4 More Notes on My VC Andrews Challenge progress**contains spoilers
The next book in the Dollanganger series, "If There Be Thorns," is told from the points of view of Cathy's two sons, Jory and Bart. Jory is the son of Julian Marquet, her husband who died in a car accident (actually, he would have lived after the accident but he killed himself because he would never be able to dance again) while Bart is the son of Bartholomew Winslow, her lover and the husband of her mother who shoved her and her siblings in an attic which resulted in Cathy and her brother having sex.
Just to, you know, remind you of that.
The book alternates narrators and it's pretty easy to tell who's who: Jory, who is 14, talks like he's a teetotaling college professor while his 9 year old brother Bart says things like "don wanna" and "don like" and "ole witch." Eventually, as he reads his great-grandfather's memoir, Bart starts using language from the turn-of-the-century which makes him even more realistic.
So on we go...
1. Everything the boys learn about their parents' relationship and past is through eavesdropping. They are constantly listening to Cathy and Chris talking (usually pre or post-sex, god these two do it a lot) or their grandmother talking to her servant. Or they're reading the salacious stuff: Malcolm's memoir or Cathy's book. Why can't they actually talk to one another? Or at least listen to people other than family members? Lazy writing.
2. It takes months for Cathy and Chris to learn the identity of the woman who moved next door. Even considering they are out in the middle of nowhere, and their son is obviously troubled and spending a helluva lot of time over there, they can't be bothered to check out the weird old lady. And then when they do, each of them fails to immediately recognize their OWN MOTHER!
3. Just hours after learning that his parents are brother and sister, Jory finds it in his heart to tell Chris that he forgives them and would never want anyone else for a parent. This, by the way, while they are running in search of Cathy. Literally running. Somehow Jory manages to choke this revelation out between breaths. Then again, he is a dancer - destined to be the greatest male dancer the universe has ever known which, in the Land of the Real People, means absolutely nothing but in the Land of VC Andrews, it's the quickest route to fame and fortune.
4. After Cathy (that's Catherine Leigh, remember) stops dancing, she becomes a writer! Okay, like, am I following someone else's script? This was seriously freaky. I can't wait to read book four to see what I do next...maybe this should be called the "doppelganger series."
