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    Arcadia Awakens
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    Arcadia Awakens
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    Arcadia Awakens
    Ebook438 pages8 hours

    Arcadia Awakens

    By Kai Meyer

    4/5

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    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    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?

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherHarperCollins
    Release dateFeb 14, 2012
    ISBN9780062092960
    Unavailable
    Arcadia Awakens
    Author

    Kai Meyer

    Kai Meyer is one of Germany's most successful authors, with millions of books sold worldwide. His novels have been translated into thirty languages. The British edition of The Flowing Queen (published in the U.S. as The Water Mirror) won the 2007 Marsh Award for Best Children's Book in Translation, and his historical novel The Vow was turned into a movie by celebrated German director Dominik Graf. Kai lives in Germany

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    Reviews for Arcadia Awakens

    4/5

    9 ratings7 reviews

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    • 2/5
      Ich hatte das Buch als Fantasy-Buch auf meiner Empfehlungsliste, aber tatsächlich ist es eher eine YA-Novel nach amerikanischem Muster. Das Buch ist wirklich nur für junge Mädchen oder Frauen, die sich emotional noch so fühlen.

      Meine Kritik:
      - Schema F (YA-Novels sind in, Liebesgeschichten im übernatürlichen Bereich sind in, bisschen Action ist in), also macht man eine Geschichte daraus
      - Das Buch ist in keiner Weise abgeschlossen, man muss weitere Bücher kaufen.
      - Mafia wird beschönigt
      - Unrealistische Verhaltensweisen der Menschen. Hier nur ein Beispiel: der Love Interest der Hauptperson will Mafia-Boss werden, ist aber eigentlich ein netter Kerl. Die Hälfte des Clans denkt aber, es sei eine gute Idee, dass er Chef wird. Warum denken die das? Warum hat er Chancen, Boss zu werden?
      - Konstruierte Zufälle treiben die Handlung voran.
      - Die Hauptfigur mit ihren psychischen Problemen wirkt unsympathisch. Ich hab mir während des Lesens gewünscht, sie hätte ihr doofes Baby bekommen und wäre mit ihm in den USA geblieben und hätte dann in den USA rumgeweintert, dass sie ein Baby aus einer Vergewaltigung hat. Das wäre ein anderes Buch gewesen und statt dessen hätte dieses Buch eine neue Hauptfigur bekommen können.
    • 4/5
      I was so excited to pick up Arcadia Awakens by Kai Meyer for two reasons: I love Italy and I have been meaning to read his Darkest Reflections series. I certainly was not disappointed as Arcadia Awakens incorporated some of my favorite story elements.The setting for Arcadia Awakens was Italy. How fabulous! If you’ve ever been to Italy, you know how amazing the food is and how cool all of the old ruins are. I highly recommend both Pompeii and Sorrento—and Capri! What a beautiful country. I have not been to Sicily, however, so I really enjoyed reading about it.Our main character, Rosa, comes from an old mafia family and moves to Sicily to escape the memories of a personal tragedy. While Sicily does not erase her wounds, she does meet Alessandro—the very attractive and soon-to-be head of a rival mafia family. But what would a story be without a little forbidden romance, right? Alessandro and Rosa are caught in a Romeo and Juliet-esque situation, and oh, how I devoured it! There are so many road blocks in their way, but they just work well together, so you can’t help rooting for them!Rosa was a fantastic main character—strong and stubborn. Two qualities I love to see in a heroine. I’ve never really enjoyed the damsel in distress, so Rosa’s kick-ass personality was perfect for me. There are so many secrets in Arcadia Awakens, and I know Rosa won’t stop until she figures them all out. We definitely don’t have all of the answers yet, and I am dying to read the next book. There is so much more to figure out!Arcadia Awakens combines forbidden love, mystery, and a bit of violence to create a beautiful novel about discovering who you are and forgiving those around you. It is a wonderful, engrossing read that captivates the reader and will leave you reaching for the next novel. Fans of Romeo and Juliet will not want to miss this one!
    • 3/5
      Review Courtesy of Dark Faerie Tales Quick & Dirty: Takes a while to get going, but it does have a creative story involving the mafia, mythology, and a gorgeous Sicilian setting. Opening Sentence: “One day,” she said, “I’ll catch dreams like butterflies.” The Review: This book starts out slow. I found this really weird, because the chapters are short and the heroine, Rosa, was someone I wanted to get into. But while the writing of this novel was beautiful and poetic, it did hinder my ability to get into this book right off the bat. In the first few pages you’re introduced to Rosa as a klepto with an attitude. Her kleptomania is one of her many small acts of rebellion, one of the many ways she differentiates herself from other YA heroines. She’s snarky and more than a little rude. She’s strong, determined, and independent. From the very beginning, I knew she was going to be a character I liked, even if I wasn’t invested initially. Since she employs this sarcasm on the obvious love interest, there’s not head-over-heels insta-love that I loathe in YAs these days. If nothing else this sarcasm shows Rosa as smart, if only street smart. She’s an entertaining and layered character and so is Alessandro Carnevare, but somehow I wasn’t always invested in their romance. Their spark, unfortunately, was not always tended into a flame and a lot of scenes in the story lacked the romantic tension they needed. That being said, mafia and mythology are two of my favorite reads, mix them together and you’ve created a novel that’s everything I want. Maybe