Published by: Simon & Schuster
Publication Date: First published February 26, 2013
Series: The Forbidden, #1
Genre: Young Adult
400 pages
Format: eBook
Source: Purchased
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Buy: Amazon, Book Depository, Kobo
Find on Goodreads
Sypnosis:
Emmie Wilcox was only six when her older sister, Roxy, was thrown out of their New York City apartment. Their stern father’s military-style rules left no room for rebellion, and Roxy was continually defiant and rebellious. Emmie, now an outstanding student at a private school, is obedient, respectful, a fille parfaite, as her Parisian-born mother lovingly calls her. Two sisters, total opposites—yet Emmie is secretly obsessed with the mystery and imposed silence surrounding Roxy: What had she finally done to deserve being cast out of her home? Where is she now? Emmie can’t help but wonder if there is a hidden side to her that resembles Roxy’s defiant nature. Sometimes she fantasizes that she is more like Roxy than she appears. Sometimes she wants to be. She wants excitement, and being a good girl all the time is harder than it seems. Finally learning that Roxy is a highly paid escort to wealthy and powerful men, Emmie goes behind her father’s back to track down and spy on the sister she can’t help but be fascinated with, a sister whose influence might run deeper than Emmie ever dreamed.
Review:
I’ve been wanting to try reading books from V.C. Andrews the moment I watched a movie based from her book. It was a long time ago so I forgot the title. I just remember about this author when I was looking for some books to read in my Kindle. I’ve haphazardly added some of her stories that I could find in my TBR before so it was pretty hard to pick what book to start. But I remembered that the movie I’ve watched has something to do about sisters, so I chose this one.
I noticed in its first chapter how well written this story is. It even reminded me of MHClark’s writing style. It’s so easy to read because they use very easy to comprehend words. Their way of amusing you is not on what are the words or terms they know but on how to make its readers focus witht their story without having to consult the dictionary the meaning of the words they’ve encountered.
This story started with the main character’s POV, Emmie, wherein she talks about her older sister and how she became the forbidden child. We were also introduced about her strict father and how her big sister, Roxy, hated him. We also got to find out how their hatred started and nourished until the time comes that their father kicked her out of their house and forbade them to talk about her. And because of that, she struggled to become the perfect daughter her parents, especially her father would be proud of.
I really thought at first that the forbidden sister was Roxy, but when I’ve got to read more about this story, I realized that it’s Emmie. This story started pretty slow but changed paced when it came to the conflict part and then back to slow pace again. But what’s interesting is that, just like Emmie, Im intrigued about Roxy too. Nothing was mentioned about what happened to her the moment she was kicked out from their house so that’s quite a letdown, but when I found out about the second book, I became excited!
I’m not totally sure about the conflict part though, it was a little cruel especially to a teenager like Emmie. But I guess it’s all for the best, because of that, she got reunited with her sister. And little by little, the tough Roxy is starting to care again.
The POV were all from Emmie, the betrayal, the hurt and sadness she felt were just too much to read. The characters were fine, plus they’re so easy to keep track too since there’s not much of them.
The idea of having a prodigal son/sister in the family and a strict father isn’t new to me. But even if the idea of this story is quite cliché, I have to say that the twist and turns surprised me. I may not have been a fan of how the story was written in quite a slow pace, I could still honestly say that I enjoyed it. This story isn’t something that will make you sob but will sure to make you soft because of its family theme.
This story talks about family and that blood is really thicker than water. It may not have received a higher star from me, but it’s still a good read. It’s my first time from the author, and I’m sure it wouldn’t be my last. *wink
Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
Buy: Amazon, Book Depository, Kobo
Reading this book contributed to the following challenges:
- 2017 New To Me
- 2017 Mount TBR Reading
- 2017 eBooks Reading
- 2017 You Read How Many Books?
- 2017 Review Writing