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Children of Icarus #1
Children of Icarus
It is Clara who is desperate to enter the labyrinth and it is Clara who is bright, strong, and fearless enough to take on any challenge. It is no surprise when she is chosen. But so is the girl who has always lived in her shadow. Together they enter. Within minutes, they are torn apart forever. Now the girl who has never left the city walls must fight to survive in a living nightmare, where one false turn with who to trust means a certain dead end."
313 pages, Hardcover
First published August 16, 2016
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February 5, 2017
Full Colorful Review on my blog :
Word Wonders
*I received an eARC of this book from the publishers through Netgalley in exchange of an honest review*
Final rating : 3.5 stars
See that blurb, guys? It gives NOTHING away. It is intriguing sure, but I had no idea what to expect when diving into this. I just knew that it was Greek Mythology inspired and the huge lover in me just jumped at the occasion. Now, I wish there were some kind of warning, a big red marking all over the book for how graphic this book is. It has death, A LOT of it. Torture. Harassement. I’M SCARRED FOR LIFE. This is the most disturbing, morbid book I’ve ever read in my life and not expecting it made that impact even more striking. This book messed me up real bad, but not in a way that it breaks you and mends you. Nope. It breaks you and laughs at your crushed soul.
That writing though. I think if this were written any other way, it wouldn’t have had the effect it had, this is very crude, nothing is sugar coated, violent scenes (and believe me, there’s plenty of those) are not only written in but they’re very detailed, every wound, every drop of blood, which was sometimes too much to be honest. Other than that the writing is really fitting the story. The only complain I have is that there was an overuse of periods where comas would’ve been better, I know it was probably done for the dramatic effect but most of the time it just disturbed the reading flow.
Now to the good stuff *evil laugh* . I seriously was set on a 2 star rating or lower for the first half of the book , I was just too horrified to think clearly about how GOOD actually the story is. It is so clever and unlike anything I ever read. Nothing is fairytailed (I am making that a word for the purpose of this review), everything is SO REAL, I think that is the reason for me -and anyone- to be disgusted, this is everyone’s worst nightmare. It shows how people can go crazy, become inhumane when in harsh circumstances. It gives me chills just thinking about it. Maybe I got used to it. Maybe I crossed to the dark side. But this book completely won me over, the plot in itself is brilliant, gripping and the action had me sucked in from early on and the pace stays steady and fast through the whole thing which is really hard to maintain so I’d have to give credit to the author for that.
Something that kind of disappointed me though is that I expected the mythology to be more present, to feel and see it at every page turn but it wasn’t, sometimes I almost forgot about the whole thing, until there is some myth or story about the labyrinth’s not so human inhabitants and I got excited, I really loved those and learning more about all the tales and creatures.
The characters are all crazy. No joke ! Every one of them is deranged in a way or another, and all of them in different ways. Exception made of the Main Character. She annoyed me endless amounts of times. First of all the author doesn’t give her a name which really throws me off at first but I quickly get used to it, it is a very clever move to make anyone identify with her. But that’s it. Nothing is clever about her. First of all she’s mute throughout most of the book, she’s weak and has no personality. I realize that the author wanted to keep it real and not create an almighty know-it-all MC but this is too far on the other end of the spectrum. But by the end, things start to look up, when a certain someone forces her to confront the horror that her life became, to embrace it and to actually start working for her own survival. I can’t say I started liking her, but she was alright.
Elle seriously freaked me out, she was like a creeper straight out of a horror movie, the kind that befriends you and turns out totally mental and starts killing everyone that gets too close. And she lives in denial of everything.
The guys were the most frightening though. At least for Ryan I knew from the beginning that he was bad, and then he turned full psychopath but I at least expected it. But Collin, OH BOY! I thought he was the sane, the right-minded one out of the bunch, I had my suspicions about him but I didn’t expect THAT, what made it worse is how cool about his sadist behavior he was.
One character that I actually liked is The executioner. This one LOOKS and is named like a psychopath serial killer but is far from being one. She’s so kickass, very harsh and seems unlovable but it’s all in her actions, I am not going to go into detail because I don’t want to spoil for anyone who gathers the courage to read this book.
I was one of those people who immediately thought of the Maze Runner a couple chapters in, but as the book went on i forgot all about that book, because aside from being a bunch of teenagers inside a labyrinth with horrifying creatures, the two books have nothing in common. I would definitely see this being a series, and hope it will be considering how this book ended.
*I received an eARC of this book from the publishers through Netgalley in exchange of an honest review*
Final rating : 3.5 stars
See that blurb, guys? It gives NOTHING away. It is intriguing sure, but I had no idea what to expect when diving into this. I just knew that it was Greek Mythology inspired and the huge lover in me just jumped at the occasion. Now, I wish there were some kind of warning, a big red marking all over the book for how graphic this book is. It has death, A LOT of it. Torture. Harassement. I’M SCARRED FOR LIFE. This is the most disturbing, morbid book I’ve ever read in my life and not expecting it made that impact even more striking. This book messed me up real bad, but not in a way that it breaks you and mends you. Nope. It breaks you and laughs at your crushed soul.
That writing though. I think if this were written any other way, it wouldn’t have had the effect it had, this is very crude, nothing is sugar coated, violent scenes (and believe me, there’s plenty of those) are not only written in but they’re very detailed, every wound, every drop of blood, which was sometimes too much to be honest. Other than that the writing is really fitting the story. The only complain I have is that there was an overuse of periods where comas would’ve been better, I know it was probably done for the dramatic effect but most of the time it just disturbed the reading flow.
Now to the good stuff *evil laugh* . I seriously was set on a 2 star rating or lower for the first half of the book , I was just too horrified to think clearly about how GOOD actually the story is. It is so clever and unlike anything I ever read. Nothing is fairytailed (I am making that a word for the purpose of this review), everything is SO REAL, I think that is the reason for me -and anyone- to be disgusted, this is everyone’s worst nightmare. It shows how people can go crazy, become inhumane when in harsh circumstances. It gives me chills just thinking about it. Maybe I got used to it. Maybe I crossed to the dark side. But this book completely won me over, the plot in itself is brilliant, gripping and the action had me sucked in from early on and the pace stays steady and fast through the whole thing which is really hard to maintain so I’d have to give credit to the author for that.
Something that kind of disappointed me though is that I expected the mythology to be more present, to feel and see it at every page turn but it wasn’t, sometimes I almost forgot about the whole thing, until there is some myth or story about the labyrinth’s not so human inhabitants and I got excited, I really loved those and learning more about all the tales and creatures.
The characters are all crazy. No joke ! Every one of them is deranged in a way or another, and all of them in different ways. Exception made of the Main Character. She annoyed me endless amounts of times. First of all the author doesn’t give her a name which really throws me off at first but I quickly get used to it, it is a very clever move to make anyone identify with her. But that’s it. Nothing is clever about her. First of all she’s mute throughout most of the book, she’s weak and has no personality. I realize that the author wanted to keep it real and not create an almighty know-it-all MC but this is too far on the other end of the spectrum. But by the end, things start to look up, when a certain someone forces her to confront the horror that her life became, to embrace it and to actually start working for her own survival. I can’t say I started liking her, but she was alright.
Elle seriously freaked me out, she was like a creeper straight out of a horror movie, the kind that befriends you and turns out totally mental and starts killing everyone that gets too close. And she lives in denial of everything.
The guys were the most frightening though. At least for Ryan I knew from the beginning that he was bad, and then he turned full psychopath but I at least expected it. But Collin, OH BOY! I thought he was the sane, the right-minded one out of the bunch, I had my suspicions about him but I didn’t expect THAT, what made it worse is how cool about his sadist behavior he was.
One character that I actually liked is The executioner. This one LOOKS and is named like a psychopath serial killer but is far from being one. She’s so kickass, very harsh and seems unlovable but it’s all in her actions, I am not going to go into detail because I don’t want to spoil for anyone who gathers the courage to read this book.
I was one of those people who immediately thought of the Maze Runner a couple chapters in, but as the book went on i forgot all about that book, because aside from being a bunch of teenagers inside a labyrinth with horrifying creatures, the two books have nothing in common. I would definitely see this being a series, and hope it will be considering how this book ended.
April 1, 2018
Clara is desperate to become an angel, aka an Icarii, and enter the labyrinth to be reunited with her brother who was selected a few years ago. She is a perfect candidate so it's no surprise that's she's selected. However, Clara's best friend, a girl who has always lived in Clara's shadow, is also picked. The two girls enter the labyrinth together along with the other new Icarii hopefuls. The two violently parted only minutes into the labyrinth. Now, this girl who has never left her own city, and rarely the confines of her own building, must survive in this new nightmarish world. If there's one thing she knows, the world of the labyrinth is not at all what the potential Icarii were promised.
Once I realized that a novel I was approved for on NetGalley, Children of Daedala, was actually the second book in a series, I knew I had to read this book, the first of the series, if I was going to have any hope of making sense of the sequel. I really wanted to like this novel for the sake of the sequel, but unfortunately it did not deliver. The novel is heavily compared to The Maze Runner which I enjoyed, both in terms of the setting and the characters, and it's also based on mythology which seemed promising from the outset. While the labyrinth in this case was pretty intriguing, the characters left me wanting particularly our lead character. Nameless, we actually never learn her name, is one of the more irritating characters I've come across in quite awhile. I usually wouldn't say this, but she's one of those characters you want to shake and slap some sense into. She does nothing to help herself, and she tells some pretty major lies that go about as wrong as they can go. That doesn't excuse Collin's actions of course, but what the heck, Nameless?! What made you think that would be a good idea? I'm not trying to be judgmental, but Nameless is a useless, cowardly liar who relies on others to drag her through the plot. I did find myself interested in the character of the Executioner, but we have to wait far too long to become acquainted. My other major complaint is that tons of questions are raised in this story surrounding the labyrinth itself, but even after reading the entire story we get zero answers. In fact we're totally left with more questions than we started with in the beginning.
Overall, I can't say I have high expectations for the sequel after Children of Icarus. I doubt the outside world, the city, and / or the Icarii have a chance if Nameless has to do the saving. In the end, I definitely preferred the concept of the story to the final product - and most of my issues with the story can be traced back to our nameless main character. You may want to try the novel if you like The Maze Runner or The Hunger Games.
Once I realized that a novel I was approved for on NetGalley, Children of Daedala, was actually the second book in a series, I knew I had to read this book, the first of the series, if I was going to have any hope of making sense of the sequel. I really wanted to like this novel for the sake of the sequel, but unfortunately it did not deliver. The novel is heavily compared to The Maze Runner which I enjoyed, both in terms of the setting and the characters, and it's also based on mythology which seemed promising from the outset. While the labyrinth in this case was pretty intriguing, the characters left me wanting particularly our lead character. Nameless, we actually never learn her name, is one of the more irritating characters I've come across in quite awhile. I usually wouldn't say this, but she's one of those characters you want to shake and slap some sense into. She does nothing to help herself, and she tells some pretty major lies that go about as wrong as they can go. That doesn't excuse Collin's actions of course, but what the heck, Nameless?! What made you think that would be a good idea? I'm not trying to be judgmental, but Nameless is a useless, cowardly liar who relies on others to drag her through the plot. I did find myself interested in the character of the Executioner, but we have to wait far too long to become acquainted. My other major complaint is that tons of questions are raised in this story surrounding the labyrinth itself, but even after reading the entire story we get zero answers. In fact we're totally left with more questions than we started with in the beginning.
Overall, I can't say I have high expectations for the sequel after Children of Icarus. I doubt the outside world, the city, and / or the Icarii have a chance if Nameless has to do the saving. In the end, I definitely preferred the concept of the story to the final product - and most of my issues with the story can be traced back to our nameless main character. You may want to try the novel if you like The Maze Runner or The Hunger Games.
January 11, 2017
This book failed it impress me and I am sad about that because I wanted it so much to succeed in that...
The concept was amazing and with so much potential that could blowed our minds if it were more well constructed...