I set my expectations a little high because I’ve read Meyer’s other books. Unfortunately the mystery in this first installment has an obvious resolution. It’s revealed pretty early on and then the rest of the novel is left to info-dumping, a tactic I despise. While the mixture of mafia facts and mythology isn’t as seamless throughout as it maybe should be, it’s clearly very well researched and creative. I can say I’ve definitely never read a series like this one, which is hard to say for a young adult novel. I love the shapeshifting aspect of this book and the way it’s mixed in with the rest of the supernatural. The Carnevares are shifters who change into big cats, like lions; the Alcantara morph into snakes. So in addition to the mafia rivalry, you have to very different kinds of predators fighting. It was fascinating to see the way Meyer wove Arcadia, a part of Greek myth, into the two rival mafia families. He’s constructed an incredibly complex world, and the mixing of all these aspects will, I think, carry the series somewhere the reader isn’t expecting. I say this because even though the mystery in the beginning was obvious, the rest of the novel is incredibly creative. I’m trying to keep this review a little vague, because the way Meyer mixes the mafia, mythology and romantic elements together are really the only thing that carried me through the beginning of the book. While it definitely picks up speed later on, initially it’s not a very fast read. I’ll definitely be reading the other two books, because I can’t wait to see where Meyer takes his readers in Arcadia Burns. Notable Scene: Rosa whispered, “ ‘The after-dream of the reveller upon opium–the bitter lapse into everyday life…’ Maybe I should go take a closer look at the facade of this place, make sure there are no cracks in it.” “What?” “Edgar Allan Poe. the Fall of the House of Usher. The narrator compares his feelings when he first sees the Ushers’ house to the way an opium addict feels waking up. In the end the whole place falls apart….I read it in school. Don’t you know it, Zoe?” Her sister’s brow wrinkled. “Well, there are no ghosts here, anyway.” “Madeline Usher wasn’t a ghost. she seemed to be dead, so her brother buried her alive. Then she crawled out of her coffin again. Where’s the family vault?” Zoe looked critically at Rosa’s black nail polish. “Still crazy about all that horror crap, I see.” Rosa gently touched her hand. “Will you show me Dad’s grave?” The Arkadien Trilogy: 1. Arcadia Awakens 2. Arcadia Burns 3. Arcadia Falls FTC Advisory: Harper Teen provided me with a copy of Arcadia Awakens. No goody bags, sponsorships, “material connections,” or bribes were exchanged for my review.
    • 4/5
      Arcadia Awakens gives us a detailed look at modern day mafia families. There aren’t many huge gunfights or kidnappings—in fact, Rosa’s family makes their money in windpower. Boring! The mundaneness of the Alcantara clan is kind of humorous; it’s really not what you’d expect! Things heat up in the latter half of the book, however, with some shape shifting and (finally!) gunfights. Arcadia Awakens is definitely not a fast-paced book. Kai Meyer gives the reader a big change to familiarize themselves with the setting and the mafia business. This is nice, but at times it seems like the story is slugging forward without much direction. But, like I said, the second half of the book is well worth the wait.I immediately liked Rosa as a protagonist. The first few pages tell you what kind of person she is—someone who you don’t want to mess with. Rosa’s badassery is awesome enough to get readers hooked from page two. She’s smart-mouthed and completely independent—so she’s basically the girl we all wanted (or want) to be at age seventeen. Rosa never really loses her edge, which is fantastic. Alessandro, on the other hand, was a little less difficult to like. Despite being a huge part of the story, for the most part we’re closed off from him. We never feel like we fully understand him because of constant changes in his character (and they’re not always for the better).If you’re looking for something different from typical YA fare, Arcadia Awakens is a good choice. The writing is more sophisticated than average, which I absolutely loved, and the story is complex and intriguing. I now know for sure that I’d never want to get involved in the mafia!
    • 4/5
      I really liked a lot of things about this book. The main character, Rosa, is strong, rebellious, and doesn’t take crap from anyone. I immediately liked her because she isn't weak. She's not the "poor me, I need a boy to help me discover who I am" type of heroine. The setting (Sicily) is one that I haven’t seen over and over, and there isn’t an “insta-love” attraction between Rosa and Alessandro, which was refreshing. In fact, the romantic relationship didn't seem to be the main focus. I also loved the mafia element and the feuding families all mixed in with a refreshing paranormal twist.Kai Meyer writes with exquisite detail, fully immersing the reader in the novel. While the plot seemed to have many threads, sometimes confusing me, I was able to get back on track easily. I guess my only complaint is that I wish there had been a little more focus. Since this is the first in a trilogy, I'm sure a lot of the threads will be revisited in future novels. I can say that the mafia storyline is very engaging and keeps the reader on the edge of their seat.Even though the book does start slow, it picks up about 1/4 of the way in. The story is told in third-person perspective and the voice effortlessly switches between focus. Sometimes in third-person novels the voice doesn't seem to change when perspectives shift, and that bugs me. That isn't the issue here. The writing is fluid, the overall story engaging and the characters all very rich. The action really picks up at the end as the tensions rise between the families. I stayed up late finishing this one because I couldn't bear to put it down. Anyone interested in a different type of paranormal should check this one out.(Review based on an Advanced Reader's Copy courtesy of the publisher)
