Teardrop (Teardrop #1) by Lauren Kate

Synopsis

3 out of 5 stars

*My thoughts as expressed by Chandler Muriel Bing

Eureka has never cried, that's the most prominent theme of this book, I have a problem with it. Because well, it seems unlikely. Did she not cry at birth or did it not count? What about when her mother died, with whom she was really close with? That's a hole in the story the author didn't seem to notice (and if she did, why did she leave it?) It's just very hard to believe Eureka has never cried. I don't care how many times her mother slapped and warned her not to cry. If she's so stoic then why did she attempt suicide? Considering she doesn't cry, you would think she's unaffected by the negative aspects of her life. It's the emotionally unstable (too emotional) that usually make such attempts.

Hang on, sexiest thing? Why? What's so sexy about a guy catching your tear midair and putting it in his eye? Strangest, yes, but sexiest? Definitely not! It's borderline creepy. What is up with female characters being so taken up by handsome men that they don't often question their strange behavior? Eureka just let it slide like it wasn't much. I would be up all night thinking "what the hell was that?" (though to be fair, some female characters possess at least an inkling of common sense).

See the thing about this book is that I was so psyched when I hear that Lauren Kate was publishing a new series. I had already read and fallen in love (pun intended) with her series Fallen. I thought it was incredible. So, I went purchasing the first two books of the Teardrop Trilogy thinking, they must be good because Fallen was good. Well, frankly I was disappointed. I mean, sort of enjoyed the story line, but even that was, eh. It was just kind of cheesy and cliché, is what I think it is. Enter Ander: a super gorgeous + mysterious + blond (I'm starting to think Lauren Kate has a thing for blond dudes) guy who takes Eureka out of the fuzz world she was living in. Eureka feels that she and Ander are connected. This concept worked well in Fallen because Luce and Daniel were connected. They shared multiple lifetimes, and have been around each other forever. It makes sense there, trust me (I just don't want to reveal too much for fear of spoiling the series for people who haven't yet read it). But in this book, it's kind of weird, considering Eureka didn't know Ander very well.

Speaking of which, one thing I noticed while reading this book is that it's suspiciously similar to Fallen. 1) Both male protagonists have known everything about/watched the female protagonists for as long as they were conscious (not of them, but conscious in the literal sense). Ander has been watching Eureka for as long as he can remember. Daniel knows Luce because of *spoilers*. 2) Both sets of characters have the fate of the world in their hands. 3) Both the female protagonists feel drawn to their male counterparts but don't quite know why. Unusually sappy, I can understand Luce's obsession, but Eureka doesn't know Ander, never has. That's why when her thoughts are along the lines of  "Ocean eyes. Hands that could catch a falling star" or "She hadn't thought about Ander for a good five minutes." I get (understandably) frustrated. With her, it's just a crush gone terribly wrong.

4) They're (the books) depressingly depressing (but I kind of like that). Every time I think of either series, I am automatically reminded of rain and sadness.

I was bothered by the fact that I predicted (mostly) the major events and plot twists considerably early. Of course, I didn't know the exact context of these events and twists, but I had an idea of what they could be. This may be though, due to my constant reading of books. Because I read so many stories, am faced with so many different storylines and plots that I have a sort of adapted defense mechanism. Predicting happenings way before I'm hit with them. Although, the shock factors of the plot twists weren't very... shocking. Nothing that made me go:

One of the things I absolutely loved about this book is the description of the Louisiana setting. Because of this book, I kind of want to go to Louisiana now.