First I hated the similarities with the maze runner.
Second the main character was not one I could connect and the story was lacking in some parts...
I struggle to finish it.
The concept was amazing and with so much potential that could blowed our minds if it were more well constructed...
First I hated the similarities with the maze runner.
Second the main character was not one I could connect and the story was lacking in some parts...
I struggle to finish it.
April 3, 2018
See my FULL review of this book on my blog along with others at: shesgoingbookcrazy.com
Content Warning: Bullying, Abuse, Gore, Attempted Rape, Borderline Masochism
⇒ To disclose this a little further, there is a weird, "rape-y" vibed scene between the main character and another character named Ryan. The main character's response reveals a masochistic-like quality to her which appears later on as well.
In an unrelated incident, another character tries to rape the main character as well.
Initial Thoughts
Before I really got into this book, I was pretty excited to read it. However, at only ten percent into it, I realized it was going to be a very different read that I had expected. Sure, mythology has it's creepy, and rather gory moments, but Children of Icarus takes it to a new level.
World Building
The story begins in the city of Daedala and gives only brief accounts of its makeup, history, and societal functions. The scene quickly shifts to inside the labyrinth as it follows the main character for the remainder of the book. While some details are given in both settings, vague terminology and direction give the reader a sense of being lost. Which, for a book like this, I guess is appropriate--seeing how the characters are lost in a labyrinth...
The most page time for world building is spent on identifying the creatures in the labyrinth and developing the social hierarchy among the Icarii.
Society is structured upon, and orbits around an interpretation of the Greek mythology story of Icarus and Daedalus (aka Daedala in this version).
In this book, Icarus is initially depicted as a young angel. Also being the last free angel, he was tricked by the gods to come to their land and rescue the angels that had been captured. But the gods tricked him into believing that the sun was a portal to their realm.
Daedala, a representation of Daedalus from the original story, retains the same vocation and identifies as a craftswoman. She mourns the death of Icarus. Hoping he may regenerate, she built Icarus a tomb.
To the residents of Daedala, Icarus is a sort of god. The people of Daedala would choose a select number of children between the ages of ten and sixteen each year to become “Icarii” and enter the labyrinth in order to find the end of the maze. Once through, they would enter into Alyssia--the land of the angels and have the honor of welcoming Icarus home.
Pacing & Readability
While this book starts off with a bang, the entire body of the text was so slow and tediously uneventful. There are some creature attacks and what-not here and there, but not a lot happens for the majority of the book. It gave a disjointed feel to the book because the beginning and end had so much going on, that the middle was the exact opposite.
Point-of-View & Characters
The point-of-view is told from the perspective of the main character, who happens to remain unnamed for the entire book. While I thought this tactic was clever, I didn't care for her character very much. The fact that I wanted to find out who she was battled with her being unlikeable, and made me more aggravated with her character than anything.
Our unnamed narrator is clearly a "follower." From the first page, her adoration for her best friend Clara is clear. Without Clara, she doesn't know what to do or how to handle herself. This element of her personality gets her into tight places when she finds herself alone, unsure of how to process the situation in front of her. Several times instead of facing what was actually going on, she instead wishes that she is home and back behind the curtains of safety. This "smoke screen" tactic pushes her to act before she thinks about the repercussions of her decisions.
Clara is the main character's best friend. She's outgoing, fearless, but also dominating, over-confident, unrefined, and self-centered. While she's not very nice to her friend, she naturally falls into the leader role and expects "unnamed" to take the backseat willingly. Eager to become one of the Icarii, she instantly shows her true self when "unnamed" is chosen first.
Some of the minor characters, like Ryan and the Executioner, was the most interesting of them all. Both Ryan and the Executioner are difficult to make out. While Ryan's character isn't explored much (and comes off way worse than I think he actually is), the Executioner's true nature is revealed more towards the end and remains to be the most complex characters of them all.
The main antagonist is shared between the labyrinth, and later on, with Collin. While the labyrinth poses a constant threat to the Icarii, Collin becomes a threat to the main character when he discovers that she is not who she claims to be. Collin turns from a pleasant person to a despicable, tremendously cruel human.
Major Themes
⇒ Bullying
Bullying is very visible throughout this book. The main character is thrust into a situation that she doesn't want to be in in the first place and is not prepared for the challenges before her. While she doesn't handle herself well, she also doesn't deserve the treatment that people give to her. I cringed at the way Collin would treat "unnamed," and it nearly made me stop reading this book altogether. The interactions between these two characters (along with "mob mentality") show just how dangerous bullying can be when no one decides to stand up for what's right and for the person being bullied.
⇒ Fending for oneself
There isn’t a good example of friendship in this book. The closest glimpse the reader gets into a "friendship" is between the main character and the Executioner. While a sense of comradery is attempted to be built in Fates, the moment someone does something wrong, they are thrown to the wolves...quite literally.
⇒ Facing Reality
The main character has a major issue with facing the reality of her situation. While her reactions are understandable, they still aren't right. She spends a majority of the book wishing for everything to be different, which inhibits her from being able to grow, adapt, and move on.
⇒ Paying for your Mistakes
Another rather negative theme visible was paying for the mistakes that were made. Instead of any type of decency or attempt to understand where a person was coming from, a cruel punishment was given instead. Several characters experience this treatment, especially the main character.
Overall Feelings
Things that I liked:
⇒ The way the plot was constructed around the original mythological tale.
⇒ The Executioner's character complexity.
⇒ For the most part, it was romance-free.
Things that I didn’t like:
⇒ The overall brutality.
⇒ The major variation in pacing.
⇒ The feeling that the backstory was somewhat incomplete and therefore, left unexplained.
⇒ The main character’s passiveness when she was being bullied and abused, her general character being rather annoying, and the weird masochistic qualities that surfaced at a few points in time.
⇒ There is little detail given on character description across the board.
Overall, I wasn't a fan of this book. The gore and dismal atmosphere overpowered anything else in the story and kept me from enjoying it much--not that I found much to enjoy. While I liked how it was a creative twist on the original mythological tale, I felt that a lot of the plot was left unexplored, the characters underdeveloped (and unlikeable), and uncomfortable topics being focused on that weren't redeeming in any way. This may be a case of "it's me, not you," but I also don't think that action scenes and suspense make for a solid plot alone.
Vulgarity: Surprisingly, none!
Sexual content: As stated in the content warning at the beginning of this review, there was a scene that felt like it was leading up to something, and then another scene where rape was actually attempted.
Violence: Quite a lot, including very gory scenes.
My Rating: ★★
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Content Warning: Bullying, Abuse, Gore, Attempted Rape, Borderline Masochism
⇒ To disclose this a little further, there is a weird, "rape-y" vibed scene between the main character and another character named Ryan. The main character's response reveals a masochistic-like quality to her which appears later on as well.
”I can feel his ragged breath down the front of my shirt. Something about how it gets quick when I twist the dagger excites me. He’s terrified me and treated me so cruelly, and all it takes is me doing one thing to make him this weak.”
In an unrelated incident, another character tries to rape the main character as well.
Initial Thoughts
Before I really got into this book, I was pretty excited to read it. However, at only ten percent into it, I realized it was going to be a very different read that I had expected. Sure, mythology has it's creepy, and rather gory moments, but Children of Icarus takes it to a new level.
World Building
The story begins in the city of Daedala and gives only brief accounts of its makeup, history, and societal functions. The scene quickly shifts to inside the labyrinth as it follows the main character for the remainder of the book. While some details are given in both settings, vague terminology and direction give the reader a sense of being lost. Which, for a book like this, I guess is appropriate--seeing how the characters are lost in a labyrinth...
The most page time for world building is spent on identifying the creatures in the labyrinth and developing the social hierarchy among the Icarii.
Society is structured upon, and orbits around an interpretation of the Greek mythology story of Icarus and Daedalus (aka Daedala in this version).
"The gods have always been cruel, always tricksters. The sun was no gateway, but poor, young Icarus could not have known the gods’ plan for him. He flew into the sky until his wings caught fire and he plummeted back to the earth.
In this book, Icarus is initially depicted as a young angel. Also being the last free angel, he was tricked by the gods to come to their land and rescue the angels that had been captured. But the gods tricked him into believing that the sun was a portal to their realm.
Daedala, a representation of Daedalus from the original story, retains the same vocation and identifies as a craftswoman. She mourns the death of Icarus. Hoping he may regenerate, she built Icarus a tomb.
"Daedala knew she would not live to see Icarus fly again, and so built for him two more gifts, to protect him from the ruthless, relentless gods. She constructed a giant city over the tomb of Icarus, with walls and towers so high they threatened the territory of the gods themselves. And then, around this city, she built a labyrinth that was thought to never end.”
To the residents of Daedala, Icarus is a sort of god. The people of Daedala would choose a select number of children between the ages of ten and sixteen each year to become “Icarii” and enter the labyrinth in order to find the end of the maze. Once through, they would enter into Alyssia--the land of the angels and have the honor of welcoming Icarus home.
Pacing & Readability
While this book starts off with a bang, the entire body of the text was so slow and tediously uneventful. There are some creature attacks and what-not here and there, but not a lot happens for the majority of the book. It gave a disjointed feel to the book because the beginning and end had so much going on, that the middle was the exact opposite.
Point-of-View & Characters
The point-of-view is told from the perspective of the main character, who happens to remain unnamed for the entire book. While I thought this tactic was clever, I didn't care for her character very much. The fact that I wanted to find out who she was battled with her being unlikeable, and made me more aggravated with her character than anything.
”I grew up in this building and I was supposed to die in this building. Now I’ll never die. Now I’ll become an angel. So why is my heart in my throat?”
Our unnamed narrator is clearly a "follower." From the first page, her adoration for her best friend Clara is clear. Without Clara, she doesn't know what to do or how to handle herself. This element of her personality gets her into tight places when she finds herself alone, unsure of how to process the situation in front of her. Several times instead of facing what was actually going on, she instead wishes that she is home and back behind the curtains of safety. This "smoke screen" tactic pushes her to act before she thinks about the repercussions of her decisions.
Clara is the main character's best friend. She's outgoing, fearless, but also dominating, over-confident, unrefined, and self-centered. While she's not very nice to her friend, she naturally falls into the leader role and expects "unnamed" to take the backseat willingly. Eager to become one of the Icarii, she instantly shows her true self when "unnamed" is chosen first.
Some of the minor characters, like Ryan and the Executioner, was the most interesting of them all. Both Ryan and the Executioner are difficult to make out. While Ryan's character isn't explored much (and comes off way worse than I think he actually is), the Executioner's true nature is revealed more towards the end and remains to be the most complex characters of them all.
The main antagonist is shared between the labyrinth, and later on, with Collin. While the labyrinth poses a constant threat to the Icarii, Collin becomes a threat to the main character when he discovers that she is not who she claims to be. Collin turns from a pleasant person to a despicable, tremendously cruel human.
Major Themes
⇒ Bullying
Bullying is very visible throughout this book. The main character is thrust into a situation that she doesn't want to be in in the first place and is not prepared for the challenges before her. While she doesn't handle herself well, she also doesn't deserve the treatment that people give to her. I cringed at the way Collin would treat "unnamed," and it nearly made me stop reading this book altogether. The interactions between these two characters (along with "mob mentality") show just how dangerous bullying can be when no one decides to stand up for what's right and for the person being bullied.
⇒ Fending for oneself
There isn’t a good example of friendship in this book. The closest glimpse the reader gets into a "friendship" is between the main character and the Executioner. While a sense of comradery is attempted to be built in Fates, the moment someone does something wrong, they are thrown to the wolves...quite literally.
⇒ Facing Reality
"I didn’t mean to trick you. I didn’t want to, but you were so kind, and I was so scared, and I didn’t know what to do. And then it was too late and I couldn’t find a way to tell you the truth because I...I didn’t want to think about her being dead, and I knew if I told you it would hurt you even more than it was hurting me. She was my friend. My best friend. Pretending to be her, it was almost like it kept her alive, and I know that’s no excuse, but I wasn’t ready to face it.”
