Maia and Icarus By: James A. Perez

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• Title: Maia and Icarus
• Author: James A. Perez
• Publisher: Barrow Court Books
• Publication Date: August 1, 2013
• Pages: 200
• Genre: Middle Grade, Greek Mythology
• Recommended Ages: 10-13 
• First Read: 2014
• Source: Goodreads Giveaway
• Rating: 3.0 / 5.0 stars

Maia and Icarus is a delightful little read that incorporates one of my favorite subjects, Greek mythology. Maia is at the center of the book, having never known her father and finding out that she is half Greek. With this revelation, she travels to Greece to (hopefully) find out more about her past. She gets more than she bargains for when she realizes that the stories of Greek myth are very much alive. Various adventures ensue with a dashing young Icarus, in the world of the gods that leaves Maia with the experience of a lifetime.

The plot line of this novel has a lot of potential in the fact that numerous elements of mythology can be further developed into a deftly woven story line that incorporates the many aspects that this book is based on. I feel that if the book went more into depth about the origins of a lot of the Greek aspects, then the world would feel more believable.

Also, although I did get to know Maia quite well, I did not quite get to delve into the other character's personalities as I would have liked, particularly Icarus. Oh, Icarus. He is a character that I felt that I should have gotten to know better. I barely knew anything about him other than he had a dashing smile and his father was the famous Daedalus. I also felt that I did not have enough interactions with that of Maia's Greek family, other than Uncle Dorian, Helena, and Grandmother.

I know that this is the first book in a new series and that Maia has a lot of secrets that she has yet to find out, but I wanted a more concrete base in which to ground the first book in a brand new world. Maia and the reader are finding out new information at the same time, but it would have been a little helpful to have a little background information on Maia's family, especially her father. But I suppose that that is the fun in finding out at the same time, right?

I genuinely do enjoy this book and eagerly await the next installment of Maia's adventures. I cannot wait to find out more about this new world of Greek mythology that the author has created and hope that Icarus makes another appearance in addition to a deeper level of character development.