CBR Bingo square- Dun Dun
I got Icarus by K. Ancrum from a list of retellings of Greek mythology, and it made me do something I never do anymore, I skipped ahead a few chapters to make sure nothing happened to Icarus, who is a child. Yes, he’s a kid in high school, but I needed to make sure he was okay. He is almost a legal adult, but it still freaked me out that he was in the situation he found himself in. Icarus is a thief who steals from the home of Mr. Black. It’s more of a mega mansion. Mr. Black has a son, Helios, who seems to be kept prisoner in his house. Helios means sun in Greek, so there we have the myth that Icarus flew too close to him. Grew too close to him and put himself in danger from Mr. Black. There are scenes depicted off the page where Mr. Black physically harms Helios, and we read what Icarus hears.
Icarus steals things from Mr. Black at the direction of his father, who blames Mr. Black for the death of Icarus’s mother. Icarus’s dad makes sure that he keeps his distance from the other kids at school and he regularly steals things from Mr. Black. Icarus makes friends at school despite his father’s rules and a couple of the kids attempt to help him see that he’s in a situation that isn’t normal, and that he should try to get out of it.
There is definitely suspension of belief required that a 17 year old kid can rescue another kid who he has fallen in love with despite the dad having access to great power and money. This book did a good job of ratcheting up the dread that builds as we get to the conclusion. This is not my typical genre, but I am glad I read it.