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Four talented girls from vastly different pasts share a dream of stardom: Cinnamon, the edgy actress; Ice, the phenomenal vocalist; Rose, the beautiful dancer; and Honey, the first-rate violinist. The four meet at the prestigious Senetsky School of the Performing Arts -- housed in an ornate New York City mansion -- and become instant friends as they take off on a dazzling whirlwind of intense classes, theater outings, and celebrity-studded parties. And together they bend the strict house rules of Madame Senetsky, a famous actress who guarantees success for students under her tutelage.
But they soon realize this is no ordinary school. Madame Senetsky pushes the girls' studies beyond reason. She controls their social lives. And they get the strange feeling someone is watching them.
But who...and why?
Cinnamon, Ice, Rose, and Honey set out to untangle a shadowy web of Senetsky family secrets. As they explore dark corners and hidden rooms, every creak and moan of the old mansion tells a story too frightening to repeat. A devastating story that can destroy their dreams...
Andrews's novel Flowers in the Attic launched the popular genre sometimes dubbed "children in jeopardy" -- stories about young people abused, lied to, and preyed upon by their evil guardians. The author's own childhood was not nearly so lurid, though it did have an element of tragedy: As a teenager she had a bad fall, which resulted in the development of bone spurs. A botched surgery, combined with arthritis, forced her to use a wheelchair or crutches for the rest of her life.
Andrews lived with her mother and worked as a commercial artist until the 1970s, when she began to write in earnest. Most of her early stories and novels went unpublished (one exception was "I Slept with My Uncle on My Wedding Night," which appeared in a pulp confession magazine). Finally, in 1979, Flowers in the Attic made it into print. The book soared to No. 1 on the New York Times bestseller list and was followed by two equally successful sequels, Petals on the Wind and If There Be Thorns. Critics weren't always kind -- a Washington Post reviewer wrote that Flowers in the Attic "may well be the worst book I have ever read" -- but that didn't matter to millions of Andrews's readers, who devoured her gruesome fairy tales as fast as she could pen them.
As E. D. Huntley points out in V. C. Andrews: A Critical Companion, Andrews's novels fit neatly into the "female Gothic" tradition, in which an innocent young woman is trapped in an isolated mansion and persecuted by a villain. Andrews's own contribution was to take some of the themes implicit in early Gothic novels -- incest, sexual jealousy, and obsession -- and make them sensationally explicit in her works.
As most of her fans know by now, V. C. Andrews died in 1986, but new V. C. Andrews books keep popping up on the bestseller lists. That's because the Andrews estate hired a ghost writer, Andrew Neiderman, to continue writing books in the late author's style. Andrews's heirs have been cagey about just how much unfinished work she left behind when she died, but testimony during a 1993 tax case suggested that Andrews had only completed a portion of Garden of Shadows, the eighth book (out of more than 50) published under her name.
Still, even if the vast majority of "V. C. Andrews" books weren't actually written by V. C. Andrews, many of her fans are happy to have her tradition carried on. Neiderman has drawn on Andrews's novels, notebooks, and drawings for inspiration. "Don't make this sound weird," he once said in a Washington Post interview, "but sometimes I do feel possessed." To the original V. C. Andrews, who believed in precognition and reincarnation, it probably wouldn't sound weird at all.
Though V. C. Andrews went by the name Virginia, her birth name was Cleo Virginia Andrews, not Virginia Cleo Andrews. She had planned to publish her books under the name Virginia Andrews, but her first publisher printed Flowers in the Atticas the work of "V. C. Andrews" in hopes that the gender-neutral name would make the book appealing to male readers.
Anonymous
Posted May 26, 2005
'Falling Stars' is a good mystery about 4 talented girls and and 2 talented boys. The girls become sisters while they are at a very famous actress's school for the gifted. Then, just like that, the girls find a peeping tom in their windows and want to know who it is. This book is very good and I would recommend it to anyone who enjoys a good mystery. Some parts can be very chilling.
