This was a tough one for me. I found the first chapter confusing, frantic, and to be honest, so annoying that I put it down. I came back to it later and kept reading. The main story- the tale of cousins Bizzy and Choo- is embedded in lots of curlicues about their family, starting with their mom/aunt Cat and Clare. Fans of the dysfunctional family saga will appreciate this one for some truly bizarre and/or socially inappropriate behavior. It is funny and bright and entertaining but you also have to pay attention to the language. Thanks to the publisher for the ARC. This might be a love it or hate it situation but do give it a try- it is a good read.

Twisted Family Values was a wonderful representation of all the crazy abnormal families out there that are essentially completely normal.
The Thornden family is close knit and sisters Claire and Cat are the ring leaders. The sisters are known for their amazing parties, and the talk of the town goes beyond party gossip. Bizzy and Choo are cousins and have grown up their whole lives together, but many believe as they grow older that the two are closer then they should be. These two know they love each other and are the best of friends but they can't help but think thoughts of having more. Claire being the more hip mom/aunt tries to explain why it's not politically acceptable for the two of them to be together, and tries to encourage them to date other people. They decide to each find someone to bring home for the holidays so the family will leave them alone, but someone falls in love and everything changes.
It will take years until Bizzy and Choo find out that their mothers were keeping family secrets from them, and had they known the truth everything in their lives could have been different.
V.C. Chickering does a good job of capturing your soft side with young love, feelings of hopefulness, and finding love in all the wrong places.

"Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for the advance copy of this book, in exchange for an honest review."

Loved this book very much. It had just enough sweet, funny romance and the storyline was great! I highly recommend!

This book was like watching a train wreck. I couldn’t put it down, but I was uncomfortable reading some of it (until certain secrets are revealed). Twisted family values is a great title for this. I like the concept that it is not good to tell your children everything is good or will be good because life doesn’t have any guarantees. Bizzy & Choo were very interesting characters. I couldn’t believe the underage drinking & sexual encounters throughout the book. I would recommend reading this book because it is a fascinating concept of a bygone era, but boy do I hope this isn’t still going on for my kids’ sake.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martins Griffin for an Advanced Reader’s Copy of this book. This book is a family saga to it’s fullest and really lives up to this title. Though this book has many characters this book really centers Biz and Charlie who have a really screwed up relationship for cousins. At times I was totally engaged and could not stop reading. At some other points it got a little messy and it started losing me. There a ton of unlikeable characters which is important in this genre, but I did not find myself rooting for anybody.

I absolutely adored this book! It's title really captured the essence of what this book was about. I literally could not put it down. V C Chickering's command of character development and understanding was very evident throughout the novel. These flawed characters were really brought to life on every page and by the time I reached the book's conclusion, I felt as though I was part of this dysfunctional family, whether or not I wanted to be, "Twisted Family Values" was such an incredibly unique read that is totally incomparable to anything else I have read before. I highly recommend this hugely entertaining and worthwhile book and will be eagerly awaiting more from this exciting author!

I received a complimentary digital copy of this novel, at my own request, from St. Martin's Press via NetGalley. This review is my own unbiased opinion.

"Don't you just love the smell of diaper cream?"
I wasn’t sure about what I was getting into when I started reading Twisted Family Values. I thought this book was going to be something like V.C. Andrews novels. I was wrong. Twisted Family Values was nothing like those books. Instead, this book was something different. I am still trying to figure out if it is a good different or a bad different.

Twisted Family Values plotlines were sometimes hard to follow. I had a hard time following the main plotline. The number of sub-plotlines in each “chapter” would overwhelm me. I had to reread specific chapters to make sure I understood what was going on.

I did like how the book was split up. Each “chapter” was a different time in Biz and Charlie’s life. There was childhood (up to 13), college age, mid 20’s, late 30’s, and late 40’s. It was interesting to see Biz, Charlie, and their family evolve and devolve through the years.

The book discloses early on that Charlie was not blood-related to Cat and her ex-husband. I didn’t understand why Cat kept that information secret for almost 50 years. Her withholding Charlie’s parentage caused so much harm. I wanted to throttle her at points during the book because of that.

I felt terrible for Biz and Charlie. Because Cat didn’t disclose that they weren’t related, they had to force to hide their feelings for each other. Which resulted in Biz becoming an alcoholic and Charlie being married to a woman he didn’t love. It was painful and disturbing to read.

