Out of the Tower

A Detective Story of the Emotions

By: Alison Gray

Narrated by: Jennifer Gill

Jemima Forbes is seven years old when a mysterious event occurs and her father and uncle disappear from her life one night. She spends her growing years obsessing about this, and when she is old enough, she leaves home to find out what happened.

©2014 Alison M Gray (P)2018 Alison M Gray

A haunting story of family dysfunction and drama..

Out of the Tower is a haunting story of family drama and dysfunction told through the eyes of Gemima Forbes. This book was listed under the detective fiction genre, but it should definitely not be included there. The majority of the book takes place in Gemima's life from the time she is 16 years old until her mid-twenties. I had to keep reminding myself that so many of her actions and thoughts are based on the fact that she was essentially a teenager during the entire book. Due to many familial factors, including her mother being emotionally distant, her father abandoning the family when she was seven, and her beloved uncle leaving without explanation the same night, Gemma is very immature, self-focused and irrational in her thought processes and dealings with the people in her life. Everything in her world revolves around her uncle, the only person she felt ever loved her, and his disappearance from her life keeps Gemma from developing mature relationships with friends, lovers, and family.

Throughout the book, the author, Alison Gray, keeps hinting at this horrible event that lead to Gemma being abandoned by her father and uncle on the same night, but we never understand exactly what happened until the very end of the book. That intrigue as well as the author's excellent prose kept me listening, even though parts of the book were incredibly sad and frustrating. The ending brought so much of Gemma's circumstances and personality into perspective, and I was ultimately left with a feeling that Gemma would be alright and make a place for herself in the world.

Jennifer Gill does a great job with the narration. The book takes place in Glasgow, Scotland, and Gill's accent fit perfectly both with the setting and with Gemma's youth. The narration sets the varying tones throughout the book, helping me to feel Gemma's growth both in age and in maturity. Overall, even though misplaced in the detective section, this was a satisfying listen.

I received a copy of this audiobook at my request in exchange for this honest review.

Emotional roller coaster!

Allison Grayl weaves a tale of emotional dysfunction with a twist at the end. Characters are well-developed.

Jennifer Gill does a great job narrating. Excellent diction.

I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Coming of Age

Our somewhat gormless heroine goes from 7 to 20 or so within the course of the novel. Listening to her background and watching her mother consistently neglect her, one understands a lot of the dynamics of the situation, as she comes to terms with who and what she is, but oh, my, there are several "don't go into the haunted house" moments when you wish you could shake Jemma or box her ears! I am not sufficiently familiar with the Glaswegian accent to know whether narrator Jennifer Gill nailed it; she certainly captured the mood beautifully.

A Twist at the End

Interesting way to present the story. I found it a bit confusing at first but I was curious enough to continue listening. I love the narrator, awesome voice to listen to. I couldn't completely figure out the story as I went along. Every time I thought I had something figured out it didn't turn out the way that I had assumed it would. That it wasn't a usual storyline presented in the regular way is what I like about this book. Surprise ending that I was not expecting.

Not what I expected

Out of the Tower is not a true detective listen. It’s more coming to age and dealing with a dysfunctional family. I wasn’t certain I liked the main character in the book, but definitely did not care for her mother. The author wrote some great twists in the story and Jemma did find answers in the end. The Narrator did a good performance with adding the right emotions. I requested this review copy audiobook and have voluntarily written this review. I would listen to more books by the author and narrator. Without giving away spoilers, the ending was very fitting.

Interesting story

First of all I want to say this is a great story. It is a story that made me think in order to follow along. The story is in depth with characters that contribute to that depth. One minute I am cheering someone on and the next I am not. There are a few things that are totally unexpected.
I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Not for me.

Others liked this book but I it was not for me. I found it to be really slow going and I lost interest, I ended up not caring what she found out which is a shame because there are twist that I did not see.
Others might like it more than I did.

Dysfunctional At Its Finest

The story begins with Jemima (AKA Jemma) Forbes telling of her childhood and the innocence and naivety of this girl. She describes how much she loves and adores her uncle, Chris, and how Chris would always play with her and her brother, Ben. Then one night, Jemma's father, as well as her uncle Chris leave the home and never return. Jemma feels abandoned and just cannot figure out why her wonderful uncle would ever leave without saying good-bye to her. Her mother just adds to her misery and she never really felt loved or wanted by her mother, so she feels as if she has no one to confide in other than her brother, Ben, which later it turns out is her half-brother, so again, she begins to feel lost.

The descriptions throughout the book was what kept me listening, as it was written so beautifully, however, I did get a little lost in the story for a little bit.

Jennifer Gill did not disappoint! Fantastic job!!

This audiobook was provided by the author, narrator, or publisher at no cost in exchange for an unbiased review courtesy of AudiobookBoom

Beautifully written and narrated

It was a little hard for me to believe Jemima could be so naive into adulthood. It seemed her frustration and anger would have compelled her to insist on answers. And where were her friends and classmates?

I saw the big reveal at the end coming. It wasn't really a surprise. But I was left wondering how she would handle the revelation and go on with her life.

This was a beautifully written story, made even better by the outstanding performance of Jennifer Gill. It really enhanced my enjoyment of this audiobook.

NOTE: I was given this free review copy audiobook at my request and have voluntarily left this review.

Liked the book. Hated the characters.

This book was an interesting 'coming of age' story. Things happened in Jemima's life and everyone she knows, and I mean everyone, failed her - her mother, her father, her uncle, her brother. That failure set her up for a lifetime search for answers.

We get to travel with Jemima (in her head) as she grew from a heartbroken child to a heartbroken adult. To be honest, I didn't always like her either. It was very definitely a 'detective story of the emotions.'

The narrator had an extremely pleasant voice but I found myself wondering why a story set in Scotland only had characters with British accents. I suppose it's not impossible but things never quite settled in for me because of that.