Arcadia Awakens

January 2, 2012
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.

June 1, 2012

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

Copyright 2012 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 15, 2011
When a Romeo and Juliet mobster romance just isn't enough. A year after a terrible experience, 17-year-old Rosa Alcantara is leaving home. She's left Brooklyn for Sicily, where she will be joining her sister in the family business: organized crime. An unlikable petty thief, Rosa thinks she's prepared for joining Cosa Nostra. But there are reasons beyond the Mafia to fear her ancestral home. Her attraction to Alessandro Carnevare, the scion of a rival (and stronger) Mafia house, can only get her into trouble. Both the Alcantaras and Carnevares are hiding an unbelievable secret. Alessandro, like the rest of his family, has a feline form: a monstrous panther. Meanwhile, Rosa discovers that the Alcantaras transform into enormous snakes. The shapeshifting makes for a more deadly rivalry--or a more twisted romantic pairing. On top of everything else, there's a kidnapped mob schoolgirl, a murdered mother, an attempted coup, family betrayals, a tragic lesbian relationship and whispers of a conspiracy, all told in choppy, infelicitous prose. (It's possible the clunkiness of the prose may be laid at the feet of the unidentified translator from the German.) A smaller subset of plot threads might have allowed room for Rosa to grow into a more than just a survivor. Paranormal romance jumps the weresnake. (Paranormal romance. 14-16)

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