ARC Review: Towering by Alex Flinn

Title: Towering
Author: Alex Flinn
Publication Date: May 14, 2013
Genre/s: Young Adult, Fantasy, Fairytale Retelling

Synopsis:

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!

My Thoughts:

Everything that I love about Alex Flinn’s fairytale re-telling – the humor, the creativity, the twist and turns, the ability to flawlessly combine classic into modern, and her “oh-so-epic” endings – weren’t present in this book. Okay, maybe some of it but barely. I didn’t love this as much as I would like to.

Rachel, like Rapunzel, has long blond hair, lives in a tower and has a beautiful voice. She lives in that tower for most of her life, held like a prisoner and treated like a pet. She spends most of her time reading books, singing songs, looking outside her tower and braiding her hair. On the other hand, there’s Wyatt. From Long Island, he went to Slakkil, New York to stay with the mother of his mother’s best friend. He went there to help out the old woman in the household works in order for him to gain enough money to send him to college. And then there’s Danielle or Dani, the old woman’s daughter, who disappeared 18 years ago. Some said she run away, some said she was killed. But regardless of what happened to her, she’s somehow connected to Rachel, Wyatt and the mysterious disappearance of a lot of teenagers in Slakkil throughout the years. As the secrets unravel and the answers became clear, a certain prophecy will finally be fulfilled. Well as to the questions of who, what, where, when and how, you have to find it out for yourself.

This book is a bit disorienting. It feels like it was Rapunzel’s story but it wasn’t. (Did that even make sense?) It has Rapunzel elements to it like a girl with the long blond hair, a tower, a woman who put her there and a boy who’s supposed to rescue her but other than that there’s nothing more. The story is far from Rapunzel. I know that this is a retelling and the story is supposed to be different from the original. But man, this story is so different it feels like it wasn't her story at all.

To be honest, it wasn’t a bad story. The characters were okay, the plot was well-paced and the mystery behind the story will keep you guessing of what will happen next. But I guess, the problem here is that this wasn’t even close to the Rapunzel story that we all know and expected. And just like what I said in the beginning, I also didn't see or feel the things that I love about Alex Flinn's retellings in this book. But nonetheless, I will still be a fan of her, no matter what.

To sum it up, it wasn't the best but it wasn't bad, either. I will still recommend this to fairytale lovers out there and to those who love happy ever after. :)

My Rating