I want to start by acknowledging that this is a self-published book, so it should probably be held to a different standard than traditionally published ones. I'm going to do my best to uphold that thinking in this review.

First the positives. There is a lot of representation in this book. We have gay people, nonbinary people, binary trans people, and neurodivergency. Icarus himself is a queer autistic trans man (labels are not used too often in the book so I'm going by descriptions of the characters). As an autistic trans man myself I was pleasantly surprised by this, as it's hard to find trans books in general, and apart from a few authors even harder to find autistic trans ones.

I also really liked the concept of this book. It's a bunch of Greek mythology characters in a futuristic dystopian society. It moves away from the big gods like Zeus, and while I would never call the Icarus story a less well-known one, it's a good change of pace having different characters in the background.

However, I do think the story-telling could use work. As mentioned before it is self-published, but there are a lot of typos that were missed. Combined with the fact that this story happened over the course of a few days it appears, and complete strangers became family during that time, I do wonder at how much editing was done. A few people are acknowledged in the back so I assume there was some, but this book feels a lot like reading an earlier draft than a finished copy.

The characters are also aware of the Greek myths in this. It feels incredibly odd that they're familiar with the myths their names come from, yet every single one is acting out that myth without questioning it. Not to mention there is a character named Andromeda in this book, and while they use different pronouns in the book and are a Greek mythological figure, I do wonder at times how much of a self-insert they are given how fast their plot line moves.

Everyone in this book is also traumatized. Everyone. That can be good reading (I have enjoyed that in series past), however the only one whose trauma seems to matter is Icarus. Even the other characters, fresh from their own trauma, are guarding Icarus against his own, despite being the longest out. It makes it difficult to read at times as it feels like the other characters aren't getting to breathe in this story.

Finally, there are cases of abuse and what in another situation could be seen as rape or sexual assault. Icarus is the victim in all these situations. Perhaps it is not that bad as he is enjoying it, but no consent is given, it is just forced upon him, and the storyline treats it as okay.

This book has potential, and I am glad I read it. If the author sees this, I did in fact like this book. I do think there's the potential for growth, though, so I hope this author keeps writing this series, as I would like to see what it becomes.