Adrienne Young sweeps readers off their feet again with this poignant and moving fantasy. Readers will be anxious for the next installment.

As the daughter of the most powerful trader in the Narrows, the sea is the only home seventeen-year-old Fable has ever known. It’s been four years since the night she watched her mother drown during an unforgiving storm. The next day her father abandoned her on a legendary island filled with thieves and little food. To survive she must keep to herself, learn to trust no one and rely on the unique skills her mother taught her. The only thing that keeps her going is the goal of getting off the island, finding her father and demanding her rightful place beside him and his crew. To do so Fable enlists the help of a young trader named West to get her off the island and across the Narrows to her father.

But her father’s rivalries and the dangers of his trading enterprise have only multiplied since she last saw him and Fable soon finds that West isn't who he seems. Together, they will have to survive more than the treacherous storms that haunt the Narrows if they're going to stay alive. - Goodreads

Fable is one of the most anticipated books coming out this fall. I was more than happy and surprised that I was approved for an arc for this book.  I liked Adrienne Young's debut novel, Sky in the Deep and that is what prompted me to read this one. 

However, when I finished this book all I can say is that it was okay. There was nothing special about Fable other than who her father was. She did more getting by than actually having any form of skill. The story was predictable. Everything about it was predictable. 

The only saving grace for me was that the world building was done really well. I love pirate stories and although I wished this to be a little more ruthless, Young was able to create a world fueled by money and things not being what they seem. I was extremely interested in the world. But Fable was mediocre at best and relied way too much on other people. She survived but barely. 

The plot was slow as half the book was spent with a whole lot of nothing going on. There was a lack of depth in this novel and if it would have had it, this book would have gone a lone way. 

Overall, 

2 Pickles

Despite my body's willingness to get sea sick on boats, for some reason books that take place on boats are fine with me. I've heard nothing but praise for Adrienne Young's books, but this was the first one I've dove into and it did not disappoint. Fable centers around a young dredger, abandoned by her father four years ago with the promise that if she made it off the island, she could make it in the world and he would give her what belonged to her. The promise fuels her and she does everything possible to survive, dredging up pyre that she sells to crews that come to Jevali to fund her way off the simple island. In a moment of panic, she asks West, the helmsman of the Marigold to take her to Ceros, where she knows her father will be. He agrees, but only after the crew heckles him into doing so. With a crew beside her and the hope of everything being righted in her life, Fable finally thinks things are going her way. But when it seems like everyone is out for the Marigold and her father, the famous Saint, doesn't live up to his promises, everything might be unraveling faster than she can handle.

After reading Fable, I feel that I know more about boats and ships than I ever needed to know, but it was a strong lesson in understanding what it takes to survive at sea and the power of a found family. I was impressed that it never felt like overkill and that terms and phrases were being thrown out left and right. Everything was written organically and flowed so smoothly. It made it enjoyable to read! Fable's characters were well developed and included throughout the story. They felt like they belonged and the small differences with each of them helped with the plot and the diverseness of this world. Young sets up a world that has plenty of life left in it and leaves us with a cliffhanger that makes the reader desperately anxious for more of the series. This was a refreshing read that I will officially create a countdown for the next book.

Looooove. Sign me up for the second book - because I am IN. What a great story - this has everything. Mystery. Romance. Deception.

Fable by Adrienne Young is an excellent and thrilling book that is part historical fiction, part fantasy with wonderful elements of romance, adventure, and epic storytelling all fused into one excellent novel. This book is marketed as young adult, however as an adult, I thoroughly enjoyed it and I feel that this can easily appeal to audiences that include young adults and young adults alike.

I loved reading about this alternate world of far away seas, islands, ships abound, and competing and rival pirating/trading groups that created wonderful images of a new age, time, and place where magical things could happen any day.

I loved learning more about boating, ships, navigation, and survival on the relentless sea. I loved the action, adventure, twists, turns, and the cliffhanger. But most of all, I loved the characters. Fable, West, Willa, Saint, Paj, Hammish, and Auster. The descriptions of their physical attributes, the complex histories, the flaws, their loyalties, and their relationships won me over. I love Fable and Wes (but Fable most of all). She is strong, growing, maturing, seems to find herself into spots of trouble, but she is kind, passionate, and loyal to no end. I cannot wait to read what happens next!!!!

