Icarus

Damn. Where should i even start??? This book made me ache somewhere deep inside my chest and the emotions I experienced cannot be easily summarized. Ancrum's short, evocative passages sharply render the loneliness and the struggles of what is it like to be a strong independent child who craves nothing more than to be soft and vulnerable and able to rely on someone for once. Icarus was a fantastic protagonist, fascinating and charismatic, with a vibrant cast surrounding him, a night job that requires some suspension of disbelief and a beautiful love for a boy trapped in the highest room in the tallest tower. This book truly felt like being enveloped in a warm light, even with this book having so much darkness for content and i loved it with everything i am, you NEED to pick this one up!!! It’s soft. It’s painful. It’s lovely. “When instinct tells you to pay attention and choose tenderness, do it. Community is humanity's greatest strength and community at its core is just love: work motivated by that love, comforts created out of love, bonds fed by love or at least for the desire of it."

Icarus steals art and Kayla Ancrum stole a piece of my heart with this book. The beautifully written retelling of the Icarus myth with a lot of nuance captured my heart and my attention from the first page. We follow Helios and Icarus and get to see how their friendship slowly blossoms into something more. What follows is heartfelt,tender and of course a little bit heartbreaking.A love that is either destiny or doom. What will it be?

"Icarus was his father's son." Both artists, both thieves, both quiet, both friendless - until Icarus runs into Helios, the son of Mr. Black, a man, his father and Icarus have been stealing art off for years. Helios asks him to be his friend and this breaks every single rule Icarus had ever set up for himself. He wants to escape his thief life. But can he do that as well as saving Helios from Mr. Black? Kayla Ancrum wrote a masterpiece. The modern retelling of a myth I've always loved in a way that's just amazing. With a poetic language and short chapters from Icarus' Point of View Ancrum creates an atmosphere you just cannot escape. Helios and Icarus are meant for each other and all the characters are planned out so well. I just could recite this book over and over again. Usually I'm not a person who annotates books but I couldn't help myself picking up a pen for this one. The amount of great quotes in this book is unbelievable! And why did no one else ever write a gay love story about a couple that's so obviously meant to be written about? I'm glad K. Ancrum wrote it. And I'm glad I read it.

Icarus and Helios, the thief and the sun, the star-crossed lovers who will melt your heart. This book was just beautiful. Not your typical YA novel, it gets deep under your skin. It was soft and delicate, poetic and heartbreaking – an outstanding piece of art. Such a wonderful read!

A modern, exciting and heartwarming story, inspired by the greek myth! The combination between newfound friendship and a first queer love was wonderful to witness. This story shows that, in a world of darkness, every little act of kindness matters and I very much agree.