The main character has a major issue with facing the reality of her situation. While her reactions are understandable, they still aren't right. She spends a majority of the book wishing for everything to be different, which inhibits her from being able to grow, adapt, and move on.
⇒ Paying for your Mistakes
"You’re just like all the monsters in this graveyard. You’re worse than the monsters, because they can’t help being disgusting and vicious and cruel. You chose to do this. You ruined my sister’s name and memory.”
Another rather negative theme visible was paying for the mistakes that were made. Instead of any type of decency or attempt to understand where a person was coming from, a cruel punishment was given instead. Several characters experience this treatment, especially the main character.
Overall Feelings
Things that I liked:
⇒ The way the plot was constructed around the original mythological tale.
⇒ The Executioner's character complexity.
⇒ For the most part, it was romance-free.
Things that I didn’t like:
⇒ The overall brutality.
⇒ The major variation in pacing.
⇒ The feeling that the backstory was somewhat incomplete and therefore, left unexplained.
⇒ The main character’s passiveness when she was being bullied and abused, her general character being rather annoying, and the weird masochistic qualities that surfaced at a few points in time.
⇒ There is little detail given on character description across the board.
Overall, I wasn't a fan of this book. The gore and dismal atmosphere overpowered anything else in the story and kept me from enjoying it much--not that I found much to enjoy. While I liked how it was a creative twist on the original mythological tale, I felt that a lot of the plot was left unexplored, the characters underdeveloped (and unlikeable), and uncomfortable topics being focused on that weren't redeeming in any way. This may be a case of "it's me, not you," but I also don't think that action scenes and suspense make for a solid plot alone.
Vulgarity: Surprisingly, none!
Sexual content: As stated in the content warning at the beginning of this review, there was a scene that felt like it was leading up to something, and then another scene where rape was actually attempted.
Violence: Quite a lot, including very gory scenes.
My Rating: ★★
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November 14, 2016DNF REVIEW
I wanted to like this book so much, but I just couldn't get into it. It's very rare that I leave a book and DNF it, but I've been trying to start this one for a few months and every time I give up and pick up another book.
I was so excited by the blurb, it sounds action packed, with a hint of the Maze Runner. That sounds good right? Well maybe it got better in the end but I just couldn't get there.
Every year, kids between the ages of 10 to 16 are chosen to enter the labyrinth and become Icarii. If you manage to make it out of the labyrinth you get to become and Angel.
The main character is chosen to go into the labyrinth, and thats when the story begins. But the reason why I couldn't get into the book, was basically because I hated the main character, and most of the other characters in the book. The main character has no spunk, no life, she's very dull. Kind of like Kristen Stewart (who I hate). I thought her actions were horrible, I didn't like being in her head and I thought she was very unintelligent. She was basically the opposite of what I look for in a main character.
I heard a few people talking about this book, saying that the ending was absolutely amazing, and it made the whole book for them. So if you think you can manage to read in the main character's point of view then I would say give it a try, but if you're like me, then don't bother.
I wish the book and the series luck, I really wish I could have enjoyed it.
Happy Reading,
Aneta
I wanted to like this book so much, but I just couldn't get into it. It's very rare that I leave a book and DNF it, but I've been trying to start this one for a few months and every time I give up and pick up another book.
I was so excited by the blurb, it sounds action packed, with a hint of the Maze Runner. That sounds good right? Well maybe it got better in the end but I just couldn't get there.
Every year, kids between the ages of 10 to 16 are chosen to enter the labyrinth and become Icarii. If you manage to make it out of the labyrinth you get to become and Angel.
The main character is chosen to go into the labyrinth, and thats when the story begins. But the reason why I couldn't get into the book, was basically because I hated the main character, and most of the other characters in the book. The main character has no spunk, no life, she's very dull. Kind of like Kristen Stewart (who I hate). I thought her actions were horrible, I didn't like being in her head and I thought she was very unintelligent. She was basically the opposite of what I look for in a main character.
I heard a few people talking about this book, saying that the ending was absolutely amazing, and it made the whole book for them. So if you think you can manage to read in the main character's point of view then I would say give it a try, but if you're like me, then don't bother.
I wish the book and the series luck, I really wish I could have enjoyed it.
Happy Reading,
Aneta
August 5, 2016
You can see the full review here: https://thebookishuniverse.wordpress....
Things I liked:
THE PREMISE
The story is set on a mythical town, where every year children are chosen to enter a maze that surrounds the city. They are promised to be protected by angels and those who survive will have the chance to ascend to paradise. But, what they’re promised are lies. Basically, it’s 85% The Maze Runner and 10% mythology and 5% The Hunger Games, but Children of Icarus is totally its own story . I loved the setting and survival stories are my favorites, not to mention that the maze was one of the things I really liked. It’s dark and mysterious and terrifying.
THE TWISTS AND TURNS
I can’t say that the pace is consistent; in the beginning it was extremely fast and before I realized it, I was already in the middle of the book and then things went a little slow, but I never lost my interest. Maybe that explains the fact that this book was so damn unpredictable! When things went steady, BUMP something happened and changed everything, EVERY SINGLE TIME!
THE CHARACTERS
(Exception made of the main protagonist, I will explain later) They’re all totally nuts! Some of them tend to become psychopaths and to be honest I liked it (no, don’t get me wrong I’m not a psychopath). I don’t usually find so troubled characters in YA books and I was positively surprised here. Their life in the maze changed them in a bad way, which seemed realistic to me since most of them they were there more than two years.
the ending
aHHHHHHH OKAY. CLIFFHANGER GOT ME.
Things I disliked:
THE MAIN CHARACTER
Most of the time she was mute and scared and she was absolutely useless to the team. She annoyed me most of the times and she has no personality. At first, I find it very realistic to be so intimidated and terrified as the maze was new to her, but later I felt like she didn’t do anything and the plot happened to her instead of the other way around. The only time we see her do anything is the last scenes, when she’s practically forced to. She didn’t even have a name. No, literally. We don’t get to know her name, even though it’s told from first perspective!
NEEDED MORE
The world building lacked depth. The setting is incredible and the myth it’s based on is really good, but we never get to learn more about it. There are so many questions unanswered and for me this book should be the second of a series or at least longer. I needed to learn more of the laws, the people and the city and the protagonists (and her name of course), her relationship with Clara and most importantly how this city was build.
Things I liked:
THE PREMISE
The story is set on a mythical town, where every year children are chosen to enter a maze that surrounds the city. They are promised to be protected by angels and those who survive will have the chance to ascend to paradise. But, what they’re promised are lies. Basically, it’s 85% The Maze Runner and 10% mythology and 5% The Hunger Games, but Children of Icarus is totally its own story . I loved the setting and survival stories are my favorites, not to mention that the maze was one of the things I really liked. It’s dark and mysterious and terrifying.
THE TWISTS AND TURNS
I can’t say that the pace is consistent; in the beginning it was extremely fast and before I realized it, I was already in the middle of the book and then things went a little slow, but I never lost my interest. Maybe that explains the fact that this book was so damn unpredictable! When things went steady, BUMP something happened and changed everything, EVERY SINGLE TIME!
THE CHARACTERS
(Exception made of the main protagonist, I will explain later) They’re all totally nuts! Some of them tend to become psychopaths and to be honest I liked it (no, don’t get me wrong I’m not a psychopath). I don’t usually find so troubled characters in YA books and I was positively surprised here. Their life in the maze changed them in a bad way, which seemed realistic to me since most of them they were there more than two years.
the ending
aHHHHHHH OKAY. CLIFFHANGER GOT ME.
Things I disliked:
THE MAIN CHARACTER
Most of the time she was mute and scared and she was absolutely useless to the team. She annoyed me most of the times and she has no personality. At first, I find it very realistic to be so intimidated and terrified as the maze was new to her, but later I felt like she didn’t do anything and the plot happened to her instead of the other way around. The only time we see her do anything is the last scenes, when she’s practically forced to. She didn’t even have a name. No, literally. We don’t get to know her name, even though it’s told from first perspective!
NEEDED MORE
The world building lacked depth. The setting is incredible and the myth it’s based on is really good, but we never get to learn more about it. There are so many questions unanswered and for me this book should be the second of a series or at least longer. I needed to learn more of the laws, the people and the city and the protagonists (and her name of course), her relationship with Clara and most importantly how this city was build.
August 20, 2017
4.5 stars
Welcome to my super delayed full review taht i wrote of a book I read in July of 2016 and never posted!!
Its been ages since I read anything that really resembled a dystopian society (which this may or may not be? So many questions.) in any way. So this was kind of refreshing, it felt familiar, yet completely new. Warning: there may be a lot of vagueness happening in this review. Because I don't wanna spoil anything, obviously. I'm only thinking of your feelings, reader.
Children of Icarus was deliciously dark. Things got pretty intense, pretty quickly, which is probably why I found this so easy to just keep reading and reading.... everything is so eerie feeling. I love not know what may be around the next corner. The sense of dread was heavy at times. And I loved it. The characters are questionable - you have no idea who exactly to trust, nor do you understand anyone's true motives. But I'm sure a few bad apples wont spoil the whole bunch, so I hope to see some of the characters become allies of the main character.
The main character. Who has not told anyone her actual name.
Lol.... I crack myself up. But seriously. That GIF is so serious right now. So nameless is a hard protagonist to like. Right from the beginning, she is just scared. Of everything. Quiet. Meek. SPINELESS. I cannot tell you how many times I yelled at her during the course of the book. OMG MOVE! OMG DO SOMETHING! OMG SAY SOMETHING! OMG YOU'RE AN IDIOT! OMG I HATE YOU!
I wanted to choke her. Slap her. Something. She is one of those you have to give time to grow, time to learn and understand the world around her and what she has to do to survive. So please, I beg you, even if she drives you crazy, just give her a chance. Don't let it stop you. (This was part of my reason for 4.5 stars instead of a full 5, honestly.)
This book is compared to The Maze Runner and The Hunger Games. YES. Yes to both of those things. People will easily draw a comparison between these books, especially Maze Runner. But Children of Icarus is different in so many ways. The world is based in mythology, and the maze is so different. The creatures are SO DIFFERENT. The entire atmosphere is different than both of those books. There are people out there who will immediately judge this book based on the similarities, and the die hard Maze Runner and Hunger Games fans may be upset or butt hurt. OWELL.
I don't care about the similarities. Not one bit. Because I enjoyed this book.
This is my next Maze Runner.
This is my next Hunger Games.
I would even go so far as to say this may be my next.... Angelfall. (Minus Raffe. There is not and probably never will be a version of him anywhere else ever.)
I loved the way it wrapped up without being a total cliffhanger, and still managing to leave me both satisfied and wanting the next book desperately. The end will also be easily comparable to other dystopias, but it's more a matter of where it goes from here and whether or not it takes a different direction that I am concerned with. Also, there has yet to be a love element! There may be later on of course, but for now I am excited that romance was not on the authors mind in regards to this story. There is no romance, but there is blood, and death, and monsters, and horrific people.... and I devoured it. I highly recommend Children of Icarus!
Welcome to my super delayed full review taht i wrote of a book I read in July of 2016 and never posted!!
Its been ages since I read anything that really resembled a dystopian society (which this may or may not be? So many questions.) in any way. So this was kind of refreshing, it felt familiar, yet completely new. Warning: there may be a lot of vagueness happening in this review. Because I don't wanna spoil anything, obviously. I'm only thinking of your feelings, reader.
Children of Icarus was deliciously dark. Things got pretty intense, pretty quickly, which is probably why I found this so easy to just keep reading and reading.... everything is so eerie feeling. I love not know what may be around the next corner. The sense of dread was heavy at times. And I loved it. The characters are questionable - you have no idea who exactly to trust, nor do you understand anyone's true motives. But I'm sure a few bad apples wont spoil the whole bunch, so I hope to see some of the characters become allies of the main character.
The main character. Who has not told anyone her actual name.
