I got my hands on these novels when I was in early high school. My mother had owned them and I found them in a box in the basement and devoured them. As an adult, of course this series is a lot creepier than I though it was then. After watching the first in this series, Flowers in the Attic, and finding it to be not too far reaching from the original storyline, I had high hopes for the second, this installment, Petals on the Wind. Unfortunately, I was sorely disappointed.The fact that it opens up to Dr. Paul Scheffield's funeral was enough to send me digging through my bookshelves to make sure that I wasn't remembering everything wrong. Sure enough, Paul was just as big a part of that book as I had remembered. Not only did he take the three siblings in, he nearly married Cathy! Removing him from the movie's storyline did it a great injustice.Then there was the horrible job done of Cathy's career (in the books, she was going on world tours), Julian (they were married, he tried to destroy her feet, and after the accident - which Cathy was NOT in - he killed himself), Henny (she was mute!) Chris's turmoil (he was NEVER able to overcome Cathy - there was no Sarah in the books and that whole thing doesn't even fit with the story), Carrie's unhappiness (she was incredibly depressed during most of the book, and at the school, the girls left her bound, gagged, and blindfolded on a roof to die - she survived but broke her leg), and her death (Alex was not a minister to start with - Carrie had an ingrained fear of religion thanks to the grandmother), and Cathy's views of her mother (she did not try to reach out in love - she only wanted revenge in the books, and PLOTTED to steal her mother's husband). This wasn't just omitting parts of the story or changing little details to make a film watchable (think Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire). They had to completely rewrite entire chunks to make their botched adaptation work.I have not watched If There Be Thorns or Seeds of Yesterday yet, though I will. Hopefully they fare better than this one. It's an okay movie overall for a Lifetime.Just don't go into Petals on the Wind thinking it will be anything like the original novel, or you'll be heavily disappointed.

A good film overall. It generally follows the book but in a different order. It should have followed more closely because the film missed out on vital things, like what happened when they left, how they met the doctor and the relationship between Cathy and Paul. Their first few years at the family home with doctor Paul and how Cathy came to dance and actually meet Julian. Also where Cathy is in New York that was 5 ish years too late, as that happened a lot younger in the book. Carries incident in school where she's locked in the room happened when Carrie was around 9 where she was then removed from school. The film doesn't really explain what happens with Julian and why Jory is called that.I liked the fact that they showed Corine in her house trying to hide the attic and the grandmother telling everyone about the poisoning of Cory in the first film/book.Overall a good film but it was spoilt by the fact I've just finished the book and it wasn't directly following the book.

I've read this series several times and had my reservations that the film could be as riveting as the novels. And this being the second in the series further made me leery. But it was all for no reason.... all this film was intriguing from start to finish. Heather Grahams role is done so well and really brings a lot to the screen and her character. This is such a sad horrifying story that is sad and compelling as much as it is horrifying. It dares to bring what many feel are taboo or shocking subjects....child abuse.....incest.....romantic triangles....I loved this and am hoping for the third book to be made into a movie. Well done and highly recommended .

When we were young women hiding our VCA books and only daring to read by night light when everyone had gone to bed, never at that time by any stretch of the imagination could it be a conceivable idea to actually transfer those story lines to film. Considering the sheer amount of content in Petals it was incredible they were able to piece so much of it into the 2 hour slot. Unfortunately, they left out some important "gasp" moments from the book such as the miscarriage. I also felt they did a good job with the nature of the content considering it is a made for TV movie. Overall, the writers and director did a great job for what they had to work with. It was a great way to bring the genius of Andrews to an audience that hasn't read her books. If the the book enthusiast are looking for an exact account then you should know from the beginning there is no way to make a movie that captures what the book draws from the imagination. After all most people are much more comfortable reading story's like the Dollanganger Series in the privacy of their own minds.