Unfortunately, this title wasn't for me. However, this is a case of user error because I didn't realize it was YA which isn't my typical read. We got it in for the our store, and I'm always glad to bolster our queer YA book collection.

This book was a like not a love but also that Author’s Note kind of wrecked me. The short chapters kept things moving quickly even when the plot stalled out (which it did in the middle - because we were getting lots of information and character building but not much direction). I also felt like there were a lot of loose threads left dangling (Aspen? Helios’s mom? Sorrel?) but I really feel like the author’s note is what tied the whole story together and without it, the book wouldn’t have felt entirely whole.

Ancrum’s prose is always good, as is her ability to bring the cores of messy people together and show glimpses of anger, light, sorrow, and more with only a few words. To be able to craft such a story with such short chapters is a true sign of mastery.

Icarus by K. Ancrum was a quick read about a young man stuck in a life created by his father of stealing art from a wealthy family. (I read this book in 5 hours, I could not put it down.) During one of his heists Icarus discovers the wealthy man’s son, Helios, who is held captive by his own father. Icarus decides to find a way to free Helios.

Icarus was one of my most anticipated releases of the year, and I was so excited to get to read it early. The book was off to a bit of a rocky start for me, though. The sentences were largely very short, and the chapters were as well, which made the writing initially feel a little choppy and took some getting used to. This got a lot better once Icarus and Helios, the love interest, started building a connection.

I do love the way this book pulled from Greek mythology in a contemporary novel. It's such a strange book, with main characters who are really struggling but are finding support in each other. This was very touching and I did really like the romance. I started enjoying the writing more the longer the book went on as well. I also loved seeing disability rep (Icarus has EDS) as well as intersex rep (Helios is intersex!).

This book is most like The Wicker King compared to everything else K. Ancrum has written, which is, I think, the main reason why this didn't work for me as well as I'd have liked. The Wicker King has such a soft spot in my heart, so I think I had some unfair expectations of this book being as good or better. And at this time, I simply didn't feel the same level of emotional investment. I do think I might enjoy this more on a reread because I'll have managed my expectations.

This was a slow read for me even though the short sections should have made it go quickly. I liked the overall vibe and the relationships, but there was a disconnect between me and the writing that made it difficult for me to connect with the characters. This would be a good read for people who like troubled characters and complicated relationships.

In theory, I should be giving this four stars rather than five. Because the premise is, holy cats, quite a stretch: Icarus's father, Angus, has raised him to become a burglar. At Angus's behest, Icarus steals artworks from Stuart Black's mansion (he gets in by climbing up the outer wall) and replaces them with forgeries made by Angus. He's been at this since middle school. Angus's reasons are worthy of a Jacobean revenge play, which isn't a complaint but does give you an idea of the OTT-ness of it all. The really, truly, super weird version of Catholicism practiced by Angus and Icarus, ditto. They pray in Latin, for Pete's sake.

It turns out that Mr. Black has a son, whom he's keeping prisoner for reasons that are explained but that don't necessarily make, you know, all the legal sense in the world. The prince in the tower is named Helios. Is this seeming a little on the nose? Just wait till you get to the climactic events.

Besides all this there's the disjuncture between Icarus's life as a burglar and his life as a senior in high school, where he is, for the first time in his life, beginning to make friends, something that his father has forbidden him because of the need to keep their life of crime a secret. But Icarus is, among other things, a teenager, and he's begun to resent his father's control over his life.

This is bonkers, right? But here's the thing: Icarus is one of the most endearing characters I've read about in some time. He's smart, generous, lonely, unfailingly kind, brave, and hungry for human connection; all the OTT trappings are ultimately in service of the book's heart, which is the story of how Icarus begins to form those connections apart from his father and to nourish friendship and community. And, of course, to rescue the prince in the tower.

A strange, wonderful book that might remind you of a sweeter-natured sibling of Daniel May's books -- some of the dialogue, in particular, reminded me of May. File under Not for Everybody, but lucky you if it's for you.

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperTeen for the ARC.

