Teardrop by Lauren Kate

Teardrop by Lauren Kate
Series: Teardrop #1
Publisher: Random House
Publication Date: October 22nd 2013
Source: Netgalley [Publisher]

Never, ever cry. . . . Eureka Boudreaux's mother drilled that rule into her daughter years ago. But now her mother is gone, and everywhere Eureka goes he is there: Ander, the tall, pale blond boy who seems to know things he shouldn't, who tells Eureka she is in grave danger, who comes closer to making her cry than anyone has before.

But Ander doesn't know Eureka's darkest secret: ever since her mother drowned in a freak accident, Eureka wishes she were dead, too. She has little left that she cares about, just her oldest friend, Brooks, and a strange inheritance—a locket, a letter, a mysterious stone, and an ancient book no one understands. The book contains a haunting tale about a girl who got her heart broken and cried an entire continent into the sea. Eureka is about to discover that the ancient tale is more than a story, that Ander might be telling the truth . . . and that her life has far darker undercurrents than she ever imagined. From Lauren Kate comes an epic saga of heart-stopping romance, devastating secrets, and dark magic . . . a world where everything you love can be washed away.

I can't even express how excited I was to get this from Netgalley! If I'd hadn't been in the middle of reading The House of Hades, I would have started reading this straight away! Teardrop is one of those books that I've been eagerly anticipating, and it didn't disappoint. It was full of mystery, suspense and I was hooked from start to finish.

So our main character Eureka has been through something tragic. Her mother drowned in a freak accident and Eureka wishes she was dead too. Her and her mother were very close and Eureka feels like she has nothing to live for without her. She's struggling and finding it difficult to adjust to her new life living with her father and his new wife. I felt so much sympathy for Eureka. She's not dealing very well with her mother's death and the fact that her step-mother is forcing her to do things she doesn't want to. She doesn't feel like she can tell her father how she feels without being judged or without being put on 24/7 supervision. She's trying her hardest to get on with her life, but what happened isn't something you ever forget about. But I did admire Eureka. After she received her mother's artifacts, it gave her something to live for, something to unravel. And then Eureka started to discover more about herself.

I was extremely cautious of Brooks. At the start he just seemed like a normal guy who really liked his best friend. But after that day at the beach he changed. He became more confrontational and aggressive. I couldn't work out why he'd had such a sudden change, but I just knew that it wasn't good. I was very wary of him after that. And then we found out what happened to Brooks and I just felt so bad for him. I'm keeping my fingers crossed that there's something that can be done to save him.

I was also very cautious of Ander. He was basically stalking Eureka so I had every right to be cautious of him. He was mysterious and strange, and I had no idea what to make of him. I did like discovering about Ander and what his role in everything was. He helped Eureka understand what was happening and how she was involved in everything. It was extremely interesting to find out his story.

The romance was the only thing I didn't like about this book. Eureka/Brooks got off on the wrong foot because of that thing that happened on the beach that lead Brooks to become and arrogant ass. Eureka/Ander was extremely rushed. Seriously, I'm pretty sure she fell in love with him the second she laid eyes on him. And then she became obsessed with him. There's kind of an explanation towards the end of the book as to why they were so attracted to each other instantly, but I just don't like them as a couple yet. Maybe they'll grow on me in the next book after they've spent some time together.

Lauren Kate's take on the Atlantis myth is what really interested me in this book and I thought her spin on it was fantastic. I was so engrossed in this story and dying to find out what was going on! Why wasn't Eureka supposed to cry? Why is there a mysterious boy stalking Eureka who knows everything about her? What does the stone that Diana left Eureka do? There was definitely a lot of mystery and a lot of questions in this book. Everything that I wanted to know at the start was answered at the end. I adored uncovering the story in the book Diana left Eureka and putting together what it had to do with Eureka. It was exciting and thrilling, and I flew through the last 50% of this book because I just had to know what was going to happen.

The ending was packed full of action and twists and I loved it! There were parts that left me shocked and sickened because some of the characters in this book would go to any lengths to do what they thought was right. But it was such a thrilling ending!

Overall, this was such a fantastic book! It was an interesting take on the Atlantis myth and was full of mystery, suspense and was just brilliant. I definitely recommend picking up this book!