Review: Towering by Alex Flinn

Towering by Alex Flinn
Release Date ~ 5/14/13 (Today!)
Format ~ ARC
Publisher ~ HarperTeen
Source ~ ALA Midwinter

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

Wyatt needs time to reflect or, better yet, forget about what happened to his best friend, Tyler. That’s why he’s been shipped off to the Adirondacks in the dead of winter to live with the oldest lady in town. Either that, or no one he knows ever wants to see him again.
Dani disappeared seventeen years ago without a trace, but she left behind a journal that’s never been read, not even by her overbearing mother…until now.

A #1 New York Times bestselling author, Alex Flinn knows her fairy tales, and Towering is her most mind-bending interpretation yet. Dark and mysterious, this reimagining of Rapunzel will have readers on the edge of their seats wondering where Alex will take them next!

Say what you want about Alex Flinn, but the thing that you always get from her is a fun read. No, she doesn't write the best books ever, but she writes some damn entertaining ones. And like her earlier novel Beastly, Towering is just as engrossing. Granted, the writing style isn't genius. It still makes for fun, if typical, YA paranormal fare.

Towering is very loosely (and I mean very loosely) based on the story of Rapunzel. Unlike Beastly and other Flinn works, she doesn't hesitate from completely rearranging the story into something that is hardly recognizable as the source material.

I thought the character development Flinn created was admirable, and I thought, though a little sappy, Wyatt and Rachel were the most adorable couple. They were just so cute together, you couldn't resist rooting for them. As per usual in Flinn's works, the male protagonist Wyatt is definitely a damaged good, and Rachel is a naive little girl who lives up in a tower. Goody. You don't know how fun it is to read about someone who has been completely without technology get their hands on an iPhone for the first time.

I thought the setting Flinn depicted was really beautiful. A backwater upstate New York town that gets a lot of snow was a really original idea, and was carried out nicely, and played well for a town that harbors a lot of secrets.

Towering, though not mind-blowing, is definitely a quick, entertaining read.