After Reading: WATERFALL by Lauren Kate

By: Meradeth Houston on 4:00 AM

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... (Goodreads)

So the first book in this series, Teardrop, was an okay read. Interesting and unique, with some weird flaws, but still felt grounded enough to keep me engaged. And then there was Waterfall. I'm not sure where to start. I don't like being negative about a book, mainly because I know a ton of effort went into it and it's still an expression of the author. But dang, this book was all over the place, with no logical flow or connection, no character development, and all sorts of details were omitted and made the whole thing confusing. Quite frankly I don't know why I kept reading--perhaps because I thought something would happen to bring it all together? I don't know. It certainly didn't. And it certainly did not wrap up well--well, other than that there's not another book in the series. Yikes. Not to be harsh, but I can't quite help it with this one. Eureka's character went from rather robust in the first book, to paper-thin here. There was magical abilities quite literally popping up everywhere. The dead came back to life in robots that were not really explained. And then there's Atlantis, which was never quite explained, nor the rationale of the evil leaders there. It was, well, a mess. And when put into contrast with the fantastic book I'm reading now, I wish I hadn't wasted my time.

Anyone ever just feel like they have to finish a book, even if they're not enjoying it terribly?