was this poorly written? yes. was the subject matter completely appalling and fucked up? yes. did I enjoy the ride? absolutely. 

rereading this as an adult, I can't believe I was allowed to own these as a child and I was reading them for the first time in MIDDLE SCHOOL. my parents should be shot on sight. 

don't judge me. this is my bachelor. this is my love island. this is my house wives of -insert here- now let me be and mind ya business.

This book felt like it was written for a younger adult audience-but with hard themes such as bullying, abuse, incest, rape and kidnapping. I actually did not enjoy many parts of this story but kept reading it to find a satisfying conclusion. I got very irritated with the sexism-specifically the roles the females were expected to play in the Cutler family and the several comments about Dawn being pretty. They ere not complimentary comments, they were more like "At least you're pretty. You are just too pretty. Your mother will like that you are pretty, at least." UGH! I did enjoy the way it ended and I did feel that the MC, Dawn, matured a little through the book. But overall I would not recommend this story.

When I first picked up this book I dint know it was by the same person who wrote Flowers in the Attic, so that was a warning sign. Why the incest? What does that add to the plot? Why is VC Andrews obsessed with incest??? It disgusting 
Edit: Apparently it’s because “They're modeled after gothic romances, only instead of a woman fearing her husband or suitor, they're about children who grow to fear their families” but I totally think that you can write a novel about someone fearing their family without rape and incest be a major thread in a majority of you books… just saying