A review by naru11
Arkadien erwacht by Kai Meyer

3.0

2.5 stars. I wish I could give this a higher score, but I have a bone to pick with Kai Meyer. I LOVE the ideas of his books! The are such brilliantly thought out concepts (Ancient China with Dragons plus Renaissance Italy plus Cities flying on clouds. Spaceships plus princesses plus steam punk. Booklovers plus grand fantastical manors plus mysteries). And now we have Mafia plus polit thriller plus shape shifters plus family feuds. But recenctly I really haven't been enjoying his books despite the brilliant ideas. This was the first of three I've managed to even finish. I just dislike the way the story progresses, among other things: Rosas backstory and the way she talked about what happened to her just completely rubbed me the wrong way. I hated the way she kept saying "I killed my son". Just stop, please! The treatment of LGBTQ characters was awful, too. And the feelings between the main characters didn't make any sense to me. The writing had beautiful moments, especially the descriptions of Italy, the dream sequences and the way the shifting happened. But I still read the book with such reluctance. I couldn't enjoy it and I'm really mad about it.