    • 5/5
      You know, you’d never think that, when putting together a story using the Italian Mafia and mythology would mix. Kai Meyer’s “Arcadia Awakens” not only makes it totally work, but literally casts a spell over his readers. This book is gorgeously written, with no stone left unturned, and makes for a very good first book in a trilogy. If you like your heroines awesome with a side of gumption, you definitely need to read “Arcadia Awakens”, ASAP.For a first book, this part of the Arkadien trilogy is surprisingly full-bodied. Had I not already known that this had been published as a trilogy in Germany, I would have thought it a standalone. It reads like a standalone, and yet leaves lots of room for more expansion into this world of snakes, tigers, myths, and the mob. Meyer covers all of his bases so thoroughly that I was quite impressed and just a taste speechless by the end of the book. The characters feel fully-rounded and totally 3D (hell, I kind of wish I were in the Alacantara household – even if dangerous, it never seems dull!), the sensory language positively electric. All of the arcs and the sub-arcs were executed more or less flawlessly, without leaving me scratching my head in confusion or worse, throwing the book across the room in rage at lack of that sense of completion we as the reading audience look for when reading.More impressive, Meyer has conquered cross-gender narration. This book is mainly written in 3rd close, so we get to be in Rosa’s head without her actually telling the story herself. 3rd close, if used correctly, can be completely gender-neutral, or shapeshift to fit the gender of the character it follows. Meyer does that here so well that I was completely convinced that this had been written by a woman. It’s very difficult to write characters that are not of the same gender as the writer, I’ve figured out, especially when there might be romance involved, and still manage to make it realistic. But Meyer is one of the few male writers I’ve seen in YA that’s managed to create a completely believable YA heroine and not what just might be a male mental facsimile of one. (Hey, ladies, we tend to do the mental male facsimile thing, too – especially when it comes to creating convincing/realistic guys in romantic situations – so don’t think it’s just a problem that the guys have when creating female protagonists. I bring this up because it’s a simple problem that comes up a lot when you try to write a differently-gendered protagonist, regardless of the author’s gender. Redundant? Maybe. But it needed to be said.) That being said, I think that this will be one of the few YA books with a female protagonist that will be easily relatable to both genders as an audience. It has something for everyone, whether you’re a boy, girl, or somewhere in between, and that’s hard to do, especially in YA.But what really knocked my socks off was the part about a more obscure bit of Greek mythology: King Lycaon and Arcadia. I won’t spoil the story, but I’ll just say this – the way that Meyer rebuilt this mythology to fit his own was incredibly awesome, and I want to know more, now. Hell, I want the last two books now (since, unfortunately, I can’t speak, read, nor write in German). He gives us just enough to fill in the blanks, and doesn’t quite leave us on a cliffhanger, but doesn’t get anywhere close to answering the rest of our questions (how this Greek version of utopia migrated to the Italian Mafia, for instance), either. But as I said before, this reads as a standalone, and the way that all of these questions and answers were plugged into the main arc and sub-arcs, I’m totally cool with how the information was dealt out, both in amount and in method.Also, my hat’s off to the translator – you did a fantastic job. This reads smoothly with no “translatese” issues that translated works so often have.I think that this book is going to be a hit when it gets published on Valentine’s Day (the most appropriate release date for this story, to be perfectly honest) here in the States, and I sincerely hope it gets the attention and adoration it deserves. This definitely is within my top ten of 2012 so far, so you guys really have to give it a read. “Arcadia Awakens” will definitely make you want to fly off to rural Italy, stalk the mob, and hunt for tigers and snakes in the night. Highly recommended!(posted to goodreads, librarything, shelfari, and witchoftheatregoing.wordpress.com)
    • 4/5
      I really like it when authors write out of the box. The idea behind this book and watching it unfold really capture me. I liked that is wasn't something typically but really unique. A cross between Atlantians and ancient blood lines sparking powerful mafia families is quick to capture the reader and hold them.Say what! Atlantis. Mafia. Blood lines. All of this in one book sparking my curiosity till the end. Once a few chapters in the mafia really got me. I enjoyed reading about the powerful families and the front they were using. Now, when the author added Atlantis to the mix, I got as bit confused. It did take me a few more chapters and some back tracking to fully understand what the author is picturing. Though once I understood the concept, it because easier for me to read and love the book. What I enjoyed most about this book is the great outside thinking of it. I really adored the idea of the mafia crossing the lines of an ancient powerful past. It gave the story a much more fuller aspect to it. I was able to read and understand these characters better.With that being said I am very interested in seeing the way this series progresses. The ending definitely left me hanging for more. The plot, the characters and the amazing adventure of power enthralls the reader till the very end!