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A review by sincerelysara22
Children of Icarus by Caighlan Smith
4.0
Thanks to Switch Press for sending me a copy of this book!
This book surprised me in many ways. I was expecting a dystopian-like society where they send their children into a labyrinth for some evil reason, I was expecting a love triangle, I was expecting a race to find the door that leads out of the labyrinth, but this is something entirely different. Something more mature than the YA book I was expecting. This book is hard; it thrusts you into this world with little explanation and you have to figure it out for yourself, much like characters in the book.
The action is intense, the monsters are terrifying, and the people at Fates could be cruel. This all makes for a very interesting story. This labyrinth is strange and gruesome and no one is coddled. Everyone lives day by day and it made me think about what living in this giant maze would be like, living this bleak life.
However, it annoyed me to no end that the main character has no name (why???) and that for 75% of the book she does nothing to stand up for herself and barely talks. I know she's scared and I know I would be, but come on! She lets herself be humiliated and yelled at because she was too afraid to talk. I know I have some social anxiety, but parts of the book made me want to scream.
For a book based on the tale of Icarus, I didn't find much connection to it or Greek mythology. I'm not very familiar with the story, but I thought this book was going to be based more on mythology than it was.
The ending was fascinating and it made me want to know more. If there is a second book, I would definitely read it to see what happens.
This book surprised me in many ways. I was expecting a dystopian-like society where they send their children into a labyrinth for some evil reason, I was expecting a love triangle, I was expecting a race to find the door that leads out of the labyrinth, but this is something entirely different. Something more mature than the YA book I was expecting. This book is hard; it thrusts you into this world with little explanation and you have to figure it out for yourself, much like characters in the book.
The action is intense, the monsters are terrifying, and the people at Fates could be cruel. This all makes for a very interesting story. This labyrinth is strange and gruesome and no one is coddled. Everyone lives day by day and it made me think about what living in this giant maze would be like, living this bleak life.
However, it annoyed me to no end that the main character has no name (why???) and that for 75% of the book she does nothing to stand up for herself and barely talks. I know she's scared and I know I would be, but come on! She lets herself be humiliated and yelled at because she was too afraid to talk. I know I have some social anxiety, but parts of the book made me want to scream.
For a book based on the tale of Icarus, I didn't find much connection to it or Greek mythology. I'm not very familiar with the story, but I thought this book was going to be based more on mythology than it was.
The ending was fascinating and it made me want to know more. If there is a second book, I would definitely read it to see what happens.