Review: Towering by Alex Flinn

Towering
Alex Flinn
Hardcover: 304 pages
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: May 14, 2013
ISBN-10: 0062024175
ISBN-13: 978-0062024176
Source: From publisher through edelweiss
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At first, I merely saw his face, his hands on the window ledge. Then, his whole body as he swung himself through the window. Only I could not see what he swung on.
Until, one day, I told my dream self to look down. And it was then that I saw. He had climbed on a rope. I knew without asking that the rope had been one of my own tying.

Rachel is trapped in a tower, held hostage by a woman she’s always called Mama. Her golden hair is growing rapidly, and to pass the time, she watches the snow fall and sings songs from her childhood, hoping someone, anyone, will hear her.

Wyatt needs time to reflect or, better yet, forget about what happened to his best friend, Tyler. That’s why he’s been shipped off to the Adirondacks in the dead of winter to live with the oldest lady in town. Either that, or no one he knows ever wants to see him again.

Dani disappeared seventeen years ago without a trace, but she left behind a journal that’s never been read, not even by her overbearing mother…until now.

A #1 New York Times bestselling author, Alex Flinn knows her fairy tales, and Towering is her most mind-bending interpretation yet. Dark and mysterious, this reimagining of Rapunzel will have readers on the edge of their seats wondering where Alex will take them next!

Review

I have said this so many times and I will say it again… I LOVE fairy tales and fairy tale retellings! I was so excited when I first found out about Alex Flinn doing a retelling of Rapunzel as I am a big fan of her work.

As much as I wanted to love this it just didn’t quite work for me. To start with I need to warn you that the first half does go slow but it picks up around half way through. Also anyone who is tired of YA insta-love, you may want to skip this one… I went into Towering super excited and knowing that this is a fairy tale retelling so yeah, I knew there where going to be aspects of the story that were a bit out there, but too many things just didn’t add up for me.

I think the thing that continued to clash for me was the setting and the storyline just never truly meshed. Towering is set in present day and I felt like the story that Flinn wrote would have been so much better grasped had it been set in a more fantasy setting. Again I know this is set up as a fairy tale but it was so hard to comprehend that there is a tower (a really tall building) out in the woods that houses a beautiful 17 year old girl that has never been discovered.

Even though the story overall did not work for me I did like the characters in Towering. I thought Rachel was endearing with her complete naivety of the modern world due to her sheltered life living in the tower. Wyatt, who is an all around sweet boy is a charmer in his own right, he is one of those guys you would just want to give a hug too.

Honestly if it wasn't for Towering being such a fantastical story that it just didn’t fit into its setting I think I could have enjoyed it much more but it is what it is. I will continue to read Alex Flinn’s work but I will not be climbing back into Towering any time soon.

Happy reading,

2.5 Moons: I think there are people out there that could enjoy this, but it wasn’t for me.

Recommended For

Teen: This is one for those who love YA in the out there insta-love form.