Arcadia awakens

Format:

Book

Title:

Arcadia awakens

Uniform Title:

Arkadien erwacht. English

Author:

Meyer, Kai.

ISBN:

9780062006066

Edition:

1st U.S. ed.

Publication Information:

New York : Balzer + Bray, 2012.

Physical Description:

451 pages ; 22 cm.

Series title(s):

Arcadia series ;

Number in series:

Summary:

When seventeen-year-old Rosa Alcantara travels from her native Brooklyn to her ancestral home in Sicily, she falls head over heels for Alessandro Carnevare, whose family is the sworn enemy of hers, and must confront both of their families' criminal--and paranormal--pasts.

Program Information:

Accelerated Reader AR 5.3 17.0 151714.

Subject(s):

Organized crime -- Juvenile fiction.

Paranormal fiction.

Shapeshifting -- Juvenile fiction.

Vendetta -- Juvenile fiction.

Organized crime -- Fiction.

Supernatural -- Fiction.

Shapeshifting -- Fiction.

Vendetta -- Fiction.

Sicily (Italy) -- Juvenile fiction.

Italy -- Juvenile fiction.

Sicily (Italy) -- Fiction.

Italy -- Fiction.

Geographic Term:

Sicily (Italy) -- Juvenile fiction.

Italy -- Juvenile fiction.

Sicily (Italy) -- Fiction.

Genre:

Paranormal romance stories.

Paranormal fiction -- Juvenile fiction.

Added Author:

Bell, Anthea.

Electronic Access:

http://www.epicreads.com

Holds:

Available:*

Library	Call Number	Status
Searching... Lyons Public Library	YA MEYER	Searching... Unknown

Bound With These Titles

On Order

Summary

Despite inciting their families' wrath and putting themselves in grave danger, rival clan leaders Rosa Alcantara and Alessandro Carnevare refuse to give up on their love for each other. But when the young couple suffers a deadly attack from an unknown enemy, it soon becomes clear their strong feelings can't keep the past from haunting them. On the run from their adversaries and searching for answers, Rosa and Alessandro begin to unravel the secret behind the conspiracy to keep them apart: an ancient prophecy that predicted the destruction of all Arcadia if the two rival dynasties ever married and bore children. And now, they must outrun those who think they're better off dead.

With Arcadian assassins trying to kill them at every turn, a group of hybrid beasts thirsty for their blood, and the ruler of all Arcadia desperate to find them, Rosa and Alessandro must find out the truth behind Arcadia once and for all. But will it be the key to unlocking their freedom and future together, or the final step in bringing them to their knees?

Reviews (4)

School Library Journal Review

Gr 9 Up-As this novel opens, 17-year-old Rosa Alcantara is traveling from the United States to Sicily to join her older sister, Zoe, and their aunt, Florinda. The Alcantaras are longtime Mafiosi, with Florinda the reigning head of the family. Rosa is morose and self-absorbed, but these traits submerge when she becomes entangled with Alessandro Carnevare, heir to his father's Mafia empire and vicious rival of the Alcantaras. Rosa's attraction to him and his determination to discover who murdered his mother put them in danger not only from criminals but also from the shape-shifting Arcadians who infiltrated the mob centuries ago. Rosa's discovery that she and Alessandro are also shape shifters (she's a snake, he's a panther) with an ancient connection combines with gang warfare, chases, and murders that leave Alessandro and Rosa the heads of their respective families. The characters are puddle-shallow. The revelation of Rosa's previous rape, subsequent pregnancy, and regretted abortion seems included merely to justify her kleptomania and general lack of personality, and Rosa and Alessandro's forbidden love is an unsupported given. However, readers willing to fully surrender their disbelief will be rewarded by a palpable sense of place and revved-up and roaring pace. Romanticizing the Mafia is nothing new, but Meyer mixes mobsters and the paranormal with flash and flair, leaving Alessandro and Rosa poised for sequels.-Janice M. Del Negro, GSLIS Dominican University, River Forest, IL (c) Copyright 2012. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Publisher's Weekly Review

In the lethargic first book in a planned trilogy from Meyer (the Dark Reflections trilogy), 17-year-old Rosa Alcantara leaves Brooklyn to join family in Sicily, uncertain whether she's running away from her problems or trying to find herself. After meeting Alessandro Carnevare, the two explore their attraction, even though the Alcantaras and the Carnevares are rival Mafia families. But this Romeo and Juliet story has a paranormal twist: the clans are shape-shifting predators descended from the legendary Greek Arcadians, making the politics downright bloodthirsty. As Rosa and Alessandro find a potentially game-changing clue to their families' history, the truce between their factions explodes. Despite the fresh premise, Meyer's characters aren't engaging-Alessandro is a cipher, and even with an ugly backstory and a bruised psyche that have turned Rosa into a passive-aggressive risk junkie, she is short on depth. The Mafia aspects of the story are realistically ugly, and mature themes (rape, abortion, human trafficking) run through the plot, but Meyer's flat story unfolds slowly before finally sparking late in the book, leaving threads hanging for the second installment. Ages 14-up. (Feb.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Horn Book Review

Seventeen-year-old New Yorker Rosa moves to Sicily to start over. When she falls for the heir of a rival Mob family, she learns that the Mafia is hiding stranger and deadlier secrets than just organized crime. In this supernatural romance, Rosa's dark and damaged voice aptly navigates the troubled waters of love and family where everyone has a secret agenda. (c) Copyright 2012. The Horn Book, Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.

Kirkus Review

(Paranormal romance. 14-16)]] Copyright Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.