Arcadia Awakens

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.)