I loved Sky in the Deep but found the over all story towards the younger side of YA. When I found the author was writing a book around pirates, I knew I was going to read it. Fable was a great story, paced really well from beginning to end.
I loved all of the characters, and if this story took a different turn this crew could have given off major Six of Crow vibes.
Again, the only issue I have is that the writing feels very young for some of the content but over all I can't wait to re-read this one again.

Fable, abandoned by her father as a child, takes fate into her own hands and sets out to find her father. The only question is whether or not he will want her... and what will she do if he doesn't?

My favouite parts of a book are always voice and world building- Fable has both in spades. I loved Fable as a character- strong, but also vulnerable. It always annoys me when people do things in books, like chase after someone who doesn't want them, because we can see the truth when they can't. However, this is ultimately entirely true to life. We chase the flame until it burns. I wanted to hug Fable and slap her all at the same time. That sounds like a negative, but I didn't find it so. It definitely made for compelling reading.

The setting felt unique and almost like another character. Ship and reefs and turquoise waters. I loved seeing it all unfold and seeing Fable in her element as much as she didn't quite fit in.

The plot seems simple- find father, but it has enough twists and turns. It also keeps moving at a terrific pace- I read the book in about a day simple because I wanted to keep reading.

I've read all of Adrienne Young's books and I like her combination of prose, characters and unique settings, but I think has been her best yet. I absolutely loved it and I can't wait for Namesake to find out what has happened to everyone... Fable ends on a definite cliff-hanger, so brace yourself!

This was wonderful! I wasnt going to read it right away but just read the first chapter and suddenly I was in chapter 14 and completely into the story.
It was emotional and inspiring and just fabulous!
Can't wait for the next book because honestly that cliffhanger was... ugh!

This was really good! I loved Sky in the Deep, but then I was disappointed with The Girl the Sea Gave Back. I was still hopeful with this book, and it did not disappoint! The cover really captured my attention, but the character was amazing. I loved Fable. She is strong, independent, able to win over others that doubt her abilities, and still able to show an emotion. She is a female powerhouse and I loved everything about her. The story really kept up the suspense and keeps the reader invested the whole way through. I am super excited about the sequel and cannot wait to read it!

I received an uncorrected proof ARC from the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Okay first over, COVER LOVE! So beautiful. Secondly this story was very captivating and not glossed over. The seas were not a safe place and they start off right away showing the hardships that Fable has had to endure in her life. The characters in this book are wonderful, you learn to love each of her shipmates and I can't wait to find out more of them. You root for Fable right from the start until the very end of the book and then you are like NOOOO that can't be the last page. I will be waiting on the tips of my toes for the next book!

I was really excited to get an ARC of Adrienne Young’s newest work Fable. I had recently finished The Girl the Sea Gave Back and Sky in the Deep. These were both good reads that I wouldn’t call revolutionary, but I would say were a lot of fun. The same can be said of Fable.

This high seas adventure plays to the Pirates of the Caribbean loving part of me and that’s not a bad thing. This moves in a relatively little explored direction in the YA Fantasy universe, but uses many of the tropes that we are looking for in a YA Fantasy. Fable, the female protagonist, is an abandoned girl looking for a father that probably doesn’t want her there. She’s essentially shipwrecked on an island (Jeval) full of questionable, if not outright, bad guys at age 14. She’s learned to live on the island with relatively little support and this is what drives her to work towards earning her passage by diving for treasure/gemstones. We follow her ‘escape’ from this place aboard a ship that isn’t what it seems. These are the relationships that really help build the story and make it worth your tie.

Overall, I’d say it’s an interesting story that keeps your interest and will pull you back to read the next one. Not the next big thing, but still worthy of your time.

Thank you to Netgalley and Wednesday Books for a digital copy of this book for review.

This book was AMAZING. Following the vein of "Daughter of a Pirate King", this book was completely immersive and swept me off my feet. I can not wait till book two. I was actually a little upset when I found out it was duology because I will have to wait for it... but then I was very excited because it means there is more to read about Fable!
A great young adult sea-faring adventure book.

I loved this book. The way the story slowly built itself and the world up as you experienced it, instead of just explaining it in one go, really brought it to life. Fable is an incredibly interesting main character, who stays strong in who she is throughout the book. In YA, (I feel) often we see the female main characters throw their identities away for their romance interest- and this was not the case.

