I don't really get this story...

First let me admit I just read Flowers in the Attic (I know, I know but I can't believe they actually let kids read this).

Second, I glanced at some reviews for this book so that may have skewed me a tiny bit.

Okay...shouldn't Christopher's diary be mainly about him? It was 85% Kristen. Maybe her story isn't that bad but when you want to know about Christopher and what he went through - her will pale in comparison.

I must admit I skim parts. A lot just wasn't that interesting.

And then the end. It could be a great plot to rope a reader into the next book but it actually creeped me more than anything. So I will pass on more from 'this' series but I will definitely head back to the original series.

This was a rough read. The writing is so redundant and basic. The story line isn't great either, though it got mildly interesting toward the end. If I could give half stars, I'd say this was a 1.5.

Very interesting novel. It relates to the original Dollanganger series by V.C. Andrews but focuses much more on the life of the teen girl reading Christopher's diary. Nothing more is learned about the 4 kids but it's a nice re-telling of their story. Recommend for anyone who enjoyed the first 5 books.

Sweet Jesus this was awful and not in the traditional VC Andrews awful way.

This book was not what I imagined it would be. I think Christopher's Diary: Secrets of Foxworth would be enjoyed by those who are unfamiliar entirely with the Dollanganger series as it follows someone who is finding out “the truth” for themselves. If you are familiar with Flowers in the Attic, but aren’t purely picking this up to see Christopher’s side of things, then you may also enjoy it. But if you are expecting to open this book and read Christopher’s Diary, you will be as disappointed as I was.

The majority of the book follows Kristin, a distant relative to Christopher, who finds his diary and becomes obsessed with reading it. We do get actual diary entries from Christopher, but we spend way more time with Kristin who has her own set of personal dramas, both family and socially, in addition to dealing with her secret diary reading obsession.

I’ll admit there is a clever meta-level element on reading about someone who is reading obsessively, and surely this speaks to readers, but I wanted to know what Christopher had to say. At least I thought I did. What we do actually get for the diary entries, I found they showed his character in a different light than I was expecting. He was way smarter than he could have been at the age of most of the entries were written, and seemed to think Cathy was pretty stupid. Although there are elements of both these threads in the books, he is so high and mighty about everything that it didn’t feel like the character I remembered.

I really wanted to like this book, and hope that it speaks to new readers of this saga, but it didn’t speak to me. I continue to struggle to enjoy companion series, and this one didn’t convert me. To add salt to the wound, this book alone isn’t a complete story which will continues throughout more books in it’s own series.

Disappointed by the revisionist details that do not feel true to the original novel. Super disappointed that the diary parts are written like (a diary, not a story) a vague summary, not immersive. I got very little of the Christopher story I was hoping for, which really colors this for me. :(

2023: I hate the girl in this book so much.


Original:Wow. Now I want to read the next book.

The literary equivalent of a Twinkie.