V.C. Andrews' writing style shines again in the "Thriller" novel of her Dollanganger Saga. 
 Unfortunately, while the writing itself is definitely worth its weight in gold (this is the REAL V.C. Andrews, after all, not her smelly ghostwriter who took over after she died, so I expected nothing less), that's about all that can be said for it. 
 It has good style, making you want to keep reading, but the characterization is rather appalling. 
 I liked Jory, and surprisingly this book DID redeem Corrine in my eyes; she was stupid and weak, but you can kind of see where she was coming from more. 
 That said, Bart was just such a horrid brat I wanted to take a paddle to his unfeeling hide. I saw the movie before reading this one, and let me just say that the movie managed to make Bart semi-understandable despite being a nutcase; here he's HORRIBLE, I truly HATED him more than I've hated any literary character in a long, long time. 
 Spoiled and whiny, he gets away with EVERYTHING because he's mentally disturbed and everyone feels sorry for him. But all of his POVs are long monologues about how he never gets what he wants. I was so disgusted with how the story ended, with him getting a gosh darned PONY! Screw that! If MY son locked me in a freaking wine cellar and threatened my adopted child AND my husband, I WOULD SURE AS HECK NOT BUY HIM A BLOODY PONY!!!! 
 And don't get me started on Chris and Cathy! Much as I like them and understand where they were coming from, I was APPALLED by how much of overly indulgent parents they'd both become. They spoil their children horribly, and give little ten year old Bart way more power over their lives than any child should have. Yes, I know Chris is Cathy's brother and all, but he is married to her here, so Bart has no right to tell them not to share a bed or to get rid of their adopted daughter. 
 So basically the story is all right, and the writing is fantastic, but I couldn't love this book because of the idiocy of Bart.