This quarter, for our fifth book club pick and the second quarterly pick of 2021, we are discussing Towering, a Rapunzel retelling by Alex Flinn. We’ve already shared our individual reviews (find Mary’s here & Elizabeth’s here), and now it’s time for us to discuss the book and respond to the six questions we cover with each book club discussion.
Remember that you can join in this discussion, whether by commenting here or on YouTube, or by joining our Enchanted Garden Book Club Facebook group!
Mary & Elizabeth Discuss the Book
Discussion Transcript
Elizabeth:
Welcome to the Enchanted Garden Fairy-Tale Book Club. We are here for the second quarter discussion for 2021. We are discussing Towering by Alex Flinn. My name is Elizabeth Wilcox
Welcome to the Enchanted Garden Fairy-Tale Book Club. We are here for the second quarter discussion for 2021. We are discussing Towering by Alex Flinn. My name is Elizabeth Wilcox
Mary:
and I’m Mary W Jensen
Elizabeth:
and how are you doing today, Mary? I’m pretty excited to talk about this book, actually.
Mary:
Yeah, me too. It’s- It’s been it was an interesting one.
Elizabeth:
Yeah, it’s- it’s been a long time since we actually sat down to record a discussion, and this book was one that I feel like we both have a lot to say about this one, so I’m pretty excited. Um, as usual, we have our six questions that we’re going to go through, so let’s just go ahead and dive right in with question one:
In what ways is the retelling similar to the original fairy tale?
Mary:
That’s what- it felt like a very straightforward retelling in a lot of ways. You did have the prince character, which was Wyatt; we have Rapunzel was Rachel; um, instead of a witch character, we did have, you know, the- the mother, which called ‘Mama’–we’ll get more into that later. So, we definitely have the character archetypes and the basic plot, you know, your princess is stuck in a tower, you know, for whichever reason, um, and it was also due to a stealing kind of- well, will due to a plant, in a lot of ways.
That’s what- it felt like a very straightforward retelling in a lot of ways. You did have the prince character, which was Wyatt; we have Rapunzel was Rachel; um, instead of a witch character, we did have, you know, the- the mother, which called ‘Mama’–we’ll get more into that later. So, we definitely have the character archetypes and the basic plot, you know, your princess is stuck in a tower, you know, for whichever reason, um, and it was also due to a stealing kind of- well, will due to a plant, in a lot of ways.
Elizabeth:
Yeah [laughs]
Mary:
Indirectly, not as quite straightforward, but that aspect was there, as well
Elizabeth:
There is the lettuce-like plant is definitely there, and there’s also the- the idea that the–I guess instead of–they- they squished the grandma character or the mother character and the witch character together, I guess, in that it’s not the witch’s garden that it came from, but it’s some, you know, fey magical garden, and in this case the person who’s filling the role of witch is actually one of the people who fell prey to the plant and stole it from the garden, and that- So, it’s a little bit interesting. We’ll get into that later when it comes to how it’s different, but the elements are kind of there of the basic Rapunzel tale.
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
You even have the prince falling from a great height and almost dying. He doesn’t blind himself on thorns when he lands-
Mary:
But he does get healed by her tears
Elizabeth:
Exactly. So, we have healing tears
Mary:
Yeah
Elizabeth:
We have, uh, really long hair, and a tower, and a prince who hears the princess singing from a tower and goes and finds it
Mary:
Yep, that too
Elizabeth:
um, magical lettuce-like plants. We’ve got some of everything that you’d think of when you’re like ‘the Rapunzel tale’ is there in some form or another. Um, so, more straightforward, for sure, than our last pick with Gingerbread; it- it’s a lot more-
Mary:
Yeah
Elizabeth:
-straightforwardly ‘this is a retelling of Rapunzel.’
Mary:
Yeah, you can definitely match a lot of those elements–this was that–and how it changed.
Elizabeth:
Yeah. So, speaking of how it changed, question number two:
How are the two stories different?
Mary:
On just an easy surface level, it was definitely different setting: it’s more modern day. The plant, instead of just a normal garden plant, was more of a drug.
Elizabeth:
Mhm
Mary:
And I said, they- they blended the characters of the witch and the mother. It’s actually protecting her from- And also, Rachel was not actually the baby that was promised for the drug, either; that was technically her mother.
Elizabeth:
That’s right. And so, they- they do add that extra layer of the next generation
Mary:
Yeah
Elizabeth:
Where- And, but both generations fall prey to the magical plant drug that is lettuce-like in nature, um, in- in different ways, but they both do
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
and the one who did the theft that led to that deal of ‘I’ll give you my child’ was Mrs. Greenwood, the older generation, and then she successfully kept her child from–well, we’ll just name them–from the Fox family, you know, those tricksy Foxes. Uh, but then, I guess, Dani in some way kind of did fall prey to the Fox family. I’m not going to lie, I get a little bit puzzled about the whole character of Zach–um, Rachel’s father. Is he actually related to the Foxes, or do they just say that he’s related? Because it goes both ways
Mary:
Because he also said that he was related
Elizabeth:
He’s described both ways. Yeah
Mary:
Because he was staying with family or cousins or something
Elizabeth:
Yeah, they’re either cousins or he’s a nephew
Mary:
Something, yeah. I don’t remember
Elizabeth:
Someone in town describes Zach Gray as ‘oh, he’s- he’s the grandson of Rebecca Gray.’ Rebecca Gray is not mentioned ever again in the book, it’s just that one throwaway line-
Mary:
I missed that [laughs]
Elizabeth:
It–This is one of the things I’ll get to in terms of kind of critiques I have–It feels as though Alex Flinn does a lot of introducing ideas and plot pieces and things that I feel like I would expect to have a payoff, and there is no payoff, and one of those things that has no payoff is that throwaway ‘oh, Zach Gray, I know who that is, that is Rebecca Gray’s grandson who was here and then left 18 years ago.’ No one says who Rebecca Gray is–she- she isn’t a person, she doesn’t matter, she never comes into play ever
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
-ever. There’s no Rebecca mentioned again. I have the e-book, so I could cheat; I did a search for words, I looked for Rebecca, I looked for Gray: Rebecca Gray in any form shows up once, and that’s just the guy saying ‘oh yeah, I think Zach Gray’s her grandson’ and I can’t -like, it feels like it should be important. In the moment, you’re like ‘ooh, that’s a clue! He’s gonna follow up on that!’ Never. Never followed up on in any way. So, we don’t know. Like, is he some relative, is he like the actual only 20 years old the way he says he is 18 years ago when he seduces Dani–is he actually 20 years old, is he the child of a local in the area and the Fox family–like, was there some fey slash human hap- are they even not human? We don’t know. We don’t know. We don’t know who he is or how old he is or who his parents are or how he’s related, if he’s related to the Fox family.
