My Sweet Audrina by V.C. Andrews (Book Review)

My Sweet Audrina by V.C. Andrews (Details)

Book Title: My Sweet Audrina
Book Author: V.C. Andrews
Series: The Audrina Series
Date Published: August 23, 1982
ISBN: 978-1442420182
Number Of Pages: 464
Achievements: Lifetime Movie
My Rating: ★★★★
Find It On: Amazon | GoodReads
Jump to: My Sweet Audrina (Summary) | My Sweet Audrina (Book Review) | Discussion

My Sweet Audrina (Summary)

My Sweet Audrina by V.C. Andrews is the story of a young girl cut off from the world while growing up in a very dysfunctional environment. Her older sister, who was also named Audrina, died tragically before Audrina #2 was even born. Now, she must live in the shadows of the “Perfect Audrina,” who left a legacy she can never live up to.

Living with her in the house is her father, her mother, her aunt, and her cousin.

Her father, Damian, is overprotective and insists that Audrina has special abilities. His love for her is overshadowed by the memory of his lost daughter, so he locks her in dead Audrina’s room and forces her to meditate in a rocking chair.

Her mother, Lucietta, focuses on the life she could have had if she was never married. Her aunt, Ellsbeth, is a jaded woman who seems to hate everyone in the family, including her own daughter, Vera.

Once a week, Lucietta and Ellsbeth have tea parties with the ghost of an old friend. The ghost isn’t real, so Lucietta and Ellsbeth speak for her and use the tea parties as a way to further insult each other.

Worst of all is cousin Vera. Older than Audrina, she doesn’t attempt to hide her hatred and jealousy of young Audrina and will stop at nothing to get the attention she thinks she deserves.

Our sweet Audrina, however, has problems of her own. Her memory constantly fails her and she constantly loses track of time, forgetting whole days, weeks, and months. As Audrina grows up in this house, she is constantly reminded that she will never be as perfect as Audrina #1. Her early years are spent trying to be like the “perfect Audrina,” but as she grows up, she decides to be her own person.

My Sweet Audrina (Book Review)

V.C. Andrews is a brilliant writer. Her ability to weave such a psychologically twisted tale amazes me. Her character development is spot on in terms of fully understanding character motives and seeing how they grow and change as they live their messed up lives.

Throughout the book, I found myself changing my opinion about each and every character several times. I liked Audrina’s father, Damien, at times, hated him through most of the book, and even pitied him a few times. Cousin Vera was the hardest to like, but there were times where I was actually feeling sorry for her, despite some of the awful things she had done. I even found myself wavering in my opinion of Audrina.

I will say that some of this book was predictable, however, I believe that V.C. Andrews wanted the reader to figure out things before Audrina did. Several points were a bit redundant, but again, I feel that it is because the author wanted the reader to be clued in.

I really liked this book and know that I would have loved it in my teen years. A dark, twisted, dysfunctional family story has always been a must read for me.

Discussion: Do you ever go back and re-read books from childhood favorite authors?

Remembering liking the author from my pre-teen years and realizing that I never actually read this book, I decided to take the plunge and read it. From page one, V.C. Andrews’ writing took me back to those troubling pre-pubescent days when I’d devour all of the dark and twisted stories I could get my hands on.