ICONS by Margaret Stohl

 Little, Brown and Company

May 7^th, 2013

978-0-316-20518-4

Science Fiction/Dystopian Young Adult

Hardcopy

Reviewed by Dawn (love2read28@gmail.com)

Obtained by Library

 

The day the world stopped as we knew it happened when we least expected and for Dol, life was never the same again. She can’t remember her family as she was just a baby when the Icons came and the House Lords destroyed the world as they dominated it. But for Dol, life at the mission was good. She had friends, a purpose and though there were secrets about her past, she has no memory of it, just images that cross her minds from time to time. But Dol as well as several others have a mark on their wrist-one that made them live through the carnage that followed on The Day, when life was stopped in a matter of seconds, when power just died and the world changed forever. What was their power no one knew but when captured and taken to the Embassy, Dol and her best friend, Ro’s lives are changed forever when they meet two other teens with similar marks on their wrist. With time running out as they discover secrets about themselves and their past, they face death at every turn for the House Lords and the Icons will not let humanity rise up if they can help it. Can these four kids find a way to their purpose as well as unravel the secrets that surround them?

OH MY GOD! This was amazing. I haven’t read one of Ms. Stohl’s books before but man this one had me on the edge of my seat for three hours. I was engrossed in a story that captivated me from the beginning. Amazing world building, intriguing cast of characters and a world so changed by something we never anticipated. This had everything that made me hum with pleasure in a book. It had a different twist on a dystopian world which I absolutely loved and the author gave it a nice science fiction spin that I appreciated from the start. It really stood out for me when I was reading this that I hadn’t come across a young adult book that made me hum with pleasure within an hour of starting it. I have to say the story is set from Dol’s point of view which was interesting & we got to see inside the minds of Ro, Tima and Lucas as well.

This author delivers some really great characters to root for as well. Meet Dol and Ro. Growing up on the grasslands as they are now called and have a deep connection to one another, both wear a dot on their wrists that makes them a bit different than others around them. Dot is an empathic and Ro has lots of fiery rage inside him. But both can calm the other down. This is what hooked me. The characters are amazing. You get that deep connection between Ro and Dol even as the world changes around them in a blink of an eye. Add in Tima and Lucas, two other marked teens well you get the sense things are about to change in this world. I laughed, cried and suffered along side the characters as they tried to figure out the secrets that bind them even as forces conspire to use them in a way not known yet to them or the reader.

ICONS is just plain amazing, especially for being the first book in this author’s new series. I am eager to see what happens next for our fearless four as they make alliances and take on an enemy that is hidden in shadows. I just hope we don’t have to wait so long for the next book. If you are looking for a new twist on a dystopian novel, then I highly recommend ICONS and I recommend getting your drinks/snacks/family fed before starting as once you start this one, you won’t want to put it down. I know I didn’t.

This is an objective review and not an endorsement