Rating: 
Summary: Something To Read
Review: This book is about the runaway Lori Cranston and the murderer eric Poole who are connected by a strange relationship. She wants to get to know the differnece between sex, love and tenderness. He wants to fulfill his longings for tenderness by killing living things. What's special about this book is the fact that it's written in two point of views. Those parts, where Lori tells the story, are written in first person but Eric's version is told by an omniscient third person. This makes the whole book very exciting. "Tenderness" contains many climaxes and so there is suspense all the time, but we missed a real good , dramatic ending. when we read the last few pages we felt bit bored but nevertheless "Tenderness" is a recommendable novel for adolescents.
Rating:
Summary: Desire for tenderness
Review: Ever followed a runaway girl and a serial killer? Well, in "Tenderness" by R. Cormier you get the chance to do so.
Lori (15) runs away from home and gets fixated on the released murderer Eric Poole (18). When they meet each other the reader gets absorbed by their exciting journey. Can there be a happy end?
The unforeseeable ending does not let the reader go. This is also true for the weird characters. One the one hand there is Lori, who searches for tenderness, and sometimes uses her [feminine wiles] to get what she wants and on the other hand there's Eric, who kills to feel tenderness.
Without these aspects this novel wouldn't be so interesting but also depressing and sad. And exactly this difference is the asset of this novel.
Rating: 
Summary: Crazy, zany mystery!
Review: I believe that people who like crazy, murder mysteries will enjoy this book. If you don't like books that are sometimes quite strange this is not a book for you.
Eric Poole- Eric is a psycopathic, muderer, who is now being released from a juvenile center. He soon meets a girl named Lori.
Lori Cransten- Lori becomes fixated on Eric and will not leave him alone. She is a high school girls that runs away from home often. Her parents never know where she is at.
Eric and Lori go on a journey to many new places. They become close friends, while evading the cops. In the end Eric has to choose what he wants more, to have his fun again or freedom.
All in all I didn't really like the book. It was just too strange in some spots for me.
Rating: 
Summary: Cormier's best ever!
Review: I love this book! It had a tricky plot. As you first start reading it, the character is a fifteen-year-old girl. The language used is beautiful. The connection between the girl and Eric, a murder, is described greatly. Another thing I really liked was how all the characters were linked together. Eric is in a facility for the murder of his parents. The girl is a runway. She sees Eric on TV, and recalls seeing him three years ago. She has her mind set to kiss him. Cormier, did a terrific job on content. All together this is a magnificent book.
Rating:
Summary: An Adventurous Book
Review: Tenderness was one of my favorite books that I have ever read. The book kept me in suspense about the ending but never did really tell me how it was going to end. Tenderness was always changing my mind on how the ending was going to be. I would read one page and that is how I thought the book would end and then I would read farther in the book and it would change my mind again about the ending. Tenderness always kept me guessing on how the ending would happen. The book had great details about the characters and about the scenes. The author did an excellent job on giving details about the characters and how they acted and looked. I would recommend that everyone read this book. I truly loved this book and so will everyone else.
Rating:
Summary: Tenderness
Review: Tenderness was a wonderful book. The only thing I had a problem with this book was the ending, but you'll find out about it yourself and you might disagree. It was a two-sided story, one side being a girl running away from home looking for a boy she met long ago that was just released from juvenile hall, and the boy she met who was sent to jail for the brutal murder of supposed "abusive parents who tortured him for years". What the cops, (all except a smart detective), don't know is that he also sexually assaulted and murdered 3 or more girls on the side. When the runaway girl sneaks into his van he realizes that she could be a threat to him and decides to try and kill her.
The book is so well written, it is almost as if you are there. Eric, the murderer, is actually a very likable character. It's the girl that will get on your nerves.
Rating:
Summary: Unexpectedly one of my favorite books
Review: I usually stick with classics and all, and this is what I'd call a "teen" book just to read for fun, but I really liked it! I'ts one of my favorite books now. I just thought it was really sweet. I also liked the character progression...how in the beginning Lori was all trying to use sex appeal on eric, and eric was only coldy calculating how to dispose of lori, but gradually through all these sweet experiences, they end up finding the tenderness that they need. and i also liked how cormier handled each character's voice...how lori's narratives were very personal, told from a first person perspective, and kind of girly/honest/bubbly/talkative/enthusiastic, while eric's chapters were told from a third person perspective, was cooler, calmer and more calculating, like a serial killer's mind. then it's interesting to see how eric's perspective changes by the end. and what an ending! it's just a really sweet book in general:)
Rating:
Summary: reasonably awakening
Review: Although it says it's a teenage book, I think it can be read by people much older than that. Actually, I don't think a 12 year old should read this. Some scenes are quite disturbing, and I don't know if it's possible, but it can give people some ideas. The writing style is very smooth, detailed enough and not too much, and you can truly feel you know the people after you are done even if it's a teenage runaway who sometimes almost sells herself and a murderer who killed his parents in the age of 15. By the end of the book, you can feel symphaty for them; also at the end, there's a final twist that you will not forget. It's supposedly the relationship between the teenage murderer and the girl who is obsessed with him, but I think it covers more than that. A must read for those who are not easily disturbed. Or I can say a Cormier must read.
Rating:
Summary: Into the mind of the Monster
Review: This is a tale woven around two central characters that are as flawed as any in the real world. One is a cold, calculating killer who feels his only tenderness when eh squeezes the life out of others. The other is an abused teen who drifts around using sex as a tool to acquire whatever is needed. The teen also develops illogical fixations ending in a "real kiss." The story becomes an elevator into suspense as the two characters become entwined. Each starts to "fix" the other, at least to the eyes of society. However, it sometimes requires far more a sacrifice to redeem some souls. This tale shows how two people can sometimes come out ahead in society, even if it is a Pyrrhic victory.The tale is as dark as the other Cormier novels I have read, although there seems to be a bit more in this one. Many others label this as sexist, and perhaps it is because reality is sexist. There are people in the world that are similar to these characters. Anyone written with Lorelei's personality would be seen as an attack. Had she been African, Asian, European, Male, or Female, some group would be offended. Had Eric been Catholic, Baptist, Muslim, or anything else, then this would be an insult. It is good to monitor for abusive books, but do not rush to condemn just because a stereotype appears. Look again and see that perhaps Lori may be seen as a Christ-like figure, which is another popular trope. Read the novel and save the venom until the last page. It will be worth it.
Rating:
Summary: What do you expect, it's Cormier
Review: This book, as hinted in the title, is pure Robert Cormier. (I have not read all of his work, but I have seen enough to say that.) A psychologically disturbed anti-hero searching for a vague, undefinable something ("Tenderness" in this case) with tons of twists and flashbacks along the way. My one complaint with most of Cormier's work is how girls are merely sex objects for teenage boys to lust after. Lori's an exception, her thoughts are actually quite well done and sympathetic- believable to myself, a girl in the late teens.
For anyone unfamiliar with Cormier this warning: absolutely NOT a feel-good book. The whole novel is brilliant and amazingly well-done, as always, but the ending is shattering and leaves you reeling in blank shock and hurt. Can inspire feelings of depression and despondance, so be careful not to OD on Cormier. This specific book, though, is thought-provoking and well-executed.
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