I fell in love with Adrienne’s writing from the very first line. Thoughtful and evocative, this book is a rare gem.

First, I just love the name Fable it sounds so sweet and mystical a name fitting for someone of great destiny. As for the story it was magnificent Adrienne set the table nicely by giving me little samples for what is to come in the next book. By giving me what I needed instead of what I might have wanted. Every character stand on their own in way that I could follow any of their story including Koy. Nobody is just a foot note they all have a defining present in Fable’s story even characters we have not even meet yet.

Saint and Isolde, I desire to know their story so badly the way Adrienne just drops little gems about Fable’s parents’ history. I am ready for the novella/prequel of how they came to be. Anytime they are talked about or how Fable reminisced about the small moments that they shared together I just wanted to know them. Also, I want to get a little P.O.V from Saint to grasp how he truly feel about Fable and her mother and how he became the beholden man of great and dangerous power.

Fable is just such a down to earth girl who is navigating through her world with such strength and poise. I love how she handles making mistakes by owning them and then learning from them. She never crumbles under her short comings; she honors the code of her lifestyle that her father has installed in her with such determination to be his equal. At the heart of this book is a father/daughter love story of having to forsaken what you treasure dearly and keeping it buried or you will be buried in returned.
Adrienne Young is just getting better and better with each new book releases that I am just enjoying and appreciating her she styles of writing as well as her she conveys these mythologies and genre in way that is unpredictable. It is very refreshing to read a book with no preconceived notion of how it will play out. Young does more showing than telling with her stories she gives you just enough to keep you engaged as you journey along with these fascinating characters. Always making a reader wanting for more.

Fable grew up on a ship, learning to dredge with her mother, and keeping her distance from her father, the ship’s captain. After a fierce storm, Fable finds herself alone on a cutthroat island, having to fend for herself and eventually go in search of her father. She falls in with the crew of the Marigold, trying to gain their trust and their help in her mission.

I loved Sky in the Deep, so I was really excited to try this new duology from Adrienne Young, and I really enjoyed it. I liked the settings, the characters and excitement. We don’t know much about the world as a whole, but the various ports and oceans we visit are vividly described. It has definite pirate vibes, although technically they are “traders”. The rivalries and power plays between the traders made for interesting suspense and conflict.

Fable is so strong and fierce, and I liked the rag tag crew of the Marigold. I would love to see more development in their friendships, as they definitely have the supportive, found family feeling to them. The romance was a little rushed, in my opinion, but I still shipped it. I’m not one to condemn magical elements in a story, but I wasn’t sure they were really necessary to this plot. Perhaps the magic will be developed further in the next book.

Also, not related to the content, but I am in love with the cover of this book. It is gorgeous and definitely drew my eye. Overall, a fun adventure on the high seas, and I would love to hear more of Fable’s story!

Thank you to NetGalley for providing a copy in exchange for an honest review.

I really enjoyed this book and will be continuing on to the second when it comes out! I LOVED the main characters/setting. It hooked me from the beginning.

It’s been a long time since a book had me hooked within the first few pages, but FABLE did just that. With its delightful mix of fantasy and adventure, the entire book had me so invested that I ended up doing nothing for 6 hours straight other than read this book.

After being abandoned by her father on the ruthless island of Jeval, Fable has known nothing other than fear and how to survive. Working as a diver and a trader, she possesses a unique ability to feel gems and rare metals on the sea floor. Such an ability is useful for someone who needs coin, and she’s been working for 4 long years trying to save as much as she can. Her only goal in this rough life is to save enough to travel back the mainland and confront her father about why he so callously abandoned her. Though that presents a whole different set of challenges because no one can know who her father is. After experiencing yet another situation where her life is threatened, Fable has no choice but to flee, and is taken aboard a trading ship. Problem is, they don’t want her, and they make sure to remind her at every step along the journey to the mainland.

I absolutely loved everything about this book from Fable’s hardscrabble beginnings on Jeval to her journey across oceans and islands and the subsequent new life she is navigating. But most of all, I loved the friendships she made along the way and her new place in the world alongside them. This story isn’t without heartache, but the characters and their camaraderie aboard the Marigold added such a bright spot in this otherwise bleak tale. And of course a little romance never hurts, and I really enjoyed the relationship between Fable and her new amour. Though it was almost a guarantee that I would because enemies to lovers will forever be my jam.

