Author: Lauren Kate
Page count: 336 pages
Publishing date: October 2014
Publisher: Delacorte Books for Young Readers
My rating: 3/5 stars!
Blurb from Goodreads:
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...
In Waterfall, Eureka has the chance to save the world. But she’ll have to give up everything—even love.
I'm disappointed with this series. I was initially excited when Teardrop was released because I loved Lauren Kate's Fallen series so much. But Teardrop wasn't anything like I expected it to be. I didn't like the characters, the chapters were boring, and I really didn't see a point to the story at all. Still I liked it (somewhat). I decided that when Waterfall came out that I would give it a chance. Just because I loved the Fallen series that much: it was the first series that made me really fall in love with books.
Waterfall was a utter disappointment as well. If I even liked Teardrop on a small note, Waterfall just made the two-book series terrible. Both books are weak, but Waterfall is the weaker of the two. I'm really sad to say that the only reason I'm giving this three stars is because of the ending, but we'll get to that.
Waterfall begins immediately after the events of Teardrop. Eureka, Ander, & company are trying to trek through the treacherous world after Eureka has flooded it. This should be really interesting and grip the reader, right? I mean, it's not every day that the earth floods because of a tear. But while it should be really awesome, it's not. The execution is way off- and when I say way off, I mean out of the ball park. It wasn't interesting at all. I wasn't emotionally connected to the characters. I honestly didn't care what was going to happen to them.
They are looking for a hide out- a place to go where they can figure out a plan to stop Atlas. They're looking for a specific person: Solon. They eventually find him after some
Besides finding Solon, nothing else really happens. Sure, there's some witches that cause some problems, a group of locals that aren't that pleased at their world under water, and a final fight with Atlas. That's really all that happened in a 300+ page book. There should have been more. I should have felt a strong sense of connection between the characters, a developed romance, and some awesome side plots. This book should have been full of suspense as it leads up to fighting Atlas.
This book consisted of complaining, boo-hoo-what-have-I-done crying, and rash decisions from Eureka. The romance between her "soul mate" Ander and Eureka was juvenile and I didn't care about it AT ALL. The side characters, Cat, Brooks, and Eureka's family weren't even needed. They didn't add any depth to the plot whatsoever. I found all of them absolutely annoying and worthless.
I honestly don't see the point in Ander either. He's soooo boring. I mean, he'll-make-you-snore boring. Besides having some inside knowledge and to provide as a love interest, he really had no other purpose. There was no development of his character. Speaking of lack of development in characters, Eureka stayed the same throughout both books: whiny, annoying, and stupid. She was supposed to get over her crappy decisions in the first book and move on from it. She was supposed to become a strong character that I could admire. That didn't happen. She still irked my nerves through this entire book.
Atlas. This is really where I must vent. Atlas is supposed to be the antagonist of this book. He's supposed to be evil, cruel, and heartless. I expected him to be diabolical. What I got when I finally met him was a stupid boy. And, of course, he's infatuated with Eureka. Why must all bad guys be obsessed with the main character and want them to destroy the world together. *rolls eyes* I'm just so sick of the same thing over and over again. Can I have a villain who actually wants to destroy the world and everyone in it, including the main character, for once? I guess it's too much to ask.
Now I'm wondering why I'm still giving this three stars. But, alas, I'm sticking with my decision because of Solon and the ending. The ending is what I hoped it would be. I'm glad Lauren Kate didn't sugarcoat the ending and force me to throw this book in a pile of dog poop. She was able to tie a not-so-great series together with a pretty good ending. And because I did enjoy the ending, I'm going to stick with my rating of three stars.
Until next time,
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