As usual, Lonely Planet have attacked this project with vigour and research and produced a comprehensive guide to the Middle East. However, as is the problem with the "Shoestring" editions, a vast amount has to be left out, an enormous of amount of information must be precised in order to produce a managable, helpful guide for a region. Local knowledge of an area is vital to ensure that the correct points, places of interest and general information are included. Unfortunately, LP have hit slightly wide of the mark with this region. It is an area which is full of history and a culture that is very sensitive to the western ideals and my advice would be to purchase each country's book separately. Whilst this is a more expensive and even bulky alternative, simply sell, swap or send home the discarded books.

I understand that LP are in the process of producing further separate guides thus breaking down this region again, which will be excellent. The guide itself, however, is a good read though!

I endured rain, lightning and one nasty storm and then, when I got to the end of the rainbow, there was no pot of gold waiting there for me. What a waste! Why did I even read this series? Nothing, so far, can even compare to the Dollangangers and Audrina. Even the Casteel series wasn't that hot. I will be reading about the DeBeers, though. That looks interesting enough. As for Summer and Rain, what weak characters! I didn't like Austin, either. And Harley, who drove a motorcycle (hehe). What was up with him? This book is a good example of what I mean when I say that I can't stand stories that involve one bad thing after another happening to the same person, none of which are connected at all, except for the fact that they all seemed aimed at the recipient. Are the gods angry at Summer? I guess so. At least in V.C. Andrews's real stories, there was some reason why everything was happening.
As for Harley and Summer, Mr. Ghost Writer finally proved that he cannot pull off a book that doesn't involve the main character sleeping with a "relative". It seems he went out of his way to make Harley and Summer related. Her stepuncle's ex-stepson? How about her stepmother's stepbrother's sister's daughter's son? Come on, grow up! Think of some new ideas.

This really stupid if you like the original VCA books. I, for one, think the ghostwriter needs new material and better characters. Those who say Summer is a "strong" character need to read the Heaven series and FITA. Then see if she's stong. Oh, she was so deprived from good upbringing!! Her Mommy and Daddy tortured their little Princess when they gave her gifts and hugs and kisses. Such a horror story. I expected to find this in the children's section of the bookstore after reading it. Poor VCA, she must be so embarrased to have such kiddie stories written under her name!
I'm sorry, but Summer was a weakling. Why would she go out to the guy's car to, um, talk. Yeah, right. She odvously doesn't know much about guys.
So this book is good if you like children's books, the eleven-years-olds seem to like it... but if your a real VCA fan... it just a sad disappointment.
Hopefully Willow will be better.

I love VC Andrews but the Rain series is very boring. They start out pretty well, but by the time you get to the last book, this one, you pretty much don't care what happens at all. Stick with Flowers in the Attic Series, cutler series, casteel series, and the ruby series. Leave the new stuff alone.

Madness, skeletons in the family closet, and an innocent girl pulled undertow by her families secrets. Where have I read this before? Um, Let me see...Dawn, Ruby, Heaven, FITA, Melody. Two hundred or so pages is not long enough to really get to know the character and only allows enough pages for the bare bones of the plot to be laid down. And that plot had already been done in um, let me see...Dawn, Ruby, Heaven, FITA, Melody. Still, I made my way through Cinnamon, then Ice, and now Honey. By the time I got to Honey I was pretty much ready to give up. I thought it couldn't be more boring then Cinnamon. I was wrong! There's Honey living on a farm, playing her (fiddle? cellio? I can't remember!) and living with a (bible spouting Grandpa? Again can't remember!) All I remember clearly is the level of dissapointment I felt. And yeah there probably was some bible spouting relative thrown in the mix (think FITA, Melody, Dawn, and Darkest Hour)and you don't have to be a psychic to figure that out!
If you find Honey tastes more like garbage don't give up hope! V.C. Andrews does redeem IMO with Willow ( a full length novel Halleleuigh!!)And adult readers might want to check out The House in Thorton Wood by Anne Knoll. It's a gothic novel I just read about a young girl (first person like V.C. Andrews) who goes to live on a manor as a nanny and finds love and discovers the secrets of her past.

This book rots. I am from Ohio and am very upset by his stero-type of Ohioans. Not all of us are farm living bible thumping backwood morons. Also there is no such amusment park in Ohio so get you map out peabrain. Beyond that Honey was just stupid. It's like she fell out the dumb tree and hit every branch and then the roots. I think most girls from Ohio would know enough not to go to New york then run off to any unkown aparment with the first man she meet. Typical for a man to write a book were the women are nothing but stupid mindless spineless slobs. Get a clue take some writing class and stop trashing V.C. Andrews good name.

Wonderful once again she writes about issues that are going on in the world and noone is brave enough to talk about.I buy her books every time they come out and not once have i been disappointed.