The world that Young created was so fantastic and so palpable that the grittiness of the salt and the scent of the ocean and the reeking smell of the docks just leapt off the page. When you combine that kind of sensory-pleasing world-building with a story that just sucks you in, it’s destined to land on my favorites shelf. And this one definitely has. I’ve not read anything else by this author yet, but I’ll certainly be rectifying that awful mistake in the near future. I can’t wait to see how Fable’s story concludes in the sequel, NAMESAKE.


*eARC received courtesy of NetGalley.

Gorgeous cover!! Highly recommend this book because it‘s an entertaining story. You can easily relate to the characters and hope everyone gets a happy ending. Loved the villains too!

I absolutely loved this book! A high seas adventure with cast of interesting characters, an intriguing plot and a girl trying to find her place and where she belongs. Fable is that story that kept me turning the pages and yet never wanting it to end. I cannot recommend this book enough. And I can’t wait for the second book to find out what happens next.

I really loved this book so much it is my new favorite pirate adventure story with a slow burn romance that was well worth the wait. I loved the characters so much especially Fable and West and the slowest burn YA romance I have ever read. When they were finally together it was well worth it it took him so long to actually trust her and everything to do with her. I really loved Fable for her strength of character and knowing her limits and how when she cares for someone she cares with her whole being. I really loved the plot it started with a girl just trying to survive and get off that island and it turned into a great adventure and slow burn romance that I loved so much. So overall I loved this book and I am really looking forward to the sequel.

Fable hooked me from the very beginning and never let go. There is so much to love about this book, from the powerful and strong heroine, seeking her own destiny, to the rag tag team of crew mates, and the romance, oh man. It’s all so good. The sea is a character of her own, and I love when an author can add the setting in so seamlessly that it feels like you’re there.

Fable, the heroine, is a dredger, a person with the skillset to dive for treasure, and bring it back for trade. She buys her way onto the crew of the Marigold, who will give her passage to meet the father that abandoned her after her mother’s death. Fable has learned how to survive, how to build walls to keep people at arm’s length, and how to live by a certain set of rules (nobody can know your secrets).

In order to become a true member of this crew, Fable must evaluate everything she knows about life, and about herself. And she’s not the only one. Each member of this crew has secrets, and as they let Fable in, she learns more about her new friends, and as readers, we fall in love with them too. As the plot thickens, the stakes get higher, and the plotting and pacing is excellent. I don't want to give too much away, but this book was unputdownable for me.

The action and adventure in this book kept me hooked throughout the whole thing, and the world building was so well done. I loved the characters, as well, and they felt well rounded and complex. The cliffhanger at the end was incredible too. I cannot wait for the next installment! I’m so excited to recommend this book to the teens in my community. I know they’ll love it!

Fable is such a badass character and I love her complex relationship with Saint. The Marigold and it's crew are full of secrets and loyalty and I loved that. At times I definitely was hoping for more excitement but it was still such a great read! I'd love to see West's character build more. I feel like we need more on him! Fable also has such a vivid and detailed world and I loved that so much! If you love high seas adventure with a bit of a pirate ship vibe you're going to love this one!

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing me with an advance copy!

If you love pirate stories with a bit of mystery, Fable is definitely worth the read!

Fable is has been trying to find her way off an island for four years, after having been left by her father - an incredibly powerful trader in the Narrows. She's had to scrape to survive, almost starving or dying more than once in the process. When she finally makes her way off, it's with the crew of a ship called the Marigold. She gets more than what she bargained for on her search for her father, including a found family and the danger she thought she left behind.

This book is beautifully written. It was a smooth read - excellent pacing and wonderful prose. The imagery was well done, and I loved reading about the different places the ships docked and the people in them.

Fable, too, was a good character. She was brave without being obviously so if that makes sense. It's just part of her central character to do what needs to be done. She's been desperate for long enough to know that nothing is beneath her. She's emotional, which could be seen as a flaw, but it was nice for me to see a girl who could be brave and brash and still emotional about what was an increasingly unfolding plotline.

The crew of the Marigold were my favorite characters. They were fleshed out enough to give them their own personalities and backstories, and they were good support for Fable's character. I do wish the romance had been given a bit more room to breathe. It's a slow burn to the point where there's not much burn until all of sudden there is.

It does feel a bit like drifting on open water in a rowboat in some parts. Not much happens. I felt like I was waiting for something but that something never came. As mentioned earlier though, the pacing was still great so it didn't deter from reading the book. Overall it was a quick read.

I loved this book: great world building and characters, excellent storytelling and a plot that kept me hooked.
I can't wait to read the next book, highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Netgalley, all opinions are mine.

