Europa, the namesake heroine of P.R. Garcia’s Europa: Awakenings (Volume 1), is in many ways a typical teenager. She has several close female friends, is beginning a relationship with a young man, and is planning to go to college soon. But in other ways she’s anything but typical. She lives on a secluded estate, is surrounded by a security team, and has been told that she’s the last in a line of monarchs of a country that no longer exists. She’s basically happy, but her idyllic existence comes to an end when first her mother is killed in an accident involving a deer with strange, red glowing eyes, and second, when someone starts shooting at the house, injuring one of her friends. After her mother’s fatal accident, Europa starts rummaging in her mother’s room and finds an orb that glows and gives her mysterious visions. At the same time, her new boyfriend finds that his father has been researching reports of shape-shifters that appeared in the area centuries ago. Soon they put two and two together to discover the truth — that Europa’s ancestors are not just from another country, but from another world and that they indeed have shape-shifting powers. They are also in mortal danger from an old enemy who has returned from exile and has vowed to wipe out the family.

Europa by P.R. Garcia is an excellent adventure science-fiction novel, full of both action and character development. It’s not “geared to the lowest common denominator” — instead, it has many literate references to history and astronomy and attempts to teach the reader what he or she doesn’t know. Readers can easily empathize with Europa and her boyfriend, Terrance, as they find themselves in the middle of a dangerous situation that neither of them asked for or fully understands. The book also has some humorous segments – Europa’s mother, Queen Medaron, pronounces coffee one of the greatest human inventions. Because its two main characters are young people, it will appeal both to teens and adults as well.

Europa Waters knows that she is the daughter of royal parents whose homeland has been destroyed by a devastating war. What she doesn’t know is that this war took place thousands of years ago on another planet. Europa: Awakenings is Volume One of an extensive series by P.R. Garcia about the race of Oonocks and their fight to preserve their existence. Awakenings begins with the conception of Europa who must be born as a human in order to survive. Threatened by her father’s brother, whom everyone assumes is dead, Europa’s comfortable life is turned upside down right after she celebrates her 20th birthday. Her mother, the Queen of the Oonocks, is murdered and Europa, her new boyfriend Terrance, and the people who have guarded Europa for over 20 years flee for the sanctuary of Saint’s Isle to avert disaster. The past has come back to haunt them as JeffRa, the uncle who had promised to wipe out the race of Oonocks, commits this crime and then pursues Europa and her escorts. Will Europa be safe or will the past she has never known anything about catch up to her and fulfill its horrible promise?

At 490 pages, Europa: Awakenings by P.R. Garcia is an epic novel that grabs your attention on page one and doesn’t let go. In a truly masterful style, Garcia has created a world and characters that are incredibly rich and deep so that you feel you are living the story right alongside them. Fantastic descriptions of places, sea life, and the technology of the Oonocks as well as various historical and scientific references offer something for every interest as the story progresses. Full of emotion, this book examines the depths of hate, love, determination, and devotion through the thoughts and actions of the characters. Europa: Awakenings is an exceptional story and the saga continues through numerous subsequent volumes that I can only hope will be as excellent as the first.