I know this is a duology, so I assume we will learn more about the crew in the next book. I really wanted more information on them. We got some in the last bit of the book, but overall, I would have appreciated learning more in general. We missed out on their personalities as we focused on West, Willa, and Fable. I understand this, as they were the main focal points of the book, but for a found family story I simply would have liked more.

The slow burn romance that occurs in the book genuinely made me cry. I don't like romance much, and find it unrealistic at best, but this was such an emotional experience. It was truly beautiful to read.

I cannot wait to read Namesake and find out what happens to Fable next! (Review will be posted on blog 7/29/2020)

Fable by Adrienne Young started off as a slow burn but that ending was awesome! The book leaves off on a cliffhanger and I’m desperate for the sequel. Pirates, adventures and well developed characters who go from rags to riches what’s not to love!!

Thank you Netgalley and St Martin’s Press for an advance copy in exchange for my honest review. I highly recommend this one!!!

I just finished devouring this book, which I so gratefully got from NetGalley and I AM OBSESSED! I neeeeeed the next book pronto and am in love with the world that Adrienne built and the characters we get to know. Once you get into the book you won’t want to leave. Some parts were maybe predictable but not in a bad way. I loved every second and I am going to read anything else this author has written in the meantime

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martin's Press
For an opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.
What can I say? This book is EVERYTHING! I loved everything about it. Pirates, high stakes adventure, Romance, and rags to riches crew.
Fable is everything I want in my female protagonist. She’s had a tough life and lost much but she stays strong and survives. She is still compassionate, loyal, and even able to trust again.
The writing is beautiful and I really felt emotionally engaged with all of the characters. I really wanted to hate Fable’s dad, Saint, on her behalf but like Fable and West, I had a hard time truly hating him.
This story had my heart racing with excitement and my head swooning for a slow burn romance.
Since my shelf space is limited I try not to but books unless I KNOW I’ll be reading them again. I will be pre-ordering this ASAP! It’s that good.

A wonderful tale from an amazing author. I’m not gonna lie when I heard Adrienne Young was coming out with a novel about pirates I was immediately hooked. A slow burn of a story that pays off with a wonderful ending.

Initial Thoughts

I was SOOOOOO excited to be approved for this title on NetGalley. I love Adrienne Young’s writing, love books about pirate / scoundrel characters, and have yet to read a book published by Wednesday Books that I didn’t obsess over.

Some Things I Liked

Pirates, thieves, and liars. I loved the characters in this story. I thought the sea-centric world was fascinating and is definitely a place I’d like to visit. I really loved that the characters were all a version of untrustworthy. They all made the secrets and plot twists that much better.
Dark themes. There are some pretty dark themes in this story. Abuse, abandonment, death, etc. But, they were all handled so well. They were relevant and necessary to the story.
The romance. It was so swoon-worthy. I loved West and Fable and the enemies portion of their enemies to lovers arc was perfect!
First person narration. There’s no character that was better suited to narrate this journey than Fable and I was so happy that we got to see her inner monologues as events played out.

Series Value

I have already sent my request to Wednesday Books desperately begging for an ARC of Namesake. I NEED the next book in this series. It’s not if I read it, it’s when.

Furthermore, I have read all of Adrienne Young’s books and I don’t plan on stopping now. I’m a fan, Adrienne. Please keep doing what you’re doing!

Final Thoughts

I absolutely loved this story. The ending destroyed me, but it also left me desperate for the sequel. I can’t wait to see more about these characters as well as more from Adrienne Young.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Recommendations for Further Reading

Namesake by Adrienne Young – no, I have not read it yet. But, I have no doubt that the next book in this series will impress.
Sky in the Deep by Adrienne Young – if you liked the writing style and the fierce main character, try Adrienne Young’s other series. Bonus note, this one is really good as an audiobook.
Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller – like Adrienne Young, Tricia Levenseller writes epic pirate and viking stories. If you liked the style and themes here, try Tricia Levenseller’s books.

As a general rule I really don't read a lot of books based around the sea but I kept hearing about this book so I decided to take a gamble on it and I'm glad I did. I didn't expect to enjoy this book as much as I did. It was a very fast read and I loved all the characters except for the jerks who lived on Jeval, they can all rot in hell. Zola can rot in hell too. This book ends on a cliffhanger that makes me want to get my hands on Namesake when it's released next year unless the NetGalley gods are kind and approve me to read the next one sooner. Lol, I'm just joking. Or am I? 😉 Regardless this is a great book and I highly recommend reading it.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. Adrienne Young does a great job of developing characters that are mysterious but also compelling. I felt just as compelled to know more about Willa, Paj, and Auster as I was with West and Fable.

