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Towering
High in my tower I sit. I watch the birds fly below, the clouds float above, and the tall green forest stretch to places I might never see.
Mama, who isn't my mother, has kept me hidden away for many years. My only companions, besides Mama, are my books—great adventures, mysteries, and romances that I long to make my reality. But I know that no one will come to save me—my life is not a fairy tale after all.
Well, at least no one has come so far. Recently, my hair has started to grow rapidly and it's now long enough to reach the bottom of the tower from my window. I've also had the strangest dreams of a beautiful green-eyed man.
When Mama isn't around, I plan my escape, even if it's just for a little while. There's something—maybe someone—waiting for me out there and it won't find me if I'm trapped here Towering above it all.
Mama, who isn't my mother, has kept me hidden away for many years. My only companions, besides Mama, are my books—great adventures, mysteries, and romances that I long to make my reality. But I know that no one will come to save me—my life is not a fairy tale after all.
Well, at least no one has come so far. Recently, my hair has started to grow rapidly and it's now long enough to reach the bottom of the tower from my window. I've also had the strangest dreams of a beautiful green-eyed man.
When Mama isn't around, I plan my escape, even if it's just for a little while. There's something—maybe someone—waiting for me out there and it won't find me if I'm trapped here Towering above it all.
296 pages, Hardcover
First published May 1, 2013
157 people are currently reading
11518 people want to read
About the author
Alex Flinn
29 books5,645 followersLove Jacaranda is out in the world! Hope you'll check out this fun wish-fulfillment romance!
Now, bio:
I grew up on a street called Salem Court. This probably influenced my interest in witches. When I was five, my mom said I should be an author. And when I was eight, I got my first rejection letter from Highlights Magazine.
I learned to read early. But I compensated for this early proficiency by absolutely refusing to read the programmed readers required by the school system -- workbooks where you read the story, then answered the questions. When the other kids were on Book 20, I was on Book 1! My teacher, Mrs. Zeiser, told my mother, "Alexandra marches to her own drummer." I don't think that was supposed to be a compliment.
My family moved to Miami when I was in middle school. I had a really hard time making friends, so I spent a lot of time reading and writing then. By high school, I'd made some friends and gotten involved in various "gifted and talented" performing arts programs. I studied opera in college (I'm a coloratura -- the really loud, high-pitched sopranos.) and then went to law school.
It was law school that probably helped with my first novel. Breathing Underwater deals with the serious and all-too-common problem of dating violence. I based the book on my experiences interning with the State Attorney's Office and volunteering with battered women. I thought this was a really important topic, as 27 percent of teenage girls surveyed have been hit by a boyfriend. I'm happy that the book is so popular, and if you are reading this bio because the book was assigned for school, I'm happy about that too.
I think I write for young-adults because I never quite got over being one. In my mind, I am still 13-years-old, running laps on the athletic field, wearing this really baggy white gymsuit. I’m continually amazed at the idea that I have a checking account and a mortgage. So I try to write books that gymsuit girl might enjoy. It’s a way of going back to being thirteen . . . knowing what I know now.
Right now, I live half a mile away from my old middle school, in Palmetto Bay, a suburb of Miami, with my husband, daughters, dogs, and cats.
Now, bio:
I grew up on a street called Salem Court. This probably influenced my interest in witches. When I was five, my mom said I should be an author. And when I was eight, I got my first rejection letter from Highlights Magazine.
I learned to read early. But I compensated for this early proficiency by absolutely refusing to read the programmed readers required by the school system -- workbooks where you read the story, then answered the questions. When the other kids were on Book 20, I was on Book 1! My teacher, Mrs. Zeiser, told my mother, "Alexandra marches to her own drummer." I don't think that was supposed to be a compliment.
My family moved to Miami when I was in middle school. I had a really hard time making friends, so I spent a lot of time reading and writing then. By high school, I'd made some friends and gotten involved in various "gifted and talented" performing arts programs. I studied opera in college (I'm a coloratura -- the really loud, high-pitched sopranos.) and then went to law school.
It was law school that probably helped with my first novel. Breathing Underwater deals with the serious and all-too-common problem of dating violence. I based the book on my experiences interning with the State Attorney's Office and volunteering with battered women. I thought this was a really important topic, as 27 percent of teenage girls surveyed have been hit by a boyfriend. I'm happy that the book is so popular, and if you are reading this bio because the book was assigned for school, I'm happy about that too.
I think I write for young-adults because I never quite got over being one. In my mind, I am still 13-years-old, running laps on the athletic field, wearing this really baggy white gymsuit. I’m continually amazed at the idea that I have a checking account and a mortgage. So I try to write books that gymsuit girl might enjoy. It’s a way of going back to being thirteen . . . knowing what I know now.
Right now, I live half a mile away from my old middle school, in Palmetto Bay, a suburb of Miami, with my husband, daughters, dogs, and cats.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 902 reviews
March 2, 2019
I blame the cover.
Look at the beautiful freaking cover! How could I resist it?
Besides, fairytale retellings are my kryptonite. Unfortunately, I end up sifting through massive amounts of crap in order to find a good one. Towering is a prime example of Crap.
I have to admit that I had fair warning about this one, though.
There are literally hundreds of scathing reviews on Goodreads that beg other readers to stay away from this book.
But did I listen?
No. No, I did not.
Why?
Well, I had just finished another retelling that quite a few people hated. All of the problems those readers had with the story were the exact same things that I found interesting and entertaining. You know, to each his own...and that kind of thing.
Also...
Look at that cover! There had to be something beautiful inside of it!
*THERE MAY BE SPOILERS AHEAD*
Towering is modern retelling of Rapunzel.
Yes!
Which is why I really wasn't expecting her to be locked in an actual tower.
Eh?!
Because it would be hard to find a plausible reason to lock a girl with magical hair in a tower in this day and age.
Just finding a tower would be hard enough...
But if you're going to go that route, you need to have an ironclad reason why there was no other option. You also need to give some sort of backstory on the damn tower.
Was it a grain silo in a previous life, or what? I mean, it's not like we have an overabundance of random towers sitting around here in the States.
Ok. Let's forget the tower. I was willing to give that one a pass, because...
Well, just because.
Wyatt is the 'prince' in this story, and his POV was by far the least annoying. And I guess Rachel wasn't so much annoying as she was...weird. Although, I suppose anyone would be a bit odd if they had been locked in a tower, and fed nothing but classic literature until they were 17 years old.
Again, why?
Why did 'Mamma' insist on keeping Rachel stuck in the Olden Days? Why was the kid reading Jane Austen instead of Judy Blume? There was no real reason to make the poor girl any more socially dysfunctional than necessary. And for that matter why was she sitting around in dresses instead of sweat pants and a tank top? Wouldn't that make more sense?
Anyway, the story opens with Wyatt on his way to move in with a crazy old lady, who lives out in the middle of nowhere. We eventually find out that he's recently lost his best friend to some 'mysterious circumstance' that he feels like he could have prevented.
Once the mystery behind his guilt is revealed, I felt sort of let down. It's not something that was in any way his fault, and (while tragic) I can't imagine that it would drive a normal teenage boy to agree to such a move.
M'kay. Next up is the ghost story.
Danielle was the daughter of the old lady that Wyatt now lives with. On his first night in the house, he meets up with an apparition trying to claw its way into the bedroom window. And after finding Danielle's diary, he realizes that the spirit was probably Dani. Of course, since he's part of Mystery Inc., he decides to investigate her disappearance Scooby-Doo style.
Meanwhile, he hears a voice in the distance...singing. Naturally, no one else hears the voice.
So, yeah, he's gotta investigate that too.
Enter the girl in the tower.
Hello, Insta-Love! I was wondering when you'd show up!
Wyatt and Rachel sittin' in a tree...
Except it's not that cute. Because within moments of meeting each other, the googly eyes start. And ya know what? I would have been ok with that. But could we at least pretend that they got to know each other just a little bit before they declare their love for each other?
I'm going to have to start keeping a garbage can next to me when I read stuff like this, so that I can spit out that little bit of vomit that comes up in my mouth. I've heard that it's bad for your esophagus to keep swallowing bile...
At this point, the story is crisscrossing between Ghost-Dani's diary, Rachel remembering the past, Wyatt remembering the past, Rachel's weird observations on life in a tower, and Wyatt's ongoing investigation into everything.
I should probably mention that Rachel has magical hair that grows 'when she needs it'. It's not there just for looks, though. It gives her supah-strength...like Samson.
It also makes a great rope for repelling down towers!
But wait! There's more!
She has magical healing tears.
Oh, and she was prophesied to bringanendtoamagicaldrugring.
???
Excuse me? Could you please repeat that?
sigh
I said, she was prophesied to bring an end to a magical drug ring.
???
'Cause, she got magical hair and tears.
???
Right. Well, honestly, reading it for yourself in the book doesn't really clarify it much.
Bottom line? The story was weird, and the plot holes in this were wide enough to drive a herd of elephants through.
Towering got 2 stars from me instead of 1, because it is readable.
I've been disappointed by Flinn before, but I continue to read her stuff because I do think that the majority of her books are (mostly) enjoyable.
Just not this one.
Look at the beautiful freaking cover! How could I resist it?
Besides, fairytale retellings are my kryptonite. Unfortunately, I end up sifting through massive amounts of crap in order to find a good one. Towering is a prime example of Crap.
I have to admit that I had fair warning about this one, though.
There are literally hundreds of scathing reviews on Goodreads that beg other readers to stay away from this book.
But did I listen?
No. No, I did not.
Why?
Well, I had just finished another retelling that quite a few people hated. All of the problems those readers had with the story were the exact same things that I found interesting and entertaining. You know, to each his own...and that kind of thing.
Also...
Look at that cover! There had to be something beautiful inside of it!
*THERE MAY BE SPOILERS AHEAD*
Towering is modern retelling of Rapunzel.
Yes!
Which is why I really wasn't expecting her to be locked in an actual tower.
Eh?!
Because it would be hard to find a plausible reason to lock a girl with magical hair in a tower in this day and age.
Just finding a tower would be hard enough...
But if you're going to go that route, you need to have an ironclad reason why there was no other option. You also need to give some sort of backstory on the damn tower.
Was it a grain silo in a previous life, or what? I mean, it's not like we have an overabundance of random towers sitting around here in the States.
Ok. Let's forget the tower. I was willing to give that one a pass, because...
Well, just because.
Wyatt is the 'prince' in this story, and his POV was by far the least annoying. And I guess Rachel wasn't so much annoying as she was...weird. Although, I suppose anyone would be a bit odd if they had been locked in a tower, and fed nothing but classic literature until they were 17 years old.
Again, why?
Why did 'Mamma' insist on keeping Rachel stuck in the Olden Days? Why was the kid reading Jane Austen instead of Judy Blume? There was no real reason to make the poor girl any more socially dysfunctional than necessary. And for that matter why was she sitting around in dresses instead of sweat pants and a tank top? Wouldn't that make more sense?
Anyway, the story opens with Wyatt on his way to move in with a crazy old lady, who lives out in the middle of nowhere. We eventually find out that he's recently lost his best friend to some 'mysterious circumstance' that he feels like he could have prevented.
Once the mystery behind his guilt is revealed, I felt sort of let down. It's not something that was in any way his fault, and (while tragic) I can't imagine that it would drive a normal teenage boy to agree to such a move.
M'kay. Next up is the ghost story.
Danielle was the daughter of the old lady that Wyatt now lives with. On his first night in the house, he meets up with an apparition trying to claw its way into the bedroom window. And after finding Danielle's diary, he realizes that the spirit was probably Dani. Of course, since he's part of Mystery Inc., he decides to investigate her disappearance Scooby-Doo style.
Meanwhile, he hears a voice in the distance...singing. Naturally, no one else hears the voice.
So, yeah, he's gotta investigate that too.
Enter the girl in the tower.
Hello, Insta-Love! I was wondering when you'd show up!
Wyatt and Rachel sittin' in a tree...
Except it's not that cute. Because within moments of meeting each other, the googly eyes start. And ya know what? I would have been ok with that. But could we at least pretend that they got to know each other just a little bit before they declare their love for each other?
I'm going to have to start keeping a garbage can next to me when I read stuff like this, so that I can spit out that little bit of vomit that comes up in my mouth. I've heard that it's bad for your esophagus to keep swallowing bile...