Lol.... I crack myself up. But seriously. That GIF is so serious right now. So nameless is a hard protagonist to like. Right from the beginning, she is just scared. Of everything. Quiet. Meek. SPINELESS. I cannot tell you how many times I yelled at her during the course of the book. OMG MOVE! OMG DO SOMETHING! OMG SAY SOMETHING! OMG YOU'RE AN IDIOT! OMG I HATE YOU!
I wanted to choke her. Slap her. Something. She is one of those you have to give time to grow, time to learn and understand the world around her and what she has to do to survive. So please, I beg you, even if she drives you crazy, just give her a chance. Don't let it stop you. (This was part of my reason for 4.5 stars instead of a full 5, honestly.)
This book is compared to The Maze Runner and The Hunger Games. YES. Yes to both of those things. People will easily draw a comparison between these books, especially Maze Runner. But Children of Icarus is different in so many ways. The world is based in mythology, and the maze is so different. The creatures are SO DIFFERENT. The entire atmosphere is different than both of those books. There are people out there who will immediately judge this book based on the similarities, and the die hard Maze Runner and Hunger Games fans may be upset or butt hurt. OWELL.
I don't care about the similarities. Not one bit. Because I enjoyed this book.
This is my next Maze Runner.
This is my next Hunger Games.
I would even go so far as to say this may be my next.... Angelfall. (Minus Raffe. There is not and probably never will be a version of him anywhere else ever.)
I loved the way it wrapped up without being a total cliffhanger, and still managing to leave me both satisfied and wanting the next book desperately. The end will also be easily comparable to other dystopias, but it's more a matter of where it goes from here and whether or not it takes a different direction that I am concerned with. Also, there has yet to be a love element! There may be later on of course, but for now I am excited that romance was not on the authors mind in regards to this story. There is no romance, but there is blood, and death, and monsters, and horrific people.... and I devoured it. I highly recommend Children of Icarus!
Read
August 15, 2016Children aged ten to sixteen hope for the chance to enter the labyrinth. To navigate the maze to find the land of the angels and wait to one day welcome Icarus home. The Icarii are chosen at the Temple of Icarus and, at the age of sixteen, it’s our main character and her best friend’s, last chance to be chosen to become angels. But as soon as the two girls leave the city, along with the rest of the chosen group, excitement soon turns to horror as the real labyrinth reveals itself, and it’s far from paradise…
This was a dark read and I liked that twist. The mythology was really interesting and I loved the overall idea. The main character (nameless throughout the book) is very different to any character I’ve read before—the change in her is massive as she adapts to a new situation and learns how to survive in the labyrinth. I’m looking forward to seeing what she does in the next book. I’d recommend this to fans of Susan Ee’s Angelfall and Amalie Howard’s Alpha Goddess.
This was a dark read and I liked that twist. The mythology was really interesting and I loved the overall idea. The main character (nameless throughout the book) is very different to any character I’ve read before—the change in her is massive as she adapts to a new situation and learns how to survive in the labyrinth. I’m looking forward to seeing what she does in the next book. I’d recommend this to fans of Susan Ee’s Angelfall and Amalie Howard’s Alpha Goddess.
April 3, 2018
The mythology in this was quite accurate and really well used throughout the book, it was a very dark book. There was never any light bits of the book and I don't know if I like death that cause I do like a but of humour in my books but overall a really good book!
April 1, 2020
pooled ink Reviews:
Children of Icarus is a lulling tale that defies expectations and rips the smile off your face with its poisoned talons before you can ever remember why you were smiling in the first place. Inspired by Greek mythology, laden with gory nightmares come to life, and steady with its patient tale this book is not quite like anything its companions on the shelves have to offer. A recommended read for anyone with an appetite for the dark, the patience for a resistant game player, and the curiosity of a waiting cat fixated on a mouse-hole awaiting the little creature’s return.
Read my FULL review here: http://pooledink.com/2016/03/30/child...
Children of Icarus is a lulling tale that defies expectations and rips the smile off your face with its poisoned talons before you can ever remember why you were smiling in the first place. Inspired by Greek mythology, laden with gory nightmares come to life, and steady with its patient tale this book is not quite like anything its companions on the shelves have to offer. A recommended read for anyone with an appetite for the dark, the patience for a resistant game player, and the curiosity of a waiting cat fixated on a mouse-hole awaiting the little creature’s return.
Read my FULL review here: http://pooledink.com/2016/03/30/child...
July 20, 2016
This book sort of confused me...
It was good, but it confused me. I mean, are we in the past or the future? Is this dystopian or historical? It tried to pull off a The Maze Runner, but didn't excecute it very well.
One element that suprised me, though, was the writing. It wasn't terrible, as to be expected, but rather somewhat eloquent.
A risky read, but can be given a try :) .
It was good, but it confused me. I mean, are we in the past or the future? Is this dystopian or historical? It tried to pull off a The Maze Runner, but didn't excecute it very well.
One element that suprised me, though, was the writing. It wasn't terrible, as to be expected, but rather somewhat eloquent.
A risky read, but can be given a try :) .
August 4, 2016
2.5 stars
I liked the summery and the idea behind the book. The shy girl, the unsure girl, the one that is always overlooked having to learn step up, fight and survive because there is no other choice. And managing it because if that. It's one of my favorite type of book plots.
And to a very basic extent the author did do that.
But it really is scratching at the outer edges of actually being a book about a girl that learns to survive on her own.
Which is fine. If the rest of the book would have made up for it.
But it kind of didn't? I mean in a way it did but also not really?
Does that make sense? I think not, but the book kind of didn't as well. So that fits?
Let's start out with my explanation in saying that the author really took a huge, huge a,punt of the story from The Maze Runner because no matter how you try to turn or slice it, the actual plot of this book is basically the one of the maze runner, only different? It's from the point of view of a girl.
But the rest? All there! Kids that get thrown into a maze without real explanation or actual means to survive, they fight monsters, find a way to make a safe place for them and build a form of society were their own group is split into people that keep their safe place working and those that go into the maze.
Now hear me out, I am not saying this is a bad thing.
I don't mind books behing similar to others, and the author did put her own spin on it, so that wasn't that bad. And I actually enjoyed the maze runner so those parts where all good. Just something to note because if you hated the maze runner I am pretty sure you will not enough this book that much, because you know as I just said enough times, similarities are screamingly obvious.
But That was fine for me.
What I didn't like about this book was
- the main character didn't even have a name. Which just... yeah no thank you, give the person the book is told from a freaking name!
- the main character had no personality at all. And I don't mean that she was underdevelopment (even though I guess eh kind of was) but that she really seemed incapable of actually thinking and deciding things for herself. She also says about ten words in total throughout the entire book. Might be a slight underestimation but honestly? Not by much.
So that was just strange, not horrible but it made the book feel like I was watching something I wanted to step into and just help the person because it became too sad to be able to watch. I just wanted to hear her speak up! Step up and voice -literary!!!!- what she was thinking and feeling and finally just step up for herself!
Instead she kept her mouth shout and I kind of wanted to slap her for it.
So clearly main character didn't work for me.
- the world developmet
Was there one?
Did I miss it?
I wanted to get a real explanation and not a myth retold and then get thrown it I a maze with murderous mosters and other kids that have no clue what is going on and leave me completely clueless as to what the heck is going on in the book and the story.
-the other kids
One as crazy, and I mean really just CRAZY capital letters needed, and the others where assholes. That word is needed as well since no is anywhere near bad enough to describe how horrible they are and treat others
-the writing
Some it was fantastic! Some of it wasn't.
Which is strange, and I can't really explain it and I don't know if that is just a personal thing for me but some parts of the book were great and so nicely written that I really enjoyed them and kind of forgot the parts that bothered me up until that point. And then I turned the page and he writing kind of took a dive of the deep end and flatlined for a good while until it perked up again for a few pages only to die on me again?
So some parts were fantastic and some parts where.... Not.
Also the ending?
Didn't not feel like a standalone, or if it really is one it's a clear open door for the possibility of more books in this manner.
Which sounds as if I didn't enjoy the book.
I did
It was okay, but it wasn't anywhere near what it could have been.
There is all this potential. All those ideas and mentions of something more and more interesting, but the author doesn't take it there, at least she didn't to me.
I loved the ideas of angels and people believing you could become one after completing a trail. I always loved that myth, I loved the idea that this book took to the myth.
I would have enjoyed the book more with an actual main character that has a character. And more explanation.
That being said if you love maze books and a different spin on a myth. If are NOT character driven, but more interested in other parts of the book, this might be perfect for you, so definelty give it a try!
*thanks to NetGalley, the publishers and the author for giving me a ecopy of this book in exchange for a free and honest review.*
I liked the summery and the idea behind the book. The shy girl, the unsure girl, the one that is always overlooked having to learn step up, fight and survive because there is no other choice. And managing it because if that. It's one of my favorite type of book plots.
And to a very basic extent the author did do that.
But it really is scratching at the outer edges of actually being a book about a girl that learns to survive on her own.
Which is fine. If the rest of the book would have made up for it.
But it kind of didn't? I mean in a way it did but also not really?
Does that make sense? I think not, but the book kind of didn't as well. So that fits?
Let's start out with my explanation in saying that the author really took a huge, huge a,punt of the story from The Maze Runner because no matter how you try to turn or slice it, the actual plot of this book is basically the one of the maze runner, only different? It's from the point of view of a girl.
But the rest? All there! Kids that get thrown into a maze without real explanation or actual means to survive, they fight monsters, find a way to make a safe place for them and build a form of society were their own group is split into people that keep their safe place working and those that go into the maze.
Now hear me out, I am not saying this is a bad thing.
I don't mind books behing similar to others, and the author did put her own spin on it, so that wasn't that bad. And I actually enjoyed the maze runner so those parts where all good. Just something to note because if you hated the maze runner I am pretty sure you will not enough this book that much, because you know as I just said enough times, similarities are screamingly obvious.
But That was fine for me.
What I didn't like about this book was
- the main character didn't even have a name. Which just... yeah no thank you, give the person the book is told from a freaking name!
- the main character had no personality at all. And I don't mean that she was underdevelopment (even though I guess eh kind of was) but that she really seemed incapable of actually thinking and deciding things for herself. She also says about ten words in total throughout the entire book. Might be a slight underestimation but honestly? Not by much.
So that was just strange, not horrible but it made the book feel like I was watching something I wanted to step into and just help the person because it became too sad to be able to watch. I just wanted to hear her speak up! Step up and voice -literary!!!!- what she was thinking and feeling and finally just step up for herself!
Instead she kept her mouth shout and I kind of wanted to slap her for it.
So clearly main character didn't work for me.
- the world developmet
Was there one?
Did I miss it?
I wanted to get a real explanation and not a myth retold and then get thrown it I a maze with murderous mosters and other kids that have no clue what is going on and leave me completely clueless as to what the heck is going on in the book and the story.
-the other kids
One as crazy, and I mean really just CRAZY capital letters needed, and the others where assholes. That word is needed as well since no is anywhere near bad enough to describe how horrible they are and treat others
-the writing
Some it was fantastic! Some of it wasn't.
Which is strange, and I can't really explain it and I don't know if that is just a personal thing for me but some parts of the book were great and so nicely written that I really enjoyed them and kind of forgot the parts that bothered me up until that point. And then I turned the page and he writing kind of took a dive of the deep end and flatlined for a good while until it perked up again for a few pages only to die on me again?
So some parts were fantastic and some parts where.... Not.
Also the ending?
Didn't not feel like a standalone, or if it really is one it's a clear open door for the possibility of more books in this manner.
Which sounds as if I didn't enjoy the book.
I did
It was okay, but it wasn't anywhere near what it could have been.
There is all this potential. All those ideas and mentions of something more and more interesting, but the author doesn't take it there, at least she didn't to me.
I loved the ideas of angels and people believing you could become one after completing a trail. I always loved that myth, I loved the idea that this book took to the myth.
I would have enjoyed the book more with an actual main character that has a character. And more explanation.