5/5 stars enthusiastically

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books/St Martin’s Press for this ARC and in return I am submitting my unbiased and voluntary review and opinion.

I am posting this review to my GR and Bookbub accounts immediately and will post it to my Amazon and B&N accounts upon publication.

I really enjoyed this book but I didn't get a lot of the lingo or occupations. It was beautifully written and I could picture Fable, fellow mates, and the setting so wonderfully. It was a fun read and very action packed.

After a terrifying shipwreck that took her mother, Fable was left on a seashore of a trading dock. Her father carved a symbol into the inside of her forearm and left her without any protection. Just a child, she did what she could to survive, and taught herself the lowliest of trades, dredging the reefs from precious stones. Fable is saving her coppers to buy her way off the island and to her father. When she is attacked by her competition and has to beg her way onto a ship, Marigold, a trading ship leaving port. As she get close to finding her father, she is ensnared in secrets of the crew abroad Marigold, and connections to a sinister world of people who will do anything to survive.

Fable is my hero! OMG it's be a while since I so utterly loved a main character so deeply. She is strong and brave, made of power and so much yes, and yet, she's real and raw and deep inside there is a part of her you want to hold and protect.

The story starts in way that leaves you no doubt the kind of world Fable is navigating. Hard, beyond hard, the edges are everywhere and it's no wonder it created such a powerful woman. I was holding my breath for the opening until we meet West and then, wow, things shift, but do they? The Marigold crew and what happens next is just as tense/intense, not letting up. There is a darkness to the story that adds so much and really lifts this low fantasy to great heights.

This is a cutthroat pirate/sea fantasy that raises the bar... or should I say sails? to a new level. Must read. I need the next part.

I was looking forward to this book because I loved this author's other books. I really, really wanted to like this one with every fiber of my being but I just couldn't. There were elements that I did like but overall there were a few things that lacked for me that made it hard to fully immerse myself in this story.

Fable has a rough background story. It was interesting to learn about and I did like the snippets we get from the past. The thing is, I don't really think there was anything about her that made her standout from other female characters I have read. Besides her background story, there wasn't much to her for me.

The same pretty much goes for the other characters as well. There wasn't too much about them and it made it hard to really connect to them. West plays a bigger part in the plot but I didn't find him that interesting. One of the characters I did like and would like to know more about is her father. He definitely is hiding some secrets and I would like to know what they are!

*Spoilers* The romance was just not working for me. It is a slow-burn which is great. I like that. It also doesn't take up much of the book. Props to that! But, I just didn't sense that much chemistry between them and when he poured his heart out and said he had loved her since he first laid eyes on her two years ago I did roll my eyes. The only thing we really know about that time is that she would sell him stuff so she could make some copper. If that was all the interaction they had together before she set off with him I'm not sure I get their relationship. Maybe it's just me. 🤷‍♀️

When it comes to the plot, it was fine. I wouldn't say there was anything that really wowed me. The pace was pretty slow and a majority of the action didn't start until about halfway through. I understand that this is the first book but I just need a few things here and there to keep me motivated to continue. When we did get action it was fine but again, it didn't leave me wanting to keep flipping the pages to find out what happened next. Maybe I'm just not one for books set out at sea. 🤷‍♀️

Overall, I am a bit sad I didn't like this one. I think this will definitely be one of my unpopular opinions and that's okay. I know there will be many that enjoy this book. Will I pick up the next? Honestly, I'm not sure. It did leave off on a cliffhanger but I don't know if I like the characters enough to see awaits them.

Fable by Adrienne Young.


Fable is a 17 year old dredger with only one goal in mind; to save up enough copper to buy her way off of the prison of an island she’s been stuck on for the past 4 years and in doing so, earning her spot on her father’s crew.


Little did Fable know that bartering passage on a merchant vessel would be the easy part of her journey. Aboard the Marigold we meet a small crew who holds their secrets close to their vests. Everyone has their secrets. In this world, the truth is the easiest way to find a knife to your throat or a grave at the bottom of the ocean floor.