Mary:
It did give a lot of like allusions to him maybe not being human like because he had this magic plant
Elizabeth:
Yeah
Mary:
He kind of comes from nowhere, super charming, he came here just for one purpose
Elizabeth:
Mhm. And then when that purpose was accomplished, he left-
Mary:
And he’s involved in a prophecy. He’s like fulfilling a prophecy.
Elizabeth:
Yeah. He knows prophecies. He seems very fey. Very fey. Possibly even more fey than the Fox family, the Fox brothers, that are just drug dealing so that they can live forever
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
Um, although they might just be fey who are living forever off of the drug, underground drug operation they’re running with their magic plants.
Mary:
Since-
Elizabeth:
That could be how that works
Mary:
-normal humans are affected differently, it seems like.
Elizabeth:
Yeah, so it seems like it-
Mary:
It was one of those things that wasn’t fully delved into, explained
Elizabeth:
-there’s a background fey element that’s just kind of existing that kind of makes this more of a–I mean, it’s definitely low fantasy, but there’s so little explanation of any of the fantastical elements that I would almost have called it magical realism, except it crossed a line into for sure being fantasy. It’s somewhere between the two, where it’s like ‘I’m low fantasy, but I’m not going to explain any of this to you.’ Which, okay, I- I guess. Um, I would have liked a little bit more explanation, personally, uh, but anyway-
Mary:
I think that goes kind of into our next question, actually.
Elizabeth:
Yeah, exactly. Um:
On just an easy surface level, it was definitely different setting: it’s more modern day. The plant, instead of just a normal garden plant, was more of a drug.
Elizabeth:
Mhm
Mary:
And I said, they- they blended the characters of the witch and the mother. It’s actually protecting her from- And also, Rachel was not actually the baby that was promised for the drug, either; that was technically her mother.
Elizabeth:
That’s right. And so, they- they do add that extra layer of the next generation
Mary:
Yeah
Elizabeth:
Where- And, but both generations fall prey to the magical plant drug that is lettuce-like in nature, um, in- in different ways, but they both do
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
and the one who did the theft that led to that deal of ‘I’ll give you my child’ was Mrs. Greenwood, the older generation, and then she successfully kept her child from–well, we’ll just name them–from the Fox family, you know, those tricksy Foxes. Uh, but then, I guess, Dani in some way kind of did fall prey to the Fox family. I’m not going to lie, I get a little bit puzzled about the whole character of Zach–um, Rachel’s father. Is he actually related to the Foxes, or do they just say that he’s related? Because it goes both ways
Mary:
Because he also said that he was related
Elizabeth:
He’s described both ways. Yeah
Mary:
Because he was staying with family or cousins or something
Elizabeth:
Yeah, they’re either cousins or he’s a nephew
Mary:
Something, yeah. I don’t remember
Elizabeth:
Someone in town describes Zach Gray as ‘oh, he’s- he’s the grandson of Rebecca Gray.’ Rebecca Gray is not mentioned ever again in the book, it’s just that one throwaway line-
Mary:
I missed that [laughs]
Elizabeth:
It–This is one of the things I’ll get to in terms of kind of critiques I have–It feels as though Alex Flinn does a lot of introducing ideas and plot pieces and things that I feel like I would expect to have a payoff, and there is no payoff, and one of those things that has no payoff is that throwaway ‘oh, Zach Gray, I know who that is, that is Rebecca Gray’s grandson who was here and then left 18 years ago.’ No one says who Rebecca Gray is–she- she isn’t a person, she doesn’t matter, she never comes into play ever
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
-ever. There’s no Rebecca mentioned again. I have the e-book, so I could cheat; I did a search for words, I looked for Rebecca, I looked for Gray: Rebecca Gray in any form shows up once, and that’s just the guy saying ‘oh yeah, I think Zach Gray’s her grandson’ and I can’t -like, it feels like it should be important. In the moment, you’re like ‘ooh, that’s a clue! He’s gonna follow up on that!’ Never. Never followed up on in any way. So, we don’t know. Like, is he some relative, is he like the actual only 20 years old the way he says he is 18 years ago when he seduces Dani–is he actually 20 years old, is he the child of a local in the area and the Fox family–like, was there some fey slash human hap- are they even not human? We don’t know. We don’t know. We don’t know who he is or how old he is or who his parents are or how he’s related, if he’s related to the Fox family.
Mary:
It did give a lot of like allusions to him maybe not being human like because he had this magic plant
Elizabeth:
Yeah
Mary:
He kind of comes from nowhere, super charming, he came here just for one purpose
Elizabeth:
Mhm. And then when that purpose was accomplished, he left-
Mary:
And he’s involved in a prophecy. He’s like fulfilling a prophecy.
Elizabeth:
Yeah. He knows prophecies. He seems very fey. Very fey. Possibly even more fey than the Fox family, the Fox brothers, that are just drug dealing so that they can live forever
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
Um, although they might just be fey who are living forever off of the drug, underground drug operation they’re running with their magic plants.
Mary:
Since-
Elizabeth:
That could be how that works
Mary:
-normal humans are affected differently, it seems like.
Elizabeth:
Yeah, so it seems like it-
Mary:
It was one of those things that wasn’t fully delved into, explained
Elizabeth:
-there’s a background fey element that’s just kind of existing that kind of makes this more of a–I mean, it’s definitely low fantasy, but there’s so little explanation of any of the fantastical elements that I would almost have called it magical realism, except it crossed a line into for sure being fantasy. It’s somewhere between the two, where it’s like ‘I’m low fantasy, but I’m not going to explain any of this to you.’ Which, okay, I- I guess. Um, I would have liked a little bit more explanation, personally, uh, but anyway-
Mary:
I think that goes kind of into our next question, actually.
Elizabeth:
Yeah, exactly. Um:
Did the retelling retain enough of the original to be satisfying? Why or why not?
Mary:
Goes back to that surface level, you can see all the points, you can- it’s definitely a Rapunzel story. You cannot deny that. But, it was not satisfying. The romance just was-
Elizabeth:
Mmm, yeah
Mary:
Really, it was a lot closer to the original romance and the stories, but we want more now; we want it to be better. And just the unexplained magic things that just really didn’t work. Everything was just ‘because of a prophecy,’ ‘just because,’ ‘oh, her hair is growing long because she needs it and suddenly she has strength and can communicate telepathically’…
Elizabeth:
because she needs it!
