A great book for fans of Twilight--very much in the YA dark romance vein, written with all the genre tropes that will appeal to younger readers. I enjoyed it! The translation was easy to read and it seems as if it is true to the original iteration. Hits all the marks!

Thanks to Netgalley and Publishers for giving me a digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

With that said. I’m DNFing this book. I made it to chapter 9 (only 15%). I did not wanna pick it up again. The two main characters are problematic (and I hear it only gets worse) and the writing style just isn’t for me.

Well... The Tearsmith is a book, that's for sure. I struggled with the writing, the characters, and the overall vibe of it. I don't know that I loved any part of it, to be honest. The movie was so much better.

The Tearsmith is a hopeful yet very painful, love story. It turned out to be a complicated story of trauma and love. The two main characters from the same orphanage who have a rough past—Nicola and Rigel—are the focus of the story. They must navigate their difficult relationship while living together. The plot is both intriguing and unsettling, as the protagonists battle with deep-seated wounds and a forbidden attraction.

Thank you, Random House Publishing Group & Netgalley for this advanced copy.

Coming in at almost 600 pages, translated into English and now on Netflix... but I'm not sure why, to ANY of that.

Thanks to Ballentine and NetGalley for this advanced copy.

This is a book that centers young, tragic love between two people who are clearly very in need of extensive therapy. At times it felt like the book was on repeat between the two and they kept talking about the Tearsmith, then would forget about him for 150 pages, then randomly bring him up again and I forgot what the point of the Tearsmith was. In the end, most of the relationships felt toxic, especially the main one and this book absolutely did not need to be this long. So much could have been cut. And I don't know that love wins in the end, since she finds out he was screwing someone else before she was with her in the last chapter and she has to decide if she still loves him? It felt like this relationship was more trauma-bonding than anything.

Thank you Erin Doom, Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, and NetGalley for an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Nica and Rigel grew up in an orphanage run by an abusive headmaster. Nica copes with her fantasies especially the one about The Tearsmith, the man who makes tears. When Nica is seventeen she moves in with a potential adoptive family and is excited to leave the orphanage and everyone in it behind. That is until Rigel ends up moving in with the family too. Nica and Rigel have to figure out how to cope with the past, live together in such close quarters, and handle their blossoming feelings for each other.

I was intimidated by the length of this book, but wow what a story. I was captivated from the beginning and needed to know how their story was going to end. This book made me happy, sad, angry, joyful, all the feelings. Overall, I really enjoyed it and want to watch the movie on Netflix - even though I know it won't be as good.

Wow, this book. Raw, eviscerating, beautiful.

The writing is stunning, and there are so many almost lyrical lines that had me saving book quotes along the way. I've been finished with this one for several days now, and I'm still grasping, struggling to describe just what it is, what it meant.

A beautiful, frustrating, toxic romance that is somehow just what they need.

Nica has always hoped for a family. Orphaned at 5, the Grave, as the orphanage is called, is all she's known since then. She strives to be kind, gentle, to care for those smaller than her who are all too often forgotten. When at 17 Anna and Norman bring her home, she'll do anything to be perfect for them. To be good and give them no reason to send her back. Except they also bring home Rigel, the frightening enigma who's been a looming, dark presence all her life.

A love story despite all the odds, with two young souls who are trapped and defined by their past. Trigger warnings for child abuse, which is heartbreaking and not shied away from. How it effects them both and forms their foundation is brilliantly done, making for staggeringly real characters.

While I teared up more times than I could count, I never fully cried. I think I was too stunned to fully process, though the heart-wrenching, gut turning visceral pain was all too real.

One of those books that you want to recommend to everyone, while also warning them away from it at the same time. It's going to hurt. It's going to be beautiful. It's going to stay with you.

I honestly don’t know how to feel. The chemistry was there, sort of? But the story itself was very lackluster for me. I wanted to love it. I was looking forward to checking this out before I watch the movie, but I’m not sure if I’ll watch the movie now or not.

