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The newest V.C. Andrews' book, Out of the Attic, was released last week from Gallery Books, which is the 10th book in the Dollanganger Saga/Family series that originally began in 1979 with Flowers in the Attic. That story involved four children being forced to live in an attic by a greedy mother and their crazy grandmother. Toss in a bit of incest into the mix, the novel turned became a bestseller despite being challenged by schools and libraries due to its dark themes. Three sequels were published before V.C. Andrews' death in 1986. A ghostwriter, Andrew Neiderman, was hired to finish writing the prequel novel, Garden of Shadows, and to continue the Casteel series, as well as penning all future V.C. Andrews' titles.

"Once upon time, there was four siblings who were forced by their mother to live in their grandparent's attic for nearly 3 ½ years. Thanks to a crazed grandmother, rat poison, and a little bit of incest, the children's experience in the attic was a nightmare."

Does the story sound familiar?

Pocket Books; 368 pages; $7.99; Amazon

I believe almost every reader has heard of the author of V.C. Andrews or has read one of her books. Ms. Andrews got the attention of the world when her first "Dollanganger"novel (Flower in the Attic) was published in 1979. Teenagers and some adult readers couldn't get enough of the Gothic novel about four siblings being forced to live in an attic, though many libraries and schools banned the title and it's sequels due to the "taboo" love story.

In 1982, the standalone novel "My Sweet Audrina" was published. It centered on a young girl, Audrina, who was forced to live in her older sister's footsteps (the First Audrina), well, so she thought so. If you've read the book, then you are well aware how the story goes. I'm not going to spoil it for others; however, you can read my review for it here. (The water-down made-for-Lifetime movie aired earlier this year.)

After V.C. Andrews passed away in 1986, her family decided to let a ghostwriter, Andrew Neiderman, finish the books she was working on at the time of her death and to continue writing other novels under her name.

Fast-forward to 2016, Andrew Neiderman is still ghostwriting all V.C Andrews titles; though the Gothic-vibe from the V.C. Andrews' original novels are long gone, with many of the recent releases receiving mixed to negative feedback from diehard fans.The newest V.C. Andrews' release is Whitefern, the long-awaited to sequel to My Sweet Audrina.

(Warning: Spoilers!) Set several years after the ending of My Sweet Audrina, the novel opens up with the death of Audrina's father, Damian Jonathan Adare. She doesn't have much time to mourn as she has to help her autistic sister, Sylvia, deal with their father's death. However, it's more difficult than what she could ever imagined due to Sylvia's odd behavior of sitting in rocking chair in the First Audrina's bedroom, where the young woman claims to hear the voice of their father; telling her that a baby is coming.

Retail: $7.99; 400 pages

If you're an avid reader of this blog, then there's a good chance that you've seen a few reviews for V.C. Andrews' titles on here. My late grandmother was a big of V.C. Andrews' writings, well, up until she learned that the ghost writer that took over after the author's death in 1986 was in fact a male, Andrew Neiderman. After the that, my grandmother quit reading the books, with the last one in her collection being Willow (book one of the DeBeers series).

I now have all the books in my grandmother's collection. I continued to collect each new installment that is released; I even filled in the gaps by finding the rest of the books in the DeBeers and the Broken Wings series, which were missing from her collection.

While I still haven't read all the titles, my opinion of the ghost writer's writing has been mixed. There have been a few good stories and there has been several horrible entries, mostly due to the lack of a "Gothic" feel in the most recent releases.

Available today from Pocket Books is the standalone novel, Sage's Eyes (978-1451650914), which I had received an ARC copy a few months ago. I didn't care much for the last standalone book, Bittersweet Dreams, so I've been putting this book aside; waiting to the very last minute to read it. To my surprise, it's better written than the last few releases. While I would never call it "Gothic," it's not a bad read.

The plot centers on sixteen-year-old Sage, who from an early age has had a "third eye" gift. She can see things that others cannot as if she has lived a past life. Her adoptive parents have tried to hide her gifts from the outside world. Actually, they have convinced themselves that she just has an active imagination.