Mary:
because her hair grew longer as a child, but now suddenly it’s superpowered
Elizabeth:
It’s- There’s a lot of- There’s a lot of elements in this book where, um, if it were just the original fairy tale, like, we’re able to brush off–it’s kind of like it retains enough of the original that it goes from satisfying all the way over into unsatisfying again because it doesn’t do the more with all of those elements that we would expect out of a novel length retelling. So, yeah, it’s clearly a Rapunzel story–no doubt, it’s Rapunzel, but it’s like gone all the way around the hoop like if there were fewer Rapunzel elements, maybe it would have had room to do its own thing with the story, but instead it’s just those Rapunzel elements and a lot of loose ends, and- that, yeah, might exist in original Rapunzel, but it feels like she introduced more loose ends than the original fairy tale had
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
because there’s just enough fleshed out that you expect more and there are all these setups, like: Who is Zach Gray? Who are his parents? Do we care? Uh, are ghosts real?
Mary:
If- if Zach was- If Zach was fey-
Elizabeth:
Is Dani’s ghost-
Mary:
Oh, yeah- there’s that- Oh, yeah [laughs]
Elizabeth:
Dani’s ghost
Mary:
Who was the, apparently, one behind the scenes getting all of this together, and it’s like-
Elizabeth:
Somehow. Just somehow.
Mary:
Wyatt’s mother saw Dani’s ghost and is suddenly like ‘yes, we will listen to her and do this thing.’
Elizabeth:
Exactly! Why- Like, Wyatt’s mother, Emily, I think is her- I don’t remember
Mary:
Yeah, that sounds right
Elizabeth:
Wyatt’s mother sees this ghost of her friend from 18 years ago and is like ‘oh, yeah, I’ll definitely send my fragile, grieving son that should be in therapy back home out to the middle of nowhere to deal with this. That makes complete sense.’
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
Um, I’ve heard the best way to recover from grief is to isolate yourself with people that you don’t know and no resources to get help. I don’t know about you. Um, but then, he gets there and he sees the ghost first night, and it’s genuinely baffling because when I first read the book and I’m going through that scene, his follow-up is ‘oh, I must have just been dreaming because it exactly mimicked this Wuthering Heights scene.’
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
Wuthering Heights does not matter to this book.
Mary:
I expected it to!
Elizabeth:
Nothing in Wuthering Heights maps on- I know!
Mary:
Because then it was ‘oh, it’s Rachel’s favorite book’ as well! I’m like- [laughs]
Elizabeth:
She devoted four pages to this book. Four pages to making explicit comparisons between his initial ghost visit and Wuthering Heights, and there is no payoff. There just isn’t. If you expect there to be a payoff and you’re like revising your Wuthering Heights knowledge: not worth it. Also, I apologize for my camera: it’s bad and angry at me. Um, look away.
[Mary and Elizabeth laugh]
Elizabeth:
Uh, but it’s just sad because we expect there to be this payoff, and there never is, and that’s kind of like how I feel about the book in general.
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
New elements keep getting introduced and literary allusions being made, and there’s never any payoff. I guess, looking at the positive side:
Goes back to that surface level, you can see all the points, you can- it’s definitely a Rapunzel story. You cannot deny that. But, it was not satisfying. The romance just was-
Elizabeth:
Mmm, yeah
Mary:
Really, it was a lot closer to the original romance and the stories, but we want more now; we want it to be better. And just the unexplained magic things that just really didn’t work. Everything was just ‘because of a prophecy,’ ‘just because,’ ‘oh, her hair is growing long because she needs it and suddenly she has strength and can communicate telepathically’…
Elizabeth:
because she needs it!
Mary:
because her hair grew longer as a child, but now suddenly it’s superpowered
Elizabeth:
It’s- There’s a lot of- There’s a lot of elements in this book where, um, if it were just the original fairy tale, like, we’re able to brush off–it’s kind of like it retains enough of the original that it goes from satisfying all the way over into unsatisfying again because it doesn’t do the more with all of those elements that we would expect out of a novel length retelling. So, yeah, it’s clearly a Rapunzel story–no doubt, it’s Rapunzel, but it’s like gone all the way around the hoop like if there were fewer Rapunzel elements, maybe it would have had room to do its own thing with the story, but instead it’s just those Rapunzel elements and a lot of loose ends, and- that, yeah, might exist in original Rapunzel, but it feels like she introduced more loose ends than the original fairy tale had
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
because there’s just enough fleshed out that you expect more and there are all these setups, like: Who is Zach Gray? Who are his parents? Do we care? Uh, are ghosts real?
Mary:
If- if Zach was- If Zach was fey-
Elizabeth:
Is Dani’s ghost-
Mary:
Oh, yeah- there’s that- Oh, yeah [laughs]
Elizabeth:
Dani’s ghost
Mary:
Who was the, apparently, one behind the scenes getting all of this together, and it’s like-
Elizabeth:
Somehow. Just somehow.
Mary:
Wyatt’s mother saw Dani’s ghost and is suddenly like ‘yes, we will listen to her and do this thing.’
Elizabeth:
Exactly! Why- Like, Wyatt’s mother, Emily, I think is her- I don’t remember
Mary:
Yeah, that sounds right
Elizabeth:
Wyatt’s mother sees this ghost of her friend from 18 years ago and is like ‘oh, yeah, I’ll definitely send my fragile, grieving son that should be in therapy back home out to the middle of nowhere to deal with this. That makes complete sense.’
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
Um, I’ve heard the best way to recover from grief is to isolate yourself with people that you don’t know and no resources to get help. I don’t know about you. Um, but then, he gets there and he sees the ghost first night, and it’s genuinely baffling because when I first read the book and I’m going through that scene, his follow-up is ‘oh, I must have just been dreaming because it exactly mimicked this Wuthering Heights scene.’
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
Wuthering Heights does not matter to this book.
Mary:
I expected it to!
Elizabeth:
Nothing in Wuthering Heights maps on- I know!
Mary:
Because then it was ‘oh, it’s Rachel’s favorite book’ as well! I’m like- [laughs]
Elizabeth:
She devoted four pages to this book. Four pages to making explicit comparisons between his initial ghost visit and Wuthering Heights, and there is no payoff. There just isn’t. If you expect there to be a payoff and you’re like revising your Wuthering Heights knowledge: not worth it. Also, I apologize for my camera: it’s bad and angry at me. Um, look away.
