The “Flowers in the Attic” books (also known as The Dollanganger Saga) by VC Andrews were the first real adult books I ever read. The only reason I even read them was because the mother of my best friend at the time owned them and had them locked in a glass bookcase for all to see, but not touch. My friend and her siblings would always say those were dirty books, which is why their mom locked them up. So of course me, being in the 7th grade, purchased them the next time I went with my mom to the grocery store. I actually bought it at the Crown Bookstore that was next-door to the local Giant.

I remember not being able to put “Flowers” down and reading it in the span of 24 hours. Then I of course had to buy the rest. I remember “Petals on the Wind,” which was the longest of the books if memory serves me, took me forever to get through. It wasn’t as gripping as the horror of the first. It basically was just about the abusive relationship they all ended up in. The third was down right twisted, and the forth was just a depressing ending to it all.

If you have been living under a rock, Lifetime TV has made movies of the first two books. “Flowers” aired in January and “Petals” just aired tonight. I will say that the “Flowers” movie disappointed me. The acting of the main kids was terrible, I didn’t feel the fear or terror in the book, and even the dirty scenes just weren’t shocking. I was actually rooting for them all to just die by the end. However Lifetime greenlit the sequel even before the original aired, and it’s a good thing they did, because it might not have come about it they waited for the reception “Flowers” got from many like myself. “Petals” was phenomenal! It was definitely better than the book. Whereas I hated that they cut so much out of “Flowers,” the cuts to “Petals” were welcomed. I haven’t read these since I was 12/13, but I plan to reread them over the summer and before “Thorns” and “Seeds” air.

Oh yes, Lifetime is making all four of the original books into movies. There is no word whether “Gardens,” which was a prequel about the Grandmother and Grandfather, will become a film.