I don't think anything I can write can do justice to how much I loved this book. I have absolutely zero complaints . This Queer YA romance between an art thief and the son of the man he's been stealing from completely captured me . The vulnerability and emotion our main character goes through hurts your heart. The friendships he builds without even meaning to . The platonic love between the two that becomes his best friends. The way his classmates all looked out for each other behind the scenes. The portrayal of two different types of parental abuse both intentionally and unintentionally, physical and emotional , but trauma nontheless. Overcoming it and reaching for the future you want and deserve. In the end it was simply Perfect 🥰

Icarus has trained most of his life to steal artwork from the Black mansion and replace them with replicas. He keeps everyone in his life at a distance, until he's caught by someone on a mission.

I thought that this book was ok. The writing was really good and I love the short chapters. I also loved the characters and the heart that they had. I just felt that the plot was really lacking for me. If it was a shorter book, I think I would have enjoyed it more.

Icarus by K. Ancrum is a brilliant and heartfelt novel inspired by the myth of Icarus. Ancrum writes complex and lovable characters who's relationships with each other are carried deeply throughout the whole story. This book shows how queer love and found family can flourish against all odds.The beauty and poetic nature of the writing is engaging and moving. Ancrum's writing leaves the reader wanting to delve deeper into their other works. I have and will continue to recommend this book to anyone with an interest in queer romance and modern retellings. I was truly blown away by the story, characters, and how much this book truly moved me emotionally.

Thank you NetGalley for the early copy.

This books is very delicate, and sophisticated in ways that I trouble myself trying to best figure out how to explicitly explain my reasonings as to why.

The Writing is very poetic, it has ebbs and flows that keeps you intrigue in it's short chapters. The pacing on the other hand...is a bit hard to grasp. It's slow at some points...and almost too fast in other parts of the story.

Personally, I think I am not the right audience for the author's works, and Icarus is a good example of how as much as I can appreciate it...it's not very memorable to me.

This surprised me in the best way! I haven’t read K. Ancrum’s other work but now I am going to. I loved their writing and am so impressed.

This was the achillean romance with a bit of mystery and complex familial dynamics that I needed to explore and sit with :)

I wish that I could rate this book all the stars in the galaxy.
This is a wonderful story of found family, and I want to thank Netgalley for providing me with an early copy of the book.

Icarus doesn't know how to love, but he's learning. He's learning how to hug and how to hold hands and how to open himself up to others and allow them in. He's learning how to touch and feel and belong. He is learning how to make friends and fall in love, and the reader gets the incredible privilege of learning alongside him. We as readers get to follow this young man's journey to self discovery. Every new milestone, you feel as if it's your own.
I felt a sense of pride for Icarus as if he was a real breathing person standing in front of me. His journey made me feel love right along with him. It made me feel love and hope and heartache and cozy and everything all at once.

This book is like a warm hug after a bad day. It's a cup of coffee in the morning while listening to birds sing. It's the cold side of a pillow, a snuggly fuzzy blanket. Whatever you think of as cozy, that's what this book is.

K. Ancrum weaved words together in a way that captivated my heart and soul. It left me speechless, with a deep sense of awe. I felt love deep in my soul and I do not know to express that feeling into words.

This isn't a favorite book in a way others are for me. I wasn't screaming at my kindle at 2am sweating or gasping at plot twists. This is a favorite in a different way, a peaceful way. I have no true excitement over the book and that's what I believe the point is. It's not exciting. It's peaceful. It's a boy trying to find where he belongs, trying to do mundane things like get coffee with a friend and hug his dad.
This book is a favorite in a different way, one that I think I really needed right now. The love that the characters all feel for each other, I somehow felt like I was included in that.
When I finished this book, I hugged my kindle close to my chest and just breathed, and let the beauty of this soak in.


Icarus flew close to the sun, but he didn't fall and he didn't burn. He glowed.

I thoroughly enjoyed this. It was the epitome of the phrase “be gay and do crime”.

I genuinely liked the character development we got with Icarus because he very clearly experienced emotional and social neglect from the positions he was put in. The found family vibes truly made the story hit home because it showed us that the right people who come along will dismantle everything you thought about yourself and show you the love you deserved all along.

The main characters and supporting character were all complex and in depth. They didn’t feel shallow or as though they were just passerby’s in the story at all - I think the author did a great job to pace us when we were introduced to specific characters and the role they played in Icarus’s life.

Overall a wonderful read and the ending gave me all the anxious and exciting hope I was waiting for the entire time.