[Mary and Elizabeth laugh]
Elizabeth:
Uh, but it’s just sad because we expect there to be this payoff, and there never is, and that’s kind of like how I feel about the book in general.
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
New elements keep getting introduced and literary allusions being made, and there’s never any payoff. I guess, looking at the positive side:
What did the retelling do better than the original “Rapunzel”? (If anything)
Mary:
There was one point in particular that I really liked, where she essentially–Rachel essentially rescues herself and the prince because, you know, Wyatt fell into, you know, broke through the ice and she actually got out of her tower and went and rescued him from the water. So, it was really ended up being her choice, and that was a strong moment for me, and I was expecting more throughout the book. But- [laughs]
Elizabeth:
Yeah.
Mary:
That I liked.
Elizabeth:
Yeah. I agree. That’s the standout moment in my mind, too, is when she does go ahead and actually choose to leave the tower, and then she does need his help to get back in, but ultimately her decision to leave the tower isn’t–her initial decision is her own. Um, and she does rescue him first before he rescues her. Actually, she does almost all of the rescuing. Um, he’s just kind of there to-
Mary:
Yeah
Elizabeth:
-not be very good at investigating things and not learn lessons, as far as I can tell. [laughs] Um, and a lot of this plays into the- the question of:
There was one point in particular that I really liked, where she essentially–Rachel essentially rescues herself and the prince because, you know, Wyatt fell into, you know, broke through the ice and she actually got out of her tower and went and rescued him from the water. So, it was really ended up being her choice, and that was a strong moment for me, and I was expecting more throughout the book. But- [laughs]
Elizabeth:
Yeah.
Mary:
That I liked.
Elizabeth:
Yeah. I agree. That’s the standout moment in my mind, too, is when she does go ahead and actually choose to leave the tower, and then she does need his help to get back in, but ultimately her decision to leave the tower isn’t–her initial decision is her own. Um, and she does rescue him first before he rescues her. Actually, she does almost all of the rescuing. Um, he’s just kind of there to-
Mary:
Yeah
Elizabeth:
-not be very good at investigating things and not learn lessons, as far as I can tell. [laughs] Um, and a lot of this plays into the- the question of:
What gaps did the retelling fill in that were missing in the original?
and I guess one of those gaps is a little bit of ‘why would you want the lettuce? oh, it’s because you’re a drug addict and it’s a drug.’
Mary:
Yeah. That was a big thing I saw, as well.
Elizabeth:
nd then, I guess there’s- there’s a little bit of an attempt at addressing the gap of ‘why would no one else have stumbled across the pr- the princess in the tower in the forest, and then this one guy does?’, and that’s ‘she’s deliberately being hidden away and they’re telepathically connected because that’s what the magic needs to happen’
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
Which is honestly pretty lazy, but at least it- at least it does address that gap in some way, like, only he can hear her singing from the tower that lures him out to find her in the tower
Mary:
because we did have the one older man who could- had also heard her singing
Elizabeth:
Mhm
Mary:
because it- he said it was because of grief, but-
Elizabeth:
Yeah. So, really sad people
Mary:
Yes
Elizabeth:
Can hear her singing, for reasons, but then later she does have straight- straight up telepathy with whomever she chooses
Mary:
Yes, definitely
Elizabeth:
Well with him- with Wyatt, specifically.
Mary:
Yeah
Elizabeth:
So, Rachel is a, uh, prophecy driven magical creature of magicalness, and we’re not to question that because prophecy.
Mary:
That was the other thing, um, why I wanted so badly for it to say, you know, that Zach was possibly fey because if she was part fey, then more of her magicness would make sense, if she’s not fully human. But it didn’t really go there enough to, other than me just trying, I think, fill in gaps.
Elizabeth:
Yeah. Very much that. Um, I am going to rest my camera for a moment. Take- Get-
Mary:
Hello!
Elizabeth:
Let it take a break. While I do that, um, I- we might as well start and focus in on you, Mary, for your
Mary:
Yeah. That was a big thing I saw, as well.
Elizabeth:
nd then, I guess there’s- there’s a little bit of an attempt at addressing the gap of ‘why would no one else have stumbled across the pr- the princess in the tower in the forest, and then this one guy does?’, and that’s ‘she’s deliberately being hidden away and they’re telepathically connected because that’s what the magic needs to happen’
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
Which is honestly pretty lazy, but at least it- at least it does address that gap in some way, like, only he can hear her singing from the tower that lures him out to find her in the tower
Mary:
because we did have the one older man who could- had also heard her singing
Elizabeth:
Mhm
Mary:
because it- he said it was because of grief, but-
Elizabeth:
Yeah. So, really sad people
Mary:
Yes
Elizabeth:
Can hear her singing, for reasons, but then later she does have straight- straight up telepathy with whomever she chooses
Mary:
Yes, definitely
Elizabeth:
Well with him- with Wyatt, specifically.
Mary:
Yeah
Elizabeth:
So, Rachel is a, uh, prophecy driven magical creature of magicalness, and we’re not to question that because prophecy.
Mary:
That was the other thing, um, why I wanted so badly for it to say, you know, that Zach was possibly fey because if she was part fey, then more of her magicness would make sense, if she’s not fully human. But it didn’t really go there enough to, other than me just trying, I think, fill in gaps.
Elizabeth:
Yeah. Very much that. Um, I am going to rest my camera for a moment. Take- Get-
Mary:
Hello!
Elizabeth:
Let it take a break. While I do that, um, I- we might as well start and focus in on you, Mary, for your
Any additional thoughts about the book?
because I think most of what we have to say falls into this additional thoughts category, anyway, so if you want to get us started.
Mary:
And one of the things that really bugged me was the romance. It was very much a love at first sight, we are fated to meet each other, and there- it felt very rushed. There was no real actual phys- you know, connection. It didn’t feel like there was any actual romance. I read, um- I actually recently had a class that talked about, you know, the stages of like affection that are very universal, and like this just jumps around and does not follow those, and so it feels unnatural.
Elizabeth:
Yeah. Uh, my camera’s not being fixed, for one thing, but anyway: I fully agree. I think that the romantic relationships, both between Rachel and Wyatt and between Dani and Zach, are extremely unhealthy, and they might be believable in that the people involved are either teenagers or fey creatures clearly seducing a teenager, uh, so sure, maybe they believe in love at first sight, but it’s kind of gross how the adults in their lives just kind of are like ‘oh, they’re meant for each other; it’s true love!’ Like, no, I don’t want Rachel and Wyatt to end up together at all. At all. I- I don’t believe they should- like, that- They should keep their hands off each other and let Rachel meet literally at least one other human man-
Mary:
Yeah
Elizabeth:
-in her life before they settle down. It’s very much fated love at first sight, soulmate, with nothing to back it up; nothing at all in what they’re doing backs it up.
