had been shot to death by gangster members. But when people try to help her, as soon as she mentions hte name gamgster member, all hte people rann away or walked away like they didn't even talk to her. I thought that was sad because many people nowadays only think about themselves now. The world today is so selfish and yet so cautious.
I would recommend this book for teenagers ages thirteen to adults. Thisbook is a really intersting book that can get you into the book a lot. I liked it because you could imagine yourself as th character itself going through all th pain and suffering Rain had to go through. You would really like this book too if you like depressing yet happy books.You should read this book.Rain never makes you want to put the book down. Trust me........it's really good.
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