That being said if you love maze books and a different spin on a myth. If are NOT character driven, but more interested in other parts of the book, this might be perfect for you, so definelty give it a try!
*thanks to NetGalley, the publishers and the author for giving me a ecopy of this book in exchange for a free and honest review.*
September 19, 2017
Growing up in the city of Daedala she always been Clara's side kick. Now they both must enter Icarus' Labrynth on a quest to become Angels. Within minutes they are torn apart forever and she must find her own voice in order to survive.
I was very skeptical to begin this series, and at the beginning I was very disappointed. It started reminding me of a mix between hunger games and the maze runner and I started loosing interest. I'm glad I stuck it out. Once some of the major characters start appearing I was hooked. Although still having some similarities to other series, Caighlan's Labrynth is so full of magic I couldn't put it down. I love that the characters are dark and have flaws, they don't immediately join together to try and survive. The only thing that it left me questioning was at the beginning it's made clear there is a huge difference between Clara and the narrator. I find it very hard to believe Collin just jumping to the assumption that she is Clara, when they are supposed to be so different. The ribbon would not have been enough of a similarity to me. I also hope in the next book there is more about Elle's backstory.
Overall I really enjoyed and can't wait to read the next one.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I was very skeptical to begin this series, and at the beginning I was very disappointed. It started reminding me of a mix between hunger games and the maze runner and I started loosing interest. I'm glad I stuck it out. Once some of the major characters start appearing I was hooked. Although still having some similarities to other series, Caighlan's Labrynth is so full of magic I couldn't put it down. I love that the characters are dark and have flaws, they don't immediately join together to try and survive. The only thing that it left me questioning was at the beginning it's made clear there is a huge difference between Clara and the narrator. I find it very hard to believe Collin just jumping to the assumption that she is Clara, when they are supposed to be so different. The ribbon would not have been enough of a similarity to me. I also hope in the next book there is more about Elle's backstory.
Overall I really enjoyed and can't wait to read the next one.
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
August 1, 2016
Disclaimer: We received this an advanced digital copy of this book via NetGalley courtesy of the publisher (Switch Press). There may be some things you consider to be spoilers ahead. You have been warned.
Why we chose it: The description was enough for us
Review: Children of Icarus is at times as twisted as the labyrinth that the majority of the book takes place in and we loved it. It was so good and so wrong at the same time.
What was so intriguing for us as we made our way through this book is how gloriously screwed up all the characters are. They're all perfect echoes of the damaged world they live in (something we'll get to later) and we're going to go deep in our discussion of these characters.
The main character is a girl who we're going to simply refer to as the main character because we no longer remember what the girl's name is. Like Arya Stark says "A girl has no name" and indeed our girl has no name. Or at least not one that sticks....we can't even remember if we were told. For the first half of the book our MC is a shadow in Clara's wake. She's like an errant thought, but she has a nice voice. The novel is told from her perspective and it's through her perspective that we uncover the twists of the labyrinth and the twisted people that survive. We found it really interesting that even though our character spends a great deal of crying it's not long before you discover there's a strength inside her hidden deep down.
Deep, deep down.
It's not possible to stress enough how much we enjoyed the way in which the main character both hides behind the essence of Clara and subsequently inhabits it. She becomes Clara......at least in some ways. She spends a lot of time lying by omission and doesn't really give it a second thought.
We've been thinking that for a time we thought our main character would simply lie her way through survival and that the plot wouldn't advance, but it didn't and we're so very grateful for that.
Our main character's lies catch up to her and at the halfway point begin to cause her much pain. What we haven't mentioned is that the people our main character lies to are a survival group called The Fates. The leader of that is the real Clara's brother. His name is Collin. Our main character starts thinking that because she's now Clara Collin is her brother and he's a good big brother. Strong and ruthless, not a very nice guy. He has a temper and it's explosive. It makes itself known in some very screwed up ways.
Clara experiences some of those screwed up ways when she gets found out in the most wonderful way. When we say wonderful we mean the writing was so good we actually felt physically uncomfortable reading it.
While we genuinely think the majority of characters that comprise what we're shown of The Fates are okay in general there are some notable exceptions. One of them is Elle. She's not all together present and becomes extremely possessive of our main character. What we liked about Elle though is that her inability to be fully present in reality is realistic and powerful. There were times when we wanted to defend Elle and we really hope to see more of her in coming books.
We mentioned earlier that we thought the plot might not advance and that we were okay with that. We still are, but we wouldn't have loved the book the way we do now.
Our main character ends up in the labyrinth with a boy who's quickly on his way to becoming a friend and a little girl named Gina. They venture for water and the labyrinth does what one can expect it to do. Messes everything up. Our main character meets a woman only glimpsed before and while our main character remains mostly useless for another while, this woman (who we'll get to in a moment changes that)
The woman is nicknamed The Executioner. It's fitting that like our main character we can't remember her true name. We don't even know if one was mentioned. The Executioner is strong and resourceful and in Children of Icarus that author weaves her story into one that's actually important. Her past actions have affected the present in a similar way to how her actions that we witness in the book will affect where our main character goes from where we leave her in Children of Icarus.
The world that's been built in this book is limited in some ways. In terms of scope it's not very big and can give off a Hunger Games or Divergent feeling, but it's different from them. There's a stronger fantasy feel to Children of Icarus and we love the detail that went into the creatures and the layout the labyrinth even though we're sure there's much more to be explored. While we would've like to have learned more about the creation and general history of the labyrinth we understand that it just wouldn't have been entirely possible to achieve the depth we wanted and not have the character feeling as if she were not moving due to description.
Links to both of those dystopian novels mentioned above might be made by some due to the age and the almost reaping like feel to an event that happens early in the book, but we urge you not to view Children of Icarus and some sort of rip off. It feels different and it reads different, Personally we class Children of Icarus as a book better than any of the novels in The Hungers Games trilogy or The Divergent trilogy
To conclude Children of Icarus has twists and turns and some sick individuals. It's a book where the pacing suffers a little, but the writing and characters overcomes that. The pacing problem does eventually disappear altogether and we can honestly say we're looking forward to the next book.
Thanks for reading! Let us know what you think in the comments if you've read this book.
http://www.arkonandannie.wordpress.com
Why we chose it: The description was enough for us
Review: Children of Icarus is at times as twisted as the labyrinth that the majority of the book takes place in and we loved it. It was so good and so wrong at the same time.
What was so intriguing for us as we made our way through this book is how gloriously screwed up all the characters are. They're all perfect echoes of the damaged world they live in (something we'll get to later) and we're going to go deep in our discussion of these characters.
The main character is a girl who we're going to simply refer to as the main character because we no longer remember what the girl's name is. Like Arya Stark says "A girl has no name" and indeed our girl has no name. Or at least not one that sticks....we can't even remember if we were told. For the first half of the book our MC is a shadow in Clara's wake. She's like an errant thought, but she has a nice voice. The novel is told from her perspective and it's through her perspective that we uncover the twists of the labyrinth and the twisted people that survive. We found it really interesting that even though our character spends a great deal of crying it's not long before you discover there's a strength inside her hidden deep down.
Deep, deep down.
It's not possible to stress enough how much we enjoyed the way in which the main character both hides behind the essence of Clara and subsequently inhabits it. She becomes Clara......at least in some ways. She spends a lot of time lying by omission and doesn't really give it a second thought.
We've been thinking that for a time we thought our main character would simply lie her way through survival and that the plot wouldn't advance, but it didn't and we're so very grateful for that.
Our main character's lies catch up to her and at the halfway point begin to cause her much pain. What we haven't mentioned is that the people our main character lies to are a survival group called The Fates. The leader of that is the real Clara's brother. His name is Collin. Our main character starts thinking that because she's now Clara Collin is her brother and he's a good big brother. Strong and ruthless, not a very nice guy. He has a temper and it's explosive. It makes itself known in some very screwed up ways.
Clara experiences some of those screwed up ways when she gets found out in the most wonderful way. When we say wonderful we mean the writing was so good we actually felt physically uncomfortable reading it.
While we genuinely think the majority of characters that comprise what we're shown of The Fates are okay in general there are some notable exceptions. One of them is Elle. She's not all together present and becomes extremely possessive of our main character. What we liked about Elle though is that her inability to be fully present in reality is realistic and powerful. There were times when we wanted to defend Elle and we really hope to see more of her in coming books.
We mentioned earlier that we thought the plot might not advance and that we were okay with that. We still are, but we wouldn't have loved the book the way we do now.
Our main character ends up in the labyrinth with a boy who's quickly on his way to becoming a friend and a little girl named Gina. They venture for water and the labyrinth does what one can expect it to do. Messes everything up. Our main character meets a woman only glimpsed before and while our main character remains mostly useless for another while, this woman (who we'll get to in a moment changes that)
The woman is nicknamed The Executioner. It's fitting that like our main character we can't remember her true name. We don't even know if one was mentioned. The Executioner is strong and resourceful and in Children of Icarus that author weaves her story into one that's actually important. Her past actions have affected the present in a similar way to how her actions that we witness in the book will affect where our main character goes from where we leave her in Children of Icarus.
The world that's been built in this book is limited in some ways. In terms of scope it's not very big and can give off a Hunger Games or Divergent feeling, but it's different from them. There's a stronger fantasy feel to Children of Icarus and we love the detail that went into the creatures and the layout the labyrinth even though we're sure there's much more to be explored. While we would've like to have learned more about the creation and general history of the labyrinth we understand that it just wouldn't have been entirely possible to achieve the depth we wanted and not have the character feeling as if she were not moving due to description.
Links to both of those dystopian novels mentioned above might be made by some due to the age and the almost reaping like feel to an event that happens early in the book, but we urge you not to view Children of Icarus and some sort of rip off. It feels different and it reads different, Personally we class Children of Icarus as a book better than any of the novels in The Hungers Games trilogy or The Divergent trilogy
To conclude Children of Icarus has twists and turns and some sick individuals. It's a book where the pacing suffers a little, but the writing and characters overcomes that. The pacing problem does eventually disappear altogether and we can honestly say we're looking forward to the next book.
Thanks for reading! Let us know what you think in the comments if you've read this book.
http://www.arkonandannie.wordpress.com
October 3, 2025
a little bit more brutal than I remember but intriguing
August 15, 2016
Really mixed feelings about this one. The writing itself was good, the concept new, and the characters well-drawn, but there were a few things that just annoyed me.
The main character was so passive she was infuriating. Over and over there were times where she'd be thinking about saying or doing something but never actually got around to it. She just can't do *anything*, and can't even try.
.
Some events happened so quickly I almost missed them and had to flip back, but then we'd spend forever agonising with the narrator.
It feels inspired by The Hunger Games and Maze Runner, with the darkness of both, though doesn't quite have the depth of either. But it's a decent debut by a young author. The "first person present-tense" narration for YA is starting to get old, but works here. Even though I really wanted to shake the main character at times, I still empathized with her and followed her train of thought, and the innovative influx of Greek mythology kept my interest.
With the exception of the main character, the others were a good mixture. The interactions between the characters, with their various preferences and foibles, kept them from being stereotypes.
Don't read if you don't like gore, or psychological torture, or if you only want the bad guys to die. (Sorry, but if you haven't read The Hunger Games or Maze Runner, that's important for you to know.)
Disclaimer: I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
The main character was so passive she was infuriating. Over and over there were times where she'd be thinking about saying or doing something but never actually got around to it. She just can't do *anything*, and can't even try.
.
Some events happened so quickly I almost missed them and had to flip back, but then we'd spend forever agonising with the narrator.
It feels inspired by The Hunger Games and Maze Runner, with the darkness of both, though doesn't quite have the depth of either. But it's a decent debut by a young author. The "first person present-tense" narration for YA is starting to get old, but works here. Even though I really wanted to shake the main character at times, I still empathized with her and followed her train of thought, and the innovative influx of Greek mythology kept my interest.
With the exception of the main character, the others were a good mixture. The interactions between the characters, with their various preferences and foibles, kept them from being stereotypes.
