Interesting Notes

Olivia Gordon Vs. Olivia Foxworth:

I noticed, while reading "Olivia," that there are several things about Olivia Gordon Logan that resemble the Olivia Foxworth of the Dollanganger series.

For example:

Both are very headstrong women who are sensible and in total control of their lives.
Both assist their father's in the family business - that business being a financial company.
Both vie for the love of a handsome man (Malcolm & Nelson) who are both attracted to the one person the character is jealous of because of beauty and femininty (Alicia & Belinda).
Both had two sons, both pretty much forced on them. And after having the sons, both took in a daughter not their own yet raised it as her own. Then when the daughter was older, they turned on the Olivia's and ran away with "brother/uncle" and "cousin/thought-was-brother." Then they return with their kid(s) after the person they ran away with died in an accident. --CGf83

A Coincidence?

Each heroine seems to start off the first book as a poor child, but by the second books, she has come into a large amount of money from a family she didn't know of at first.

The Incest

This is a theme that seems to run throughout most of Ms. Andrew's books, whether it be of the characters own free will or whether it be by force.

Dollanganger - Chris & Cathy; Corrine & Chris Sr;
Casteel - Heaven & Troy
Cutler - Philip & Dawn; Philip & Christie
Landry - Paul & Ruby
Logan - Chester & Haille; Melody & Cary
Orphans - Raven & Reuben
Wildflowers - Cat & Mr. Carson (though he is only an adoptive parent)

Cover Art

Ever notice the differences between the cover art and the way characters are described in each book?

Well, take the cover of "Heaven" for instance. In the book, the portrait doll is described with silvery blond hair the same as Angel had. But if you look closely at the cover, Heaven is holding on tightly to a dark haired doll.

Other examples are the Landry covers. Paul is described as having chatlin hair which is a mixture of blond and brown. But on the cover of "Ruby," Paul is portrayed as having very dark brown hair. Plus, Gabriel/Gabrielle is described as having hair color very similar to Ruby & Giselle's, but on the cover of "Tarnished Gold," Gabriel is a dirty blond.

"Misty" shows us a slender pretty young girl who seems to pretty much fit the description of how Misty is described in the book with one minor flaw... She mentions in the book being about 5 feet even. The girl on the cover sure does have long legs for such a petite young lady.

On the cover of "Olivia," you see an attractive woman holding a baby (Olivia Gordon Logan) and a woman (Belinda Gordon) being held back by a nurse. That woman is not very attractive, or should I say not as attractive to the eye as Olivia is. But throughout the Logan series, it is stated that Belinda was the beauty of Provincetown. Wonder what the artist was thinking?

After finishing the book, I think I have figured this one out. The drawing was made to represent how Belinda looked after giving birth to Haille, how she had completely stopped caring for herself... I have received so many emails about this. But since I am sure a lot of people thought the same thing when just looking at the cover, I will leave this up.

In The Wildflowers series, Almost all 5 books talk about at some point how large Cathy's breast are. How developed she is for her age. Yet the cover art, although it covers her chest area with her arms, shows a girl with obviously small breasts. (Otherwise you would be able to see them past her arm in the cover of "Into the Garden"). --Ireland1977

Ok so have you noticed that the Dollanganger family was supposed to be known as the Dresden Dolls and the envy of every family, etc? Well on EVERY cover I've seen, Chris and Cathy are nothing to boast about. They look very homely, especially on "Petals On The Wind," especially Cathy and Carrie had this ghostly light around them and had blood shot eyes and looked DEAD. --Ola Kola

The Fan's Observations

After finishing almost all of the Dollanganger series, I realized the wording in the Cutler and Dollanganger books are a lot alike... One line that caught my attention was in SotM and PotW: " 'How beautiful you are.' he said with a low sigh. 'I remember when you were younger. You were so shy about your body, always wanting to wear loose sweaters so I couldn't see,' " - Jimmy, pg. 94 of SofM. And " 'How beautiful your breasts are,' he said with a low sigh, leaning to nuzzle them. 'I remember you were flat, and then you began to grow. You were so shy about them, always wanting to wear loose sweaters so I couldn't see' " - Chris, pg. 53 of PotW. Also, in FITA, Cathy mentions the words Heaven, Ruby, Melody, and Dawn. --ErinBear04

Oh and something I thought was very very strange when reading the Logan series. Melody was constantly almost being raped. First by her half brother Adam, then by the guy who she hitchhiked with, then Cary almost forced himself on her when she wanted him to stop, then by Spike the aspiring actor/Dorothy's driver, and by Archie Marlin. It's not very common to be attacked this many times with in a span of less than six months usually. --GGf83

In a LOT of the books: "Her hands flew to her mouth/throat like frightened little birds." --EAPoe299

Raven Vs. Melody: In Raven and in Melody: Uncle Rueben and Aunt Clara; Uncle Jacob and Aunt Sara; Both uncles being overbearing cruel "ogres" who insist that the female heroine are "just like their mother" and are a "bad seed." --EAPoe299

In almost every book is the phrase "In my secret put-away-heart-of-hearts" or something like that, I don't have book handly right now. I love the phrase, but it is a little tiresome. --Krysta

Raven Vs. Darkest Hour: In Raven and in Darkest Hour: Both the uncles (Papa and Uncle Rueben) go through the belt-whoopin' scene, almost exact same motions. --EAPoe299

