I recently cashed in my book voucher at Drollerie Press, and got Falling by Imogen Howson. Here’s the blurb;

Safety is an illusion.

When the world crumbles into chaos, only a chosen few can afford the luxury of life in towers built to soar far above the pollution and destruction on the ground. Life up in the air is full of beautiful things and beautiful people. What happens when you’re not one of them? What happens when everything you believed about the world turns out to be a lie?

You fall. Or you learn how to fly…

This short story retells the fairytale Rapunzel. Set in the future, Imogen weaves a split society – those who can afford to live in the towers above the poisonous smog, and those who can’t. Linnet is the only child of a rich couple, the mother obsessed with normalcy. Linnet struggles to be what her mother wants, to fit in, but Linnet has one ‘flaw’ that doesn’t fit the ideal. It takes more than a Prince Charming to get Linnet to see she is only different and far from ugly.

I enjoyed this story, the narrative refreshing and smooth. I loved how Linnet wasn’t the cliché she so easily could have been. There was some amazing character development as Gecko and Linnet interacted. The twist towards the end was lovely, making the well-known story delightfully fresh. I would recommend this story to anyone seeking a light but intriguing and pleasurable read.