Review: Towering by Alex Flinn

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

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

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

If there is one author that I can always go to for funny and fresh fairytale retellings it is definitely Alex Flinn. After reading Beastly a few years ago, I have always looked forward to her releases. Some haven't quite reached my expectations but I still have not given up hope just because I love Flinn's writing style and humour. As well as that, Rapunzel has always been one of my favorite fairytales - especially after the Disney movie Tangled,so I really couldn't not turn down the chance to review Towering.

I'll put it straight out there: This book did not meet my expectations - I just didn't enjoy it as much as Beastly. I struggled with the characters a little bit, I though Wyatt was a little bit soggy, he just seemed to always get to the right place and do the right thing without really having to work towards it, and until the end he didn't seem much like a hero to me and Rachel did seem to sit around and do nothing except cut her hair (but I mean, what else can you really do when you're stuck in a tower alone for years?). I also felt that the insta-love seemed so fake, there was absolutely no building of the chemistry - it was there but the lack of the development just messed up what could have been a fantastic love story.

However, I did absolutely love the way that Flinn mixed it up - with the drug and the twists at the end. The ending was high pressure and definitely had me gripped, but up until that point I had been waiting for something to happen. There is a whole lot of building up the storyline but not much of the storyline actually happening, it's more just the romance and whilst I love me a bit of romance I do need a plot as well.

Overall, I really didn't love this book. The romance was too quick with not enough building and the actual storyline took TOO MUCH time to build. I stuck with it, but I feel like this book would either be love or hate for other readers.

Book released 14th May 2013 by HarperTeen

Book received from the publisher in exchange for an honest review (Edelweiss)

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