Perhaps picking a book from the middle of a series was not a smart place to begin - however it was in my TBR and so I grabbed it. I do not feel I really needed to read the others, but it may have helped a little. Andrews has a certain style of writing that keeps me intrigued while reading, but later I recall very little of the book. (Except for the Flowers in the Attic series). I enjoyed it while reading, but fairly forgettable.