YA Sci-Fi: Icons by Margaret Stohl

Publisher: Little, Brown
Date: May 7, 2013
Format: ARC
Source: publisher
Read: for review (disclaimer: I received my copy of this book for free in exchange for an honest review.)
Pages: 433
Reading time: three days

From GoodReads: Everything changed on The Day. The day the windows shattered. The day the power stopped. The day Dol's family dropped dead. The day Earth lost a war it didn't know it was fighting. Since then, Dol has lived a simple life in the countryside -- safe from the shadow of the Icon and its terrifying power. Hiding from the one truth she can't avoid. She's different. She survived. Why? When Dol and her best friend, Ro, are captured and taken to the Embassy, off the coast of the sprawling metropolis once known as the City of Angels, they find only more questions. While Ro and fellow hostage Tima rage against their captors, Dol finds herself drawn to Lucas, the Ambassador's privileged son. But the four teens are more alike than they might think, and the timing of their meeting isn't a coincidence. It's a conspiracy. Within the Icon's reach, Dol, Ro, Tima, and Lucas discover that their uncontrollable emotions -- which they've always thought to be their greatest weaknesses -- may actually be their greatest strengths.

My review: Icons was an enjoyable read in that much of it was fast-paced and exciting. I breezed right through the pages, which is especially refreshing given my recent slowness of reading. It reminded me a good deal of I Am Number Four, both in style and in the common themes of aliens and teens with special powers.

Otherwise, however, I wasn't much impressed with Icons. I couldn't always figure out exactly what was going on. The characters are kept locked up under supervision? They have more freedom to run around than one would think? Dol loves Ro? Dol loves Lucas? They're trying to keep their abilities secret? They blatantly display and blab about their powers? Just stick with one situation and go with it!

Also, I didn't really find anything about Icons that made it stick out to me among other genre works. We have a dystopia run by aliens. Great. Personally, I prefer more socially-charged dystopian literature, where there's a deeper meaning behind the situation than just an entertaining story. Entertaining stories run together, meaningfulness does not. Will I continue with this series? Not very purposefully. Only if I happen to end up with the upcoming books, just because I hate to leave series unfinished.