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Posted November 18, 2004
I most definitely liked this book. It was a total page turner. Once I picked it up, I could not put it down. I love V. C. Andrew's books. Ever since I read 'Rain' from the Hudson series, I was in love with her work. It has been over a year since I have read this book, but it was awesome. Go out and get it!
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Posted January 8, 2005
I love V.C. Andrews and thought Falling Stars was a great book. It was a real page turner and held my interest. It was so well-written. I've read it again many times, its so good and I don't get tired of the plot or sometimes funny dialogue. Recommended to anyone even if they aren't a V.C. Andrews fan.
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Posted March 10, 2004
The book Falling Stars is really good and I think that every girl should read it. My favorite character out of all these would have to b Ice and Honey because Ice has a smart mouth like me, as for Honey she is really funny when Edmund or one of the boys say something that doesn't make since or is picking on her.
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Posted January 7, 2004
It would seem that this Rachel the college student is quite the critic, and she really don't have much good to say, how do you find the time to study Rachel, if all it seems you do is read V.C. Andrew books!
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Posted February 24, 2003
This book is okay. Not spectacular. I don't remember too much about it...it's been about a year or so since I've read it.
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Posted January 26, 2003
This is one of these books which I couldn't put down, I had to keep reading onto these 4 different girls lives and talents. Relate to one in each way, I have read all the books and suggest for any teenager to read, like myself.
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Posted September 17, 2002
The 1st V.C. Andrews series that I read. Very good. People always wonder what happens behind the scenes of stardome, this is sort of like a behind the scenes look. It was a very dramatic page-turner, I couldn't put it down! Plus, I've already read it four times!
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Posted September 18, 2002
This book is full of mysery, love, and the tale of how 4 girls far form home get to know each other and become more like sisters
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Posted September 8, 2002
Like all of V.C. Andrews' books this ones speaks to me. It is so good. I can't believe her books can have so much drama. The first book I read by her was the orphans series and I was hooked after that. This book takes my breath away.
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Posted September 13, 2002
This book didn't live up to my expectatitions. The plot was so typical. The way that V.C andrews had described Ice , Rose , Cinnamon , and Honey you would think that we would be interesterd in hearing from all of them. The bok was really boring , I would have much perfered to read about how they got along in show business , their futues , careers , etc . So if you want to see what happend , don't buy this book , take it out from youur local libary .
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Posted July 4, 2002
I really liked this Book and the Whole series of them. I thought that the mystery in the book really lead up to the story and that around every twist and turn there was a different situation that you wouldnt of thought of.. Great book and very well written.
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Posted May 25, 2002
Overall, a good book but some of it was quite predictable.
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Posted March 29, 2002
this book was very interesting. i had just the right touch in the begining to keep you interested and in the end... well, you dont want to stop reading. it really makes you feel for the characters and the emotions run high. very good book overall.
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Posted January 27, 2002
This book was amazing every page brought something new this book kept me reading a real thriller I recommend this book to anyone who knows what it's like to want
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Posted February 24, 2002
It was a pretty good book. I loved Cinnamon the best and all the characters were different and each had a special talent.
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Posted February 22, 2002
but whats with the falling stars book on the internet they haev a picture of Misty Star Jade and Cat and on the book its Cinnamon Ice Rose and honey its weird does anyone know why please e mail me orlando_bloom41@hotmail.com
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Posted December 23, 2001
i could not put this down.it just goods to show you things are not as they seem.
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Posted April 26, 2011
No text was provided for this review.
Anonymous
Posted September 30, 2010
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Overview
All The World's A Stage -- but What If The Play Doesn't Go As Planned?
Four talented girls from vastly different pasts share a dream of stardom: Cinnamon, the edgy actress; Ice, the phenomenal vocalist; Rose, the beautiful dancer; and Honey, the first-rate violinist. The four meet at the prestigious Senetsky School of the Performing Arts -- housed in an ornate New York City mansion -- and become instant friends as they take off on a dazzling whirlwind of intense classes, theater outings, and celebrity-studded parties. And together they bend the strict house rules of Madame Senetsky, a...