I absolutely adored this book and loved every second of it. All the hype of this book is so well deserved! I couldn’t put it down and was on the edge of my seat for most of the book. Highly recommend!!!

This was such an action packed and fun read! I’ve stayed up reading so late, because this story is one that draws you so far in it is hard to put down. Fable is such an amazingly strong main character. This story is so well developed. The world is created so intricately that it was if I was sailing the high seas myself. I love when I feel like I am watching a video in my head while reading.


I just reviewed Fable by Adrienne Young. #NetGalley #Fable

Fable
Adrienne Young
5/5
This book was absolutely amazing. I was hooked from the first page—and that’s saying a lot because I’ve been in a reading slump. The protagonist, Fable, is magnetic in her allure. Abandoned by her own father in an island of thieves after a shipwreck, she has been saving copper after copper to make it off the island and back to her father. To prove him wrong about her. To get what he promised her. Her perseverance and complete composure in the face of adversity is just incredible. I feel filled with strength and power just inhabiting her world. Without giving too much away, I’ll say there is romance, adventure, and camaraderie. Fable is fundamentally a social creature who has been deprived of all friendship and family for four years and now seeks that sort of connection. But like all good adventures, her journey is fraught with peril—not only from the sea, but also the various persons around her that take exception to her presence in their sphere. It is not so much that she has enemies but that she is an outsider who repeatedly intrudes and involves herself in the complex social workings of others. Her own background is complicated as well. Her father is well known, as was her mother. They have their own pasts that contribute to her problems. The people she falls in with likewise have made enemies and in helping them, she gains their enemies as her own.

I was an emotional wreck throughout this whole book, which I read over the course of a day because I could not let it go. I loved the simple yet effective—even evocative—writing style. I was transported to this world that was so ordinary and yet had a touch of magic, so foreign and yet so easy to comprehend. This story made me feel things. I loved the characters and the development. I loved the sly little foreshadowing moments that kept me paying extra close attention to the wording. Young does not mince words. She is not wasteful. Every sentence feels deliberate and calculated. The characterizations are sparing and yet I feel as though I really knew all the characters. And wow! It was so romantic. It was seamlessly romantic. It felt like taking a deep breath. Natural and calming and right.i loved how it wasn’t all about the romance and yet it didn’t feel out of place. So much happened, and none of it felt rushed...

But that ending. Brace yourselves for that ending because all of a sudden you’ll turn the page and see acknowledgements and wonder how you could possibly wait for the next book. It was so fast and yet didn’t seem unnatural. I honestly cannot wait for the conclusion. Wonderful book. Go pick this up! September 1st 2020.

Fable is the story of a young girl who has lost her mother and been abandoned by her father to learn how to fend for herself on a dangerous island. She survives by dredging the sea but her skills result in a target on her back. She makes a desperate escape from the island at the mercy of West and his crew. Her plan is to find her father and take her rightful spot at his side. But everyone has secrets. She can’t tell them who she is and they have secrets of their own.

I adored this book for several reasons. First, I feel it was well paced. It only covers a short time period, but it’s full of action. The mysteries are carefully revealed so you aren’t bogged down with any info dumping. Second, I appreciate that Fable is strong without being overly so. She has weaknesses that she has to overcome and struggles to find her way. Who she is might be important but she basically has nothing. She’s had a hard life but still finds a way to trust in people. Finally, the story itself evokes so many feelings. The side characters are vivid and lovable. I had so much anxiety rooting for this little band of misfits. I cannot wait to see how it ends next year.

Okay, crud, I saw "Fable, #1" and should have known this was part of a series, but it just didn't register until 90% that there was probably a sequel coming. Thank goodness there is s sequel coming because I did not want this to end! I love Fable and all the complex parts that make her who she is. She is a survivor for sure, and although she has rules for survival that she follows gleaned from her father's lessons as well as the lessons of the harsh "community" that she is living in, her goodness has not been completely stamped out. This is a spoiler-free review, but this book has pirates, sunken ships, treasure, intrigue, back-stabbing, heart-stopping chases, knife/sword fights, dangerous storms, even a bit of romance. I highly recommend this book and look forward to the next one, whenever that may be!

FTC Disclosure: Advanced Reader Copy (ARC) provided by the Author and Publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.

Oh, goodness, where to begin? Fable is about a girl named, wait for it, Fable, who aspires to be a powerful trader (think pirate businessman) like her father and partner up with him. The only problem is her father abandoned her on an island in the middle of nowhere a few years ago, so reaching her goal is not as easy as it might sound.