Philip/Dawn Vs. Cathy/Chris: In Dawn, when Philip rapes Dawn, it says: "Suddenly I felt his hardness press itself firmly against me until he forced in that swollen, rigid male sex part of him that had to be satisfied. It drove into my tight and resisting flesh, which tore and bled." In FITA, when Chris Jr. rapes Cathy, it says: "And that's where he took me, and forced in that swollen, rigid male sex part of him that had to be satisfied. It drove into my tight and resisting flesh which tore and bled." --HeartSong

Julian Marquet Vs. Dr. Jackson Weller: I have made an observation. In Petals on the Wind, Cathy describes Julian like this: "Then smiled to show his very white and perfect teeth. His dark eyes sparkled wickedly. His skin was as fair as mine though in contrast to his dark hair it made him look too pale. His strong chin sported a devil's cleft and another dimple in his right cheek teased in and out at his will." Then in Hidden Jewel, Pearl describes Jack Weller, the man who almost raped her, like this: "He widened his smile to show me his very white and perfect teeth. His dark eyes sparkled wickedly when I put my hand into his. His skin was as fair as mine though in contrast to his dark hair it made him look a little too pale. His strong chin sported a devil's cleft and another dimple in his right cheek flashed in and out apparently at will." I thought that was funny! --Donna Marie

Julian Marquet Vs. Dr. Jackson Weller AGAIN: Here is something I noticed while re-reading Hidden Jewel. Below is the description of Dr. Jack Weller. (pg 60) "He rose to his full five feet eleven inches and extended his hand. He widened his smile to show me his very white and perfect teeth. His dark eyes sparkled wickedly when I put my hand into his. He folded his fingers over it quickly. His skin was as fair as mine, though in contrast to his dark hair, it made him look a little too pale. His strong chin sported a devil's cleft and another dimple in his right cheek flashed in and out apparently at will."
Sound like a familiar, original V.C. Andrews character? (Julian Marquet, POTW, page 57-58) " 'Break a leg,' he whispered, then smiled to show his very white and perfect teeth. His dark eyes sparkleed wickedly. He was taller than most male dancers, almost six feet, and soon I'd learn he was nineteen. His skin was as fair as mine, though in contrast to his dark hair it make him look too pale. His strong chin sported a devil's cleft and another dimple in his right cheek teased in and out at his own will."
Sounds like the GW ran out of ideas! --Kara

Cutler Vs. Landry: Here's a similarity between the Landry and Cutler series.
1) Dawn dated Philip before learning they were related, and she married the man she grew up believing was her brother (Jimmy).
2) Ruby dated Paul before learning they were related, and later "married" him.

Religion: In almost every single series there is always some Bible bearing, cruel adult (usually) who beats the gospel into the main character relentlessly. (i.e. Uncle Jacob in Logan series, Papa Booth & Emily Booth in Cutler series, Olivia Foxworth, Malcolm, Joel AND John Amos Jackson in Dollanganger series, etc.) The main character almost always has major religious struggles to go along with that, most of the time resulting from the aforementioned. This is most likely because Ms. Andrew's grandfather forced her mother to go to church 3 times weekly, usually her mother would drag her along too. (Poe-I wonder what you would think to my saying that VC's only "religious, Bible spouting characters were from the Doll series and the above-mentioned others were Neiderman's own characters?" Do you think he just followed VC's righteous [hehe] lead? It's a good possibility.)

Predictability: I also observed that always, with the exception of the Dolls and the mini series, the main character always goes away to school so there family can be rid of them. And always in that second book they meet an older man whom they love or he just loves them (Ruby and Louis, Dawn and Michael, Heaven and Troy, Rain and Randall...) Is this just a coincidence? And they always get pregnant by the end of the third, if not before that. I like the books but the pattern is getting a little old. --Donna Marie

Hudson Vs. Cutler: Reasons we think the Hudson series is a repackaged version of the Cutler series:

1. Both lived with people who are not their parents, one "older brother" and one "younger sister" but become reunited with their [real] family in the first book.
2. Both have a real older brother and younger sister.
3. Both went to schools involved in theater.
4. Both got pregnant by the older man (Michael Sutton/Austin Clarke) in their lives.
5. Both were desired by their real older brother.
6. Both made love with the man they grew up thinking was their real brother (Jimmy/Roy).
7. Both had a cruel younger sister (although in the Hudson series, the younger sister wasn't as cruel as Clara Sue).--Jenny D.

Rain Vs. Ice

I just read Ice and noticed that her father, Cameron, said "yes mam, no mam" just the way mamma Arnald always said it in Rain. That just struck me as neat. --Emily

I, too, have seen the blatant plagiarism by Mr. Neiderman in the later books: the rape of Dawn by Phillip in Dawn most especially. It makes a mockery of that unforgettable scene in FITA between Cathy and Chris. The last series I read to completion was the Ruby series and even that was like pulling teeth. It was a horrible tragedy when V.C. Andrews died and I'm sure the estate thought they were doing the right thing to continue her legacy, but to be quite honest, they should have let the books die with her. Pardon the cliche, but she would be rolling over in her grave right now if she could see her name on this trash! To anyone who disgrees, read the Dollanganger, Casteel and My Sweet Audrina novels and compare them with the rest. It's as if they were written by two completely different people, right? Guess what? They were! It seems sad that all the powers that be care about is churning out more money off of a dead woman's name. In my opinion, the only true V.C. Andrews books are the Dollanganger and Casteel series, and My Sweet Audrina, as these were the books published before her death or shortly afterwards. --Nikki