Reviews

Climbing with Mollie by William Finnegan

maggiebook's review against another edition

4.0

Enjoyable short book of a father and daughter climbing together. Loved the relationship, the shared experiences and the interview he did with his daughter.

iconicavocado's review

adventurous emotional informative inspiring reflective relaxing fast-paced

3.5

(read via audiobook)

Book 📖: 3.5/5 stars
Audiobook 🎙️: ⭐⭐⭐⭐

I needed to hit 10 books this month so I grabbed this one from my audible library! Overall sweet memoir of a father's love for their daughter. I think it is incredibly lovely that William wanted to be a part of Mollie's climbing journey. I loved that he gave her the space to grow in this hobby and would take advice from her since he wasn't a natural like she is. Their interview at the end is nice because we get a glimpse of their relationship and hear from Mollie herself. It was kinda boring at times but I learned a lot about climbing in such a short time! Nice book! 

orsuros's review

4.0

A great story of dedication to family and rock climbing.

griffgriffgriff_'s review

4.0

Delightful. Maybe it’s just because I love Finnegan’s work AND climbing, but this really resonated with me. Finnegan has such a gift for prose. It reads analytically, but you can sense the lived emotion in almost every sentence—you can really feel how proud he is of Mollie. Loved it.

guk's review

4.0

Enjoyable essay on climbing and parental relationships transitioning into adulthood. Go Mollie!

Free in audible.

hank's review

3.0

3.5 stars rounded down because it narrated by the author. This was a mostly generic story about a father and daughter becoming closer to each other due to a shared interest. If you are already a climber (me), there was too much climbing "lingo" tossed around in the book. It adds flavor in some parts but in others, they are just extra words. I think that would be true for non-climbers as well but I am not positive. The becoming closer was almost like viewing it from a distance Finnegan (William) seemed baffled most of the book as to why and how his daughter slipped into climbing so thoroughly. Which sort of had the effect on the reader of them growing further apart.

I did like the way Finnegan shows how Mollie becomes the authority figure, takes the lead and owns climbing as her own expertise. Several times he defers to Mollie which is a transition all parents have to go through at some point (or they should).

Short book, overly long review, recommended for parents and non-climbers.

hwintermute's review against another edition

3.0

I think if I knew more about climbing I would’ve loved this short story about a young climber told from her father’s perspective. I don’t know anything about climbing though, so it was just ok for me.

ashleysweitz's review

It is darling and delightfully well written as a parent's memoir of watching their child nurture and grow their passion; at about 2/3 in, I wasn't learning anything new and DNF.

rebeccalm's review

2.0

This book was mostly just okay, as I'm not really sure why this needed to be written in the first place. It's a very loving story about one man's journey of growing into a supportive and more hands-on father when his daughter displays interest and aptitude in a sport (climbing) that he knows nothing about. There are no 'big moments' of revelation or events, it was mainly anecdotal. It's endearing and cute but seemed overly simple to me.

dlsmall's review

4.0

Makes for a pretty solid Audible Father-Daughter obsession combo with Playing to Win from Michael Lewis.