ArcaÂdia AwakÂens, with its unusual plot and rich setÂting, promised to be a bit more creÂative than a lot of the paraÂnorÂmal YA cirÂcuÂlatÂing at the moment. In the end, howÂever, it didn’t quite work for me.
I found the writÂing quite clunky. Whether it’s Meyer’s style of writÂing or a conÂseÂquence of the transÂlaÂtion I don’t know, (ArcaÂdia AwakÂens was origÂiÂnally writÂten in GerÂman), but senÂtences didn’t flow as well as they could have and the diaÂlogue felt stilted and awkÂward. I also didn’t feel the charÂacÂters reacted conÂvincÂingly to the often bizarre things that were going on around them. And while I love Greek mytholÂogy, the whole snake/cat romance just didn’t work for me here. A shame, as I could have really gotÂten into a Romeo and Juliet-type romance with a mafia setÂting and some shapeshifters thrown in.
Many thanks to TemÂplar for proÂvidÂing a copy for review.