At this point, the story is crisscrossing between Ghost-Dani's diary, Rachel remembering the past, Wyatt remembering the past, Rachel's weird observations on life in a tower, and Wyatt's ongoing investigation into everything.
I should probably mention that Rachel has magical hair that grows 'when she needs it'. It's not there just for looks, though. It gives her supah-strength...like Samson.
It also makes a great rope for repelling down towers!
But wait! There's more!
She has magical healing tears.
Oh, and she was prophesied to bringanendtoamagicaldrugring.
???
Excuse me? Could you please repeat that?
sigh
I said, she was prophesied to bring an end to a magical drug ring.
???
'Cause, she got magical hair and tears.
???
Right. Well, honestly, reading it for yourself in the book doesn't really clarify it much.
Bottom line? The story was weird, and the plot holes in this were wide enough to drive a herd of elephants through.
Towering got 2 stars from me instead of 1, because it is readable.
I've been disappointed by Flinn before, but I continue to read her stuff because I do think that the majority of her books are (mostly) enjoyable.
Just not this one.
June 3, 2013
Ohhhhhhhhhh YEAH!!! All hail Alex Flinn: queen of modern fairytale retellings!!!
edit on June 2, 2013
Ok, so I was wrong: Alex Flinn is no longer the Queen of Modern Fairytale Retellings. That spot is now vacant for Marissa Meyer or Melanie Dickerson to claim.
First off, I was SUPER excited to read this, seeing as how Flinn did a fantabulous job with Beastly, A Kiss in Time, (er, not so much with Cloaked), and Bewitching: The Kendra Chronicles.
Unfortunately, that was not the case. Nope, no siree.
But anyway, spoilers ahead, which you should probably read, (instead of reading the actual book.)
I didn't like how Flinn used the basis of Disney's version of Rapunzel, which was basically the whole girl-with-magical-healing-powers concept. Couldn't she have come up with something original instead of ripping off Disney and creating a dumb version of Tangled?
The love at first sight was waaay too unrealistic. They started kissing passionately after knowing each other for only 20 mins!!! (Give or take 5 mins.) Sure, they saw each other in dreams first, but still!! Sporting a special connection with someone and instinctively feeling like you were meant for each other is NOT a realistic love story just becuase you dreamt about each other first.
I was sad that Danielle's diary entries ended after only 80 pages into the book; they were intriguing and I enjoyed reading them!
That being said, this book was basically James Patterson's Confessions of a Murder Suspect mashed with a few drops of Tangled. Mix it all up and ya get: 85% mystery, 10% fairytale, and 5% annoying. The dark mystery kept me intrigued while theunrealistic lovely fairytale made me wanna ask Flinn: "Just what the heck happened with you and your brain ?"
Sadly, the more the story went on, the weirder and random it became:
-A key hidden inside the silver hairbrush that is only revealed when someone with magical hair brushes the hairbrush upon said magical hair?
-A big group of drug-induced workers hidden beneath the Red Fox Inn, caring and tending to the rhapsody, only to later turn out to be the 100+ kidnapped people from, like, 30 years ago?
-A prophecy about Rachel being the one to break the "curse" (wait, what curse?), just because she was Danielle's daughter?
-Wyatt and Rachel finally figuring out that their telepathic powers were much more handy communication tools than boring old cellphones with only 60 pages left of the story?
Sigh, it couldn't get any worse. Oh wait, ~*IT COULD!*~ :D
I seriously dunno WHAT was going on inside Flinn's originally creative brain, but this book contained much more unnecessary mature themes than her previous fairytale retellings. I personally thought that she could've found some way to weave an enchanting story without all the drug-addiction and teenage-pregnancy and make-out session crap.
The one thing I thought Flinn did right was the "leaf", aka rhapsody -- which I guess was a nod at the lettuce thing in the original fairytale that Rapunzel's mother desperately wanted to eat; the damn thing that started the whole kidnapped-children mess.
And kudos to Flinn for adding all those Star Trek bits -- howobvious and evident and clever of her to have known that the release date for this book would fit right in with Star Trek Into Darkness when it would be released in theatres at around the same time!
edit on June 2, 2013
Ok, so I was wrong: Alex Flinn is no longer the Queen of Modern Fairytale Retellings. That spot is now vacant for Marissa Meyer or Melanie Dickerson to claim.
First off, I was SUPER excited to read this, seeing as how Flinn did a fantabulous job with Beastly, A Kiss in Time, (er, not so much with Cloaked), and Bewitching: The Kendra Chronicles.
Unfortunately, that was not the case. Nope, no siree.
But anyway, spoilers ahead, which you should probably read, (instead of reading the actual book.)
I didn't like how Flinn used the basis of Disney's version of Rapunzel, which was basically the whole girl-with-magical-healing-powers concept. Couldn't she have come up with something original instead of ripping off Disney and creating a dumb version of Tangled?
The love at first sight was waaay too unrealistic. They started kissing passionately after knowing each other for only 20 mins!!! (Give or take 5 mins.) Sure, they saw each other in dreams first, but still!! Sporting a special connection with someone and instinctively feeling like you were meant for each other is NOT a realistic love story just becuase you dreamt about each other first.
I was sad that Danielle's diary entries ended after only 80 pages into the book; they were intriguing and I enjoyed reading them!
That being said, this book was basically James Patterson's Confessions of a Murder Suspect mashed with a few drops of Tangled. Mix it all up and ya get: 85% mystery, 10% fairytale, and 5% annoying. The dark mystery kept me intrigued while the
Sadly, the more the story went on, the weirder and random it became:
-A key hidden inside the silver hairbrush that is only revealed when someone with magical hair brushes the hairbrush upon said magical hair?
-A big group of drug-induced workers hidden beneath the Red Fox Inn, caring and tending to the rhapsody, only to later turn out to be the 100+ kidnapped people from, like, 30 years ago?
-A prophecy about Rachel being the one to break the "curse" (wait, what curse?), just because she was Danielle's daughter?
-Wyatt and Rachel finally figuring out that their telepathic powers were much more handy communication tools than boring old cellphones with only 60 pages left of the story?
Sigh, it couldn't get any worse. Oh wait, ~*IT COULD!*~ :D
I seriously dunno WHAT was going on inside Flinn's originally creative brain, but this book contained much more unnecessary mature themes than her previous fairytale retellings. I personally thought that she could've found some way to weave an enchanting story without all the drug-addiction and teenage-pregnancy and make-out session crap.
The one thing I thought Flinn did right was the "leaf", aka rhapsody -- which I guess was a nod at the lettuce thing in the original fairytale that Rapunzel's mother desperately wanted to eat; the damn thing that started the whole kidnapped-children mess.
And kudos to Flinn for adding all those Star Trek bits -- how
Read
October 28, 2012She is going to slay this fairy tale!! :DDD
I cannot freaking wait.
EDIT: Cover revealed!
Love. Cannot. Handle. FREAK OUT OVERLOAD!!!
I cannot freaking wait.
EDIT: Cover revealed!
Love. Cannot. Handle. FREAK OUT OVERLOAD!!!
November 18, 2014
I've said it a billion times that I'm a huge sucker for fairytale retellings in the YA world, and I've always felt that YA needed more of that genre. Now Rapunzel is a particular one that I've always wanted to see retold in YA fashion, yet I also know that this fairytale is . . . a tough one to modernize. Believe me, I've attempted it. But still, when I stumbled upon this on Goodreads, I was excited. I'm not a huge fan of Alex Flinn, but I was mainly excited for the fact that there will finally be a YA retelling of Rapunzel. So I attempted requesting this through Edelweiss numerous times, and was over the moon when I finally got approved.
And yet here I am feeling . . . underwhelmed. And disappointed. But also not that surprised, because, well, like I said I'm not a huge fan of Alex Flinn, and the books I've read by her mostly fall in the "meh" or "i liked it" category for me. So I tried not to have too-high hopes starting this.
I didn't connect with this book in any way. Everything was so cheesy and ridiculous. I mean, I know it's a fairytale retelling, but that doesn't mean you can't make it at least a little bit realistic. I mean, if you're really gonna make it take place in the modern world. Cause if you made it take place in, well, Fairytale Land, then you can make it as cheesy and campy as possible and I wouldn't have minded.
And the whole thing about a girl being locked in a tower and the tower being completely hidden for years and only found by like, two people, just doesn't make sense to me. So yeah, I really would have preferred it if this took place in a fairytale world with kingdoms and dragons and all that stuff, because Rapunzel is just . . . almost impossible to modernize, in my opinion.
The book's chapters alternate between Wyatt's and Rachel's, and obviously Wyatt has more chapters because Rachel spends most of the book doing absolutely nothing--as expected. Wyatt to me was so . . . plain. There wasn't anything about him that stood out. He's like the guy version of a Mary Sue. What're they called? Gary Stu? Yeah, one of those. He was like a wooden plank. And Rachel isn't any different, but at least she has a reason. The whole rest of the world was kept away from her and obviously she wouldn't know a thing about it. She's spent most of the her life reading classic books so it makes her talk the way that characters in those books talk, and gives her the same way of thinking as them.
The insta-love was insane. They literally claim their undying love for each other after two times meeting each other. And they say those three words to each other over and over again in many pages afterwards. And as if that wasn't enough, they were meant for each other. Literally. How Wyatt found her was because he heard her singing voice while no one else around him heard it. Yes, they're able to talk out loud and hear each other even when they're miles and miles apart. G'awwwwwwwwwwww.
The story was a little messy to me. Nothing happened during the first half or the second half. When things finally started to happen, I was too disconnected to really care. The ending was unsatisfactory and bland.
But basically my main beef with this book is that it really shouldn't have had a modern setting. Especially if there was going to be extremely cheesy and ridiculous insta-love. I mean, I know, an idea of a modern YA Rapunzel retelling is frickin' awesome, and I would love to see it happen, but the execution of this one was so poor. I'm disappointed that this is supposed to be THE YA Rapunzel retelling, like Splintered was with Alice in Wonderland, but I thought that book was awesome so I had no problem calling it the ultimate YA Alice retelling. Yet I cannot say the same for this book, and I hope that one day a much better Rapunzel retelling will grace the YA world and outshine this one.
Many thank you's to Edelweiss and HarperCollins for sending me this galley!
_________________________
Pre-reading: Oh my God, a Rapunzel retelling? Fuck yes.
And yet here I am feeling . . . underwhelmed. And disappointed. But also not that surprised, because, well, like I said I'm not a huge fan of Alex Flinn, and the books I've read by her mostly fall in the "meh" or "i liked it" category for me. So I tried not to have too-high hopes starting this.
I didn't connect with this book in any way. Everything was so cheesy and ridiculous. I mean, I know it's a fairytale retelling, but that doesn't mean you can't make it at least a little bit realistic. I mean, if you're really gonna make it take place in the modern world. Cause if you made it take place in, well, Fairytale Land, then you can make it as cheesy and campy as possible and I wouldn't have minded.
And the whole thing about a girl being locked in a tower and the tower being completely hidden for years and only found by like, two people, just doesn't make sense to me. So yeah, I really would have preferred it if this took place in a fairytale world with kingdoms and dragons and all that stuff, because Rapunzel is just . . . almost impossible to modernize, in my opinion.
The book's chapters alternate between Wyatt's and Rachel's, and obviously Wyatt has more chapters because Rachel spends most of the book doing absolutely nothing--as expected. Wyatt to me was so . . . plain. There wasn't anything about him that stood out. He's like the guy version of a Mary Sue. What're they called? Gary Stu? Yeah, one of those. He was like a wooden plank. And Rachel isn't any different, but at least she has a reason. The whole rest of the world was kept away from her and obviously she wouldn't know a thing about it. She's spent most of the her life reading classic books so it makes her talk the way that characters in those books talk, and gives her the same way of thinking as them.
The insta-love was insane. They literally claim their undying love for each other after two times meeting each other. And they say those three words to each other over and over again in many pages afterwards. And as if that wasn't enough, they were meant for each other. Literally. How Wyatt found her was because he heard her singing voice while no one else around him heard it. Yes, they're able to talk out loud and hear each other even when they're miles and miles apart. G'awwwwwwwwwwww.
The story was a little messy to me. Nothing happened during the first half or the second half. When things finally started to happen, I was too disconnected to really care. The ending was unsatisfactory and bland.