Mary:
I almost wish there hadn’t been a romance, that he had rescued her and they rescued each other without that aspect. It doesn’t need it.
Elizabeth:
and it was just friendship
Mary:
Yeah
Elizabeth:
Like, if there was no romance between Rachel and Wyatt at all, that would be a much better story, but instead there– I especially hated how Rachel reads her mother’s diary and is so inspired, like, her mom had love at first sight and she has love at first sight, too. It’s meant to be.
Mary:
Yeah, that’s what she took from it.
Elizabeth:
And her mom’s diary is like an exercise in cautious- caut- like, you should read that and be like, ‘no, never going to do what she did,’ because a freaking man who’s an adult man while she’s an underage teenager-
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
-starts out by stalking her in her garden in the rain, and she doesn’t exactly live in a neighborhood where this makes sense–he’s in the middle of nowhere if he’s stalking her in her garden-
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
-right outside her window–then stumbles into her just as she so happens to need him (I strongly suspect he’s the reason she tripped and hurt her ankle) when she’s on her way out of her house for the first time. Oh, was he stalking her and waiting for her to come out of her house?
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
Yes, he definitely was. He happens to have a bandage and a crutch, oh! Oh, my gosh! Fancy that!
Mary:
Yeah
Elizabeth:
His car happens to be right there. He smooches her immediately, immediately upon meeting her, and then stalks her more so that he happens to be there the second she can get out of the house, and then on their very first “date,” which of course has to be secret from her mom–that’s right, don’t tell the adults!–he takes her to the middle of the forest and drugs her without telling her what she’s going to eat is a drug. While she’s on a hallucinogenic drug, he carries her off into a tower and presumably does the deed, and then he dates her until he’s sure she’s pregnant-
Mary:
And then disappears
Elizabeth:
-and disappears without a word
Mary:
Soo-
Elizabeth:
Oh my god, the romance of the ages!
Mary:
I know [laughs]
Elizabeth:
I mean, no! Oh, cautionary tale, for sure, but it’s not presented that way. It’s not presented that way at all. It’s like Alex Flinn truly believes this is the romance of the ages, and that it’s acceptable for Rachel and Wyatt to believe that, too. Which is especially egregious when you keep in mind that the lesson Wyatt supposedly learned from his experience with the death of his best friend back home was ‘don’t keep secrets,’ uh, ‘tell people; ask for help.’ He doesn’t- He says that’s the lesson he learned, and then he doesn’t do that at all. He keeps secrets all the time, from everybody, and instead of asking for help, goes off to the Foxes even though he knows it’s a trap
Mary:
Yeah
Elizabeth:
To confront them by himself so that he can get conveniently captured. It’s very odd. Um, and I’m- I’m giving my camera another break because it is losing its mind, but [sighs] those are my biggest grievances. Do you have any other thoughts about-?
Mary:
One other scene that really bugged me was at the end where she is saving everyone from the drug. Okay, she climbs up the wall with her now strong strength because of her hair and everything to this door in the cliff that’s locked, and she- so, she opens it up with the key–oh wait, the key came from a hairbrush that could only be opened by brushing her hair?
Elizabeth:
Yeah…
Mary:
But she used to have this brush-
Elizabeth:
Where did the brush? Where did it come from?
Mary:
-and then it disappeared, and then suddenly it’s back in town, which is not apparently the same town because they were living somewhere else when they supposedly lost the brush.
Elizabeth:
I know, none of the brush makes sense.
Mary:
Yeah, it’s like a plot hole thing there. It’s like, okay, weird brush…
Elizabeth:
The brush is like the pocket watch from like Somewhere in Time; it’s just a mess. Where- Wha- Yeah. Anyway.
Mary:
And so she gets this key, and I was actually didn’t catch this the first time, but when I was rereading it, she opens the door and then she drops the key to the ground and even mentions ‘oh, it falls next to Wyatt,’ but then she goes in, there is a pipe that is–you know, has this, the green river thing that is feeding these plants, I don’t know what’s up with that or why there’s a pipe, but she doesn’t say there’s any openings in the pipe, but she cries on the pipe, which makes everything better. Somehow.
Elizabeth:
[laughs] Yes
Mary:
It- It just makes no sense whatsoever, but then she has to cut her hair to get back down. She uses the key
Elizabeth:
The one that landed next to Wyatt
Mary:
That- Which she doesn’t have anymore. She dropped it.
Elizabeth:
Yeah
Mary:
It’s like, big, huge plot hole here. But, yeah, that- that just whole–even though with the pipe and everything–it just didn’t really jive. It’s like, okay, she just cried on a rusty pipe and yay, the- the magic drug plants die off.
Elizabeth:
Yeah. It’s-
Mary:
That was just weird.
Elizabeth:
The whole thing with her- her sudden magic powers and how they played out was- Honestly, the whole ‘I am a child of prophecy that’s going to fix everything,’ it felt like- it honestly felt like Alex Flinn had all of the elements she wanted to play with for the retelling and she was like ‘ooh, what if the Rapunzel lettuce was actually like a cool magical fey drug, and there’s fey secretly living amongst humans, and they’re using the humans, and it’s a drug trade; that would be cool–oh!’ and then she had these like little ideas and then completely biffed it on the actual execution of a plot
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
-and decided to lean heavily on ‘it’s just prophecy; it’s just meant to be,’ even when it comes to the interpersonal relationships. ‘They were just meant to meet.’
Mary:
Yeah
Elizabeth:
‘They’re just meant to be in love.’ We’re just meant to not think that Zach Gray is the creepiest creep ever-
Mary:
Oh, no, because he was doing it to fulfill this prophecy that I don’t know who came up with the prophecy…
Elizabeth:
It’s so he could save everybody somehow…at Dani’s expense cause she did get murdered–she is dead
Mary:
Yes
Elizabeth:
and then it’s like, oh, but it’s okay, maybe like Zach is also dead, and he could have like showed up later and been a real dad if he wasn’t killed. Except maybe he wasn’t killed. We aren’t sure because the- the- both things are said, and why would you trust the Fox brothers to tell you the truth either way?
