Icarus [Gregory A. Wilson]

I remember a flash of light…and then falling.

Icarus by Gregory A. Wilson and illustrated by Áthila Fabbio is one of those books that I probably shouldn’t have picked up. And it’s not that the story is bad or that the artwork is hard to look at, cause it’s not. I think, ultimately, the worst thing about this book is it wasn’t what I expected. I think a lot of us have preconceived notions about what to imagine when we hear the word Icarus and thus I was kind of expecting something rooted in Greek Mythology. That is not the book I got.

A Note On Icarus

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The only thing Icarus in this novel shares with the myth we know and love is that he fell from the sky. And while, sure, this is a great theme to pull from to make your own, I found myself rather bored with the story as a whole once I realized that was the only recognizable piece. I couldn’t connect with any of the other characters in this novel, either. And that honestly took a lot away from it.

So, I think it’s a mixture of things. I didn’t care for the plot and I certainly didn’t care about the characters involved. But my unmet expectations definitely played a role in how I felt about the story as a whole. While I won’t say it was everything, it diminished the impact of the moments. I also just kind of hated the narrator, despite him being a decent person. I’m not sure what it was about his voice, but I just couldn’t get into it.

Red

Okay, I get it. They live in the center of a volcano. But why was there so much creepy red on everyone? I don’t think the artwork was bad, exactly. But I definitely didn’t like it, either. In the end, I kind of chalk this up to the burnt nature of everything being out of my preferences. And while I loved the way Icarus looked, everyone around him just kind of made me cringe a bit. I mean, the dog had red legs and horns in his head that made him look disfigured. I couldn’t stand the red skin. It was just…hard to look at.

Considering this is a graphic novel, that was a problem for me.

Count Me Out

I feel torn in a way because I don’t know if I’d classify this story as terrible. But it definitely wasn’t for me and I couldn’t personally recommend it to anyone. I’m sure there is an audience who will love this story, but I’m not sure it’s the majority of people who pick this book up because of its title.