But basically my main beef with this book is that it really shouldn't have had a modern setting. Especially if there was going to be extremely cheesy and ridiculous insta-love. I mean, I know, an idea of a modern YA Rapunzel retelling is frickin' awesome, and I would love to see it happen, but the execution of this one was so poor. I'm disappointed that this is supposed to be THE YA Rapunzel retelling, like Splintered was with Alice in Wonderland, but I thought that book was awesome so I had no problem calling it the ultimate YA Alice retelling. Yet I cannot say the same for this book, and I hope that one day a much better Rapunzel retelling will grace the YA world and outshine this one.
Many thank you's to Edelweiss and HarperCollins for sending me this galley!
_________________________
Pre-reading: Oh my God, a Rapunzel retelling? Fuck yes.
November 17, 2014
FULL REVIEW:
I am not a REVIEW yet.... I am just some random thoughts.... don't like me, I am not fully formed :P
2.5 Stars
You guys don't listen too good do you?!
I have always been drawn to the innocence in the classic Rapunzel fairy tale, it harkens back to the much debated “sins of the fathers” theology, and how the child of a woman with pregnancy cravings can become a prisoner to those sins. A mother, heavy with child and likely cranky, has a craving for some leafy greens – depending on the translation the exact greenery varies- and sends her husband to go fetch some from the gardens of the recluse “witch” who lives next door. The husband is caught, probably curses his wife’s pregnancy-induced anemia, and comes to an agreement with same witch.
That agreement is that the witch will raise Rapunzel as her own, never telling of her true parentage.
I am judging you, Mr. Rapunzel's Dad.... that is a TERRIBLE deal!!
So off goes baby Rapunzel; to be locked up tight in a tower with only the witch, Dame Gothel, as company.
Many years pass by... and although Rapunzel grows beautiful it is an innocent beauty for she is without knowledge of the outside world. Not it's brutalities or it's kindnesses! Thus they carry on as mother and child until a sly prince discovers her and fools Rapunzel into helping him into her prison. They fall madly in love as only foolish fairytale characters can in so short a time..... Also known as INSTA-LOVE *boo-hiss* however, fairy tales are one of the few times I accept this. AND I even understand it here, at least Rapunzel's side. She has never known a man before, never felt a gentleness, never understood kindness OR love; it's easy to get caught up and lost in that feeling of not-being-alone.
And it is about this point in the story where Towering started getting really, really weird!!! And not in a good way. In a you-are-taking-a-dump-on-tradition way. (I will say it's weird and a little off right from the beginning BUT it was at this approximate point where I stopped noticing the "differences" and started looking for the "similarities", if any.)
In fairy tale re-tellings I always give some leeway BECAUSE they are new insight or imaginings and it's pretty unfair to expect them to remain constant. If I wanted that I could read the traditional version, right?! Okay, fair enough.
This started out interesting enough, aside from the bizarre ghost/apparition element that I found rather forced and underdeveloped, with the two MC's being teenagers AND I actually genuinely liked Wyatt. I do take exception to one part though - - however, I was truly MOVED by what he went through. (This is where I will argue his guilt, not that he is guilty, BUT anyone who witnesses something like that is bound to feel guilt. I can understand his feelings there, they are natural.)
** You will notice that I used the traditional names above, there is a reason for that: I don't want to ruin the "big reveal" that I saw coming a mile away **
And that is okay with me, fairy tales aren't generally shock value stories. They are fairly formulaic!
I'm sorry, Flinn, your fairy tale - teen thriller - murder mystery lost me.... I have so many more questions than answers!! I've discovered that Flinn has two genres she writes in "teen problems" and "fairy tale re-tellings". I think both were smooshed in here and it ended up, by and large, just NOT working for me....
Possibly this is because there were too many of them!!! Choices, make them! You can't incorporate teen pregnancies, child abuse, drug addictions AND neglect in ONE story, it's too much!!
So, as much as I wanted to LIKE this story, I ended up with that feeling of shoveling an entire peanut butter sandwich in my mouth at once, and then trying to talk immediately afterwards.
One BIG inconsistency I wanted to address is the "healing" tears ( which contrary to a few reviews I read IS, in fact, an element in several versions of the traditional tale and NOT exclusive to "Tangled") BUT
As I said I was left with more questions than answers.....
This is a crazy long review, I'm sorry.....
Also I love "Tangled", obviously ;)
I am not a REVIEW yet.... I am just some random thoughts.... don't like me, I am not fully formed :P
2.5 Stars
You guys don't listen too good do you?!
I have always been drawn to the innocence in the classic Rapunzel fairy tale, it harkens back to the much debated “sins of the fathers” theology, and how the child of a woman with pregnancy cravings can become a prisoner to those sins. A mother, heavy with child and likely cranky, has a craving for some leafy greens – depending on the translation the exact greenery varies- and sends her husband to go fetch some from the gardens of the recluse “witch” who lives next door. The husband is caught, probably curses his wife’s pregnancy-induced anemia, and comes to an agreement with same witch.
That agreement is that the witch will raise Rapunzel as her own, never telling of her true parentage.
I am judging you, Mr. Rapunzel's Dad.... that is a TERRIBLE deal!!
So off goes baby Rapunzel; to be locked up tight in a tower with only the witch, Dame Gothel, as company.
Many years pass by... and although Rapunzel grows beautiful it is an innocent beauty for she is without knowledge of the outside world. Not it's brutalities or it's kindnesses! Thus they carry on as mother and child until a sly prince discovers her and fools Rapunzel into helping him into her prison. They fall madly in love as only foolish fairytale characters can in so short a time..... Also known as INSTA-LOVE *boo-hiss* however, fairy tales are one of the few times I accept this. AND I even understand it here, at least Rapunzel's side. She has never known a man before, never felt a gentleness, never understood kindness OR love; it's easy to get caught up and lost in that feeling of not-being-alone.
And it is about this point in the story where Towering started getting really, really weird!!! And not in a good way. In a you-are-taking-a-dump-on-tradition way. (I will say it's weird and a little off right from the beginning BUT it was at this approximate point where I stopped noticing the "differences" and started looking for the "similarities", if any.)
In fairy tale re-tellings I always give some leeway BECAUSE they are new insight or imaginings and it's pretty unfair to expect them to remain constant. If I wanted that I could read the traditional version, right?! Okay, fair enough.
This started out interesting enough, aside from the bizarre ghost/apparition element that I found rather forced and underdeveloped, with the two MC's being teenagers AND I actually genuinely liked Wyatt. I do take exception to one part though - - however, I was truly MOVED by what he went through. (This is where I will argue his guilt, not that he is guilty, BUT anyone who witnesses something like that is bound to feel guilt. I can understand his feelings there, they are natural.)
** You will notice that I used the traditional names above, there is a reason for that: I don't want to ruin the "big reveal" that I saw coming a mile away **
And that is okay with me, fairy tales aren't generally shock value stories. They are fairly formulaic!
I'm sorry, Flinn, your fairy tale - teen thriller - murder mystery lost me.... I have so many more questions than answers!! I've discovered that Flinn has two genres she writes in "teen problems" and "fairy tale re-tellings". I think both were smooshed in here and it ended up, by and large, just NOT working for me....
Possibly this is because there were too many of them!!! Choices, make them! You can't incorporate teen pregnancies, child abuse, drug addictions AND neglect in ONE story, it's too much!!
So, as much as I wanted to LIKE this story, I ended up with that feeling of shoveling an entire peanut butter sandwich in my mouth at once, and then trying to talk immediately afterwards.
One BIG inconsistency I wanted to address is the "healing" tears ( which contrary to a few reviews I read IS, in fact, an element in several versions of the traditional tale and NOT exclusive to "Tangled") BUT
As I said I was left with more questions than answers.....
This is a crazy long review, I'm sorry.....
Also I love "Tangled", obviously ;)
August 23, 2013
I hate to admit it, but clearly, COVER ISN'T EVERYTHING.
I am a big fan of Rapunzel. She's my disney princess. Even when Tangled wasn't out yet, I always always found Rapunzel to be magical, wondrous and very interesting. When I first got a glimpse of this book, I HAD SKY HIGH HOPES. Is it my problem that I set my dreams so high? Oh well.. I guess we can't really have it all, eh?
This book has a damn great cover, I'll give you that. Unfortunately, that's the best thing that I can say about it.
The story of Towering revolved around Wyatt, a boy who experienced a tragic thing and is then shipped off to a far away place to relax and maybe let go of the past. It's also about Rachel, a girl who is locked up in some tower because the outside world is "so dangerous". It had promise, yes. At first, the mysteries were all very interesting. I wanted to uncover them all right away. But then, I noticed that the mysteries just kept on coming and coming and coming until I was soooo unnerved by them and honestly, in the end, there were still some questions left unanswered. Even though it had lots of mysteries, I can truly say that there were lots of parts wherein I said "I knew that". It was kinda predictable. It's hard to explain, really, but that's how I felt.
It was also very swift. I mean, they meet the first time then they kiss. Then they say they love each other. Then they say that they feel as if the already know each other, "as if" being the operative phrase. I mean, ugh... it became very very very very CHEESY after they met each other, it wasn't even funny. *GAG*
Then there was the "DRUG". Yes, the main conflict here is that people are addicted to a drug called rhapsody and that Rachel's destiny is to use her powers (yep, she has powers from her hair and her tears) to stop the drug that's been eating the town's people up.
In the end, all I could say was "that's it?".
I have so many questions:
>WHERE THE HELL DID THEY GET RHAPSODY?
>WHO AND WHERE IS ZACH (I know that he has good intentions and that he's a nephew of whatever)? WHY DID HE DO WHAT HE DID AND THEN LEAVE?
>WHAT IS DANIELLE? A GHOST? A VAMPIRE?(cuz she kept on saying let me in let me in)
>WHY WAS MRS. G AS CREEPY AS "MAMA"?
Oh well, I guess they would really be left unanswered.
I didn't like this book and I'm really sad about it. I had high hopes. -_-
If you want a great Rapunzel book, I'd rather recommend Cindy C. Bennett's "Rapunzel Untangled". That book was fun.
-----------------------------
My reaction when I first added this:
-----------------------------
Hey Rapunzel, I'm a big fan!! *CHILDLIKETEENAGEGUSH*
♫ and i keep wondering wondering wondering wondering.. when will my life begin? ♫
awwww this just reminds me of Tangled! I wish I could get an arc or something... hmmm
I am a big fan of Rapunzel. She's my disney princess. Even when Tangled wasn't out yet, I always always found Rapunzel to be magical, wondrous and very interesting. When I first got a glimpse of this book, I HAD SKY HIGH HOPES. Is it my problem that I set my dreams so high? Oh well.. I guess we can't really have it all, eh?
This book has a damn great cover, I'll give you that. Unfortunately, that's the best thing that I can say about it.
The story of Towering revolved around Wyatt, a boy who experienced a tragic thing and is then shipped off to a far away place to relax and maybe let go of the past. It's also about Rachel, a girl who is locked up in some tower because the outside world is "so dangerous". It had promise, yes. At first, the mysteries were all very interesting. I wanted to uncover them all right away. But then, I noticed that the mysteries just kept on coming and coming and coming until I was soooo unnerved by them and honestly, in the end, there were still some questions left unanswered. Even though it had lots of mysteries, I can truly say that there were lots of parts wherein I said "I knew that". It was kinda predictable. It's hard to explain, really, but that's how I felt.
It was also very swift. I mean, they meet the first time then they kiss. Then they say they love each other. Then they say that they feel as if the already know each other, "as if" being the operative phrase. I mean, ugh... it became very very very very CHEESY after they met each other, it wasn't even funny. *GAG*
Then there was the "DRUG". Yes, the main conflict here is that people are addicted to a drug called rhapsody and that Rachel's destiny is to use her powers (yep, she has powers from her hair and her tears) to stop the drug that's been eating the town's people up.
In the end, all I could say was "that's it?".
I have so many questions:
>WHERE THE HELL DID THEY GET RHAPSODY?
>WHO AND WHERE IS ZACH (I know that he has good intentions and that he's a nephew of whatever)? WHY DID HE DO WHAT HE DID AND THEN LEAVE?
>WHAT IS DANIELLE? A GHOST? A VAMPIRE?(cuz she kept on saying let me in let me in)
>WHY WAS MRS. G AS CREEPY AS "MAMA"?