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
For all we know, he’s off being like some fey prince in another realm; we don’t know. All we know is that he used a teenage girl to carry his prophecy baby and then dipped. That’s all we know.
Mary:
Yep
Elizabeth:
But he’s the hero?
Mary:
[laughs] It- It’s definitely warped.
Elizabeth:
Yeah. Like-
Mary:
Everything’s out- Yeah, these elements just exist to move the plot along and tell the story instead of-
Elizabeth:
Yeah. And the most interesting-
Mary:
Could’ve been so much more
Elizabeth:
Yeah. The most- Like, there’s interesting elements that I would have loved to see dealt with better. Like we said, if Wyatt and Rachel were just friends, or if they thought ‘oh, love at first sight,’ but then they learned the lesson from Dani’s journal that you shouldn’t trust that, and you shouldn’t let people use you and convince you to keep secrets, and they immediately told Mrs. Greenwood/Mama everything, and they all-
Mary:
Because apparently she was helping them from-
Elizabeth:
Well, meanwhile, she knew that he- they were lying and- Like, that part pissed me off, when she’s like, ‘oh, I know you’ve been sneaking around and have met each other already. Also, I know everything about the Fox brothers, and that there’s real magic, and-‘ I mean, come on!
Mary:
And this is how you deal with it, and you just-
Elizabeth:
Like the moral of the story appears to be: ‘Fling yourself into danger to save others that- and sometimes you’ll die, but other times it’ll work out! And at least you won’t feel bad that you didn’t do it, you coward!’ Which is a bad lesson. The moral of the story here is just bad.
Mary:
Yeah. So, we don’t really know that Wyatt would have been able to help in his original situation with his friends anyway. That was- That was a whole different issue, and then we’re trying to say ‘oh, you just need to be brave.’
Elizabeth:
Yeah, and I especially disapprove, if the lesson–okay, well, yuck, camera–If the lesson we were supposed to learn from Wyatt’s experience with Tyler, his best friend, was, ‘Wyatt should have just charged in fists blazing to save his friend from the the abusive stepfather,’ right?
Mary:
Who probably would have killed him, too.
Elizabeth:
Actually, no! That’s not what he should have done; he should have told a trusted adult about the situation and sought help from elsewhere.
Mary:
Yep.
Elizabeth:
So, naturally, the lesson he learned was to never tell a trusted adult anything ever. They’re also not going to tell him things, so that’s fine. And to go in by himself to every situation ever, but like secretly. Like, ‘just be less of a coward, Wyatt’ is the worst lesson you could take from that.
Mary:
Yeah
Elizabeth:
Like, please, if you know someone’s being abused, don’t confront their abuser and then just kind of let things fall where they may. Tell a trusted adult, go to authorities, be more careful. You know, just- Consult with experts. You know, don’t do what Wyatt did, or what anyone in this entire book did because they’re all bad examples.
Mary:
Yeah, there really isn’t any redeeming character.
Elizabeth:
Yeah, it’s super unfortunate.
Mary:
Oh, wait: maybe the guy that picked him up at the train station and was trying to be his friend. That was a redeeming character. Let’s invite you to do stuff because you’re new-
Elizabeth:
Yeah! Be like Josh
Mary:
-and you’re gonna go ignore me after that, but, hey! We tried
Elizabeth:
Be a good neighbor. Josh was even like, hey, could you not rile up the poor grieving old man, like, by talking about the things that make him-
Mary:
Oh, yes
Elizabeth:
Josh is a good guy. Everyone, if you read Towering-
Mary:
Let him borrow his car…
Elizabeth:
-just be like Josh
[Mary and Elizabeth laugh]
Elizabeth:
Don’t be like anyone else in the book. Oh. Yeah. So, overall, I guess, would you recommend Towering to anyone who is looking for a fairy tale retelling, YA fiction of any kind?
Mary:
No. Like, I can’t recommend it as a Rapunzel retelling because it doesn’t do enough to update and change and make it satisfying, and even not as a Rapunzel tale, there’s just too many flaws and problematic characters, and we don’t want to- I don’t want to promote that! It’s just-
Elizabeth:
Yeah
Mary:
Yeah
Elizabeth:
I’m in full agreement there. Uh, there are better books, too. Um, there’s a Rapunzel telling by, uh… You know what, now I’m having a mind blip and I can’t think of it, but there are Rapunzel retellings that are–heck, even the Disney movie is better. Just watch Tangled; you’ll feel better.
Mary:
[laughs] Yeah
Elizabeth:
More positive relationships, weirdly, from a Disney film than a book. Odd, but true.
Mary:
Yeah
Elizabeth:
Um, but, yeah, there are so many better books you could spend your time on, even if you specifically want a Rapunzel tale. This one is not, unfortunately, one that could be recommended.
Mary:
You can get all the same elements, just read the original story again.
Elizabeth:
Yeah
Mary:
Instead of this retelling
Elizabeth:
Yeah. And I apologize for my weird camera, uh, but, um, I’m focusing on Mary because she’s pretty and doesn’t have a weird camera anyway. Any last thoughts?
Mary:
Well, I think we covered everything, and all of its problems. [chuckles]
Elizabeth:
Yeah. Yeah. Definitely just, uh, do not–I don’t recommend this book and, if you do read it, please don’t take any of the characters to be role models of any kind. Except maybe Josh; be nice to new neighbors. [laughs]
Mary:
And if you have read it, please be sure to come join us in our Facebook group
Elizabeth:
Yes
Mary:
So we can talk about it all together. And discuss it with you.
Elizabeth:
Please do. Would- Very interested to hear if anyone else who’s read this has different thoughts. Um, always want to know what you think. Well, thank you so much for sitting with us as we discuss this book. We will see you next quarter for our next book club pick
Mary:
and if you’d like to be involved in which book we pick, we are- we’ll also be doing probably a poll selection, so come join us in our- in our group, and let us know what you’d like to read!
Elizabeth:
Yeah, and the links for our Facebook group and our webpage will be in the description for this video, so take a look, give them some clicky clicks, and we will hopefully be hearing from you soon! Bye!
Mary:
Thank you for joining us! Bye!
Mary:
And one of the things that really bugged me was the romance. It was very much a love at first sight, we are fated to meet each other, and there- it felt very rushed. There was no real actual phys- you know, connection. It didn’t feel like there was any actual romance. I read, um- I actually recently had a class that talked about, you know, the stages of like affection that are very universal, and like this just jumps around and does not follow those, and so it feels unnatural.