This was an up and down love and why am I still reading. I think there was a really good story and angsty dark forbidden romance but I really feel like it was about 200 pages too long. I really loved the first 1./3 of the book. I was so enthralled with the will they won't they of the first half of the story. It had such a good build up with the information gap of their back ground at the orphanage. I was on the edge of my seat reading the scenes and felt like I was reading Twilight ( yes I loved Twilight). That whole antsy broody dark bad boy that has hidden secrets. I loved all their interactions and the build up of their love story was great.
I really enjoyed all of that but then it just dragged and dragged. Rigel's characters never changes. He reminds emotional stunted, a jealous lover that uses his fists instead of learning and trusting Nica. Nica makes very little progressive her emotional growth with continuing to trust and always see the good in people even when it is very clear things aren't as she sees them. The whole fight with Lionel is just over the top stupid and then the hospital scene felt sooo drawn out. I was almost ready to have Rigel die and just move on already.
Then we get the first epilogue, where we really see that things haven't changed. The whole weird trial with the matron. It all just felt weird and rushed. Then we get the second epilogue when they are adults and parents and even that felt like they hadn't moved on.
Over all I think the premises was good. I loved the lyrical and poetic writing. I found myself reading passages over and over because they read like fairy tales. I love angsty teen forbidden love stories and this had great potential I just wish it had been edited down and closed sooner.

4 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
!!!𝐒𝐏𝐎𝐈𝐋𝐄𝐑𝐒 𝐈𝐍 𝐒𝐄𝐂𝐎𝐍𝐃 𝐏𝐀𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐑𝐀𝐆𝐇!!!

𝓞𝓹𝓲𝓷𝓲𝓸𝓷: I would've given this book 5 stars if it hadn't been for one thing which I'll go into detail about in spoilers. Other than that this was a great book in my opinion everything made sense, the secrets, the plot twist, and the reason he was chosen It was truly mind-blowing not only that but all the relationship and character developments that happened in 559 pages and let me just say SOOOO much happened. I will say there is a lot of trauma that happened with each character and to take the TW's into account but other than that I would highly recommend reading it.

𝔀𝓱𝓪𝓽 𝓘 𝓭𝓲𝓭𝓷𝓽 𝓵𝓲𝓴𝓮: I didnt like the sleeping with Adeline storyline with a burning passion because for one, yes she liked Rigel but she also KNEW that he liked Nica who was supposed to be her friend but im pretty sure a friend would've given her friend a chance. Not only this but she didn't even tell her later on when they got homed together or when she knew they got together AFTER THREE YEARS, THREE YEARS PEOPLE. And she didn't even plan to see Nica but saw her because she was going to his house for HIS birthday. So would she have even gone to see Nica if she hadn't been there at the house.... Probably not which is why she was a terrible friend and I think they only stayed friends because of their trauma bond and because Nica was way too nice. Let's move on to RIgels perspective now it was mentioned in his POV early on that they had done it MULTIPLE times and he kept saying how all he could think about was Nica's face, So let me get this straight he thought about her 24/7 but didn't have the balls to tell her or at least not screw another girl while he apparently was consumed by his love for her. Oh and not only that but HE ALSO didn't tell Nica after they had been dating for THREE YEARS whom he had trusted and opened up to after the hospital meaning he HAD THREE YEARS TO TELL HER AND DIDN'T. Oh, and what was his excuse you may ask it was "I don't know how to love" 🙊 so you're telling me you don't love Nica and are contradicting everything you've ever said or what MAKE IT MAKE SENSE. I know he did love her because he proved it was heartbreaking to hear after everything they went through. And then Nica thinks oh it's not even important I don't know why I'm angry It doesn't change anything like hello it should change EVERYTHING and then they don't even fight about it and she doesn't confront Adeline or anything even if it was her engagement party because Nica was a good friend unlike Adeline. and also if he stabbed himself in his hand with scissors I imagine he wasn't able to play piano and needed PT for a while but wasn't mentioned of relearning to play piano so i'm kind of confused. If anything they should've just left it out and I felt bad for Peter at the end.

I was really excited about the premise of this book but sadly it just did not do it for me. I can't pinpoint exactly what made me feel like this. This one just wasn't for me.

