The Tear Collector

Reader: Elise S
Age: 14
Title: The Tear Collector
Author: Patrick Jones
Publisher: Walker Books
Pub Date: Sept. 2009
Galley: Yes
Nominate for Teens’ Top 10: No
Did the cover tempt you: The cover was very cool, it intrigued me, the combination of the tear and the title. It made me very curious, which is what you want in a cover.
Recommend: No
Compelling Aspect of the Book: The most compelling thing was watching the tensions between Cassandra and her family, just because there was a high stake there, unlike most of the rest of the novel.
Did you finish: Yes
Were you disappointed with the book at all: I had high hopes for this book. I really did. But it turned out to be sort of blah. Five minutes after I finished the book I couldn't remember the main character's name. There wasn't a big turning point, the protagonist didn't have a lot of character, and I just didn't care! It seemed petty. After she made her "final" decision she didn't stick to it, her indecision dragged on and on and on for forever. Also, there was some very messed up logic at the end. "I'll kill my dead best friend's 8-year-old sister to become human, because she has terminal cancer and will die anyways. Should I? Shouldn't I? I can't, I'll just kill this girl I don't really like from high school instead, yay!" No! Everybody's a jerk at some point in their life, maybe she'll grow out of it. I was not impressed.
Age Range: 12-15
Quality: 3Q Readable
Popularity: 3P Some teen appeal