Don't read if you don't like gore, or psychological torture, or if you only want the bad guys to die. (Sorry, but if you haven't read The Hunger Games or Maze Runner, that's important for you to know.)
Disclaimer: I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
September 5, 2016
A bit of a disappointment.
The writing:
The writing was okay, it was a mythological/fantasy read. I wouldn't call it an easy or fast paced read, I think it can feel dragged.
The Story:
This was a great idea. Each year some children/teenagers between 10 and 16 years old are choosen, randomly, to become Icarii. Icarii are the ones who go into the labyrinth and once they get out they go to Alyssia and become angels. Now writing this review that sounds a bit like The Hunger Games, doesn't it? But anyway, it sounds great. Icarus is their main God and they have this mythology around his story and him. When they go into the labyrinth things are not as they were told.
Being honest, maybe the story was great done but I can't say because I really really disliked the main character. That made me not want to read it, just her voice, her actions frustrated me.
I would read the second book because the ending was interesting and far more easy to read than the book per se. Plus, it has kind of a cliffhanger challenging ending and I can't wait to see some reactions from some characters.
The Characters:
The girl, who is the main character, just frustrated me. I hated she didn't have the courage to defend herself, I'm not talking of standing for others because maybe that's too much. But she didn't do anything, to survive, to be respected. I just couldn't stand her. I felt the book was more of her, the people she met, how she moved into this new life and the book could have been much more.
There were other characters we didn't really get to know, others I loved and then hated, others I hated from the beginning.
Though it was a great idea I couldn't connect with the main character and that made me not enjoy the book as much as I expected.
The writing:
The writing was okay, it was a mythological/fantasy read. I wouldn't call it an easy or fast paced read, I think it can feel dragged.
The Story:
This was a great idea. Each year some children/teenagers between 10 and 16 years old are choosen, randomly, to become Icarii. Icarii are the ones who go into the labyrinth and once they get out they go to Alyssia and become angels. Now writing this review that sounds a bit like The Hunger Games, doesn't it? But anyway, it sounds great. Icarus is their main God and they have this mythology around his story and him. When they go into the labyrinth things are not as they were told.
Being honest, maybe the story was great done but I can't say because I really really disliked the main character. That made me not want to read it, just her voice, her actions frustrated me.
I would read the second book because the ending was interesting and far more easy to read than the book per se. Plus, it has kind of a cliffhanger challenging ending and I can't wait to see some reactions from some characters.
The Characters:
The girl, who is the main character, just frustrated me. I hated she didn't have the courage to defend herself, I'm not talking of standing for others because maybe that's too much. But she didn't do anything, to survive, to be respected. I just couldn't stand her. I felt the book was more of her, the people she met, how she moved into this new life and the book could have been much more.
There were other characters we didn't really get to know, others I loved and then hated, others I hated from the beginning.
Though it was a great idea I couldn't connect with the main character and that made me not enjoy the book as much as I expected.
August 21, 2016
It is Clara who is desperate to enter the labyrinth and it is Clara who is bright, strong, and fearless enough to take on any challenge. It is no surprise when she is chosen. But so is the girl who has always lived in her shadow. Together they enter. Within minutes, they are torn apart forever. Now the girl who has never left the city walls must fight to survive in a living nightmare, where one false turn with who to trust means a certain dead end.
This book starts off very quickly and the pace is very fast until about the middle of the book, where I felt like the pace slowed way down. This book is based around a society that worships Icarus and the beginning of the book explains this world's version of the myth. Basically, an angel names Icarus was tricked by the gods into flying into the sun where he was burned and then fell to earth. A human built him a tomb underground so he could heal and one day come back to the surface. This human places the tomb in the middle of a labyrinth and a city is then built above it. The story itself takes place in the future, where 16 children are chosen to go into the labyrinth, where legend has it if they make it to the center they will find the angel Icarus and be blessed to become angels themselves. However, I found that the characters were not very developed, I felt like we didn't really get to know the main character or her best friend, who are both chosen to enter the labyrinth, at all. This book has kind of a Maze Runner or The Hunger Games style of world building and society. Overall, I believe it was a good debut novel by the author, I think it's just a hard market to compete with after series such as I mentioned above. The book itself was entertaining and it was well written, I believe the world building needed a bit more development.
Thank you to Switch Press for sending me a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
This book starts off very quickly and the pace is very fast until about the middle of the book, where I felt like the pace slowed way down. This book is based around a society that worships Icarus and the beginning of the book explains this world's version of the myth. Basically, an angel names Icarus was tricked by the gods into flying into the sun where he was burned and then fell to earth. A human built him a tomb underground so he could heal and one day come back to the surface. This human places the tomb in the middle of a labyrinth and a city is then built above it. The story itself takes place in the future, where 16 children are chosen to go into the labyrinth, where legend has it if they make it to the center they will find the angel Icarus and be blessed to become angels themselves. However, I found that the characters were not very developed, I felt like we didn't really get to know the main character or her best friend, who are both chosen to enter the labyrinth, at all. This book has kind of a Maze Runner or The Hunger Games style of world building and society. Overall, I believe it was a good debut novel by the author, I think it's just a hard market to compete with after series such as I mentioned above. The book itself was entertaining and it was well written, I believe the world building needed a bit more development.
Thank you to Switch Press for sending me a free copy of the book in exchange for an honest review.
November 9, 2016
Children of Icarus seems like it's trying to be a twist on The Maze Runner except the character is a worthless, spineless, annoying loser. Seriously.
My dad has a dog they got from the pound. She's old, very fat, and whines incessantly as soon as she sees you. When my dad first told me he hated the dog and the only reason he kept her was because he didn't want her to be euthanized at the shelter, I had nothing but pity for the dog. Poor thing just wants love, right!?
...Until I met the dog. I tried to take that dog out on a walk, and the whole time she whined and whined and whined over ABSOLUTELY NOTHING and all I wanted to do was put her right back in the backyard and not deal with her anymore.
So this girl in Children of Icarus is such a spineless coward she is basically mute for most of the book. When her best friend dies, she assumes her identity because she's too shell-shocked to correct anyone. Never mind that her trauma wasn't nearly as bad as some of the others; she's just SO IMPORTANT GUYS that she's the special child and we should all feel bad for her.
I hated her so much that I honestly wasn't all that upset at first when Collin first started bullying her. I KNOW HOW BAD THAT SOUNDS. Really I do. But when he was just making snide comments about how she was a liar and a spineless coward, I was all on board. When that became attempted sexual molestation and murder, he became too much like a caricature. Once that happened I couldn't take him seriously either.
Tack on the convoluted non-reason for the cool girl taking "Clara" under her wing, and I really couldn't take any of it seriously.
My dad has a dog they got from the pound. She's old, very fat, and whines incessantly as soon as she sees you. When my dad first told me he hated the dog and the only reason he kept her was because he didn't want her to be euthanized at the shelter, I had nothing but pity for the dog. Poor thing just wants love, right!?
...Until I met the dog. I tried to take that dog out on a walk, and the whole time she whined and whined and whined over ABSOLUTELY NOTHING and all I wanted to do was put her right back in the backyard and not deal with her anymore.
So this girl in Children of Icarus is such a spineless coward she is basically mute for most of the book. When her best friend dies, she assumes her identity because she's too shell-shocked to correct anyone. Never mind that her trauma wasn't nearly as bad as some of the others; she's just SO IMPORTANT GUYS that she's the special child and we should all feel bad for her.
I hated her so much that I honestly wasn't all that upset at first when Collin first started bullying her. I KNOW HOW BAD THAT SOUNDS. Really I do. But when he was just making snide comments about how she was a liar and a spineless coward, I was all on board. When that became attempted sexual molestation and murder, he became too much like a caricature. Once that happened I couldn't take him seriously either.
Tack on the convoluted non-reason for the cool girl taking "Clara" under her wing, and I really couldn't take any of it seriously.
October 4, 2016
Oh just look at this cover! Its amazing isn't it? And it's the reason I really wanted to love this book, but it just didn't happen. So we have a girl with a name we don't know who alongside her friend Clara is chosen to enter the labyrinth. Believing that if they find their way out of it, they will become angels. But what they find in the labyrinth is very far from angelic. Within the labyrinth the girl is taken in by a group of other people who have been there surviving for some time. On arrival she gets caught up in a lie, one she cant seem to escape and could get her into even more trouble.
This was way to close to the Maze Runner for me, well I actually really liked that one, but i couldn't make friends with this one. I couldn't connect to the main character no matter how hard I tried and some parts I found almost uncomfortable to read. The concept of this story should be a hit, it sounded incredible and way up my street. There was just something that didn't work for me. While it was in a way, interesting enough to finish I cant say I enjoyed the ride.
I tell you what i really liked tho, the world the girl and Clara came from, so much more then the labyrinth. What a unique idea, I genuinely would have loved to read more about it.
I also felt that there was this huge build up all the way through the book, but a grand finale never came for me. More then anything it left me puzzled.
Great concept, superb idea but failed to deliver.
Thank you to Georgia and Curious Fox for my copy.
This was way to close to the Maze Runner for me, well I actually really liked that one, but i couldn't make friends with this one. I couldn't connect to the main character no matter how hard I tried and some parts I found almost uncomfortable to read. The concept of this story should be a hit, it sounded incredible and way up my street. There was just something that didn't work for me. While it was in a way, interesting enough to finish I cant say I enjoyed the ride.
I tell you what i really liked tho, the world the girl and Clara came from, so much more then the labyrinth. What a unique idea, I genuinely would have loved to read more about it.
I also felt that there was this huge build up all the way through the book, but a grand finale never came for me. More then anything it left me puzzled.
Great concept, superb idea but failed to deliver.
Thank you to Georgia and Curious Fox for my copy.
August 1, 2016
After racing through this utterly compelling book, I'm really questioning how far I would go to get my hands on the second. The answer would shock you unless you've read it, too. I admit that I underestimated Children of Icarus - it almost got under my radar, and that would have been a sad mistake because it was so good. While it reminded me in part of The Maze Runner (mysterious labyrinth with horrifying depths) and it reminded me a bit of Ann Aguire's Enclave (a primitive society born operating in confusion and fear), it was something all its own and that something was rich and engaging. The narrator is not the fierce warrior woman, as a matter of fact, she is the forgettable sidekick, and that leaves a lot of room for growth. The mystery and palpable danger of her situation make it hard to leave her side, even when you need a bathroom break. The twist at the end left me stunned, and the questions I'm still pondering have me itching to talk about it to anyone who will listen. I'm definitely adding this book to my high school classroom library wish list, and I can't wait to share it with my readers. The fast-paced action and the unique brand of mystery make for a winning combination that I know my students will embrace. Language and situations are appropriate for high school readers. I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
July 18, 2016
The people believe Icarus to be their savior. The people believe that Icarus chooses people to become Angels for a reason. People are unaware of what is actually happening. With the dangers of the labyrinth one has to wonder if everything they believe in are lies.
This book was pretty good. If you're a fan of the Maze Runner or The Hunger Games you would probably enjoy this story. It's a mixture of the two, wrapped in with myth's. Most people know the story of Icarus - this book takes that story and molds it into a different version. Icarus is basically the town's Jesus/Messiah/Savior. Everyone prays to Icarus, everyone hopes that he chooses them to be his next set of Angels.
So when our main character gets picked and isn't thrilled she feels ashamed. As if she's the only one in the town who does not see the glory in being an Angel. And then she gets taken into the labyrinth. And realizes that maybe she was in her right mind to not want to get picked.
I enjoyed the fantasy aspect of the story. The demons that get brought to life were, although terrifying, creatures I would love to see brought to life. This is one of those books where you wish there was a movie option for it, because you just know that it would play well on the screen.
http://www.onceuponatwilight.com/2016...
This book was pretty good. If you're a fan of the Maze Runner or The Hunger Games you would probably enjoy this story. It's a mixture of the two, wrapped in with myth's. Most people know the story of Icarus - this book takes that story and molds it into a different version. Icarus is basically the town's Jesus/Messiah/Savior. Everyone prays to Icarus, everyone hopes that he chooses them to be his next set of Angels.