Oh well, I guess they would really be left unanswered.
I didn't like this book and I'm really sad about it. I had high hopes. -_-
If you want a great Rapunzel book, I'd rather recommend Cindy C. Bennett's "Rapunzel Untangled". That book was fun.
-----------------------------
My reaction when I first added this:
-----------------------------
Hey Rapunzel, I'm a big fan!! *CHILDLIKETEENAGEGUSH*
♫ and i keep wondering wondering wondering wondering.. when will my life begin? ♫
awwww this just reminds me of Tangled! I wish I could get an arc or something... hmmm
June 20, 2013
To see review click here.
Is it that hard to write a modern day Rapunzel retelling?
Yes and no. I sort of have an idea for one, but I'm not going to write in anytime soon because it currently has five thousand plot holes and probably would be too dark to be mainstream, but whatever. Those who have actually attempted to write one have succeeded somewhat (grant it, I only read two of these retellings and only one has actually sort of succeeded). Towering is not that book.
And yes, we're deviating from my regular review format so you know what that means...
If you like this book, you probably want to run and duck for cover since I have nothing remotely positive to say about it except good idea. But unlike Cindy C. Bennet's book, Rapunzel: Untangled, you don't see the love for the subject matter here. It just seems written because Harper Teen saw that Tangled was a success and told Flinn to write a Rapunzel story.
I think to properly discuss the flaws of the story, we need to talk about the actual fairytale first. It's not really that adaptable. Well, sort of. It is and it isn't. There are a lot of things that a writer is going to have to contend with, with Rapunzel: Rapunzel's stupidity, Mother's control, the prince, the whole teen pregnancy thing (oh yeah, Rapunzel had twins in the original version), and the whole magic tears and hair that grows at an unusual rate. Do you see why I have like fifty plot holes with my WIP that will probably never be in existence?
Yeah, so I gave this one some leeway and it took it to its own advantage by relying on one of the biggest cliches in the YA world today: insta love.
I have my own theories about insta love. I generally its used as a crutch that has evolved into a trope. I can sort of understand when it's used as a crutch because I think at one point every writer has used it. See the tons of shitty soul bond fan fics (i.e. insta love) on fanfiction.net
But Flinn doesn't get the excuse of a newbie, she's published tons of books. Especially fairytale retellings. You'd think the person who wrote Beastly-which actually had a love story with development-that she wouldn't rely on insta love but no....
Look, I get the original fairytale sort of was insta love. But this is a retelling. Even Disney didn't rely on insta love on this one. In fact, Tangled was one of the few Disney princess movies that didn't use this trope. So WTF!?!?!?!?!
Maybe insta love was used because the characters didn't meet each other until almost a hundred pages ( a third) of the book. And their meetings were just sort of annoying? Seriously, the MC cuts herself after meeting her one true love because she's afraid he'll never see her again.
Yes, I know people do a lot of stupid things for love, but this really annoyed me.
Yep, essentially Flinn relies on insta love to direct her characters actions. And it doesn't work. Not at all. It didn't help that that whole section of the book that occurred before the characters met, was unnecessary. Seriously. The kids that Josh hangs out with at New Year's you barely see them again after that. Merely filler.
I also didn't get a lot of the characters motivations in this one. Like why did Wyatt's mother send him with Rachel's grandmother? The grandmother was known as a creepy old lady in town, suspected of knocking off her daughter, and has been known to obsess over William Shattner's Priceline Commercials (okay, Star Trek, but still). That should've been warning bells right there to Wyatt's mom. And oh yeah, her kid probably needed to be in therapy too-you know, for witnessing his best friend and quasi girlfriend get their brains blown out by their over the top abusive stepfather.
Then there's Wyatt himself. Oh, God. I know his sob story was supposed to make me feel bad for him but I still wanted to punch him in the face. Dude, you knew your friend was getting the shit beaten out of him and you just sat there. You didn't talk to anyone about it. Not one damn person. And then we're told how it's not your fault because you weren't the crazy SOB with a gun. Well, it wasn't technically your fault, but you knew for months. You knew your friend and his sister were getting the shit beaten out of him and...and I'm suppose to root for this character just like I'm supposed to root for crazy grandma who false imprisons her granddaughter for seventeen years. But that's okay, it was all because of some stupid prophecy I still haven't made any sense of that somehow involved oompa loompas (and no I'm not drunk/drank too many grape sodas again, there are oompa loompas in this book).
Yeah the world building.... I still can't make any sense of it. Any sense at all. There really wasn't much done, honestly. An info dump at the end. Some weird climax that I'm just perplexed by. And honestly from what I saw, maybe with a little work it could've been great. It seemed like it was somewhat interesting, but it didn't make any sense.
At all.
Plus it really was a cheap trick. Just so our villain wouldn't be our villain. But it didn't work. Who falsely imprisons their grandkid for seventeen years?
Seriously, if you were that worried for her safety you would've moved halfway across the world not lock her up in a tower.
Stupid.
Stupid.
Stupid.
Dumb.
Dumb.
Dumb.
I can breathe normally again. Sigh.
I think what's really upsetting about this one is that this is Alex Flinn's speciality. She had a movie (albeit shitty one) made off of one of these retellings. And this is just shit. Pure old shit. I honestly had to wonder if she really wrote this then I remembered A Kiss in Time and it sort of made sense. This book shared many of the same problems that Sleeping Beauty of hers has. While A Kiss in Time doesn't rely so much on insta love, the relationship is just as superficial as it is here. We had a dumb as rocks boy and a shallow girl. Although, I guess I'll give Rachel points for liking to read. Grant it, she only reads classics. And I have nothing against classics, but when I was a teenager with the exception of a couple of books, most of my classic reading was for school. But nope, that's all Rachel reads. Oh, and yeah her dumb as a box of rocks boyfriend thinks that Little Women and the Little House books are only meant for girls.
You see, why I hate this guy now?
But to get back to the point, this book is just generic like the Sleeping Beauty retelling that Flinn did. Not only did I see the same character flaws, the plot was about as non-existant as that book. And the minor characters served very little purpose other than being there.
Could this book have been better? Obviously. But writing a Rapunzel is hard. While Bennet suffered from not deviating from the source material enough, Flinn suffers from deviating form it too much. If you really want to read a Rapunzel retelling I recommend Bennet's book, mainly because I felt the spirit of the fairytale was still there. This book seemed more less an attempt cash in on Tangled and that's just a shame.
Is it that hard to write a modern day Rapunzel retelling?
Yes and no. I sort of have an idea for one, but I'm not going to write in anytime soon because it currently has five thousand plot holes and probably would be too dark to be mainstream, but whatever. Those who have actually attempted to write one have succeeded somewhat (grant it, I only read two of these retellings and only one has actually sort of succeeded). Towering is not that book.
And yes, we're deviating from my regular review format so you know what that means...
If you like this book, you probably want to run and duck for cover since I have nothing remotely positive to say about it except good idea. But unlike Cindy C. Bennet's book, Rapunzel: Untangled, you don't see the love for the subject matter here. It just seems written because Harper Teen saw that Tangled was a success and told Flinn to write a Rapunzel story.
I think to properly discuss the flaws of the story, we need to talk about the actual fairytale first. It's not really that adaptable. Well, sort of. It is and it isn't. There are a lot of things that a writer is going to have to contend with, with Rapunzel: Rapunzel's stupidity, Mother's control, the prince, the whole teen pregnancy thing (oh yeah, Rapunzel had twins in the original version), and the whole magic tears and hair that grows at an unusual rate. Do you see why I have like fifty plot holes with my WIP that will probably never be in existence?
Yeah, so I gave this one some leeway and it took it to its own advantage by relying on one of the biggest cliches in the YA world today: insta love.
I have my own theories about insta love. I generally its used as a crutch that has evolved into a trope. I can sort of understand when it's used as a crutch because I think at one point every writer has used it. See the tons of shitty soul bond fan fics (i.e. insta love) on fanfiction.net
But Flinn doesn't get the excuse of a newbie, she's published tons of books. Especially fairytale retellings. You'd think the person who wrote Beastly-which actually had a love story with development-that she wouldn't rely on insta love but no....
Look, I get the original fairytale sort of was insta love. But this is a retelling. Even Disney didn't rely on insta love on this one. In fact, Tangled was one of the few Disney princess movies that didn't use this trope. So WTF!?!?!?!?!
Maybe insta love was used because the characters didn't meet each other until almost a hundred pages ( a third) of the book. And their meetings were just sort of annoying? Seriously, the MC cuts herself after meeting her one true love because she's afraid he'll never see her again.
Yes, I know people do a lot of stupid things for love, but this really annoyed me.
Yep, essentially Flinn relies on insta love to direct her characters actions. And it doesn't work. Not at all. It didn't help that that whole section of the book that occurred before the characters met, was unnecessary. Seriously. The kids that Josh hangs out with at New Year's you barely see them again after that. Merely filler.
I also didn't get a lot of the characters motivations in this one. Like why did Wyatt's mother send him with Rachel's grandmother? The grandmother was known as a creepy old lady in town, suspected of knocking off her daughter, and has been known to obsess over William Shattner's Priceline Commercials (okay, Star Trek, but still). That should've been warning bells right there to Wyatt's mom. And oh yeah, her kid probably needed to be in therapy too-you know, for witnessing his best friend and quasi girlfriend get their brains blown out by their over the top abusive stepfather.
Then there's Wyatt himself. Oh, God. I know his sob story was supposed to make me feel bad for him but I still wanted to punch him in the face. Dude, you knew your friend was getting the shit beaten out of him and you just sat there. You didn't talk to anyone about it. Not one damn person. And then we're told how it's not your fault because you weren't the crazy SOB with a gun. Well, it wasn't technically your fault, but you knew for months. You knew your friend and his sister were getting the shit beaten out of him and...and I'm suppose to root for this character just like I'm supposed to root for crazy grandma who false imprisons her granddaughter for seventeen years. But that's okay, it was all because of some stupid prophecy I still haven't made any sense of that somehow involved oompa loompas (and no I'm not drunk/drank too many grape sodas again, there are oompa loompas in this book).
Yeah the world building.... I still can't make any sense of it. Any sense at all. There really wasn't much done, honestly. An info dump at the end. Some weird climax that I'm just perplexed by. And honestly from what I saw, maybe with a little work it could've been great. It seemed like it was somewhat interesting, but it didn't make any sense.
At all.
Plus it really was a cheap trick. Just so our villain wouldn't be our villain. But it didn't work. Who falsely imprisons their grandkid for seventeen years?
Seriously, if you were that worried for her safety you would've moved halfway across the world not lock her up in a tower.
Stupid.
Stupid.
Stupid.
Dumb.
Dumb.
Dumb.
I can breathe normally again. Sigh.
I think what's really upsetting about this one is that this is Alex Flinn's speciality. She had a movie (albeit shitty one) made off of one of these retellings. And this is just shit. Pure old shit. I honestly had to wonder if she really wrote this then I remembered A Kiss in Time and it sort of made sense. This book shared many of the same problems that Sleeping Beauty of hers has. While A Kiss in Time doesn't rely so much on insta love, the relationship is just as superficial as it is here. We had a dumb as rocks boy and a shallow girl. Although, I guess I'll give Rachel points for liking to read. Grant it, she only reads classics. And I have nothing against classics, but when I was a teenager with the exception of a couple of books, most of my classic reading was for school. But nope, that's all Rachel reads. Oh, and yeah her dumb as a box of rocks boyfriend thinks that Little Women and the Little House books are only meant for girls.
You see, why I hate this guy now?
But to get back to the point, this book is just generic like the Sleeping Beauty retelling that Flinn did. Not only did I see the same character flaws, the plot was about as non-existant as that book. And the minor characters served very little purpose other than being there.
Could this book have been better? Obviously. But writing a Rapunzel is hard. While Bennet suffered from not deviating from the source material enough, Flinn suffers from deviating form it too much. If you really want to read a Rapunzel retelling I recommend Bennet's book, mainly because I felt the spirit of the fairytale was still there. This book seemed more less an attempt cash in on Tangled and that's just a shame.
