05 November, 2013

#BookReviews :: Teardrop (Teardrop #1) by Lauren Kate


Never, ever cry...
Seventeen-year-old Eureka won't let anyone close enough to feel her pain. After her mother was killed in a freak accident, the things she used to love hold no meaning. She wants to escape, but one thing holds her back: Ander, the boy who is everywhere she goes, whose turquoise eyes are like the ocean.
And then Eureka uncovers an ancient tale of romance and heartbreak, about a girl who cried an entire continent into the sea. Suddenly her mother's death and Ander's appearance seem connected, and her life takes on dark undercurrents that don't make sense.
Can everything you love be washed away? 




Eureka never cries… Never as she was warned by her mother to never cry. It was when she was really young but it stuck with her and she has never cried since – not even when her mother died in an accident that was supposed to claim her life too. Now struggling with school, friends, parents and a step mother, Eureka’s life is that of a typical teenager except for the numerous appointments with psychologists that she has to keep up with. But Things change suddenly as her best friend Brooks starts acting strangely and a mysterious boy called Ander enters her life.

Frankly speaking, I had zero expectation from this book. I had given up reading Fallen about halfway through as I was way too frustrated with Luce’s obsession with the jerk Daniel. Also, the language and narrative didn’t really help. When I came across Teardrop, I was first caught by its cover which I think is absolutely mesmerising. I decided to give this one a try thinking that since the author has a whole series under her belt now, she must have matured a bit over each book. 

Eureka is a teenager living with survivor’s guilt. It is something hard to handle, I will grant you that and cut her some slack. But her never ending whining got on my nerves. Also, for a girl with near death experience, she is extremely shallow. There is this one place where she is describing her aunt as her mother ‘gone wrong’ as her mother was beautiful. I wanted to literally smack her at that point. There are many other similar instances when her shallow character is narrated in a way that makes you wonder if the author thinks that we are all as shallow to end up liking Eureka. Then enter Ander – and it is like ‘Fallen’ happening all over again. Eureka is all consumed by the thoughts of this ‘hot stranger’ who she falls for almost immediately and starts stalking and is soon obsessed about. (Well, after the first chapter of the book we do know that Ander can compete with her in those departments.) I cannot help but wonder if the author knows about healthy relationships where two people meet – get to know each other – go on dates – then fall in love? – The kind of relationship that doesn’t involve obsessing about strangers and stalking??

The overall pace of the book is well slow. Not much happens till the very end. And when it does, the whole climax seems to be rushed. The one thing that I did like about this book is that the plot had a lot of potential. Though not much happened in this instalment, the references of Atlantis and the not so subtle hints about Ander and Eureka’s heritage is quite interesting. Also, the author’s style of writing has improved a bit from her style in Fallen.

Overall, I did make it through this book only because I had picked it up with zero expectation. I am not sure whether I will be picking up the next book in the series – only time will tell that. Pick this one up if you are a Lauren Kate fan or have no expectations other than acquiring a pretty cover for your collection.


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