Tuesday, June 04, 2013

Book Review: Towering by Alex Flinn

ToweringTowering by Alex Flinn

My Rating: 2.5 of 5 Stars

Publication Date: May 14th 2013 by HarperTeen

Blurb:  At first, I merely saw his face, his hands on the window ledge. Then, his whole body as he swung himself through the window. Only I could not see what he swung on.
Until, one day, I told my dream self to look down. And it was then that I saw. He had climbed on a rope. I knew without asking that the rope had been one of my own tying.


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

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

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



My Review:

**I received a copy of this book from HarperCollins in exchange for an honest review.**

Alex Flinn is the author of two of my all time favourite fairy tale re-tellings,A Kiss In Time and Bewitching.While I didn't like Beastly much even though it was the book which made her popular among YA lovers,the two aforementioned titles managed to impress me, enough for me to put her in my "top modern re-telling authors of all time" list.(Yes,I actually have a list like that conjured up somewhere in my mind)   

So after Bewitching, it was quite natural that I'd have high hopes for Towering right?Even though I saw a few negative feedbacks from some of my most trusted bloggers,I didn't let that waver my enthusiasm.After all,I know quite a few people who didn't like A Kiss In Time at all but that didn't stop me from loving every minute of it!But sadly,that was not the case with this one.For me,it was one of those books which I was trying too hard to like but then,after remembering the real reason why I actually read books,stopped trying and just let myself go with the flow.The idea of the story itself was great,but I just felt that it wasn't utilized enough to make the story enjoyable as a whole.

The characters,on the other hand,were a bit better portrayed in comparison to the storytelling.But again,just like I mentioned before,they were still not utilized enough.It's a bit like when you make a dish with your own recipe but forget to put in the secret key ingredient which gives the dish its spark.So it just turns out to be plain and a bit bland as well. THAT,is exactly how I felt when reading Towering,like I was biting onto a steak which had all its juice leaked out.You get what I mean right?

There isn't much more to say about Towering seeing that I didn't like the book and since I try to avoid snark in most of my reviews,I prefer to keep them short and simple when they're negative.However,if you would really like to get your hands on a good Rapunzel re-telling,I'd suggest that you try Rapunzel Untangled by Cindy C. Bennett.Even though it was a relatively shorter read and comes from a smaller publisher,it is an absolutely adorable and a wonderfully refreshing story.

However,if you're still willing to give Towering a shot,I'll be having a giveaway soon.It will probably be a giveaway with one of my upcoming reviews of another Harper title where you will have to order that title to enter as your main entry but I'm not sure yet.But check back on the blog from time to time if you're interested.

Other Reviews for this Book: 

Mel@TheDailyProphecy
Benji@TheNonReluctantReader
Kate@TheBookaholicBlurbs


                                                       


8 comments:

  1. Like you saw in my review, I wasn't impressed by this book. Such a shame, because I really liked Beastly, Bewitching & A kiss in time! There were just too many things I didn't like. Great honest review :)!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Thanks Mel!! **Hugs** And agreed,the same goes here.After Bewitching,I had really high hopes for this one.I think that it would've been better if the author just continued the Kendra Chronicles instead. >.<

      Delete
  2. Damn, I had high hopes for this book too! But I did Google Rapunzel Untangled and can I say thanks for that recommendation, cos it really sounds interesting :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Hey Priya!**waves**
      It's been a while since we last talked.How are you?

      Anyway really hope you enjoy Rapunzel Untangled because I found it to be absolutely adorable! xD And I'm glad you took my recommendation for granted,it really made me happy!There are just not enough fans for this book,since it comes from a smaller publisher and does not have as much public exposure.But that doesn't make it any less awesome! :)

      Delete
  3. I've had my doubts about this book, cause it sounds interesting but I have big issues with retellings not being compelling or interesting enough, just a few changes from setting and adding modern day characters... So your review has convinced me that I better not add another book to my already mile long TBR list that I'm fairly sure I'm not gonna like enough!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I know what you mean.Just changing the setting doesn't make a good retelling.It has to be like setting up a new challenge for readers to tackle.But I've read quite a handful of well-written modern retellings;from this author herself so don't give up hope on retellings yet.Otherwise there are some really good books out there which you'll be missing out on. :)

      Delete
  4. i love reading re-tale book...i already put towering on my TBR list on goodreads..
    thx 4 ur review :)

    ReplyDelete
  5. Actually I was impressed by the cover and the synopsis. Although I've read your review, I still want to read it because I love fairytale retelling :D

    ReplyDelete

Thank you so much for commenting!You are absolutely about to make my day! :)
I really appreciate feedback from my readers on every single one of my posts but please keep in mind that Daydreaming Bookworm is an award free zone. I used to accept blog award tags before but now I really don't have the time.Sorry!