Towering

Towering by Alex Flinn

Rating

3 stars-

Date Read

9.1.15 - 13.1.15

Age Group

13+

General Thoughts

What a gorgeous cover indeed...

Towering, a modern retelling of Rapunzel, is a book written by Alex Flinn, an author with whom I had an obsession with through the ages of twelve to thirteen.

I finished this book just yesterday and, honestly, the details are already slipping through my mind and moving out of reach.



I loved the maturing of Adrian's character throughout Alex Flinn's "Beastly"; almost as much as I adored the intelligence and witty comments of the protagonists in a "A Kiss In Time". Towering had neither. On the contrary, it reminded me more of "Breathing Underwater" -the author's debut- not that the plots were similar in any way, but the air, the characters' depressing way of thinking... At least in the beginning of the book. Throughout the book, as the protagonists met and fell in love, it was like a spark of hope in their lives.

Main Characters

Rachel

Nope, her name is not Rapunzel. It's Rachel and she's quiet hard to relate to. Being locked in a tower all her life and not understanding simple, everyday things, as well as having all that time on your hands to speculate about the mere purposeless course of existence will do that to a character...

Wyatt

I was taken by surprise, really, by his name. Seeing as I had just finished Existence, which also contained a Waytt and it's not the most common name. Anyway, those two are nothing alike. This one is on is broken over something that happenned in his past and has him moping around in life, trying to overcome guilt and find a purpose. And he does, in the stunning girl towering over the forest, with her hair of gold. 

(Adding more characters would undoubtably lead to spoilers so I will say no more.)

Plot

An τhere it is. The reason I didn't enjoy this book. You cannot possibly mix fairy tales, supernatural elements and illegal substances in a book and expect the result to be fine! It's not fine! 

This book suffered from SP (Strained Plot), almost as badly as Lauren Kate's "Teardrop". Drug rings, magic hair, visions of ghosts that provide important information and a disturbing number of teenage pregnancies. This book had it all. And I would have prefered less.

Writing

At least his one hasn't changed. It was one of the first things that hooked me in Alex Flinn's novels: the voice, the writing, the grammatical order of the words. Although it does look a whole lot simpler when you're fifteen instead of twelve. However, this book having alternating POVS was not the best choice. Rachel and Wyatt's voices sounded just the same, there was no distinction between them except for their surroundings - I always knew it was Rachel when she glanced out the window in her tower - and their view of ordinary things - Wyatt actually knew what a telephone was while his girlfriend didn't.

All in All

Going into a new book of an author that you concider your favourite is always a tough experience. I'll make an acronym for that: SHE (Sky-high Expectations). I don't want to compare "Towering" to Alex Flinn's previous books but I just can't resist the urge to point out the lack of witty remarks or the poorely executed story.

XOXO
Aggie Pearson

PS. Next time I go into a book of an author I love I'll try to brace myself and try keep my expectations lower than sky-high.  More details about crushed SHE in the upcoming review of "Teardrop".