So when our main character gets picked and isn't thrilled she feels ashamed. As if she's the only one in the town who does not see the glory in being an Angel. And then she gets taken into the labyrinth. And realizes that maybe she was in her right mind to not want to get picked.
I enjoyed the fantasy aspect of the story. The demons that get brought to life were, although terrifying, creatures I would love to see brought to life. This is one of those books where you wish there was a movie option for it, because you just know that it would play well on the screen.
http://www.onceuponatwilight.com/2016...
July 28, 2016
This book can be a little confusing and I have mixed feelings but I think its worth a shot. I liked the writing, setting of the story and the concept but the buildup and development of the plot threw me off, because of the strange pacing of the book its difficult to relate the ending of the book with the rest of it, in the beginning we see the main character not doing much (She has social anxiety) but it gets to a point that its frustrating because she just stops talking altogether and freezes, its much later on that she goes into action and realizes of her mistakes but it's too late, and she never reveals her name, not even thinks of it, the only information about it its that is very common and that's it, so for a plot that revolves around her identity (or fake identity) it doesn't make much sense.
In a nutshell, I liked the book but I think it could be better if the main character was more developed and took more action in the first half of the book, because to me it felt like the plot was happening to her and she did nothing of significance in it even though she is the main character, but what made me rate it 4 stars its the end! I think its amazing and I would like to read the sequel.
Note: I received a digital copy of this title for an unbiased opinion and reviewing purposes.
In a nutshell, I liked the book but I think it could be better if the main character was more developed and took more action in the first half of the book, because to me it felt like the plot was happening to her and she did nothing of significance in it even though she is the main character, but what made me rate it 4 stars its the end! I think its amazing and I would like to read the sequel.
Note: I received a digital copy of this title for an unbiased opinion and reviewing purposes.
March 30, 2016
This is not a safe book. You can go through the whole book feeling safe or like safety is around the corner. It really isn't I was almost halfway through the book before I realized and time had passed and I had already gotten so far, so it's an amazing book. Some of the horrible things, all involving the Icarii seem very needless. You can't make horrible people horrible just because they're horrible, especially when you never saw them as horrible to begin with. The whole middle of the book could have ruined the story if it hadn't been for the ending. Everything sort of clicked. I can definitely see why everything that happened had to happen to get to that conclusion, but it still leaves a very foul after-taste. As for everything else, I'd definitely recommend this book with a subtle warning to keep on your toes, and get ready to scream by the end when you realize how much you hunger for it to not be over.
September 15, 2018
review to come
April 10, 2018
I honestly don't even know where to start with my review for this book.
One of the things that I noticed right away when I received my copy of this book - and this is quite unusual for me to comment about - is that the cover and page quality is really really nice. The cover illustration is very dark but when you remove the dust cover, the same image is underneath and it has a very nice finish to it. I also loved the paper quality; it was thick and glossy and I felt really happy flipping the pages. Yes, I know, this is a weird way to start my review but I really couldn't get over how awesome the book printing was ... but now, let me get into the content itself.
Our protagonist in this story has no name. It is never mentioned. I actually really like this because it is an idea I myself had for a story that I wanted to write. The author overcomes the difficulty of having to reference a character with no name by telling the story in the first person narrative, which is quite smart since most readers also want to get to know the way the MC thinks and feels and this way you get two birds with one stone.
I really liked the idea of introducing mythological creatures to the story. I just wish there was more to them. There was also a maze runner vibe, what with the setting taking place in a labyrinth, which I really quite liked.
However, I didn't like the story or the main character ... or any of the characters, for that matter.
Let's start with the story: nothing happens. Our protagonist, after surviving a harrowing attack, finds herself in the company of other survivors. And then nothing happens. All we read about is her observations of others and how daily life is among the survivors. Even when the story takes a turn towards something more interesting, it becomes bland as well. Literally, the ending is the most exciting part of the story, and the use of the word exciting is a bit of a stretch; I read it and felt absolutely nothing. I think my problem with the story is that I was expecting it to be heavily infused with mythology and for there to be tons of action. However, there really wasn't much of that. I also think that the story had a lot of gore and violence to it, and a lot of it was unnecessary and quite sickening. And when I mean sickening, I'm referring to the behaviour of the characters.
Which brings me to the characters. Now, I really didn't like the protagonist, and I found myself feeling both pity and anger towards her. She has no spine, no bravery, no strength whatsoever. She just sits there and lets things happen to her. On the one hand, I'm always saying that I want realistic character portrayal; if I were in her shoes, I would probably also be petrified and unable to do anything. But nobody wants to read about a character like that. There is a reason that authors write stories with main characters that have personalities; they attract readers and make the story interesting. In this case, our protagonist is the most boring and cowardly character I have ever read about. Literally, almost all of the problems could have been avoided if she had just spoken one sentence. But she didn't. However, she suffered way too much for just that one mistake.
This is where the story really made me upset. The behaviour of the other characters towards the protagonist made me sick. I found myself getting really worked up and unable to read at times. In the beginning, I was just annoyed with how rude a few of the characters were towards our MC ... but after the truth is revealed, I was just shocked at the way things escalated. There was no need for it to become that brutal and it was seriously messed up. I was not okay with it. I have no idea how I managed to push through that part of the book, and I'm glad it didn't come up again. Consider this a warning about the seriously intense violence and brutality that the characters exhibit against each other.
All in all, I was not very pleased with the book. I didn't think the story was nearly as interesting as it could be and I hated all of the characters. To top it off, the scenes of cruelty and violence left me feeling very disturbed. I'm giving this a 1.5/5 stars. Since I went through all of the effort to get a copy of this book and read it just to read the sequel, I will be reading Children of Daedala. Let's hope the story improves from here on out.
One of the things that I noticed right away when I received my copy of this book - and this is quite unusual for me to comment about - is that the cover and page quality is really really nice. The cover illustration is very dark but when you remove the dust cover, the same image is underneath and it has a very nice finish to it. I also loved the paper quality; it was thick and glossy and I felt really happy flipping the pages. Yes, I know, this is a weird way to start my review but I really couldn't get over how awesome the book printing was ... but now, let me get into the content itself.
Our protagonist in this story has no name. It is never mentioned. I actually really like this because it is an idea I myself had for a story that I wanted to write. The author overcomes the difficulty of having to reference a character with no name by telling the story in the first person narrative, which is quite smart since most readers also want to get to know the way the MC thinks and feels and this way you get two birds with one stone.
I really liked the idea of introducing mythological creatures to the story. I just wish there was more to them. There was also a maze runner vibe, what with the setting taking place in a labyrinth, which I really quite liked.
However, I didn't like the story or the main character ... or any of the characters, for that matter.
Let's start with the story: nothing happens. Our protagonist, after surviving a harrowing attack, finds herself in the company of other survivors. And then nothing happens. All we read about is her observations of others and how daily life is among the survivors. Even when the story takes a turn towards something more interesting, it becomes bland as well. Literally, the ending is the most exciting part of the story, and the use of the word exciting is a bit of a stretch; I read it and felt absolutely nothing. I think my problem with the story is that I was expecting it to be heavily infused with mythology and for there to be tons of action. However, there really wasn't much of that. I also think that the story had a lot of gore and violence to it, and a lot of it was unnecessary and quite sickening. And when I mean sickening, I'm referring to the behaviour of the characters.
Which brings me to the characters. Now, I really didn't like the protagonist, and I found myself feeling both pity and anger towards her. She has no spine, no bravery, no strength whatsoever. She just sits there and lets things happen to her. On the one hand, I'm always saying that I want realistic character portrayal; if I were in her shoes, I would probably also be petrified and unable to do anything. But nobody wants to read about a character like that. There is a reason that authors write stories with main characters that have personalities; they attract readers and make the story interesting. In this case, our protagonist is the most boring and cowardly character I have ever read about. Literally, almost all of the problems could have been avoided if she had just spoken one sentence. But she didn't. However, she suffered way too much for just that one mistake.
This is where the story really made me upset. The behaviour of the other characters towards the protagonist made me sick. I found myself getting really worked up and unable to read at times. In the beginning, I was just annoyed with how rude a few of the characters were towards our MC ... but after the truth is revealed, I was just shocked at the way things escalated. There was no need for it to become that brutal and it was seriously messed up. I was not okay with it. I have no idea how I managed to push through that part of the book, and I'm glad it didn't come up again. Consider this a warning about the seriously intense violence and brutality that the characters exhibit against each other.
All in all, I was not very pleased with the book. I didn't think the story was nearly as interesting as it could be and I hated all of the characters. To top it off, the scenes of cruelty and violence left me feeling very disturbed. I'm giving this a 1.5/5 stars. Since I went through all of the effort to get a copy of this book and read it just to read the sequel, I will be reading Children of Daedala. Let's hope the story improves from here on out.
October 25, 2017
Goodreads Synopsis:
It is Clara who is desperate to enter the labyrinth and it is Clara who is bright, strong, and fearless enough to take on any challenge. It is no surprise when she is chosen. But so is the girl who has always lived in her shadow. Together they enter. Within minutes, they are torn apart forever. Now the girl who has never left the city walls must fight to survive in a living nightmare, where one false turn with who to trust means a certain dead end.
My Review:
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a review.
From the moment I started this book, I was sucked in. The story is so interesting and unlike anything I've read lately. It begins by explaining about Icarus, how the gods told him he could get to their land by flying into the sun. How he tried, and fell back down to the earth. How Daedala found him and built him a tomb and a massive city over top of the tomb. How every year young people try to find the end of the labyrinth surrounding said tomb. And how if they make it to the end they're supposedly allowed to enter the land of the angels, Alyssia. And that's just the prologue.
Children between the ages of ten and sixteen are candidates for the labyrinth trial. Families send their chosen children out in hopes they'll become angels. Little do they know what actually lies beyond the walls of the city. Clara is sixteen and so is the main character, who's first person viewpoint is the story. At sixteen, this is their last chance to become Icarii. Whoever's left behind gets to continue their lives in the city. Everyone lives in these massive sky scrapers, and most people don't leave their own building, as everything they could possibly need is in it. They pray to Icarus and wish their children would be picked to go into the labyrinth.
All of the sudden you're whisked out of your home and away from everything you've ever known. You're almost non verbal, and have just followed your best friend around for your life so far. You're put in the labyrinth. You don't really know who you are yet, and you're pushed into this scary place with other kids your age. You don't know what the outcome will be, or even if what the adults told you was true. You don't want to become an angel, let alone be in this labyrinth. Everything feels like a dream.
Except the angels are wrong. Everything is wrong. You wish you told your mom you didn't want to go, but she seemed so proud that you were chosen. They're grey and feathered and have giant talons. They're grotesque and will kill you and eat you without a second thought. And now you're running, hiding, trying to stay alive in this crazy world you live in, where everything is wrong and everyone lied. There are monsters and your fellow chosen Icarii are being slaughtered. And you still aren't sure of yourself. You're saved by a group of kids and taken to their safe house. You assume a new identity and slip into her life as quickly and quietly as possible, even though the girl is long gone and you're not sure you should. And you survive, though it seems like it's without purpose.
I didn't want to put this book down for a single second. Can we just talk about how nice this hardcover is? It's heavy and the pages are thick and it just seems really well made, and high quality. I'm impressed. The cover is eye catching and really nice, and unlike others, it's printed underneath the dust cover on the actual book itself, which is really cool. The characters are so interesting and the world they're placed in is so intricate I just want to read it forever.
Overall I think this is probably one of the most exciting books I've read lately and I can't wait to start the next one. Definitely check it out if you get the chance, you won't regret it!
Here's a link to the book on amazon.
https://www.amazon.ca/Children-Icarus...
Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more at my blog.
(Radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com)
It is Clara who is desperate to enter the labyrinth and it is Clara who is bright, strong, and fearless enough to take on any challenge. It is no surprise when she is chosen. But so is the girl who has always lived in her shadow. Together they enter. Within minutes, they are torn apart forever. Now the girl who has never left the city walls must fight to survive in a living nightmare, where one false turn with who to trust means a certain dead end.
My Review:
I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for a review.
From the moment I started this book, I was sucked in. The story is so interesting and unlike anything I've read lately. It begins by explaining about Icarus, how the gods told him he could get to their land by flying into the sun. How he tried, and fell back down to the earth. How Daedala found him and built him a tomb and a massive city over top of the tomb. How every year young people try to find the end of the labyrinth surrounding said tomb. And how if they make it to the end they're supposedly allowed to enter the land of the angels, Alyssia. And that's just the prologue.
Children between the ages of ten and sixteen are candidates for the labyrinth trial. Families send their chosen children out in hopes they'll become angels. Little do they know what actually lies beyond the walls of the city. Clara is sixteen and so is the main character, who's first person viewpoint is the story. At sixteen, this is their last chance to become Icarii. Whoever's left behind gets to continue their lives in the city. Everyone lives in these massive sky scrapers, and most people don't leave their own building, as everything they could possibly need is in it. They pray to Icarus and wish their children would be picked to go into the labyrinth.
All of the sudden you're whisked out of your home and away from everything you've ever known. You're almost non verbal, and have just followed your best friend around for your life so far. You're put in the labyrinth. You don't really know who you are yet, and you're pushed into this scary place with other kids your age. You don't know what the outcome will be, or even if what the adults told you was true. You don't want to become an angel, let alone be in this labyrinth. Everything feels like a dream.
Except the angels are wrong. Everything is wrong. You wish you told your mom you didn't want to go, but she seemed so proud that you were chosen. They're grey and feathered and have giant talons. They're grotesque and will kill you and eat you without a second thought. And now you're running, hiding, trying to stay alive in this crazy world you live in, where everything is wrong and everyone lied. There are monsters and your fellow chosen Icarii are being slaughtered. And you still aren't sure of yourself. You're saved by a group of kids and taken to their safe house. You assume a new identity and slip into her life as quickly and quietly as possible, even though the girl is long gone and you're not sure you should. And you survive, though it seems like it's without purpose.
I didn't want to put this book down for a single second. Can we just talk about how nice this hardcover is? It's heavy and the pages are thick and it just seems really well made, and high quality. I'm impressed. The cover is eye catching and really nice, and unlike others, it's printed underneath the dust cover on the actual book itself, which is really cool. The characters are so interesting and the world they're placed in is so intricate I just want to read it forever.
Overall I think this is probably one of the most exciting books I've read lately and I can't wait to start the next one. Definitely check it out if you get the chance, you won't regret it!
Here's a link to the book on amazon.
https://www.amazon.ca/Children-Icarus...
Thanks for reading! Check out this review and more at my blog.
(Radioactivebookreviews.wordpress.com)
September 3, 2017
*This review is spoiler free!*
As much as I wanted to enjoy this book, it fell short for me.
Why? Well, it fell prey to a lot of dystopian genre stereotypes. I honestly feel like you could pluck these characters into the Hunger Games setting and it would almost be the same book. Which, I get it, it's very easy to write stereotypical dystopian novels that follow the same plots as the dystopian giants before them. The market is saturated with them right now. The reason why I found this so frustrating is that this book was set up to be unique and different, but it didn't rise above the other novels similar to it.
Here are the things that didn't work for me. Our MC. I found her to be frustrating. She was uncommonly strong, but somehow still so unsure of herself and at many times weirdly weak (when it was convenient for the plot). I wanted her to be true to herself and a bad ass lady, but she wasn't. The love story. I still don't understand why they were attracted to each other or how they liked each other in the first place. The idea of attraction came on to the readers so suddenly it was shocking to me. There wasn't an organic growth; it appeared out of nowhere. And then, of course, MC started to get weak and clumsy around him, the tell-tale signs of love in a dystopian novel. In other words, their romance was stereotypical and predictable. As I am always in favor of strong female protagonists who kick butt and don't need no man, I was saddened by the fact that she didn't uphold to that.
However, there were several aspects of this book that I did enjoy. As I mentioned above, the beginning was so strong. The setting and the history of the labyrinth were very well placed. You genuinely fear the labyrinth as a reader thanks to the slow build up and reveal of the true horrors that lay within. I found myself wondering if I would be able to survive (I wouldn't, if we're being honest!). The author did an excellent job of slowly showing us the setting instead of throwing all of it at us at once. This is where her novel differed from the countless of others. The setting was unique, the horrors of the fallen world were truly terrifying, and her setting felt real and like another one of her characters.
Another cool aspect was the mental decline a lot of these characters faced. As weird as it is to say this, that part was awesome! I love that we get to see the mental affects of living in such a horrid place. It's extremely realistic, and it made the characters dynamic. It's not easy to see them facing their own demons, but it's important because that is truly what would happen. I love that this author was unafraid to explore the darker parts of her story like that.
I think this author has a lot of potential! Her ideas are creative. However, she does have a bit work in regards to getting past those genre pitfalls. I look forward to what she cranks out next to see how she has improved!
As much as I wanted to enjoy this book, it fell short for me.
Why? Well, it fell prey to a lot of dystopian genre stereotypes. I honestly feel like you could pluck these characters into the Hunger Games setting and it would almost be the same book. Which, I get it, it's very easy to write stereotypical dystopian novels that follow the same plots as the dystopian giants before them. The market is saturated with them right now. The reason why I found this so frustrating is that this book was set up to be unique and different, but it didn't rise above the other novels similar to it.
Here are the things that didn't work for me. Our MC. I found her to be frustrating. She was uncommonly strong, but somehow still so unsure of herself and at many times weirdly weak (when it was convenient for the plot). I wanted her to be true to herself and a bad ass lady, but she wasn't. The love story. I still don't understand why they were attracted to each other or how they liked each other in the first place. The idea of attraction came on to the readers so suddenly it was shocking to me. There wasn't an organic growth; it appeared out of nowhere. And then, of course, MC started to get weak and clumsy around him, the tell-tale signs of love in a dystopian novel. In other words, their romance was stereotypical and predictable. As I am always in favor of strong female protagonists who kick butt and don't need no man, I was saddened by the fact that she didn't uphold to that.
However, there were several aspects of this book that I did enjoy. As I mentioned above, the beginning was so strong. The setting and the history of the labyrinth were very well placed. You genuinely fear the labyrinth as a reader thanks to the slow build up and reveal of the true horrors that lay within. I found myself wondering if I would be able to survive (I wouldn't, if we're being honest!). The author did an excellent job of slowly showing us the setting instead of throwing all of it at us at once. This is where her novel differed from the countless of others. The setting was unique, the horrors of the fallen world were truly terrifying, and her setting felt real and like another one of her characters.
Another cool aspect was the mental decline a lot of these characters faced. As weird as it is to say this, that part was awesome! I love that we get to see the mental affects of living in such a horrid place. It's extremely realistic, and it made the characters dynamic. It's not easy to see them facing their own demons, but it's important because that is truly what would happen. I love that this author was unafraid to explore the darker parts of her story like that.
I think this author has a lot of potential! Her ideas are creative. However, she does have a bit work in regards to getting past those genre pitfalls. I look forward to what she cranks out next to see how she has improved!
November 17, 2018
There were some better aspects to this book, like the world-building and monsters were interesting, but the world-building was pretty much limited to glimpses and allusions. For the most part it's awful. It reads like the author wanted to write a prequel but only had material for about half of a prequel, so half the book is about a girl being demeaned and abused and being too passive to do literally anything.
The main character annoyed me, but I was aware this was only because she wasn't strong enough to stand up to other characters who kept her in this role. She's resented and abused for not pulling her weight by people who never made any effort to teach her what's expected in their society; they basically decide from the start she's worthless so it's okay to mistreat her, so when it culminates in her being put on display and Collin basically deciding which of his friends will get to rape her first, there's a sense of "this is too far but also basically how our society functions".
Not to mention the fact that after going to great lengths to describe how filthy she is even compared to everyone else, apparently the character is still irresistibly sexy while being demeaned. It also makes her confusion about Gina seem... stupid. Just stupid. "How could she be here? She's too young to be sent into the labyrinth!" Geez with this many teenagers around I was surprised there weren't more little kids! Most teenagers know what sex is.
The writing is odd, with a habit of describing what happened rather than showing it. This strengthened the feeling that the middle half of the book was thrown in as filler. What's especially frustrating is that when something actually *happens* the writing is good! This is a capable writer who clearly needed a good deal more guidance than she received on plotting and making characters who were more than either abusers or enablers.
The main character annoyed me, but I was aware this was only because she wasn't strong enough to stand up to other characters who kept her in this role. She's resented and abused for not pulling her weight by people who never made any effort to teach her what's expected in their society; they basically decide from the start she's worthless so it's okay to mistreat her, so when it culminates in her being put on display and Collin basically deciding which of his friends will get to rape her first, there's a sense of "this is too far but also basically how our society functions".
Not to mention the fact that after going to great lengths to describe how filthy she is even compared to everyone else, apparently the character is still irresistibly sexy while being demeaned. It also makes her confusion about Gina seem... stupid. Just stupid. "How could she be here? She's too young to be sent into the labyrinth!" Geez with this many teenagers around I was surprised there weren't more little kids! Most teenagers know what sex is.
The writing is odd, with a habit of describing what happened rather than showing it. This strengthened the feeling that the middle half of the book was thrown in as filler. What's especially frustrating is that when something actually *happens* the writing is good! This is a capable writer who clearly needed a good deal more guidance than she received on plotting and making characters who were more than either abusers or enablers.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
April 7, 2018
If I had picked this book up on my own, it would probably be three stars. With the ringing endorsement of my students, I've kicked it up to four stars. Here are my qualms:
1. It is dark. The premise––a community believes children are chosen to become angels when they are really fed to savage monsters in an inescapable labyrinth--is scary and intense, but I somehow still didn't expect it to be this dark. The descriptions of violence are specific and often depict human against human stabbing and cutting. (Call me callous, but I don't mind it as much when monsters are being attacked.)
2. There are two moments of attempted sexual assault. I won't go into details for sake of spoilers, but there are two scenes when it is clear that a teenage boy is attempting to intimidate our main character and show her that she's physically weak, and does so by overpowering her and then touching her in increasing private places. This was disturbing to me. However, when I mentioned this to my student who so glowingly recommended the book to me, she remembered those scenes as moments of strength for the main character (escaping her aggressor), just the same as any other struggle in the dystopian world. Perhaps the age of the reader can work as a self-censoring influence.
3. At the end of the book, there's a very high body count and very few answers. There's a part of me that wants to read the second book (already ordered but being shipped so slowly), and another part of me that wants to just read the Wikipedia article for the second book.
This all being said, I did sit and read through my lunch break because I couldn't put it down.
1. It is dark. The premise––a community believes children are chosen to become angels when they are really fed to savage monsters in an inescapable labyrinth--is scary and intense, but I somehow still didn't expect it to be this dark. The descriptions of violence are specific and often depict human against human stabbing and cutting. (Call me callous, but I don't mind it as much when monsters are being attacked.)
2. There are two moments of attempted sexual assault. I won't go into details for sake of spoilers, but there are two scenes when it is clear that a teenage boy is attempting to intimidate our main character and show her that she's physically weak, and does so by overpowering her and then touching her in increasing private places. This was disturbing to me. However, when I mentioned this to my student who so glowingly recommended the book to me, she remembered those scenes as moments of strength for the main character (escaping her aggressor), just the same as any other struggle in the dystopian world. Perhaps the age of the reader can work as a self-censoring influence.
3. At the end of the book, there's a very high body count and very few answers. There's a part of me that wants to read the second book (already ordered but being shipped so slowly), and another part of me that wants to just read the Wikipedia article for the second book.
This all being said, I did sit and read through my lunch break because I couldn't put it down.
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