Wednesday, July 30, 2014

Book Review: Idols (Icons #2) by Margaret Stohl

Idols (Icons #2)
Author:  Margaret Stohl
Publisher:  Little, Brown Books for Young Readers, 432 pages
Publication Date:  July 8, 2014

From Goodreads:
The Icons came from the sky. They belong to an inhuman enemy. They ended our civilization, and they can kill us.

Most of us.

Dol, Ro, Tima, and Lucas are the four Icon Children, the only humans immune to the Icon's power to stop a human heart. Now that Los Angeles has been saved, things are more complicated - and not just because Dol has to choose between Lucas and Ro, the two great loves of her life. As she flees to a resistance outpost hidden beneath a mountain, Dol makes contact with a fifth Icon Child, if only through her visions. When Dol and the others escape to Southeast Asia in search of this missing child, Dol's dreams, feelings and fears collide in an epic showdown that will change more than just four lives -- and stop one heart forever.


Review:

Although I enjoyed Idols, this one didn't really work for me.  I still find the premise intriguing, but there was so much focus on the plot that the character development was lacking.  For example, in the beginning of book 1, we know Ro has a temper and he loves Dol.  At the end of book 2, what do we know about Ro?  That he has a temper and he loves Dol.  And Tima, who had so much potential to be a fantastic character, barely does anything in this book.  Lucas and Dol's relationship sort of progresses, but none of the characters ever really talk to each other.  And there is down time, where they could have conversations, but they don't, which led me to feel so disconnected to the characters, I didn't really care what happened to them.

And to be honest, they just travel from one place to another place so in a way, nothing really happens.  We learn a bit more about the aliens, but not much.  In the end, this was pretty bland and a bit dull.


Posted by:  Pam

12 comments:

  1. Sorry you didn't like it! I can definitely see your point about the character development. It does seem like a much more plot driven story vs. character driven. I was upset that we didn't learn anything more about the aliens. And then the ending broke my heart. I do remember that it was a slow start for me. I thought it was bc I couldn't remember anything that happened in Icons, but maybe it was just because it was slow... Hope you enjoy your next read better!

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I just felt like we didn't learn anything more about anything or anyone. Yes, the ending was sad, but at the same time, what was he thinking??? How did that help given what they found out about the aliens? Just very frustrating. ~Pam

      Delete
  2. Ah a classic case of middle book syndrome. Hopefully the conclusion makes this series worthwhile....

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Yeah, we'll see, I'm not even sure right now that I care enough to read it. Oh well! ~Pam

      Delete
  3. I'm glad to be able.to take something off my TBR shelf which now has 300 books! Sheri

    ReplyDelete
  4. Hmm. I've been debating on starting this series since I haven't read good things about it. This definitely pushed it further down on my list.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I was definitely disappointed. I really enjoyed the first one, but the lack of character development hurt this one. ~Pam

      Delete
  5. I don't know much about this series, but your review doesn't make me want to pick it up. This just sounds like a middle book that is suffering from major second book syndrome! I will wait to see how the third is received before deciding whether to commit to these.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I'm probably going to wait and read reviews of the third one before I decide whether to read it. I have the worst book memory so I usually reread the books in a series before each one (at least skim) and I just don't want to reread this one. ~Pam

      Delete
  6. I really did not like Idols, so I'm unsurprised to learn this book was also bland and dull. I feel like Idols spent a lot of time talking about how awesome the aliens & characters were, but very little of anything interesting actually occurred. I kept waiting for it and it was frustratingly uneventful. When is the action going to happen? I'm curious to see what people say about book 3.

    ReplyDelete
  7. Who does Dol end up with in the end?

    ReplyDelete