Elizabeth:
Yeah. Uh, my camera’s not being fixed, for one thing, but anyway: I fully agree. I think that the romantic relationships, both between Rachel and Wyatt and between Dani and Zach, are extremely unhealthy, and they might be believable in that the people involved are either teenagers or fey creatures clearly seducing a teenager, uh, so sure, maybe they believe in love at first sight, but it’s kind of gross how the adults in their lives just kind of are like ‘oh, they’re meant for each other; it’s true love!’ Like, no, I don’t want Rachel and Wyatt to end up together at all. At all. I- I don’t believe they should- like, that- They should keep their hands off each other and let Rachel meet literally at least one other human man-
Mary:
Yeah
Elizabeth:
-in her life before they settle down. It’s very much fated love at first sight, soulmate, with nothing to back it up; nothing at all in what they’re doing backs it up.
Mary:
I almost wish there hadn’t been a romance, that he had rescued her and they rescued each other without that aspect. It doesn’t need it.
Elizabeth:
and it was just friendship
Mary:
Yeah
Elizabeth:
Like, if there was no romance between Rachel and Wyatt at all, that would be a much better story, but instead there– I especially hated how Rachel reads her mother’s diary and is so inspired, like, her mom had love at first sight and she has love at first sight, too. It’s meant to be.
Mary:
Yeah, that’s what she took from it.
Elizabeth:
And her mom’s diary is like an exercise in cautious- caut- like, you should read that and be like, ‘no, never going to do what she did,’ because a freaking man who’s an adult man while she’s an underage teenager-
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
-starts out by stalking her in her garden in the rain, and she doesn’t exactly live in a neighborhood where this makes sense–he’s in the middle of nowhere if he’s stalking her in her garden-
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
-right outside her window–then stumbles into her just as she so happens to need him (I strongly suspect he’s the reason she tripped and hurt her ankle) when she’s on her way out of her house for the first time. Oh, was he stalking her and waiting for her to come out of her house?
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
Yes, he definitely was. He happens to have a bandage and a crutch, oh! Oh, my gosh! Fancy that!
Mary:
Yeah
Elizabeth:
His car happens to be right there. He smooches her immediately, immediately upon meeting her, and then stalks her more so that he happens to be there the second she can get out of the house, and then on their very first “date,” which of course has to be secret from her mom–that’s right, don’t tell the adults!–he takes her to the middle of the forest and drugs her without telling her what she’s going to eat is a drug. While she’s on a hallucinogenic drug, he carries her off into a tower and presumably does the deed, and then he dates her until he’s sure she’s pregnant-
Mary:
And then disappears
Elizabeth:
-and disappears without a word
Mary:
Soo-
Elizabeth:
Oh my god, the romance of the ages!
Mary:
I know [laughs]
Elizabeth:
I mean, no! Oh, cautionary tale, for sure, but it’s not presented that way. It’s not presented that way at all. It’s like Alex Flinn truly believes this is the romance of the ages, and that it’s acceptable for Rachel and Wyatt to believe that, too. Which is especially egregious when you keep in mind that the lesson Wyatt supposedly learned from his experience with the death of his best friend back home was ‘don’t keep secrets,’ uh, ‘tell people; ask for help.’ He doesn’t- He says that’s the lesson he learned, and then he doesn’t do that at all. He keeps secrets all the time, from everybody, and instead of asking for help, goes off to the Foxes even though he knows it’s a trap
Mary:
Yeah
Elizabeth:
To confront them by himself so that he can get conveniently captured. It’s very odd. Um, and I’m- I’m giving my camera another break because it is losing its mind, but [sighs] those are my biggest grievances. Do you have any other thoughts about-?
Mary:
One other scene that really bugged me was at the end where she is saving everyone from the drug. Okay, she climbs up the wall with her now strong strength because of her hair and everything to this door in the cliff that’s locked, and she- so, she opens it up with the key–oh wait, the key came from a hairbrush that could only be opened by brushing her hair?
Elizabeth:
Yeah…
Mary:
But she used to have this brush-
Elizabeth:
Where did the brush? Where did it come from?
Mary:
-and then it disappeared, and then suddenly it’s back in town, which is not apparently the same town because they were living somewhere else when they supposedly lost the brush.
Elizabeth:
I know, none of the brush makes sense.
Mary:
Yeah, it’s like a plot hole thing there. It’s like, okay, weird brush…
Elizabeth:
The brush is like the pocket watch from like Somewhere in Time; it’s just a mess. Where- Wha- Yeah. Anyway.
Mary:
And so she gets this key, and I was actually didn’t catch this the first time, but when I was rereading it, she opens the door and then she drops the key to the ground and even mentions ‘oh, it falls next to Wyatt,’ but then she goes in, there is a pipe that is–you know, has this, the green river thing that is feeding these plants, I don’t know what’s up with that or why there’s a pipe, but she doesn’t say there’s any openings in the pipe, but she cries on the pipe, which makes everything better. Somehow.
Elizabeth:
[laughs] Yes
Mary:
It- It just makes no sense whatsoever, but then she has to cut her hair to get back down. She uses the key
Elizabeth:
The one that landed next to Wyatt
Mary:
That- Which she doesn’t have anymore. She dropped it.
Elizabeth:
Yeah
Mary:
It’s like, big, huge plot hole here. But, yeah, that- that just whole–even though with the pipe and everything–it just didn’t really jive. It’s like, okay, she just cried on a rusty pipe and yay, the- the magic drug plants die off.
Elizabeth:
Yeah. It’s-
Mary:
That was just weird.
Elizabeth:
The whole thing with her- her sudden magic powers and how they played out was- Honestly, the whole ‘I am a child of prophecy that’s going to fix everything,’ it felt like- it honestly felt like Alex Flinn had all of the elements she wanted to play with for the retelling and she was like ‘ooh, what if the Rapunzel lettuce was actually like a cool magical fey drug, and there’s fey secretly living amongst humans, and they’re using the humans, and it’s a drug trade; that would be cool–oh!’ and then she had these like little ideas and then completely biffed it on the actual execution of a plot
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
-and decided to lean heavily on ‘it’s just prophecy; it’s just meant to be,’ even when it comes to the interpersonal relationships. ‘They were just meant to meet.’
Mary:
Yeah
Elizabeth:
‘They’re just meant to be in love.’ We’re just meant to not think that Zach Gray is the creepiest creep ever-
Mary:
Oh, no, because he was doing it to fulfill this prophecy that I don’t know who came up with the prophecy…
Elizabeth:
It’s so he could save everybody somehow…at Dani’s expense cause she did get murdered–she is dead
Mary:
Yes
Elizabeth:
and then it’s like, oh, but it’s okay, maybe like Zach is also dead, and he could have like showed up later and been a real dad if he wasn’t killed. Except maybe he wasn’t killed. We aren’t sure because the- the- both things are said, and why would you trust the Fox brothers to tell you the truth either way?