Thank you very much to NetGalley and the publishers for letting me read this novel ahead of release in exchange for a review. I have mixed feeling about this one. I think I would have liked it more when I was younger, but the male MC is a sort of angry that doesn't seem attractive to me, it just felt. Ick. I'm sure others that can look past that will love this, but for me, it was a miss :(

Okay, I get the hype!

Reading this then watching the movie allowed me to understand things a lot more! I honestly really enjoyed this story along with the characters. Rigel and Nica are complex yet understandable characters. I enjoyed getting to read and learn more about them!!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for allowing me to review this book.

This is a DNF for me. While this book seems to deal with dark subject matters, it didn't feel that way to me. The tone felt too...flat. There wasn't the grit and gravel that I associate with dark stories. Second, the fact that the author had a teen saying "good heavens" MULTIPLE times had me shaking my head and was the straw that made me stop reading. It didn't feel authentic at all. Teens don't talk that way. I couldn't get into the story and nothing was holding me or keeping me interested.

The Tearsmith by Erin Doom was wonderfully paced and its prose kept me hooked from page one. Dialogue was very off in a few scenes but all the places it hit right more than made up for it. I recommend this title for fans of new adult fantasy looking for a wildly underrated new favorite to hit the scene.

I received an e-ARC of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This book was cringey from pretty much beginning to end. It felt like the book was trying really hard to have lyrical prose, but it did not achieve what it was trying to achieve at least for me. There were some parts that were pretty decent and they were the emotional responses to the trauma that the children experienced at the orphanage. The romance which is the bulk of this book is very Wattpad cringe. I heard people say that the movie version of this was very short compared to the book and I’m kind of looking forward to watching the movie because I feel like , it will be better than the book because it’s condensed and it doesn’t have all this extra nonsense that was not needed. This book was not a one star because it did have some redeeming parts like I mentioned previously I will never read this book again. It is also not the worst thing I’ve ever read. Take that for what you will.

The Tearsmith follows 2 orphans from the same orphanage who get fostered by the same family. As tales have said, the Tearsmith is the one who comes to collect tears and Nica believes Rigel is the Tearsmith.

Nica, kind and anxious, has dealt with a lot at the orphanage but being fostered is her hopes for a brand new start until the couple decides to adopt Rigel as well. Rigel who is handsome and talented, has never left the orphanage but now has turned on his charm to also leave with Nica. With a new home life and school, Nica tries her hardest to be an easy teenager while Rigel is broody but thrives everywhere. He's still so cold to Nica at home and at school. As they adjust into this new life, Nica and Rigel's past follows closely behind and details start to arise about who Rigel really is.

This book was bad. I am surprised it is being turned into a Netflix series/film or whatever. I'm not sure how this book reads in its native language but in English, it's bad. The pacing is awful, there's no reason for it to be that slow, and there is no fantasy aspect to this book at all. I'm not even a big fantasy person and the lack of it was disappointing. A small spot of fantasy could've possibly saved this book. I wonder if just the talk of "the Tearsmith" but even the discussion of the Tearsmith felt very folksy and not real at all. The Tearsmith did not even have any magical powers really... like there was nothing to be mentioned.

The setting was also a choice... It's set in the south but the usual details that would indicate they're in the south is not found. No southern hospitality, no mentions of southern accents or sayings. It's strange and I'm not sure if the author has ever been to Alabama but she clearly knows nothing about Alabama. The person who translated this book (or at least the ARC) also did a pretty bad job. Some sentences were so run on and just bad structure. It felt like a direct language to language google translation.

I really wish I had something good to say about this book. I hate a bully to lovers romance even if they were young and abused. It did not make the book pleasant to read. It felt like trauma porn a little bit to have to read all the abuse they endured.

There was a lot wrong with this book and it was also just written poorly. I saw the author is writing another book based in Philly and I wonder if she's been... if not, she should probably just stick to what she knows.

1 star is being kind to this book i think.

I loved the story, the world building and meeting the different characters. I felt completely immersed in the story and couldn't stop reading it.

I loved this book. I saw the movie, and was so happy to see I had the ARC saved. It was passionate, and the author perfectly put the story into words. The story flowed nicely, and I couldn’t wait to read their story.