Teardrop

September 2, 2013
Like its bayou setting, this trilogy opener from Kate is meandering and deceptive, full of odd inlets. Some are intriguing, like 17-year-old Eureka Boudreaux’s platonic friendship with Brooks, a boy she’s known her whole life. Others less so, like the winking references in the names of Eureka’s rival, Maya Cayce, and the psychic Madame Blavatsky. Still, patient readers may find Eureka’s slowly unfolding tale worth the time. She’s the fragile survivor of a “rogue wave” that drowned her mother, Diana, leaving Eureka physically broken and suicidal. Her memories of Diana don’t square with her assertions that they had a wonderful relationship—she recalls being slapped, ignored, and left behind when Diana divorced Eureka’s father. A self-described Stoic, Eureka doesn’t want to share these memories with her family, friends, or therapists. But that stoicism is shattered by Ander, a blond stranger whose arrival launches a gradual cascade of realization that give Eureka a new perception of who she is. Fans of Kate’s popular Fallen series will find a similar blend of supernatural romance, mystery, and destiny. Ages 12–up. Agent: Michael Stearns and Ted Malawer, the Inkhouse.