Mary:
Mhm
Elizabeth:
For all we know, he’s off being like some fey prince in another realm; we don’t know. All we know is that he used a teenage girl to carry his prophecy baby and then dipped. That’s all we know.
Mary:
Yep
Elizabeth:
But he’s the hero?
Mary:
[laughs] It- It’s definitely warped.
Elizabeth:
Yeah. Like-
Mary:
Everything’s out- Yeah, these elements just exist to move the plot along and tell the story instead of-
Elizabeth:
Yeah. And the most interesting-
Mary:
Could’ve been so much more
Elizabeth:
Yeah. The most- Like, there’s interesting elements that I would have loved to see dealt with better. Like we said, if Wyatt and Rachel were just friends, or if they thought ‘oh, love at first sight,’ but then they learned the lesson from Dani’s journal that you shouldn’t trust that, and you shouldn’t let people use you and convince you to keep secrets, and they immediately told Mrs. Greenwood/Mama everything, and they all-
Mary:
Because apparently she was helping them from-
Elizabeth:
Well, meanwhile, she knew that he- they were lying and- Like, that part pissed me off, when she’s like, ‘oh, I know you’ve been sneaking around and have met each other already. Also, I know everything about the Fox brothers, and that there’s real magic, and-‘ I mean, come on!
Mary:
And this is how you deal with it, and you just-
Elizabeth:
Like the moral of the story appears to be: ‘Fling yourself into danger to save others that- and sometimes you’ll die, but other times it’ll work out! And at least you won’t feel bad that you didn’t do it, you coward!’ Which is a bad lesson. The moral of the story here is just bad.
Mary:
Yeah. So, we don’t really know that Wyatt would have been able to help in his original situation with his friends anyway. That was- That was a whole different issue, and then we’re trying to say ‘oh, you just need to be brave.’
Elizabeth:
Yeah, and I especially disapprove, if the lesson–okay, well, yuck, camera–If the lesson we were supposed to learn from Wyatt’s experience with Tyler, his best friend, was, ‘Wyatt should have just charged in fists blazing to save his friend from the the abusive stepfather,’ right?
Mary:
Who probably would have killed him, too.
Elizabeth:
Actually, no! That’s not what he should have done; he should have told a trusted adult about the situation and sought help from elsewhere.
Mary:
Yep.
Elizabeth:
So, naturally, the lesson he learned was to never tell a trusted adult anything ever. They’re also not going to tell him things, so that’s fine. And to go in by himself to every situation ever, but like secretly. Like, ‘just be less of a coward, Wyatt’ is the worst lesson you could take from that.
Mary:
Yeah
Elizabeth:
Like, please, if you know someone’s being abused, don’t confront their abuser and then just kind of let things fall where they may. Tell a trusted adult, go to authorities, be more careful. You know, just- Consult with experts. You know, don’t do what Wyatt did, or what anyone in this entire book did because they’re all bad examples.
Mary:
Yeah, there really isn’t any redeeming character.
Elizabeth:
Yeah, it’s super unfortunate.
Mary:
Oh, wait: maybe the guy that picked him up at the train station and was trying to be his friend. That was a redeeming character. Let’s invite you to do stuff because you’re new-
Elizabeth:
Yeah! Be like Josh
Mary:
-and you’re gonna go ignore me after that, but, hey! We tried
Elizabeth:
Be a good neighbor. Josh was even like, hey, could you not rile up the poor grieving old man, like, by talking about the things that make him-
Mary:
Oh, yes
Elizabeth:
Josh is a good guy. Everyone, if you read Towering-
Mary:
Let him borrow his car…
Elizabeth:
-just be like Josh
[Mary and Elizabeth laugh]
Elizabeth:
Don’t be like anyone else in the book. Oh. Yeah. So, overall, I guess, would you recommend Towering to anyone who is looking for a fairy tale retelling, YA fiction of any kind?
Mary:
No. Like, I can’t recommend it as a Rapunzel retelling because it doesn’t do enough to update and change and make it satisfying, and even not as a Rapunzel tale, there’s just too many flaws and problematic characters, and we don’t want to- I don’t want to promote that! It’s just-
Elizabeth:
Yeah
Mary:
Yeah
Elizabeth:
I’m in full agreement there. Uh, there are better books, too. Um, there’s a Rapunzel telling by, uh… You know what, now I’m having a mind blip and I can’t think of it, but there are Rapunzel retellings that are–heck, even the Disney movie is better. Just watch Tangled; you’ll feel better.
Mary:
[laughs] Yeah
Elizabeth:
More positive relationships, weirdly, from a Disney film than a book. Odd, but true.
Mary:
Yeah
Elizabeth:
Um, but, yeah, there are so many better books you could spend your time on, even if you specifically want a Rapunzel tale. This one is not, unfortunately, one that could be recommended.
Mary:
You can get all the same elements, just read the original story again.
Elizabeth:
Yeah
Mary:
Instead of this retelling
Elizabeth:
Yeah. And I apologize for my weird camera, uh, but, um, I’m focusing on Mary because she’s pretty and doesn’t have a weird camera anyway. Any last thoughts?
Mary:
Well, I think we covered everything, and all of its problems. [chuckles]
Elizabeth:
Yeah. Yeah. Definitely just, uh, do not–I don’t recommend this book and, if you do read it, please don’t take any of the characters to be role models of any kind. Except maybe Josh; be nice to new neighbors. [laughs]
Mary:
And if you have read it, please be sure to come join us in our Facebook group
Elizabeth:
Yes
Mary:
So we can talk about it all together. And discuss it with you.
Elizabeth:
Please do. Would- Very interested to hear if anyone else who’s read this has different thoughts. Um, always want to know what you think. Well, thank you so much for sitting with us as we discuss this book. We will see you next quarter for our next book club pick
Mary:
and if you’d like to be involved in which book we pick, we are- we’ll also be doing probably a poll selection, so come join us in our- in our group, and let us know what you’d like to read!
Elizabeth:
Yeah, and the links for our Facebook group and our webpage will be in the description for this video, so take a look, give them some clicky clicks, and we will hopefully be hearing from you soon! Bye!
Mary:
Thank you for joining us! Bye!