April 9, 2013
Towering by Alex Flinn is a retelling of the childhood classic Rapunzel with a few modern twists. The result is a creepy gothic tale complete with ghosts and mysteries. Towering is set in upstate New York in the Adirondacks. The region’s natural beauty combined with its isolation from civilization creates a spooky atmosphere.
Our heroine Rachel has been living in a tower for almost as long as she can remember. She’s 17 years old and has beautiful “golden princess” hair which grows so fast it must be cut weekly. Rachel occupies herself by reading books – mostly the classics. Her “mama” visits daily, bringing her food and reading to her. Rachel is incredibly innocent and naïve – she has little life experience and no interactions with her peers. When she narrated her point of view, her voice seemed pure and innocent, almost as if she were from another time period.
The second narrator Wyatt is an interesting character. Wyatt left his home to move in with Mrs. Greenwood. Wyatt has left home because of a traumatic experience resulting in the death of his friends. It’s kind of funny watching Wyatt acclimatize to the cold winter and the limited activities of a small town. There’s creepy characters hanging out at the hardware store and cell phone reception doesn’t exist unless you climb a tree or are at the top of a hill.
At Mrs. Greenwood’s home, Wyatt mistakenly enters Danielle’s old bedroom and discovers her diary. The diary left a few clues as to what happened to Danielle. Soon he’s seeing ghosts and hearing someone singing. Wyatt also realizes that there is something strange going on. The town had quite a lot of missing people over the years.
Towering was a quick and entertaining read for me. I enjoyed how the author was able to take a well-known fairy tale and create a fresh, new story.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Harper Teen for a review copy of this book.
Our heroine Rachel has been living in a tower for almost as long as she can remember. She’s 17 years old and has beautiful “golden princess” hair which grows so fast it must be cut weekly. Rachel occupies herself by reading books – mostly the classics. Her “mama” visits daily, bringing her food and reading to her. Rachel is incredibly innocent and naïve – she has little life experience and no interactions with her peers. When she narrated her point of view, her voice seemed pure and innocent, almost as if she were from another time period.
The second narrator Wyatt is an interesting character. Wyatt left his home to move in with Mrs. Greenwood. Wyatt has left home because of a traumatic experience resulting in the death of his friends. It’s kind of funny watching Wyatt acclimatize to the cold winter and the limited activities of a small town. There’s creepy characters hanging out at the hardware store and cell phone reception doesn’t exist unless you climb a tree or are at the top of a hill.
At Mrs. Greenwood’s home, Wyatt mistakenly enters Danielle’s old bedroom and discovers her diary. The diary left a few clues as to what happened to Danielle. Soon he’s seeing ghosts and hearing someone singing. Wyatt also realizes that there is something strange going on. The town had quite a lot of missing people over the years.
Towering was a quick and entertaining read for me. I enjoyed how the author was able to take a well-known fairy tale and create a fresh, new story.
Thank you to Edelweiss and Harper Teen for a review copy of this book.
July 13, 2013
1.5 stars.
I don't even know. Seriously, this review...my brain, it hurts. It's mostly a stream of consciousness review - be warned.
The problems with this book are abundant and scattered throughout. I mean, I don't even know where to start, it's that confusing. You've got your Rapunzel retelling and your murder/disappearance mystery, kind of, which ties in to the retelling but that's where it gets kinky. So apparently, as far as I can tell,
No, just don't do it. It was bad. All over the place story; unbelievable characters/magic system/motives/you name it.
I don't even know. Seriously, this review...my brain, it hurts. It's mostly a stream of consciousness review - be warned.
The problems with this book are abundant and scattered throughout. I mean, I don't even know where to start, it's that confusing. You've got your Rapunzel retelling and your murder/disappearance mystery, kind of, which ties in to the retelling but that's where it gets kinky. So apparently, as far as I can tell,
No, just don't do it. It was bad. All over the place story; unbelievable characters/magic system/motives/you name it.
June 22, 2013
**Warning*** This review contains spoilers for the book.
When I first saw Towering, I was very excited to read it. Not only because it has a beautiful cover and a lovely summary, but because I have read some of Flinn's other books and loved them. I'm beginning to think that I have a love/hate relationship with her work, because I enjoyed Beastly (the book and the movie), A Kiss In Time, and Bewitching. If anyone asked me for recommendations for good retellings, I would point them towards those in a heartbeat. However, I was mostly indifferent towards Cloaked - honestly, I don't remember a single thing that happened even though I read it most recently - but with Towering . . . well, I hated it. I can honestly say that this book left me completely baffled, and not in the good way when what you've read is so awesome you've been rendered speechless. No, I am baffled as in annoyed, because I feel like I wasted precious reading hours.
I read in someone's review - I'm sorry I don't remember who - that Rapunzel is a very difficult fairy tale to modernize. I have to agree with that, but at the same time a cute re-telling of it can be done. I mean, just look at the success of the movie Tangled. I guess I'll just name off all the things that really got under my skin, but I'm sure I'll miss a few things along the way, simply because there are so many. I wanted to write a spoiler-free review for this as I generally try to do with everything I read, but I feel like I won't adequately express my problems by trying to go around them and not revealing anything.
What really irks me is that Towering actually started off rather well. I was interested in what was going on, and at first the narration didn't both me. The mystery of what happened to Danielle and how she tied into the girl locked away in a tower was intriguing. But as time went on, I began to really hate Rachel's chapters. I understand that someone who has been isolated for most of their life would be very naive and probably pretty innocent, but for some reason, her "voice" really bothered me. She was just so aggravating - she was beautiful, of course, but also soft and lovely and completely flat as a character. There is absolutely nothing memorable about her at all. I didn't mind Wyatt nearly as much, up until he started seeing Rachel.
The instalove in Towering is almost unbearable. In fairy tales, the two characters always seem to fall in love rather quickly, but with these two people it was insane. They literally say "I love you" the second time they meet, all because of some weird mental connection they have. They knew next to nothing about each other, and suddenly they were in eternal and unbreakable love. Wyatt has this little moment somewhere in the middle of the story when he wonders if maybe Rachel only loves him because he's the only person she's seen in a long, long time. But he quickly dismisses this idea; personally, I think he should have considered it a little more deeply.
And this is where it starts getting spoiler-ish:
I don't understand why Zach fed Danielle the rhapsody. Why would he even be interested in fulfilling the prophecy when he was the nephew of the bad guys? I guess this means that he could have been a decent human being, but if he was, again, what's with the feeding? It makes zero sense to me. And how do the villains, Henry and Carl, even know about this prophecy? It also seems like Mrs. Greenwood could have lived with Rachel in isolation or maybe just moved really far away. It didn't seem like she tried very hard to get away from the people threatening her. She didn't seem like a bad person, but wasn't exactly the easiest to understand.
And at the very end, after Rachel defeats everyone as destroys all the rhapsody, I find it hard to believe that Henry and Carl would just run away. They must have known that they would be slower and weaker without, that they would probably eventually get caught by the police. So wouldn't they want to stick around and try to get revenge on the people who took everything from them? Rachel had just lost her powers since they served their purpose, Wyatt was badly injured, all the slaves left, and Mrs. Greenwood is a sixty year old lady. Let's face it, they weren't in any position to defend themselves. So what gives? If I'm being completely honest, the whole prophecy and "chosen one" thing seemed absolutely ridiculous. I mean really; there's this big secret drug corporation and the key to stopping it all is the girl with the magic hair and tears.
I also disliked the paranormal addition to the story. Danielle was dead, and she should have stayed dead, rather than popped up a few times to creep Wyatt out and show him what was inside the silver hairbrush (which he just happened to find in a store when he was out). She is also the given explanation for why Wyatt and Rachel can communicate mentally. It just seemed extremely random, but at this point I didn't care because I hated pretty much everything anyway. So overall, Towering was a promising book, but in the end it made no sense and the characters are nothing short of infuriating. Still, if Flinn every decides to do another retelling, I will still pick it up, because of having enjoyed her other novels. This one, though, is not one I could ever recommend in good conscience.
1 star
When I first saw Towering, I was very excited to read it. Not only because it has a beautiful cover and a lovely summary, but because I have read some of Flinn's other books and loved them. I'm beginning to think that I have a love/hate relationship with her work, because I enjoyed Beastly (the book and the movie), A Kiss In Time, and Bewitching. If anyone asked me for recommendations for good retellings, I would point them towards those in a heartbeat. However, I was mostly indifferent towards Cloaked - honestly, I don't remember a single thing that happened even though I read it most recently - but with Towering . . . well, I hated it. I can honestly say that this book left me completely baffled, and not in the good way when what you've read is so awesome you've been rendered speechless. No, I am baffled as in annoyed, because I feel like I wasted precious reading hours.
I read in someone's review - I'm sorry I don't remember who - that Rapunzel is a very difficult fairy tale to modernize. I have to agree with that, but at the same time a cute re-telling of it can be done. I mean, just look at the success of the movie Tangled. I guess I'll just name off all the things that really got under my skin, but I'm sure I'll miss a few things along the way, simply because there are so many. I wanted to write a spoiler-free review for this as I generally try to do with everything I read, but I feel like I won't adequately express my problems by trying to go around them and not revealing anything.
What really irks me is that Towering actually started off rather well. I was interested in what was going on, and at first the narration didn't both me. The mystery of what happened to Danielle and how she tied into the girl locked away in a tower was intriguing. But as time went on, I began to really hate Rachel's chapters. I understand that someone who has been isolated for most of their life would be very naive and probably pretty innocent, but for some reason, her "voice" really bothered me. She was just so aggravating - she was beautiful, of course, but also soft and lovely and completely flat as a character. There is absolutely nothing memorable about her at all. I didn't mind Wyatt nearly as much, up until he started seeing Rachel.
The instalove in Towering is almost unbearable. In fairy tales, the two characters always seem to fall in love rather quickly, but with these two people it was insane. They literally say "I love you" the second time they meet, all because of some weird mental connection they have. They knew next to nothing about each other, and suddenly they were in eternal and unbreakable love. Wyatt has this little moment somewhere in the middle of the story when he wonders if maybe Rachel only loves him because he's the only person she's seen in a long, long time. But he quickly dismisses this idea; personally, I think he should have considered it a little more deeply.
And this is where it starts getting spoiler-ish:
I don't understand why Zach fed Danielle the rhapsody. Why would he even be interested in fulfilling the prophecy when he was the nephew of the bad guys? I guess this means that he could have been a decent human being, but if he was, again, what's with the feeding? It makes zero sense to me. And how do the villains, Henry and Carl, even know about this prophecy? It also seems like Mrs. Greenwood could have lived with Rachel in isolation or maybe just moved really far away. It didn't seem like she tried very hard to get away from the people threatening her. She didn't seem like a bad person, but wasn't exactly the easiest to understand.
And at the very end, after Rachel defeats everyone as destroys all the rhapsody, I find it hard to believe that Henry and Carl would just run away. They must have known that they would be slower and weaker without, that they would probably eventually get caught by the police. So wouldn't they want to stick around and try to get revenge on the people who took everything from them? Rachel had just lost her powers since they served their purpose, Wyatt was badly injured, all the slaves left, and Mrs. Greenwood is a sixty year old lady. Let's face it, they weren't in any position to defend themselves. So what gives? If I'm being completely honest, the whole prophecy and "chosen one" thing seemed absolutely ridiculous. I mean really; there's this big secret drug corporation and the key to stopping it all is the girl with the magic hair and tears.
I also disliked the paranormal addition to the story. Danielle was dead, and she should have stayed dead, rather than popped up a few times to creep Wyatt out and show him what was inside the silver hairbrush (which he just happened to find in a store when he was out). She is also the given explanation for why Wyatt and Rachel can communicate mentally. It just seemed extremely random, but at this point I didn't care because I hated pretty much everything anyway. So overall, Towering was a promising book, but in the end it made no sense and the characters are nothing short of infuriating. Still, if Flinn every decides to do another retelling, I will still pick it up, because of having enjoyed her other novels. This one, though, is not one I could ever recommend in good conscience.
1 star
Want to read
November 2, 2012
Like, do you guys have ANY idea how excited I am for this book? BECAUSE I AM REALLY EXCITED OKAY. I need it. Now.
