Rated of 5
by Sara S. (Murfreesboro, TN) Arcadia
I truly loved Laura Groff's Monsters of Templeton, and had hoped that I would have loved Arcadia just as much. I have to say that I found this book really hard to get into. I was really intrigued by the premise, a 1960s hippie commune aiming to build a utopian community, but I found the story to be rather slow and it just did not capture my attention.
Rated of 5
by John G. (Steilacoom, WA) It grew on me
"Arcadia" was a bit of a disappointment after "The Monsters of Templeton". It started off very slowly but is well written and the characters very well developed. It definitely "grew on me" and I would recommend it.
Rated of 5
by Gary R. (bolingbrook, IL) A lot of Bit of wonderful!
Having read the author's first novel I was looking forward to this and was not disappointed! Just a wonderful read, sucked me in till the last page! The story of a life lived. The joy, wonder, awakening and heartbreak, written in words that made me want to re-read passages over again! Maybe I'm a little biased having grown up in this era, but I've already pre-ordered the hardcover. Have you?
Rated of 5
by Bob S. (lawrenceburg, IN) Our roots, our beginnings and our ends
As a child of the 1960s, I found Lauren Groff's exploration of the journey from Utopian roots to full blossoming and then back to the primal sources both thrilling and enlightening. Young Bit's life begins already intertwined with a living community; as he enters the lives of others both inside and outside that community, he comes to know, as we all eventually know, that the sources of life are also its goals. As in "Monsters of Templeton, " Ms. Groff offers us a doorway, not only into the heart of her protagonist, but also into our own hearts and lives. The allusive title is well chosen: this book is filled with light, harmony, and depth.
Rated of 5
by Celia A. (Takoma Park, MD) Wanted to know more
The only character I felt any connection to was Bit. Perhaps that was intentional, but the other characters ran together for me. Also, the different sections were so disconnected, with no real sense of how the characters got from point A to point B to point C. Again, this might be intentional, given this line: "What they found moving, they told him later, were the blanks between the frames, the leaps that happened invisibly between the then and the now." (This refers to portraits in an art exhibit.) I just couldn't get past the fact that I wanted to know more about what was in those blanks.
Rated of 5
by Patricia F. (Stony Brook, New York) Arcadia
This type of novel is not one which I usually read. I requested a copy as I was (and am) a huge fan of The Monsters of Templeton. (I have history with that area which may have further endeared me to the story.) Having loved her previous book, I approached Arcadia with great anticipation. The story of Bit and the family in the commune reads as both true and imagined. I found the writing beautiful, unexpected and lyrical. The language paints a picture for the story. I was drawn to Bit, who didn't speak as a young child, was small, and appeared to march to a different drummer.
Among a few concerns with the story, I was less than enthralled by the character of Handy. I felt him to be weak and annoying. He was supposed to be the leader of this commune whose inhabitants were largely left to fend for themselves, and in my opinion, did anything but lead. While the writing was indeed lyrical and poetic, I have to say the lack of quotation marks was problematic for me, as a reader.
An interesting read, but no Monsters of Templeton.
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of 5
by Sara S. (Murfreesboro, TN) 
of 5
by John G. (Steilacoom, WA) 
of 5
by Gary R. (bolingbrook, IL) 
