Ted Ryan

A new creative team tackle the fourth instalment of the Casteel Family Saga - Gail Harvey takes on the directorial role (also making her the first female director on the Casteel series) and screenwriters Richard Blaney and Gregory Small pen the adaptation.

V.C. Andrews "Flowers in the Attic" series has captivated readers for the last four decades. Five books explored the twisted Dollanganger family - Andrew Neiderman became the ghost writer for V. C. Andrews following her death in 1986. As well as writing his own V.C. inspired family series, he has delved into the Flowers series with a prequel and sequel continuation. These reviews are purely based on my opinion and focus on the prequel series.

The sequel in the Casteel family saga continues with Dark Angel – which picks up almost immediately after the events of its prequel, as Heaven goes to Boston to stay with her maternal and wealthy relatives. As this was personally my favourite book in the series, I was personally looking forward to this adaptation. The pacing of this script flowed more naturally than “Heaven”, it didn’t feel as rushed – as these are quite lengthy books, but the little details that were missing and the inconsistencies between the book and film prequel coming into “Dark Angel” were noticeable at times. Even though Shapiro and Lacey returned as director and screenwriter, this one felt different despite the duo collaborating again. The ending also was a bit anticlimactic and I had misgivings about it being written into “Fallen Hearts” instead.

In terms of a V.C. Andrews story, Heaven was one I was excited to see on screen. With Paul Shapiro as director and Scarlett Lacey as screenwriter, the first film in the Casteel series centres on Heaven Leigh Casteel, gifted and intelligent, the eldest of five dirt-poor children struggling to survive in a mountain shack. As she endures neglect and abuse, Heaven discovers a dark secret that changes everything she thought she knew about her family. Then tragedy tears her world apart and she must forge her own way in the cruel, unknown world.

To say that the mother-daughter writing duo of the worldwide bestselling House of Night series have expanded upon their universe is a massive understatement - with twelve novels, four novellas, a graphic novel and a four-part sequel series exploring an alternative reality and an upcoming TV adaptation in the works - PC and Kristin Cast have been captivating readers for the past thirteen years.

The fourth and final season of Thirteen Reasons Why was released on Netflix this June, but is it worth the hype? The basis of this show was adapted from the debut novel by Jay Asher - the original novel was told strictly through the duo perspectives of Clay and the recently deceased Hannah, giving a bias and somewhat narrow portrayal of the story. This was limiting as a reader and presented the cast and the serious topics being tackled through a one-dimensional lens It also didn't help that the book's narrative took place over one night.