Saturday, September 3, 2016

Icons and Idols by Margaret Stohl

Icons is a YA dystopian book, and Idols is its sequel. One day, the hearts of most humans stopped and all electricity was gone. Earth lost the war that they did not even know they were fighting. Connected underground, the Icons stop people's hearts if they get too close, all except the Icon children. 

Dol, Carson, Ro and Tima are the Icon children. They were created to withstand the Icon's power and save the world. They each have special powers. Dol is a Weeper, Ro is a Rager, Carson is a Lover, and Tima is a Freak. Dol feels sadness strongly and is slightly telepathic. Ro feels rage strongly and can channel his anger to give him super strength, and can set things on fire. Carson is sympathetic and overly nice. Tima can make people scared of her and create force fields. 

The pace of both books were slow and uneventful. The important events were drawn out and very long. What is supposed to be the climax is not really climatic at all. Both books should really only be 200 pages, not 400 pages.

Their powers are pretty much the only thing I liked. I liked how Dol was telepathic, and I also liked what Ro could do when he was angry. I wanted more powers from the characters. Ro and Tima are the only ones with real abilities. I do not like that they call Tima a Freak. That is an insult, and I am not happy at all with the choice to use that to describe her powers.

Icons and Idols are confusing. At the end of every chapter, there are notes of background knowledge, but definitely not enough. Readers are never told what an Icon is, where it came from, or given any description of how there are still people alive in the Embassy. I don't really get the whole point of the books. 

The first 100 pages or so of the first book, Icons, was great. Then it just went downhill and lost my interest. In the second book, I considered quitting the book several times, and it took a lot of patience to keep reading. The endings of both books were random.

I do not recommend Icons or Idols!

Title: Icons and Idols
Author: Margaret Stohl
Publisher: Little, Brown Books for Young Readers
Pages: 428 Pages
Series: Yes
Rating: 1 Star

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