May 13, 2013
Okay, guys, I’ll admit: I really liked “Beastly”, and I’ve had the second of the Kendra books sitting in my TBR pile on Mr. Nook for months now, which I heard was pretty good. So to see another fairyretelling by Flinn coming out made me pretty exciting, especially since “Beastly” put some very creative twists on the original “La Belle et Le Bete” tale. However, it was not to be. “Towering” was disappointing in all technical areas. I can’t even claim it as a guilty pleasure read – that’s how bad it was. Which was incredibly saddening to me, since I haven’t found a really good “Rapunzel” retelling as of yet in YA. Maybe Jackson Pierce will tackle it in her second set of the “Fairy Retelling” trilogies? God I hope so.
Where to start? This had a really promising set of two opening chapters – with Rachel, a girl kidnapped and forced into a tower “for her protection” from the outside by a figure known as Mama, not her real mother, and had some interesting undertones of Stockholm Syndrome to it that really could have been explored, but weren’t. Then we get our male protagonist, Wyatt, and things kind of go downhill from there.
He’s come to stay with friends, and things start getting convoluted. Somehow he stumbles on Rachel (Rapunzel) in her tower, and it’s never really made clear with the house in terms of sensory language and imagery whether Wyatt’s already seen the tower when he shows up. So it’s just kind of nowhere after “hearing singing” does he find Rachel. Uh. Singing, especially as it’s described here as “soft singing”, especially with a reinforced tower and walls, is incredibly hard to follow unless you have canine-grade hearing. Which, apparently, Wyatt does not.
Then there’s insta-love. Cringe.
Add to that ancient prophecies, severe abuse of “The Chosen One” trope, and I was 500% done. I just couldn’t even finish the book. While the ghostly bits were awesome, the rest of the technical areas just weren’t developed. At all. I mean, we’re talking 1D cardboard world and characters bad in terms of development. Even at the ARC stage of things, I was really dismayed at the lack of development in every single technical area. How did this get past the editors? I just..yeah. I rarely go off on books like this, guys, but I just can’t even with this book. I’m not even sure if I can continue to read Flinn’s work if this is the effort she’s going to put into it.
But that’s just how I feel – and yeah, it’s pretty harsh. However! “Towering” is out tomorrow from HarperTeen in North America, so be sure to check it out and come to your own conclusions on the book. I’m eager to hear other opinions and welcome discussion in the comment section below. Give the book a try – it may be your thing. It just sadly wasn’t mine.
(posted to goodreads, shelfari, and birthofanewwitch.wordpress.com)
Where to start? This had a really promising set of two opening chapters – with Rachel, a girl kidnapped and forced into a tower “for her protection” from the outside by a figure known as Mama, not her real mother, and had some interesting undertones of Stockholm Syndrome to it that really could have been explored, but weren’t. Then we get our male protagonist, Wyatt, and things kind of go downhill from there.
He’s come to stay with friends, and things start getting convoluted. Somehow he stumbles on Rachel (Rapunzel) in her tower, and it’s never really made clear with the house in terms of sensory language and imagery whether Wyatt’s already seen the tower when he shows up. So it’s just kind of nowhere after “hearing singing” does he find Rachel. Uh. Singing, especially as it’s described here as “soft singing”, especially with a reinforced tower and walls, is incredibly hard to follow unless you have canine-grade hearing. Which, apparently, Wyatt does not.
Then there’s insta-love. Cringe.
Add to that ancient prophecies, severe abuse of “The Chosen One” trope, and I was 500% done. I just couldn’t even finish the book. While the ghostly bits were awesome, the rest of the technical areas just weren’t developed. At all. I mean, we’re talking 1D cardboard world and characters bad in terms of development. Even at the ARC stage of things, I was really dismayed at the lack of development in every single technical area. How did this get past the editors? I just..yeah. I rarely go off on books like this, guys, but I just can’t even with this book. I’m not even sure if I can continue to read Flinn’s work if this is the effort she’s going to put into it.
But that’s just how I feel – and yeah, it’s pretty harsh. However! “Towering” is out tomorrow from HarperTeen in North America, so be sure to check it out and come to your own conclusions on the book. I’m eager to hear other opinions and welcome discussion in the comment section below. Give the book a try – it may be your thing. It just sadly wasn’t mine.
(posted to goodreads, shelfari, and birthofanewwitch.wordpress.com)
July 9, 2013
Rapunzel is my favourite princess fairytale (ok maybe just because of Tangled...) so I was looking forward to reading this book. I think you can do a lot with the Rapunzel tale but this book... was kind of a let down.
I didn't realise that this was written by the author of Beastly at first but now I can see definite pattern with her work, as this book starts off okay, looks promising and the ending is so rushed. The same thing happened with Beastly. I barely had an idea what was going on in the last 30% of this book. And by this point, when things actually started to happen (though I wasn't really sure what) I felt too distanced from the characters and their bland personalities to care.
The worse part of this book was the relationship of Wyatt and Rachel. It was so ridiculous! Yes, this is a retelling of a fairytale but that doesn't mean your characters should fall in love the second they see each other. It doesn't mean that their relationship should be one dimensional and, frankly, just a bit silly.
This pretty sums up the non-relationship between Wyatt and Rachel: "I love you, Rachel. I know it's too soon. I've only met you twice."
WHAT! Come on. They also spent the majority of the book proclaiming to each other how in love they were. “I love you” became the most overusedlie statement in this book. And every time they said it I was fighting back eye-rolls because they had no relationship to speak of. I wasn't buying it.
Also, what the heck was with the random Wuthering Heights start? Why was that never brought up again?
The characters were bland, the world a bit baffling and the plot boring. Sadly not impressed.
I didn't realise that this was written by the author of Beastly at first but now I can see definite pattern with her work, as this book starts off okay, looks promising and the ending is so rushed. The same thing happened with Beastly. I barely had an idea what was going on in the last 30% of this book. And by this point, when things actually started to happen (though I wasn't really sure what) I felt too distanced from the characters and their bland personalities to care.
The worse part of this book was the relationship of Wyatt and Rachel. It was so ridiculous! Yes, this is a retelling of a fairytale but that doesn't mean your characters should fall in love the second they see each other. It doesn't mean that their relationship should be one dimensional and, frankly, just a bit silly.
This pretty sums up the non-relationship between Wyatt and Rachel: "I love you, Rachel. I know it's too soon. I've only met you twice."
WHAT! Come on. They also spent the majority of the book proclaiming to each other how in love they were. “I love you” became the most overused
Also, what the heck was with the random Wuthering Heights start? Why was that never brought up again?
The characters were bland, the world a bit baffling and the plot boring. Sadly not impressed.
February 17, 2016
Before anything else, look at that book cover!
isn't it gorgeous?! It is one of the rare moments when I buy a book just because of the cover and it was on sale so I just can't resist it. And I am not regretting that I bought it. :)
This book didn’t start well for me. It was quite dragged and uninteresting but I pushed myself to read it believing that it will get better and I am so glad that it did. It got better when suspense and mysterious events keeps on piling up and then there are new characters coming out as you go deeper to the story. However, they made me confuse at some point in the story. There are times that I think that some events are unnecessary and could have been written better. But I still enjoyed reading some parts because it made me puzzled.
There are also several plot twists which are good but they were quite obvious for me. I really like how this story is different from the original.
I recommend this to readers whose mother tongue is not English. The vocabulary and how it is written are not that complicated and would not be hard to comprehend.
isn't it gorgeous?! It is one of the rare moments when I buy a book just because of the cover and it was on sale so I just can't resist it. And I am not regretting that I bought it. :)This book didn’t start well for me. It was quite dragged and uninteresting but I pushed myself to read it believing that it will get better and I am so glad that it did. It got better when suspense and mysterious events keeps on piling up and then there are new characters coming out as you go deeper to the story. However, they made me confuse at some point in the story. There are times that I think that some events are unnecessary and could have been written better. But I still enjoyed reading some parts because it made me puzzled.
There are also several plot twists which are good but they were quite obvious for me. I really like how this story is different from the original.
I recommend this to readers whose mother tongue is not English. The vocabulary and how it is written are not that complicated and would not be hard to comprehend.
May 26, 2016
I feel a really strong need to describe this book in one word, an Urdu word to be specific. And that is;
Bakwas
. Pronounced as “buck”-“vaas”, we use it to describe something that is colossally stupid and makes a grand total of zero sense which is exactly the case with this book. We’re human beings, we’re attracted to bright and shiny and beautiful things (for instance GORGEOUS BOOK COVERS) like flies to filth. Which is why I didn’t even bother to read the premise and dived straight in without a second thought. And let me just say; WHAT ON GOD’S GREEN EARTH WAS THAT?
It’s a Rapunzel retelling set in the modern-day and she is locked up in the tower and has long hair and healing tears and all that but the rest is just, well, stupid. I see no other better word to describe it. Besides Bakwas of course. So what happens is that (SPOILERS) a girl named Danielle gets herself pregnant by a guy named Zach whose two uncles are these drug lords. The drug is this otherworldly substance called Rhapsody that gives glorified visions to people. There is a prophecy (A PROPHECY!, see how it fits. NOT) about a girl with golden hair who’ll put a stop to this drug business (WHAT EVEN) and Zach somehow (EVERYTHING IN THIS BOOK IS A BIG FAT SOMEHOW) knows that this kid will be Danielle’s so he gets her pregnant while feeding her the drug (??!!!). She gets killed later. The baby is given to her grandmother to be protected. She locks her up in a tower. The girl, Rachel, gets the hair and healing powers due to the prophecy. Her dead mother appears as a ghost to three people leading to her best friend’s son moving with the grandmother. Rachel and the guy, Wyatt, begin hearing each other, again, because it was prophesized (HOW?? and also, WHY??) that he’ll help her. She uses this magic hairbrush on her hair to reveal a key inside it, uses the key to open a door revealing a pipe that supplies the drug, weeps there and destroys the drug. Destiny fulfilled.
SEE HOW UTTERLY WRONG THAT IS? The elements of paranormal, magic and mystery were haphazardly thrown in and the result was a disaster. The storytelling was careless to the point it made no sense whatsoever.
Plot: FAIL
Characters: FAIL
World-Building: -0
Writing: BEARABLE
Almost-Saving Grace: Suspense and Mystery
Verdict: No, just no.
Final Thoughts: A failure of epic proportions
It’s a Rapunzel retelling set in the modern-day and she is locked up in the tower and has long hair and healing tears and all that but the rest is just, well, stupid. I see no other better word to describe it. Besides Bakwas of course. So what happens is that (SPOILERS) a girl named Danielle gets herself pregnant by a guy named Zach whose two uncles are these drug lords. The drug is this otherworldly substance called Rhapsody that gives glorified visions to people. There is a prophecy (A PROPHECY!, see how it fits. NOT) about a girl with golden hair who’ll put a stop to this drug business (WHAT EVEN) and Zach somehow (EVERYTHING IN THIS BOOK IS A BIG FAT SOMEHOW) knows that this kid will be Danielle’s so he gets her pregnant while feeding her the drug (??!!!). She gets killed later. The baby is given to her grandmother to be protected. She locks her up in a tower. The girl, Rachel, gets the hair and healing powers due to the prophecy. Her dead mother appears as a ghost to three people leading to her best friend’s son moving with the grandmother. Rachel and the guy, Wyatt, begin hearing each other, again, because it was prophesized (HOW?? and also, WHY??) that he’ll help her. She uses this magic hairbrush on her hair to reveal a key inside it, uses the key to open a door revealing a pipe that supplies the drug, weeps there and destroys the drug. Destiny fulfilled.
SEE HOW UTTERLY WRONG THAT IS? The elements of paranormal, magic and mystery were haphazardly thrown in and the result was a disaster. The storytelling was careless to the point it made no sense whatsoever.
At first, it was all very interesting. The mystery kept me really eager to find out what happened next. The writing style, the dialogue, the descriptions, everything was mediocre at best. It started sounding childish and, wait for it…, stupid the further I read. The characters were boring especially Wyatt who was so dull I wanted to slap him. The romance was the mother of all insta-loves, the characters kissing in mere minutes of meeting each other because *air-quote* it was destiny and they were meant to find one another and both were mutant freaks with hearing impairment*un-quote*. I am still struggling to understand where, in the name of all that is sweet and pure, that prophecy came from?, how ghosts existed?, why didn’t anybody know about that drug even after the culprits were caught? And why, oh why, did the writer think this book was a great idea. All the shit about destiny and “meant-to-do” and prophecies to stop the manufacturing of a virtually non-existent, off-the-records drug. How very heroic.