Fable is one of those books where you not only can’t put it down, but you won’t realize that you don’t want to. After opening the first page only moments will pass before you find yourself a hundred pages in, arms close to your chest with a burning desire to know what happens next.


This book is the fast pace, high adventure, slow burn romance that should be on everyone’s September TBR.


Publication Date: September 1st, 2020

This cover is so freaking beautiful!!



That bastard was leaving me again.


That first sentence had me! Although, this being an uncorrected copy, that line might change.

Fable is one of my new spirit animals!! I love her so much! She went through a lot in her young life and she’s just trying to find her way. A few years ago, her father left her on this horrible island to fend for herself. There were other people there but it was a pretty bad place.

At one point she leaves the island to look for her father. She makes a bargain with West, to ride out on his ship. Well, basically she has to but I can’t tell you why.

I fell right in love with each member of the Marigold crew! This journey was not the best or safest journey and there were a few rough things that happen.

And just when you think something good might happen, some twat messes it up!! That being said, there is a major cliffhanger, which is fine.

I can’t wait to add this hardback to my collection! A beautiful, thrilling, evil, loving, sexy book!

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

Mel 🖤🐶🐺🐾

This book was so good! I enjoyed it so much and I found myself thinking about it during the day wondering what would happen next and anxious to get back to reading it! I already can’t wait for the next book to come out!!

Fable by Adrienne Young is an amazing and beautiful adventure! I would highly recommend it to young adult and fantasy readers. Each book I read of Young's I love a little more than the last!

From the moment I picked up FABLE, I couldn't put it down. Young's ability to build a world and employ the use of vivid imagery is one of the reasons her stories are so extraordinary.

Fable is a fighter, a survivor. As we slowly learn about her past--how she ended up on that island--and how she aims to get off of it, she becomes the kind of fierce heroine that never truly leaves you, popping into your mind months after you've finished reading.

I thoroughly enjoyed the twists and storylines. Young kept me guessing where her romantic and mystery plots were headed. Very excited to see what happens in NAMESAKE. FABLE is truly a one-of-a-kind story, made of all the themes that make a young adult novel great. This is one fantastical world that continues to shimmer on the horizon of my psyche. I want to be in the waters with Fable!

Adrienne Young’s books keep getting better and better. I wish I’d known that this wasn’t a standalone like with the two instalments in her Sky in the Deep duology, because I have a serious book hangover. March 2021 and “Namesake”, the sequel to this book, can’t come fast enough.

Characters

Fable is an amazing protagonist.  The entire book is told from her perspective, which already sets it apart from Young’s other novels.  However, Young’s signature style is still there, and everything she writes is like poetry on the page. I feel like I wrote that same line in my review for The Girl the Sea Gave Back last month, but I don’t care. It’s true. Her writing is one of a kind, and I’m insanely excited that I don’t have to wait an entire year for another book by her.  

As with her other books, Fable has some romance, but it isn’t front and centre. It’s an important part of the story, sure, but Young’s protagonists always have a lot more going on in their lives than simply finding love.  

There are quite a few other fascinating characters, not the least of which is West, the helmsman of the Marigold, who agrees to give Fable passage to Ceros.  He’s an intriguing character, young for a helmsman, and clearly harboring quite a few secrets of his own. The other members of the crew are all just as young as Fable is (maybe a little older), and their dynamic and backstories gave me a definite Six of Crows vibe.  They’re a tight-knit group that would do anything for each other, and I’m already disappointed that this is only expected to be a series with two books.

Plot 

The story is gripping from the very first pages, and there are never any lulls in the plot, any opportunity to put it down for a quick bathroom break.  As with her other books, it’s a fantasy, but there’s only a hint of magic in the storyline, which makes for a magical, yet plausible, world. 

This novel wraps up quite nicely, however there is a huge cliffhanger that’s left me itching for more. I know I’m repeating myself, but I seriously cannot wait for the next book! 

I would give this novel more than 5 stars if I could.

Recommended to anyone who loves young adult fantasy with strong female protagonists and a beautiful, descriptive writing style that doesn’t negatively impact the fast-paced plot.

