Megs ♥ says

Rubie's story and the Landry series is my all-time second favorite series behind the Dollanganger series. I love everything about Ruby. This series has so many twists and turns it made my head spin. The twin aspect made Ruby's storystand out from all others in my opinion. I adored Giselle. I know she was a b with an itch, but still she always kept things interesting. Beau was another reason I really enjoyed the Ruby series so much. He was an awesome loveinterest.

Emma says

Reading Virginia Andrews' books when I was 15, they were kind of exciting. Reading them at 25, they were not.
Flowers in the Attic and the subsequent series were some of my favourite books to read during my teen years, and after being given a pile of books from a friend recently which included the Landry series I was looking forward tostarting them. Unfortunately I was sorely disappointed. The writing style is simplistic, the description is nothing more than a list of features and the plot is tired.
I've been informed that all of Andrews' books feature this beautiful, hard done by girl, experiencing forbidden love then finding out she is part of a rich powerful family formula, but there's only so many times you can read about agirl falling in love with her brother. The first time it's an interesting taboo. The second time it's one big yawn.

Sarah Mac says

This was a fun bit of trash.
Our heroine, Ruby, is living a happy life in the bayou with her traiteur grandmere. She believes her father was a passing stranger who knocked up her mama & never knew of her existence...but she finds out the truth whenGrandmere passes away from an untreated heart condition. Obeying a deathbed request, Ruby slips away from her drunken grandfather & runs off to New Orleans, eventually ending up on her father's doorstep. Pierre is rich as sin &living the Creole life with a huge house, successful business, etc. He's also a Sensitive Beta Male who's thrilled to discover that he's got another daughter...but Pierre's wife (Daphne) hates Ruby on sight & her long-lost twin(Gisselle) immediately sets out to make her new sister miserable. The trainwreck really hits the fan when Ruby decides to consult a voodoo priestess & get some relief from Gisselle's bitchitude.
Dun-dun-DUN. :P
WTFery addicts, don't fear; there's plenty of the random crap that makes VCA novels so addictive. This book includes (but isn't limited to) incestuous half-sibling makeouts, visits to Storyville sex-toy shops (where Gisselle isthrilled to point out the dildos :P), references to prostitution & nymphomania, attempted rape, nude sketching of the opposite sex, arranged teenage marriages in the bayou, periodic appearances of voodoo, incarceration in asylums,crippling car accidents, & smoking joints. Unlike most, there's an actual timeline for this one -- 1962, if my math is correct -- and the slightly tacky, old-fashioned details re: clothes, cocktails, music, & rebellion ofspoiled white kids fit that period pretty well.
Unfortunately, Ruby's narration lacks the emotional punch of Cathy or Heaven. She's an extreme Mary Sue: sweet to the max, highly sensitive, eager to please, & possessing prodigy-like artistic skills. She's also stupidly trusting,repeatedly wounded by Gisselle's schemes, & has no backbone whatsoever. The worst of the Sue disease is how Ruby allows Gisselle & Daphne to take advantage of her, & that gets old really fast because it happens almost everychapter. Okay, I know Ruby's only 16; it's not surprising that she's still intimidated by a sophisticated stepmom. But the way she lets Gisselle walk over her, taunt her, & treat her like shit? DOORMAT CENTRAL. Stand up foryourself, girl! How many times does it need to happen before you get a clue?! Cathy & Heaven were also victims of circumstance & adulthood, but they would never have allowed that kind of crap from someone on an equalfooting.
...So, yeah. Ruby is a dim bulb, but you can't help feeling sorry for the poor kid. And despite her repeatedly protesting against the inbred Cajun stereotypes, at the end of the book she's still trying to squash those improperfeelings for (view spoiler)...who, like Chris in Flowers, continues to press his case for a HEA despite the bloodrelationship. So there's that much to besmirch her pristine Sue status. :D
Random: This book has a lot of duality, which is one of my favorite gothic tropes. It's not a pure gothic novel, per se, but it does hover on the fringes of the genre, much like Flowers.