Girl in the Shadows by Virginia Andrews

April Taylor isn't a little girl any more - but who is she really? The home she once shared with her parents and her older sister Brenda might have been filled with turmoil, but it was the only home she had ever known. Now, with nowhere to go in the wake of losing her mother and father, April has to grow up fast as she embarks on an odyssey of heartbreak and betrayal.

It is mere chance that leads her to the secluded home of a kindly elderly woman and her deaf teenage granddaughter, Echo. Here, April finds a refuge from her mixed-up life, and from the confusion that severed her relationship with Brenda, after an encounter with Brenda's girlfriend, Celia. But when a dangerous couple arrives with greedy intentions, April discovers they will take advantage of her very special friendship with Echo to get what they want. Now, April's survival depends on being true to the one person she's never fully accepted: herself.

Following on from April Shadows the central character once again being April Taylor, taken in by the kindly old lady and then there is Echo a deaf girl who is being tutored by Tyler, who at first seems quite un-friendly especially towards April and Echo takes a liking to him.

April still has quite a low opinion of herself in that she is overweight and that just adds to her problems, and that would seem the least of her problems when the elderly lady's daughter, Rhona arrives. Rhona, is also Echo's mother who left her daughter 10 years ago and has barely contacted her in all that time and arrives with her boyfriend, Skeeter in tow.

Overall a good read, as good as April Shadows I think and not as disturbing as the last series by VA I read.

The Gemini Trilogy by Virginia Andrews

Book One - Celeste

Warning: Contains spoilers!!!

He was her mirror image. Now the mirror has cracked. Celeste and her identical twin brother, Noble, are as close as can be - until a tragic accident takes Noble's life. It's a loss that pushes their mother, a woman obsessed with New Age superstitions, over the edge. Desperate to keep her son 'alive', Celeste's mother forces her to cut her hair, wear boys' clothes - and take on Noble's identity. Celeste has virtually disappeared - until a handsome boy moves in next door, and Celeste will risk her mother's wrath to let herself come back to life.

This book was in some ways quite disturbing, Celeste is the least favourite from her Mother's point of view so losing her son Noble is truly devastating, by turning Celeste in to Noble is quite traumatic, the one part was when Celeste was on the toilet doing well what girls do! But, then her Mother tells her she must stand up to have a wee!!! It makes you wonder if she truly believed Celeste was Noble and just what went through the womans head.

Losing a child is traumatic for any Mother (and Father) but, I felt really no pity for her by what she done to Celeste and practically ruining her life by making her be someone she wasn't.

However, a family move in next door, a man with 2 children a boy and girl. The boy tries to befriend Celeste/Noble hlthough he doesn't seem terribly friendly but, anyway finds "Noble" and his Mother quite strange until one day he discovers that "Noble" is a girl, the upshot is Celeste/Noble becomes pregnant and has a child called Celeste setting the scene for the next book.

Though this book may seem strange and at times disturbing it is so gripping, never a dull moment to be had.


Book Two - Black Cat

She hid her true self. Now the truth will be revealed ...Living a life of lies under the thumb of her widowed, spiritually obsessed mother, Celeste has been forced to take on the identity of her dead twin brother Noble. She's almost forgotten what it's like to be Celeste - except for the one thing that keeps her sane: caring for her darling daughter, Baby Celeste. But when Celeste's mother marries a kindly neighbour, a new breed of poisonous secrets and vicious enemies will force Celeste to do what she must - to survive the darkness ...

So now baby Celeste has arrived and some things she does seems to make her as strange as her Grandmother. Celestes mother passes baby Celeste off as her own and also marries the man who used to live next door who bizarrely is Baby Celestes Grandfather.

So Dave, the man next door and father to Elliott, Baby Celeste's father marries and moves in with Celeste's Mother, he also has a daughter betsy who is such a wild child and causes havoc, she eventually finds out that Celeste is not really Noble and is in fact Noble and then all hell breaks loose.

This episode was even more eventful than Celeste and I haven't even mentioned half the story here!


Book Three - Child of Darkness

As a child, she was Baby Celeste, the one thing that kept her mother in touch with reality. But now her mother is in an institution, and sixteen-year-old Celeste Atwell is alone in the world. Adopted by a wealthy couple, Celeste has everything a girl could desire: designer clothes, luxury cars, even a handsome boyfriend. But her indulgence may come at a steep price -- because the secrets hidden within her new family are too dangerous to keep under wraps....

Baby Celeste is growing into an adult and stays in her home until one day a young couple come along wanting a young girl to foster, Baby Celeste has lierally everything she could ever want, her own bedroom when she has been sharing with other girls all the colthes and make-up she could ever want and a rich boyfriend to boot.

This book was so disappointing, Baby Celeste's real Mum, Celeste makes practically no appearance in this book which is such a shame, it would have been better for Baby celeste to have spent the time trying to find out more about her past than the life she spent with her foster parents, and her foster mother did seem quite shallow and didn't really add much to the story.

I really enjoyed the series but, the last book was a bit of a letdown, but all in all highly gripping!

April Shadows by Virginia Andrews

APRIL HAD ALWAYS FELT LIKE AN OUTSIDER. Her older sister Brenda was tall, athletic, competitive, and sure of herself. But April Taylor was short, sensitive, and overweight -- and she couldn't bounce back from their father's cutting criticisms the way Brenda did.

April didn't know why their once-loving dad had become a coldhearted monster, but she was sure it had something to do with her. And she could see how his cruel behavior was tearing away at her gentle mother. But a glimmer of happiness returns when Brenda brings home her college roommate: beautiful, bewitching Celia. And April wonders if she might not be so different from Brenda after all.

It has been soooooooooo long since I read a Virginia Andrews book but, was in Books Etc and they had a 3 for 2 offer, I just couldn't find the last one so picked this up. The only others I read was the Dollanganer series and My Sweet Audrina.

This was quite different from the last series I read so nothing to compare, which is good. I found some of the characters a little irritating to start off with but, I guess that is just the way of them, I felt for April though but, Brenda was such a whinger!

The whole family for me seemed so pitiful but, there was something here that just wanted me to keep reading, the ending of the book was quite sad and I really felt (again!) for April so going to have to read the next one to find out what happens.

This book also dealt with homosexuality issues quite sensitively I thought, I have heard some reviews claim shock and covering this issue in this series but, Viriginia's past books cover incest and rape but, that's OK? Go figure ...

Its not a book I would highly recommend its quite an easy seemed almost a Young Adult read but, I like those so no complaints there, and it could also be quite depressing in parts so not one to read if your feeling down in the dumps!