4.5 
 Though I still think Flowers in the Attic has been the best in the Dollanger series (so far), I have to give If There Be Thorns a 4.5/5 due to Bart's characterization and his obvious deterioration. In my opinion, Bart was the best part of the book. He was definitely an interesting character--perhaps one of my literary favorites, honestly--and, though he was twisted in many ways, I came to love him. Though I realize the switching POVs were necessary to the plot, I feel like Jory's narration paled in comparison to Bart's. I like Jory too, but I feel like he doesn't have the same character depth that Bart has. 9/10 is definitely an easy age to be manipulated and influenced and John did good work of that. With both John and Corrine gone, it'll be interesting to see what the rest of the series bring for Bart and the rest of the Dollanger/Foxworth/Sheffield family. Looking forward to it!