T2T Blog Tour: Review: The Tear Collector by Patrick Jones

Title: The Tear Collector
Author: Patrick Jones
Publisher: Walker
Pub. Date: Sept. 2009
Genre: YA
Main Themes: Supernatural, Love, Family, Emotion
Pages: 263
Plot (from book jacket):
"Between hookups, makeups, and breakups, there isn't a day at Lapeer High School without drama turning to trauma turning to tears.
And tears are just as essential as air for Cassandra Gray. She and her family are vampires who thirst for human sorrow, and the energy that they soak in from a good crying jag can keep them fueled up for days.
Anytime a friend needs a shoulder to cry on, Cass is there. Anytime a boyfriend gets too secure, she breaks his heart.
Cass's work as a school peer counselor and hospital volunteer also provides the perfect cover and access o her family's energy source. But she is getting tired of all the lies and manipulation - especially now that she's actually fallen in love with a human. Can she bear to betray her family for a chance at happiness and a life lived with joy?"

I really liked the idea of The Tear Collector. When I read that the main character was a girl who basically lived off human tears, I was intrigued. While I felt that the idea of the book was well conceived, I didn't think the novel was very well executed.

One aspect that I felt was a major negative of The Tear Collector was the characters. I think this is the aspect that caused the most distraction for me. I didn't feel like the dialogue between characters was well written and I didn't feel like the characters were fully developed or believable.

The romantic aspect of the novel was very disappointing to me. I thought the love story would be greater, more epic, than it was. I felt like Cassandra didn't really do much to deserve any of the devotion that she received - her character was too flat for me to feel any attachment to her and I didn't see how any guy would be attached to her either. Her only quality that I could imagine her using to attract a guy would be her tendency to have sex with guys. I liked the idea of a guy finally seeing more to her than just what she could do for him physically, but I don't think that she ever really showed that other side.

I did think that the premise for The Tear Collector was a really unique and original idea. That was the one redeeming quality, it is unfortunate that I didn't enjoy the other main part of this book: the romance.

Ratings (Out of 10):
Plot: 8
Characters: 4
Writing style: 4
Romance: 4
Originality: 10
Total: 30/50 (D-)

The Tear Collector wasn't a book that I particularly enjoyed, but my sister read it as well and liked it. I recommend reading some other reviews before deciding whether to pick it up youself. More reviews will be circulating as the Traveling to Teens blog tour for The Tear Collector continues!