Eureka’s tears have flooded the earth, and now Atlantis is rising, bringing with it its evil king, Atlas. Eureka is the only one who can stop him, but first she must learn how to fight. She travels across the ocean with Cat, her family, and Ander, the gorgeous and mysterious Seedbearer who promises to help her find Solon, an enigmatic lost Seedbearer who knows how to defeat Atlas.
Once on land, Eureka is taunted by gossipwitches, a group of displaced Atlantean sorceresses, and ambushed by locals struggling to survive amid the destruction her tears have wrought. And she feels no closer to facing Atlas or saving the world when Solon lets slip that love is Ander’s weakness, and that any affection he feels toward her makes him age faster.
Trying to make sense of the dark world her sorrow has created, Eureka receives startling insight from an enchanted pond. Her bewildering reflection reveals a soul-crushing secret: if she’s strong enough, Eureka can draw on this knowledge to defeat Atlas—unless her broken heart is just what he needs to fuel his rising kingdom…
I recently purchased a copy of this book with a gorgeous cover that promised to hold a captivating story inside. Unfortunately that wasn’t the case at all. I honestly don’t think I could rate this book any higher than a 1.5 star and because I can’t do halves I’ll have to round up and make it a 2 star. The only reason this book got any higher than a 1 star was mainly because I love Lauren Kate’s writing style and that was her saving grace from a 1 star rating.
Positives – The cover was beautiful. I loved Ander (still) – a loyal character whose love was unwavering and maybe his part in the story was what contributed to my annoyance. Lauren Kate was a way with words and her writing style is a pleasure to read. If only the storyline complimented her talent….
Negatives – Sadly, the negatives vastly overshadow the positives with this book. The story line was tangled and messy, confusing the reader and expecting them to understand concepts that the author obviously assumed were easy to pick up on. When I finished reading this book I wasn’t left excited to read the next book but rather annoyed that I’d bothered to read this book. Eureka toys with both boy’s emotions and it starts to get old. The story drags on in many parts and it makes you irritated at yourself for still bothering to continue with it. The ending was completely unexpected (and not in a good way), disjointed and downright confusing. The last few chapters didn’t fit in with the rest of the book and should’ve been wound in before the end. It felt like a rushed ending to a tediously long storyline. There was also some unnecessary violence but it was the same with the first book.
Overall – I feel the Lauren Kate has missed her mark with this series. The Fallen series will always be one of my favourites but it’s hard to understand how an author, who got it so right has now got it so wrong with this series. Lauren Kate obviously understands the ‘Teardrop’ world that exists in her own mind but doesn’t convey it to the reader very well which leaves the reader annoyed and confused. How can you enjoy a book if you can’t understand it? This book may be a book that requires multiple reads before you understand (any of) it but I wouldn’t torture myself by reading it again nor would I waste my time. Sadly I rate both this book and the first – Teardrop as a disaster and certainly won’t be reading any more in the series. I had high hopes that this book would be much better than the first as I saw real potential for it but that just wasn’t the case. If you enjoyed the first book then maybe read this one but I definitely won’t be recommending it to anyone.