I listen to an audio galley of this with a synthesized voice and I wasn't a fan. It took me out of the story a little.
But this was still very very good, like all K. Ancrum's books tbh. It had vivid characters and a captivating plot. I believed it all, even the most unbelievable things. I wasn't as invested in the romance as I could have been though. I really enjoyed reading about the dynamics and the family drama though.
It wasn't my favorite K. Ancrum book but I still enjoyed it a lot and could not stop reading and I'll probably read it again with my eyes.

Thank you to NetGalley for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review!

What a ride of a story! Icarus succeeded at doing two very difficult things in the same story. One, K. Ancrum maintained the heart of the myth of Icarus without the plot or character development feeling stale or overly predictable. Two, at its heart, Icarus is the story of a very strong boy who has to learn to be soft. We see lots of stories that force their characters to toughen up and face the harsh realities of life, but Icarus has to learn to let love into his life, accept support from friends, and be vulnerable. To me, that is so much scarier.

I was rooting for Icarus and Helios the whole time, and I can't wait for you to do the same!

4.5 Stars rounded up! Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for an ARC.

"Icarus grinned. 'Will you brighten my house with your light, Helios? Will you bring your heat to my hearth? Do you need me to say things poetically for you to take me seriously? Because I will.'"
My annotation: Goddamnit.

This book made my heart hurt in the best way. I'll admit, I was on the fence about it for the first like 5-10%. I liked it, but it wasn't grabbing hold of me. Enter Helios. I'm not typically a fan of instalove, but this was just on the other edge of it. Instafriendstolove?

The story was told in 3rd person, but we still got a lot of what was going on in Icarus' brain. We heard his thoughts, we felt his fear, we got to understand him. I'll be thinking about this story for a long time.

DNFed at 28%.

Icarus is a very specific kind of book. The writing style is very unique and, unfortunately, it just wasn't for me. Icarus is told in very short chapter, sometimes less than a page and I don't really think it works for this book. There are times when the chapter break just leaves the characters in the exact same position as the end of the previous chapter, which just broke up the momentum of a scene. There are other times when the next chapter is kind of a tangent, maybe explaining a space or the way Icarus thinks, but that also slowed me down, because I felt like it could have been information we are given while reading about the character in the space or his thought process in the moment.

Overall, I thought the story was interesting, but there's something kind of fantastical about a father and son slowly replacing art in one man's house with forgeries. Anytime the story went back to Icarus being in school, it felt jarring. Icarus also tries to say that he's being an extremely average student, when he doesn't temper his athletic abilities to the point that other student athletes are trying to get him to join their team even when he's a senior. It seems like an oversight.

Overall, I think there were just a lot of parts that don't work for me. However, I could see some readers being obsessed with this book and I think it's a super interesting concept.

Oh man oh man, K. Ancrum writes grand queer contemporary novels. This book hurt my heart and my bones (and at points, my joints). Icarus is an art thief by trade, high school loner by day. Suddenly his break ins at the Black house are transformed into a boy trying to break into his heart, and it's history from there. The chapters are so short, making this novel utterly devourable. The discussions on abuse and inner suffering were so poignant and painful. The theme of kids noticing things that adults don't is entirely accurate. Unfortunately I felt like there weren't any consequences at the end of the book though and that was just unfulfilling.

*Thank you to HarperTeen and NetGalley for an ARC in exchange for my honest review*

Thank you Harper Collin’s and Netgalley for this eARC, these opinions are my own. Icarus is part of the world but has separate life, one that keeps him from connecting with others. He’s lonely. He spends his time stealing, mostly from Mr Black, who his father blames for Icarus’ mother’s death. One night, while once again stealing from Mr. Black, he meets Helios, Mr. Black’s son. Now Icarus has a change and friendship and maybe more. But with the hatred his father has will he really ever be able to build a relationship with Helios? Filled with tension and tender moments! A story of loneliness, complicated family dynamics, love, growth! Definitely recommend checking this one out!

As a big fan of K. Ancrum, I was excited to read this retelling of the Icarus tale. Ancrum's short chapters and blunt, poetic writing are as enchanting as ever, as is this young adult tale of a young art thief falling in love with the son of one of his victims. While this one isn't my favorite of Ancrum's - it takes a bit to get going - I nonetheless enjoyed this warmhearted tale that focuses on getting out from under the thumb of abuse.