Plot: FAIL
Characters: FAIL
World-Building: -0
Writing: BEARABLE
Almost-Saving Grace: Suspense and Mystery
Verdict: No, just no.
Final Thoughts: A failure of epic proportions
December 21, 2022
This book had SO much potential! I feel like it kept building me up to a wonderful ending and then just dropped me.
“If you're not a hero, does that make you a villain?”
This book was completely original, slightly unpredictable and if it wasn't for that ending it would have been great . It was a retelling of Rapunzel, with a twist. It starts out with the typical girl in a tower, remembering her past. Then we see Wyatts point of view and its when things get interesting. He went through an awful (and mysterious) experience which made his mother send him away to some random lady in a small cold town.
Normally I'd say who sends their depressed kid to live with a stranger but its 0ne of the few things explained in the end. Once Wyatt gets there he accidentally goes into the old lady's (Mrs. Greenwoods) daughters room (Danielle) that had disappeared when she was 16. There he finds her diary and after reading the first few pages he swears he can her. At the same time Rachel is in her tower dreaming of strange man with green eyes who goes to rescue him. The book switches from both Wyatt's and Rachel's point of view. The more that Wyatt investigates Danielle's disappearance the closer he gets to Rachel.
The book kept me reading and was definitely better than Flinn's last book Cloaked but still I felt that the end didn't explain so many things! I mean it never specifically tells us how Danielle died and to avoid spoilers I won't keep explaining but really I feel like it could have used another chapter. Not to mention she hardly talked about the effects of the drugs or even how it started. Also after a day of knowing each other Rachel “loved” Wyatt, of course she loved him! It was the only human she had seen in 10 years! But I guess Insta-love is part of the fairy tale element.
Overall it isn't that bad and its keeps you hooked, but the ending was a major letdown
“If you're not a hero, does that make you a villain?”
This book was completely original, slightly unpredictable and if it wasn't for that ending it would have been great . It was a retelling of Rapunzel, with a twist. It starts out with the typical girl in a tower, remembering her past. Then we see Wyatts point of view and its when things get interesting. He went through an awful (and mysterious) experience which made his mother send him away to some random lady in a small cold town.
Normally I'd say who sends their depressed kid to live with a stranger but its 0ne of the few things explained in the end. Once Wyatt gets there he accidentally goes into the old lady's (Mrs. Greenwoods) daughters room (Danielle) that had disappeared when she was 16. There he finds her diary and after reading the first few pages he swears he can her. At the same time Rachel is in her tower dreaming of strange man with green eyes who goes to rescue him. The book switches from both Wyatt's and Rachel's point of view. The more that Wyatt investigates Danielle's disappearance the closer he gets to Rachel.
The book kept me reading and was definitely better than Flinn's last book Cloaked but still I felt that the end didn't explain so many things! I mean it never specifically tells us how Danielle died and to avoid spoilers I won't keep explaining but really I feel like it could have used another chapter. Not to mention she hardly talked about the effects of the drugs or even how it started. Also after a day of knowing each other Rachel “loved” Wyatt, of course she loved him! It was the only human she had seen in 10 years! But I guess Insta-love is part of the fairy tale element.
Overall it isn't that bad and its keeps you hooked, but the ending was a major letdown
March 1, 2013
Okay first off I have to say that I give any author credit for re-telling a fairy tale and making into a YA book. Kudos to you for doing that because it is not easy and lord knows you will get those out there who will not like it and trash it but I have to say I was really impressed by this book. When I was talking to a few of my goodreads buddies they all said they were nervous to read this one and I said yes I agree but let's give it a go. What is the worse that can happen that we don't like it so we put it down. Well we read it and we liked it and some off it was kinda out there but dammit KUDOS to Alex Finn for trying and succeeding in what no one else has tried.
Rachel is stuck in a tower with no friends. She has her mother and her songs to keep her company. She also has her hair that keeps on growing and growing but she is lonely and she wants some companionship. She dreams of someone a guy coming into her window but is it a dream or is it reality? So day after day she sits in her window and she sings these songs from her childhood in the hopes that someone will find her in that tower and rescue her.
What do you think happens is the question. This is a story with a few other tid bits in it that I will not spoil for readers because I believe it is what makes the story so much more interesting. I will say there is a guy Wyatt and he is a very interesting character and the mother well let's just say she is a little on the crazy side!
Rachel is stuck in a tower with no friends. She has her mother and her songs to keep her company. She also has her hair that keeps on growing and growing but she is lonely and she wants some companionship. She dreams of someone a guy coming into her window but is it a dream or is it reality? So day after day she sits in her window and she sings these songs from her childhood in the hopes that someone will find her in that tower and rescue her.
What do you think happens is the question. This is a story with a few other tid bits in it that I will not spoil for readers because I believe it is what makes the story so much more interesting. I will say there is a guy Wyatt and he is a very interesting character and the mother well let's just say she is a little on the crazy side!
June 8, 2013
Towering... I was surprised to like this one. My previous read by Flinn was rated not more than average, so I didn't really expect to love it this much for it's just another retelling. And that's the thing, it's a 'retelling' so we all know what's it's all about and what's going to happen inside but NO, this book was really exciting and full of unexpected things. Not really one of my average reads 'cuz I loved it!
So it's the modern version of Rapunzel played by Rachel and Wyatt. That's my favorite fairy tale and this book is a total level up. The evil witch/kidnapper doesn't really exist here. I loved the characters, made me try to guess several times. 'Is she the antagonist? What's up with that? What does it mean?' So I guess I'll just read this and stop blubbering because it's getting me nowhere.
The plot was amazing. Too many coincidences, I guess that's how people start believing in destiny and so do I. So this is just so girly! Nevertheless, I loved it. Just the right dose of mystery, romance and magic. It never made me feel like reading a classic fairy tale children book but a modern teenage one that really suits me.
And hey, look at the cover! That's just Wow! This is the best work of Flinn that I'd ever read, can't believe that she had it on hold before the inspiration came. Mega thumbs up!
For more reviews, please check out my blog:
The Book Jam ==>http://thebookjam.blogspot.com/
So it's the modern version of Rapunzel played by Rachel and Wyatt. That's my favorite fairy tale and this book is a total level up. The evil witch/kidnapper doesn't really exist here. I loved the characters, made me try to guess several times. 'Is she the antagonist? What's up with that? What does it mean?' So I guess I'll just read this and stop blubbering because it's getting me nowhere.
The plot was amazing. Too many coincidences, I guess that's how people start believing in destiny and so do I. So this is just so girly! Nevertheless, I loved it. Just the right dose of mystery, romance and magic. It never made me feel like reading a classic fairy tale children book but a modern teenage one that really suits me.
And hey, look at the cover! That's just Wow! This is the best work of Flinn that I'd ever read, can't believe that she had it on hold before the inspiration came. Mega thumbs up!
For more reviews, please check out my blog:
The Book Jam ==>http://thebookjam.blogspot.com/
December 31, 2014
So, as far as I've seen in the comments below, this book was only chosen to be read because of the cover.
I did not choose it because of the cover. I chose it because I love Alex Flinn's work, I've read mostly everything she wrote, and I was so excited that she decided to do a modern version of Rapunzel.
And you know what, I've chosen this book to be the last one in my Reading Challenge, so this 100th book is a winner.
I've loved it so much, because it was exactly the kind of story I would've liked my year to end.
Of course, it's not perfect, and Tyler and Nikki's story kind of freaked me out, because it's so contemporary and real issue and I think anyone might go through that, and I sympathized with Wyatt a lot because of how he felt about it.
I feel like the rhapsody thing wasn't really well thought through, but it was a good idea, and I loved how Rachel, despite being in the position of a princess, she wasn't a damsel in distress, she was a real woman, capable of taking care of herself and taking risks and saving people she loved.
So, like I said, I am a big fan of Alex Flinn's writing, and I can't wait to read more of whatever she had to say.
I did not choose it because of the cover. I chose it because I love Alex Flinn's work, I've read mostly everything she wrote, and I was so excited that she decided to do a modern version of Rapunzel.
And you know what, I've chosen this book to be the last one in my Reading Challenge, so this 100th book is a winner.
I've loved it so much, because it was exactly the kind of story I would've liked my year to end.
Of course, it's not perfect, and Tyler and Nikki's story kind of freaked me out, because it's so contemporary and real issue and I think anyone might go through that, and I sympathized with Wyatt a lot because of how he felt about it.
I feel like the rhapsody thing wasn't really well thought through, but it was a good idea, and I loved how Rachel, despite being in the position of a princess, she wasn't a damsel in distress, she was a real woman, capable of taking care of herself and taking risks and saving people she loved.
So, like I said, I am a big fan of Alex Flinn's writing, and I can't wait to read more of whatever she had to say.
January 20, 2016
This book was EPIC!! 5 STARS ☆I have no idea why this book got 3/5 on goodreads!!!
I decided to give it a chance, anyway, because I hadn’t read a Rapunzel retelling before. I can see the potential in this book. There are a lot of mysteries that keep the pace going, like why Rachel is in the tower and what happened to Mrs. Greenwood’s daughter, Dani. That’s why I kept reading for as long as I did; I wanted to know what was happening in this small town.
Anyway, Towering is a retelling of Rapunzel, set in frozen Upstate New York. It is in two viewpoints, Wyatt, a teen who moves from Long Island after a tragedy, only to hear a strange voice, calling him into the wilderness, and Rachel, a girl who is locked in a tower. When the two meet, they begin to solve the mystery of why each is there.
I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK
I decided to give it a chance, anyway, because I hadn’t read a Rapunzel retelling before. I can see the potential in this book. There are a lot of mysteries that keep the pace going, like why Rachel is in the tower and what happened to Mrs. Greenwood’s daughter, Dani. That’s why I kept reading for as long as I did; I wanted to know what was happening in this small town.
Anyway, Towering is a retelling of Rapunzel, set in frozen Upstate New York. It is in two viewpoints, Wyatt, a teen who moves from Long Island after a tragedy, only to hear a strange voice, calling him into the wilderness, and Rachel, a girl who is locked in a tower. When the two meet, they begin to solve the mystery of why each is there.
I RECOMMEND THIS BOOK
maybe-read
July 24, 2016Woah. How did I not know about this?
RAPUNZEL. <3
RAPUNZEL. <3
Read
December 5, 2022****DNF on page 74 and skimmed to the end****
While I wasn’t interested in this other author’s work I wanted to try this one since it’s a Rapunzel retelling and the cover is really pretty. And for the most part the book is fine and even has some good lines and scenes, but I was starting to get bored plus some of the characters actions and morals (more like the lack thereof, heh) left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, though this is mostly just personal convictions I have that they didn’t share, lol.
I did read ahead and there is a huge plot line of this magical plant that is a hallucinogenic drug people get addicted to which is a very interesting take on the fairy tale and in no way glorifies this behavior though you might want to look into it more if this is a trigger. There’s also some MAJOR insta love in that the main couple kisses exactly when they first meet which is TOO much for me not to mention the characters were just fine.
The vague magical powers and prophesy was weird though. This type of thing could have been really cool in a modern setting but this just felt thrown in there and we’re just supposed to accept it because it’s a fairy tale retelling? It wasn’t the reason I dropped the book but it did bug me a bit.
All in all the cover is gorgeous and the concept fun but the execution just didn’t work for me which is a shame because I really wanted to like it.
‼️Content (up to around page 74 and a bit beyond)‼️
TRIGGER WARNING: drug usage and addiction
Language: God; suck; crap
Violence: a little girl pulls another’s hair with the intent to do harm; a mom slaps her daughter; injuries and blood (not detailed)
Sexual: kissing (not detailed); one mention of a guy’s tongue in a girl’s mouth while kissing; a guy puts his hand under a girl’s shirt; several mentions of teenage pregnancy; a mention that an unmarried couple “made love”
Drug/Alcohol: implied underage drinking at a party
Other: magic; magical hair and tears; a magical plant drug; a mom keeps her daughter locked up; daughter sneaks around behind her mom’s back; a ghost girl and visions
While I wasn’t interested in this other author’s work I wanted to try this one since it’s a Rapunzel retelling and the cover is really pretty. And for the most part the book is fine and even has some good lines and scenes, but I was starting to get bored plus some of the characters actions and morals (more like the lack thereof, heh) left a bit of a bad taste in my mouth, though this is mostly just personal convictions I have that they didn’t share, lol.