I loved The Orphans. I liked The Wildflowers. But Shooting Stars were the weakest of the miniseries. I usually turn to these V.C. Andrews GW because they're cliched and sappy with a tang of mystery - a guilty pleasure book. I could've guessed everything that happened pages before the ending but "Falling Stars" was slow. How many times do we have to hear how Honey picks up her violin and "escapes" thinking of her Uncles and family and how much she's loved and then - viola! Beautiful music! From how the book described the girls' lessons and living accomidations, one would've thought it was a fun gala. There was NO pressure in the Senetsky school as the back of the book describes. Maybe Honey wasn't complimented each time she played her violin and couldn't see her boyfriend each day, but that's the price of for fame! The ending was a waste and there was unclarity about Madame Senetsky's mystery. There wasn't even a good epilouge on what happened to each of the girls as a reviewer said earlier. Overall, the girls' personality were one-dimensional and boring, the boys in the school were stretched to be annoying to the limits, but it's a breezy read nonetheless. Nothing too interesting, nothing too boring to put you to sleep. Just be warned that many irrelevant events happen that'll put question marks on your head when you're done with the book.

I liked the book Falling Stars. I liked the way it brought all types of backgrounds together as one family setting. If you had read Cinnamon, Ice, Rose, and Honey you would know how different all of the charaters really were. They all had to go through, or had gone through some rough times to get to the point where they were.I think V.C. Andrews gave everyone a type of situtation that they could relate to in one way or another. I liked the fact that the students all except one of course, {Howard} stayed together as one. I got the feeling that the students were telling Ms.Senetsky that no matter how bad you think things are if you are open and honest with people you can make things right. I really liked the feeling that I got when I finished this book.I felt that you can make a difference no matter how small people may make you feel. No doubt Ms. Senestky had alot to try and hide, but if she had just been open from the start there would be no reason to try to hide her daughter from the world in which she lived. Gerta did nothing wrong and if the public could not accept her I would not want to be in their spotlight.

Awesome book It holds my attentionits full of mystery and trying to do whats best for aother person Anyone cold enough to say this book is stupid u didnt read it your lieing it teaches a valuable leson everyone should know!! So dont listen to them other people and give this book a chance cause it is GREAT!!

This is possibly the worst V.C. Andrews book I have ever read (it and Cinnemon are in a close race), and it is definitely in the worst series. I don't know why I continue reading these mini-series books when I know they are all basically the same book rewritten with new characters. Like other Andrews characters, Rose has to deal with the death of a parent, the self-centeredness of another parent, and meeting relatives she never knew she had. Sounds really familiar, doesn't it? Unlike the original Andrews books, where the writing was so descriptive that I could almost feel like I was there living through the events along with the characters (and did not want to put the book down for anything), the new books are so bland that it is a chore just to finish one chapter.

How very convenient that Rose should have some hidden, secret *rich* relative. What is it with the ghost writers borrowing from V.C.'s *excellent* stories and trying to pass them off? They could have tried a LITTLE harder than that when Rose's aunt sought "revenge" on Rose's mother. I think they reached a little too far when it came to her anti-social brother. They tried too hard, it seemed. This book was okay, but I'm almost sorry I paid for it instead of going to the library.

Lovely, talented, and innocent, Rose was loved and cherished by her father. His death, whether it was an accident or suicide, left behind secrets that have been hidden all their lives. Soon the doors to his many secrets opened and changed Roses "normal" teenage life in Lewisville, Georgia. It leads her and her mother into a fantasy life that wasn't as good as it seemed. Roses mother gets caught up in this luxury life that wasn't true and caused her to become someone she isn't. Roses mother soon forgets the value of life and that love and family is priceless and worth more than the world she is caught up in. Rose meets people that help her live the life that she had always only dreamed of, they give her hope and faith and the will to make it through. The unexpected happens to Rose. She gets the confidence to succeed, in her new unfamiliar world, from a stranger. I would recommend this book to my friends around my age because the way Roses life changes and also by the way she had to change by the events that happened in her life. I also like the way the novel ends; it ends in a twisted and unexpected way. I don't like the book in a way because some parts have nothing to do with the way Rose struggles through life. I don't think adults or children would enjoy reading this novel. I think the book would have been a lot better if there was more action. The way V.C. Andrews describes the characters was interesting and makes you wonder about their personality, it draws you in. I overall think this was a good novel.

This 93 page paperback book which is apparently free when bought as a bundle with an art history text book has a suggested retail price stamped in the upper right corner...Typical of many introductory internet books way to much space is devoted to explaining how the internet works, so that there is only about 10 useful pages of information. A far better book is available for [more money] but I don't have the exact title. With so many great internet sites for museums and bibliographic sources available it's too bad that almost nothing was included. A check for Nihonga style painting did not show anything...

This was one of the first non-Doyle Holmes stories that I picked up to read, and I was quite disappointed. The plot is thin, and Andrews tries to capture the spark of the Watson-Holmes relationship without much success. Frankly, I think the book is somewhat boring. Since this book I have found numerous other non-Doyle stories that are very good.