Things that I didn't like:
The book started off slowly. It ended up definitely worth the read but I do wish that things would have started quicker.

Things that I liked:
The character development of all the characters.
The mirror image that is Fable and Saint -- this was probably one of my favorite parts. Watching Fable and her father interact but also seeing throughout the book the similarities between their two lives.
The romance between West and Fable -- seeing it develop as well as the inner struggle between West and Fable (I constantly found myself wishing that there were chapters from West's point of view so that I could see from his perceptive important moments)

This was a great book that I will definitely be recommending and I am somewhat mad that I read this early because now that means I have even longer to wait to see what happens to Fable and the crew of the Marigold.

Adrienne Young has yet to write a book I haven't liked. Strong female characters and an exciting plot-amazing.

4.5 / 5 stars, rounded up to 5.

I was hooked on this story from the first chapter, which I was lucky enough to hear Adrienne read on her Instagram a couple of months ago. The cover and description made me want to read the book, and then the excerpt that Adrienne read confirmed that this was going to be high up on my TBR.

The descriptions Adrienne uses immediately pulled me into the story. From the first chapter, I was drawn to Fable, simultaneously exploring the world through her eyes and being enveloped in the story. Fable is a character that I wish existed when I was growing up; she's strong, determined, and witty. From the first pages, she's been placed in dire situations, and I was on the edge of my seat waiting to see what she would do next. I enjoyed the secondary cast of characters and Fable's developing relationships with them, particularly the crew of The Marigold. Those relationships, romantic and friendship, are all slow to develop, but for me, that depth and delay made them all the more satisfying when characters found trust with each other.

My major complaint was that the story wasn't longer! I wasn't ready for the book to end when I got to the last page. I can't wait for the sequel to see where things go next for Fable, especially with the cliffhanger ending! I'll be eagerly waiting to get my hands on the next book.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and NetGalley for the free copy in exchange for an honest review.

This was so fucking good omg. I started this on a whim last night and I was thoroughly hooked from the first page. It was a character-driven, pirate-like adventure on the high seas, and I loved every moment of it. And I loved this small crew, this found family, that understood the cost of caring for one another but did it anyway because how could they not? They were all mistrustful, secretive people but they had each other, and this kind of bond won't be broken. That ending killed me, and I NEED the sequel RIGHT NOW.

“The bastard was leaving me again” - how much better of a first line do you get than that? Have you ever been reading a book and you can't wait to see what happens but you keep putting it down because you just don't want it to end? That was how I felt about Fable. (Unfortunately, it has ended. I cannot wait for the sequel to be released!).

The story here is really wonderful. I think this book stands out partly because There is a little something for everyone here - romance, adventure, friendship, dysfunctional family relationships, shipwrecks; and because the characters and settings also feel very real. As Fable and her friends sale into the tempest snare, I feel like I am there with them on the boat. When she runs from an attacker near the beginning of the book, I am nervous for her, as if I can actually see her struggling to stay alive. Adrienne knows how to spin language so beautifully - I just couldn’t stop reading.

Honestly, I do not have a single negative thing to say about this book, other than that it is a duology and now everyone has to wait for the sequel to be released in 2021!

Four years ago after a shipwreck destroyed everything she knew and loved, Fable was abandoned on the island Jeval and left to fend for herself. She survives by becoming a dredger, free diving in search of gems and precious stones that she trades with merchant ships. Her life is a never-ending fight against the elements and the other dredgers on the island, and fueled by her consuming desire to get off Jeval and back to the person who left her there--her father. In a moment of desperation, Fable barters for passage from a crew that has its own secrets, and sets sail on a crash course with her past. Heart-pounding action, a simmering romance, and twists and turns around every corner will keep readers turning the pages until the end. Adrienne Young's latest novel sings with gorgeous descriptions of the ocean, a scrappy heroine who tugs at your heart strings, and a story that keeps you guessing. This is an adventure-at-sea perfect for fans of Seafire by Natalie C. Parker, woven together with a complicated family drama that questions why we hurt those we love most. I picked this one up on the hauntingly beautiful cover alone, but was hooked by the story in just a few pages. Five stars!