I did read ahead and there is a huge plot line of this magical plant that is a hallucinogenic drug people get addicted to which is a very interesting take on the fairy tale and in no way glorifies this behavior though you might want to look into it more if this is a trigger. There’s also some MAJOR insta love in that the main couple kisses exactly when they first meet which is TOO much for me not to mention the characters were just fine.
The vague magical powers and prophesy was weird though. This type of thing could have been really cool in a modern setting but this just felt thrown in there and we’re just supposed to accept it because it’s a fairy tale retelling? It wasn’t the reason I dropped the book but it did bug me a bit.
All in all the cover is gorgeous and the concept fun but the execution just didn’t work for me which is a shame because I really wanted to like it.
‼️Content (up to around page 74 and a bit beyond)‼️
TRIGGER WARNING: drug usage and addiction
Language: God; suck; crap
Violence: a little girl pulls another’s hair with the intent to do harm; a mom slaps her daughter; injuries and blood (not detailed)
Sexual: kissing (not detailed); one mention of a guy’s tongue in a girl’s mouth while kissing; a guy puts his hand under a girl’s shirt; several mentions of teenage pregnancy; a mention that an unmarried couple “made love”
Drug/Alcohol: implied underage drinking at a party
Other: magic; magical hair and tears; a magical plant drug; a mom keeps her daughter locked up; daughter sneaks around behind her mom’s back; a ghost girl and visions
July 26, 2017
It's more fun if I'm a teenager but for adult I'm not sure. I like the mystery's atmosphere.
April 19, 2013
As readers of The Phantom Paragrapher will know , I am a huge fan of rendition novels and one of my favourites would have to be Beastly by Alex Flinn. So when I learnt that she had a new one coming out called Towering , I knew I just had to read it . For those who have never read an Alex Flinn before - you will notice that they are called the Kendra Chronicles but in this particular novel the name Kendra does not arise. In Book #1 Beastly, Kendra was a witch who in order to teach the main character a lesson turned him into a Beast and only a Beauty called turn him if she fell in love with the "real him". In Towering , we enter the rendition of the fairy-tale Rapunzel but in this case the girl in the Tower is called Rachel and her prince - a newcomer Wyatt who is staying with an old family friend. When Wyatt discovers Rachel locked in a tower and then learns that if others were to know of her existence , they will kill her - he must do everything in his power to save her from being destroyed. Also the story has an underlining mystery as every couple of years including Wyatt's mum's best friend Danielle -- teenage girls have been going missing . Will the knowledge of Rachel lead him to solve the crimes and the missing people of the town ?
Towering is a fun story , that you won't want to put down and all fans of the fairytale world will love it :)
Towering is a fun story , that you won't want to put down and all fans of the fairytale world will love it :)
December 15, 2015
I am a sucker for fairy tale retellings and as I entered this, I was filled with excitement only it was deflated very fast as the story progressed. The tale of Rapunzel is a true favorite but this twist on the classic did not unfurl any enchantments that thrilled or made me zealous for more! The story had potential but I was disappointed when it fell short on its journey of reaching anywhere near what it could have been. 2.5/5
May 19, 2013
Review courtesy of All Things Urban Fantasy
As a person who has enjoyed fairy tale retellings my entire life, I was looking forward to TOWERING. I was curious how Flinn would retell the story of a girl who lived in a tower in a modern day setting. It seemed like quite the challenge. Unfortunately, it ended up being a completely implausible and awkwardly written story that was very disappointing.
TOWERING's biggest failing was the fact that I found it remarkably unbelievable. As you all know, I read books about vampires, werewolves, and fairies on a regular basis, so the fact that I found TOWERING completely ridiculous really says something. I think part of the reason I felt this way was that the book was set in our modern day world, with no explanation for the supernatural elements that were introduced. For example, one aspect revealed near the end was that there were characters who had visions in their dreams, but it felt like it was justification after the fact, solely contrived to explain an earlier happening.
Aside from the fact that I couldn’t get past the supernatural elements, the writing in TOWERING is very choppy and frustratingly slow. The dialogue didn’t flow very well and there were times when I felt like conversations were dragging. This contributed to the fact that the book started out extremely slowly and was very hard to get into. There were a few times when I put it down and didn’t really want to pick it up again. Plus, for most of the novel, I didn’t really feel anything for either of the characters. I did have some sympathy for Wyatt after he relates to Rachel the story of his friend Tyler, but that part happened too late in the novel for it to make much of a difference. All of those things combined made TOWERING very hard to finish, especially at the end where I was supposed to suspend quite a bit of disbelief.
On the upside, TOWERING didn’t feature a love triangle, and I did like reading the sections of Dani’s journal, but those were few and far between. All in all, there just weren’t enough redeeming qualities for me to really enjoy the story. I’m left feeling ambivalent about TOWERING, and not eager to try any of Flinn’s other fairy tale retellings.
Sexual Content: Kissing
As a person who has enjoyed fairy tale retellings my entire life, I was looking forward to TOWERING. I was curious how Flinn would retell the story of a girl who lived in a tower in a modern day setting. It seemed like quite the challenge. Unfortunately, it ended up being a completely implausible and awkwardly written story that was very disappointing.
TOWERING's biggest failing was the fact that I found it remarkably unbelievable. As you all know, I read books about vampires, werewolves, and fairies on a regular basis, so the fact that I found TOWERING completely ridiculous really says something. I think part of the reason I felt this way was that the book was set in our modern day world, with no explanation for the supernatural elements that were introduced. For example, one aspect revealed near the end was that there were characters who had visions in their dreams, but it felt like it was justification after the fact, solely contrived to explain an earlier happening.
Aside from the fact that I couldn’t get past the supernatural elements, the writing in TOWERING is very choppy and frustratingly slow. The dialogue didn’t flow very well and there were times when I felt like conversations were dragging. This contributed to the fact that the book started out extremely slowly and was very hard to get into. There were a few times when I put it down and didn’t really want to pick it up again. Plus, for most of the novel, I didn’t really feel anything for either of the characters. I did have some sympathy for Wyatt after he relates to Rachel the story of his friend Tyler, but that part happened too late in the novel for it to make much of a difference. All of those things combined made TOWERING very hard to finish, especially at the end where I was supposed to suspend quite a bit of disbelief.
On the upside, TOWERING didn’t feature a love triangle, and I did like reading the sections of Dani’s journal, but those were few and far between. All in all, there just weren’t enough redeeming qualities for me to really enjoy the story. I’m left feeling ambivalent about TOWERING, and not eager to try any of Flinn’s other fairy tale retellings.
Sexual Content: Kissing
July 9, 2013
(Source: I own a copy of this book.)
17-year-old Rachel knows very little of the world other than what she has read in books. For years she’s been imprisoned in a tower in the middle of some woods, with only ‘mama’ visiting occasionally for company.
Wyatt is travelling to stay with a friend of his mom’s called Mrs Greenwood. When he arrives he finds a diary in one of the rooms in the house, which seems to have belonged to Mrs Greenwood’s missing daughter Danielle.
One day whilst out with some friends Wyatt hears singing, and follows it to find a beautiful girl in a tower, with long golden hair.
Who is Rachel though? What happened to her real mother? Why does Wyatt sometimes hear her speaking in his head? And will Rachel ever leave her tower?
This was an okay retelling of Rapunzel, but nothing special.
This was an okay story overall, but I did feel bored whilst reading it. The characters were okay, the writing was okay, but it just felt a bit dull and boring for me.
The added elements to the story weren’t exciting, and although I did feel a little interested at one point, it faded quickly. I will say that I didn’t guess what had actually transpired to land poor Rachel in the tower, but this was more because it was a bit odd, rather than the storyline being opaque. It was one of those stories where you get to the end and find out that it was all because the main character loved pigeons, when nothing has been mentioned of pigeons all the way through, and pigeons aren’t all that exciting anyway. When the mystery was revealed in this one I just thought ‘Whatever.’.
I’ll admit that it must be difficult to write fairy-tale retellings in a new and interesting way, but this one fell flat for me. Fans of this author or fairy-tale retellings might enjoy this, but for me it was only okay.
Overall; an okay retelling of Rapunzel, but nothing exciting.
6.5 out of 10.
17-year-old Rachel knows very little of the world other than what she has read in books. For years she’s been imprisoned in a tower in the middle of some woods, with only ‘mama’ visiting occasionally for company.
Wyatt is travelling to stay with a friend of his mom’s called Mrs Greenwood. When he arrives he finds a diary in one of the rooms in the house, which seems to have belonged to Mrs Greenwood’s missing daughter Danielle.
One day whilst out with some friends Wyatt hears singing, and follows it to find a beautiful girl in a tower, with long golden hair.
Who is Rachel though? What happened to her real mother? Why does Wyatt sometimes hear her speaking in his head? And will Rachel ever leave her tower?
This was an okay retelling of Rapunzel, but nothing special.
This was an okay story overall, but I did feel bored whilst reading it. The characters were okay, the writing was okay, but it just felt a bit dull and boring for me.
The added elements to the story weren’t exciting, and although I did feel a little interested at one point, it faded quickly. I will say that I didn’t guess what had actually transpired to land poor Rachel in the tower, but this was more because it was a bit odd, rather than the storyline being opaque. It was one of those stories where you get to the end and find out that it was all because the main character loved pigeons, when nothing has been mentioned of pigeons all the way through, and pigeons aren’t all that exciting anyway. When the mystery was revealed in this one I just thought ‘Whatever.’.
I’ll admit that it must be difficult to write fairy-tale retellings in a new and interesting way, but this one fell flat for me. Fans of this author or fairy-tale retellings might enjoy this, but for me it was only okay.
Overall; an okay retelling of Rapunzel, but nothing exciting.
6.5 out of 10.
February 14, 2016
This was a retelling (sorta and very modern) of the fairy tale of Rapunzel. I wasn't sure what to think of it at first.
I loved the original story, and wasn't sure if the modern setting would work. In the end.. Yes, I loved it though there were some things that I just found weird.
Also the fact that I was disappointed Also the last part
Other than that the book was really good, I loved the characters, I loved the extra stories (Wyatt's story, but also others).
Overall this was a book I am sure I will buy in Paperback, to add it to my collection. It deserves a place there.
Recommended to everyone who likes: Fairy tale retellings, romance, magic and hair that just keeps growing and those who don't mind strange things. :)
I loved the original story, and wasn't sure if the modern setting would work. In the end.. Yes, I loved it though there were some things that I just found weird.
Also the fact that I was disappointed Also the last part
Other than that the book was really good, I loved the characters, I loved the extra stories (Wyatt's story, but also others).
Overall this was a book I am sure I will buy in Paperback, to add it to my collection. It deserves a place there.
Recommended to everyone who likes: Fairy tale retellings, romance, magic and hair that just keeps growing and those who don't mind strange things. :)
June 1, 2013
Alex Flinn is a unique writer. I like how she uses her imagination to retell the classics. Towering for example is a retell of Rapunzel… And I liked it.
Rachel, AKA Rapunzel had lived a secluded life for as long as she can remember. Yet there is something about her that’s unique.
Wyatt is a young man who’s dealing with a life changing lost and if possible Wyatt wants to go back in time to fixed a wrong that he blames himself for.
But, Fate, the meddling bitch has something else planned for both Rachel and Wyatt.
Flinn’s Towering was full of twist and mystery lace with suspense and humor. It was enduring and it had the purest kind of love. A nice change from adult novels, vamps and shifters... a modern day myth. I enjoyed this journey… and I’m looking forward to your next adventure! Well-done Flinn.
Rachel, AKA Rapunzel had lived a secluded life for as long as she can remember. Yet there is something about her that’s unique.
Wyatt is a young man who’s dealing with a life changing lost and if possible Wyatt wants to go back in time to fixed a wrong that he blames himself for.
But, Fate, the meddling bitch has something else planned for both Rachel and Wyatt.
Flinn’s Towering was full of twist and mystery lace with suspense and humor. It was enduring and it had the purest kind of love. A nice change from adult novels, vamps and shifters... a modern day myth. I enjoyed this journey… and I’m looking forward to your next adventure! Well-done Flinn.
November 9, 2015
It looked interesting, but to my disappointment it was boring.
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