The Wildflower Quartet, Star's story- completed

Star had a pretty rough life to this point. After she was forced to live with her grandmother, she and her brother were finally given a chance to be children. Her grandmother put them both in school, and they were adjusting to their new lives. They were never really good at school, and she made sure to mention that it never did get any better, despite their change in lifestyles. Star finally met a boy when she was 16, and it was someone that she could completely relate to. He had a very similar life to what she had grown up in. He held back a lot of his past, but what he did let out was that his dad had killed his mother in a drunk driving accident when he was very young. He was released to care for their son, and became a heavy alcoholic to cover up his hurt from the death of his wife. The result of this was severe beatings to his son. His mother left an inheritence to him- and made sure that his father would not be able to touch it. Star spent an evening at his house one night, and described how it was unkept- and how it looked like nobody in the home knew how to take care of it. He made dinner for them both, and they retreated to his bedroom before his father and girlfriend showed up drunk. When it was time for Star to leave, his dad was home harassing them both. Steve argued back, but showed no signs that an argument like this was anything new for him. He promised to meet Star at the locker in the morning, but did not show. She went to check on him after school, and found that his dad had left a large bruise on his face. She blamed herself for his pain, and they went inside. They wound up having sex that day, and she hurried to leave before his dad came home again. She was completely in love with him. He promised to meet her the next morning, and he did not show. Since he had the bruise on his face, she figured that maybe he was worried he would be picked on for it. The following day when he did not show, she went to his counselor at the school. She expressed her concerns about what had been happening, and he informed her that he had been a domestic violence victim a couple nights prior, and was in a coma at the hospital. Star went, and stayed by his side (pretending to be his sister). Eventually, he passed. She was mortified. They were planning their lives together, and his father killed him. She was oblivious to the world around her, and wound up walking into the middle of a busy highway. She almost got hit by passing cars, but hospital staff was able to get her. She hadnt seen him since, because everyone thought it was a bad idea for her to attend any funeral, or to see his grave.
When it was time for her to leave the therapy session, she asked her grandmother to take her to his grave the next morning so that she could say goodbye to him. She wanted to move on.

The Wildflower Quartet, Star's story

So over the past couple nights, I was able to complete the first 5 chapters of Star's story. Star is much different from Misty, she is black, and is being raised by her grandmother in a poor part of town (Misty was very rich). Star was raised in a home where it was normal for her mom to go out drinking, and leave her in charge of her brother for hours. After many issues with her moms drinking, her dad left them all- never to return. This made her moms drinking even worse, and  Star made more frequent trips to see her grandmother. Star's mom and her (new) step-dad decided to take a trip for a weekend without the kids and left them with their grandmother, while they were gone they were evicted from their apartment. Her mother knew what was going to happen, and decided to leave the kids with their grandma, and left things that way. I left off here, to wonder what kinds of trouble Star got into, because she had mentioned that the therapy was court ordered, and the state payed for it... I don't really like Star's story all that much, there is a lot of child abuse involved, and it is really depressing, where Misty's story was depressing, but it still had humor in it.

The Wildflower Quartet, Misty...

I finished reading Misty's story. It was interesting, so it held my attention all the way until the end! Her story was more or less the same type of happenings throughout, but with a few twists and turns to mix things up a little. She liked to make observations about the other girls and how they react to her story, and she appears to think that everyone is relating to her in one way or another. Her story ends with how she got placed in therapy- she ran away from home with a new boyfriend, and got caught shortly after he robbed a convenience store (she was oblivious to it until after they got pulled over). She was placed in therapy to deal with the painful happenings of the divorce, so she can go on to be a more balanced person.
I am really looking forward to seeing how the next girl, Star's story goes!

The Wildflower Quartet

"The Wildflower Quartet, V.C. Andrews, 1999.

I haven't read a V.C. Andrews book in a really long time, so this week I decided to pick one up and give it a shot. I remember the mystery and suspense in the stories, and always wanting to read more, and from what I have read so far, the feeling is still the same!
The story begins being told by a girl named Misty. Her parents are divorcing, and she is stuck in the middle. She has been seeing a therapist, and is being put in a group setting where 4 girls meet and discuss their lives- kind of like having someone to relate to.
Misty is the first one to tell her story, and tells of how her parents lived, how they treated her, differences that she has noticed in herself and her home, and how these things made her feel. She draws a lot of emotion out of the girls she is telling her story to, whether it be sadness, or anger, even some laughter. Misty notices the subtle changes in people demeanors, and describes them in detail.
The last chapter I completed, Misty had been dating a boy from her school, a boy who said his parents were divorced too. He was proper, said all the right things, and was very rich. But when she finally gave in to his "needs", he turned on her. She was not experienced enough, and he made sure she knew it. She found out the following day that his parents were not even divorced, and he had been lying to her about it all. I am really looking forward to reading more of Misty's story, and even into the other girls stories as well!