I did like that the author chose to show that good could come out of being bad. The last chapter of Twisted Family Values highlights this perfectly.

I do want to add that I loved Ruby. Her reactions to catching Biz and Finn having sex was hilarious. Also hilarious, was her reaction to Charlie possibly being her father.

The end of the book was nice, but it was too happy. Twisted Family Values was not a happy book, per se. I was surprised to see HEA’s handed out left and right.

I would give Twisted Family Values an Adult rating. There is sex. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 21 read this book.

I would reread Twisted Family Values I would recommend it to family and friends.

**I voluntarily reviewed a complimentary copy of this book**

Dysfunction, secrets, sex, adultery, and partner swapping abound in "Twisted Family Values." The description gave no clues to the "R" rated content, which includes strong adult language and erotic sexual encounters and descriptions. I only finished reading the book in hopes that it would get better in the end, but it was pretty vulgar throughout.
Two themes I did appreciate: 1. The family members finally came clean and shared truth with each other, which enabled each member to find freedom to be their true selves and 2. the women evolved with each generation and became more secure in their identity and voice.

A very funny, sarcastic, twisted family is the star of this hilarious novel that I absolutely loved! I can't count how many times I laughed out loud while reading this book which is quite a departure from my normal read. I loved this book because it kept me completely interested with quirky characters and was extremely well-written. Witty and entertaining from the first page. Thanks so much for the ARC!!! Absolutely LOVED this book!!!

It took me a long while to get into this book. I started it and couldn't get into it but when I picked it back up again, I found it to be actually quite comical and thought provoking. I'm not sure how realistic of a portrayal of family life is but it is definitely entertaining and will make you think. I always love a book with complicated families so I think that made this really enjoyable for me!

Decent read! The characters are interesting and lively. The plot was good and kept my attention. I enjoyed it and will probably read this author again.

**I voluntarily read an early copy of this title courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review**

Twisted Family Values is the second novel by author V.C. Chickering and the title really says it all about this book.

We follow four generations of a family through several decades, starting in the 60's and moving through the decades from there. There is a bit of everything in this novel including exploring love, familial ties, taboo subjects and forgiveness.

I truly was not sure what to expect when I began this book. I have to say that when I first started it, I wasn't sure if I would make it through the whole book. It started very slowly for me, but once I got into it, I did feel like I had to know what was going to happen. This book is not going to be for everyone. There are some family dynamics that some may not like and also some topics that could be triggers for some readers. I am glad I soldiered through this book as it was very well written and certainly made me think many times as I made my way through it.

This was a very good read. This family puts the “d” in dysfunction. Well written and engrossing. I highly recommend this read. The characters were well thought out and interesting. Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for the arc of this book in return for my honest review. Receiving the book in this manner had no bearing on my review.

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. Sure the story gets uncomfortable but life is uncomfortable. The story flows well between the years and the characters are well developed. Enjoyable read, worth the time. Flows well between decades and I appreciate all of the appropriate references to the items, music, food that we all remember. You won't be disappointed.

I am all for a dysfunctional family but I struggled with the characters in the book. I couldn’t finish this book-I’m sorry to say.

This story wasn't really in my wheelhouse. I felt like the characters were too dysfunctional to be real and I didn't remember much of the story once I walked away from it. I had a hard time wanting to finish.

It was a great and funny book about A dysfunctional family, that just had to sacrifice everything to keep up appearances. The characters were funny and believable and the pride held my interest. I gave this book for stars and plan to read the authors first book. Thank you for my advance copy

Will have to try this one again at some other date possibly..... this did just not pull me in or hold my attention. Thanks for the opportunity to read this though

Yeah, I just couldn't find my way into this one.... From the opening pages I was annoyed at the characters, confused by the meandering story, and uninterested in everything about it. I usually like the quirks of dysfunctional family stories, and usually like things that take me on a nostalgic journey through the decades of my own lifetime (I was born in the early 1970s), but this one just never connected with this one...

Opinions will likely be all over on this one. I enjoy stories with dysfunctional families and those with quirky characters. This one though, didn’t quite work for me. Have you ever read a book where you felt the author was trying too hard to be shocking?