*This review will be posted to https://powerlibrarian.wordpress.com/ and other platforms on August 18, 2020*

Sky in the Deep was amazing while The Girl The Sea Gave Back was a letdown. I read Fable knowing it wouldn’t grasp my attention like Sky in the Deep but I still had an open mind. Fable was very slow from the beginning until the 50% mark. The second half was faster paced and had a small degree of action. I didn’t like or dislike Fable; there wasn’t anything that made her stand out compared to other female characters in young-adult novels. I didn’t like Willa or West for the majority of the novel since they both were cold towards Fable. After the half mark, Willa’s personality shifted and she wasn’t as annoying and harsh. West, on the other hand, remained the same from start to finish. How he treated Fable fell into the elementary school stereotype of “when boys are mean to you it really means they like you”. They hardly interacted throughout the story since West was always angry at Fable and then suddenly at the end he announced he fell in love with her the moment he saw her two years ago. That was an eye-rolling moment, especially when Fable realized she loved him in return.

I knew exactly how it would end (cliffhanger of course) and since the story was mediocre I will read the next one to see what happens.

Thankyou so much Netgalley for the e-ARC of this book !
4.5
So so so surprised!!! At first I fell in love with the cover then with Fable then with all of the characters. The universe was so good. And the writing, guys, the writing was so poetic, so beautiful. I loved it. The cover of book 2 litreraly KILLS me, it's so gorgeous. Can't wait bc damn I didnt want to leave this world. Really.

I loved Sky in the Deep and this beautiful novel reminded me what I loved about Adrienne Young's writing in her first novel. Her style of writing in this story is lyrical and smooth. Her word choices and the slow revelations of secrets through Fable's adventures are a delight to read and I didn't want this story to end. Mystery, adventure and a hint of romance on the seas, this was a wonderful read and I need more of the story as soon as possible! Thank you netgalley for this arc in exchange for my honest opinion.

"That bastard was leaving me again." And with that, I was hooked in this book. I cared about Fable from the first page when everyone was against her and she is constantly scrounging for food, safety and life.

Fable is strong, so strong, but also have a soft side that makes her relatable. Her determination and persistence is mind-blowing, and she's pretty funny. The plot of this novel had so many twists and changes, with antagonist abounding, but also supporting characters that endeared themselves to me, like a barnacle on a boat.

I highly recommend this book to anyone who likes strong female leads, pirates, or a book full of adventure!

There’s something about the sea that calls to my reader mind. I personally, in real life, have always been wary of being on boats and get nervous when there is even any small bit of waves to make the trip anything less than calm and steady. For some reason though, for as long as I can remember, I have read just about any kind of young adult book with pirates or set on the water. I love learning the terms for the different parts of the boat and hearing about how the water looks in the dead of a clear night—all of it.

There were several reasons why I wanted to read this book immediately when it came out. Adrienne Young has not steered me wrong so far with her gorgeous writing, THE FREAKING COVER, and the mention of the sea being Fable’s only home and bam, I clicked the request button on NetGalley so fast.

Just as I suspected, I was not in any way let down. We are introduced to Fable, a girl whose father is one of the most infamous traders around and who left her to fend for herself on an island of hardened dredgers with the promise that if she were to find her way back to him, she would have a spot with him on his ship.

One thing I selfishly appreciated as an adult who loves reading YA, is that it is never mentioned what any of their ages are. I obviously made them a little older in my mind than they probably were but that’s fine! It just made it easier for me reading about these young people having to do these horrible things (because when isn’t there death and treachery out on the seas) in order to survive if I was able to picture them a little older, even though let’s face it, it isn’t really it works.
I loved the crew of the Marigold, especially West for obvious reasons, and loved that even though they wanted nothing to do with Fable at first, that they eventually ended up becoming the family she always had wanted.

There’s quite the little cliffhanger at the end which has me dying for more, too. Basically, if you are in any way interested in a GOOD FUCKING BOOK, pick this one up. Lol, sorry this is my first almost full review in months and I am just really excited about it.

Um also, I added this to my "I will go down with ship" shelf and I'm wondering if that's bad luck for our characters in more than one way, lol, oops.

Quotes come from an uncorrected proof and are subject to change upon publication. Huge thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for allowing me to read a copy of this eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.