The world-building in Fable is quite fantastic. Right off the bat, Fable, our narrator, starts painting a rich picture of the world she lives in, and it’s quite enchanting. That said, I hope the published version has a glossary or something because even with my inference skills, some of the terms Fable uses (mainly boating/ship related terms) threw me for a loop. Some of the transitions in the first few chapters certainly did not help my comprehension, and it got to the point where I thought my ARC might be missing some pages. That’s how confused I was. But don’t worry, I was able to make sense of everything. Eventually.

It was quite interesting to read about Fable herself. I admired her grit and strength, but most of all, I loved her development throughout the book. I appreciated how she learned to grow as a person as she dealt with all the twists life (and the plot of Fable) threw at her. I wish I could say the same about all the side characters. Let’s just say there was a real potential for them to feel like a found family, but they fall short of that. All the side characters are just too underdeveloped, so they feel like a bunch of friendly coworkers instead of a family.

But my biggest issue with Fable is its plot. I don’t know, it just feels kind of… empty, almost like nothing much happened? It’s reminiscent of a travel vlog that only documents a plane ride with a few bumps in the road (in the air?). It’s interesting, but also kind of stagnant despite its fast pacing.

Fable does have some nuggets of mystery mixed in with the plot that add allure, but none of it feels like it was going anywhere. Mostly, it planted a lot of seeds for things that might be explored more in the future but never really grow any plants in the story. In short, Fable felt like one massive setup of its sequel.

Oh, and about the romance. What romance? I liked how it didn’t play a significant role in the story but hate that it was even a thing at all. It needs more development to be even somewhat believable.

Don’t get me wrong, Fable is exciting, and a quick read and I genuinely did enjoy it. But I do think my experience of it was tainted a bit by my expectations. Everyone I know was hyping it up so much, and the synopsis really talked it up, and unfortunately, it fell a little short of that. I’m still excited to read the sequel, though. And I’m glad it’s coming soon because Fable‘s ending is the textbook definition of a cliffhanger.

In conclusion, I liked Fable, but I don’t think I enjoyed it as much as everyone else seems to. 😅 It’s a quick read and full of intrigue, and the world-building is really nicely done. I just wish the side characters were more developed, and the plot was meatier. The whole book honestly feels like a setup for the sequel, which I can’t wait to read after the way Fable ended. Good thing it comes out in March!

Fable is a seventeen year old girl abandoned by her father, a powerful trader in the Narrows, a harsh society full of pirates and criminals. Her greatest wish is to rejoin her father's crew, but in order to do that she has to find a way off the island where he abandoned her four years prior.

I was so excited to read this story based on the synopsis and the fact that I loved Adrienne Young's other books, and this may end up being my favorite Adrienne Young novel yet. The world that she has built is so detailed and rich. The story was exciting and fast-paced. I was cheering for Fable throughout the story. The ending definitely left me wanting the next book immediately. I can't recommend this book enough to anyone who appreciates a fast-paced, adventurous tale!

Drenching with adventure on the high seas, Fable is layered with mysteries that the reader will have to wait to uncover—but won’t mind being patient. It’s the journey that makes this story so rewarding.

I haven't had much luck with the last few young adult fantasy releases I've read by new-to-me authors. I was even starting to think maybe I'd grown beyond young adult fantasy. But within a few paragraphs of Fable, I knew I'd finally found the young adult fantasy I'd been searching for. This is my first book by Adrienne Young, and it won't be my last. I loved every word and every character. Especially our heroine, Fable. She’s wily—fully capable of taking care of herself—but yearning for a place in her world, leaving her heart open even after life has been so cruel to her, which makes her rather unique among the heroines of the genre.

I picked up Fable coming down from the high of a major book hangover, so it took me longer than usual to commit. And while it did take me a few chapters to get all the characters straight and understand this new world, once I had it down, I didn't want to stop reading. When I finished the book, I flipped back to the beginning so I could reread the first few chapters and what I hadn't fully understood the first time around.

Young does a splendid job of establishing the characters and the dangerous world they encompass so quickly and flawlessly. I slipped right into the story with ease, and with each new term, the author introduced things in a way that wasn't telling but revealing, cohesive with the story. But she only revealed what was necessary, keeping a few secrets to be answered in the next book, Namesake, which has promptly shot up to the top of my TBR for 2021! And with such gorgeous covers, I’ll be picking up physical copies to enjoy on my shelves.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the advanced reader's copy.