I was anxious about this follow up to one of my favorite YA fantasy novels in AGES, but I needn't have worried. Fable and crew are back in an explosive, captivating, romantic adventure that picks up where Fable left off. There are a lot of mysteries left to be solved and Namesake does an excellent job at it while introducing new elements and new characters. Certain reveals left me gobsmacked and I am so impressed with the elements that Adrienne Young introduced early on in the duology, then BAM! crept up and smacked me in the face in the second book.

I think duologies are the way of the future for YA fantasy (or, at least, they should be)! Adrienne Young will be an auto-buy author for me forever now.

3.5 stars. This was a nice conclusion to the duology. I had several issues with this book, but the ending made up for it. I really liked Fable and West together- they mesh well and genuinely care for each other, which is nice to see that teens can be responsible and mature.

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I really enjoyed this duology. Is it my favorite? No. But it was still really good.

I won't say too much because I don't want to ruin the book but I loved getting to know more about Fable. I loved learning about her family and I really liked seeing her relationship with Saint develop. I also really enjoyed getting more of West. We learn about his past and why he is the way he is. Fable and West are not my favorite couple of all time but I do think they fit pretty well together once everything is kind of out in the open.

This book is very action packed. Much more than Fable was. It was a bit hard to follow and I think I should have reread Fable before starting this one but I did eventually understand what was going on and was able to follow the storyline better.

Overall a very solid fantasy duology! Thank you netgalley for my copy!

I absolutely loved Fable, so I was very excited to read the series Namesake.
Fable was taken from the Marigold and forced to dredge for a new captain. However, it's revealed that this is only the first step in a complicated plan to use Fable for leverage with someone from her mother's past.
I think this was an adequate end to the duology, but it didn't have the same magic that the first book had. There were just too many convoluted plot lines about who is related to whom. The ending was good, but the book lost some of the spark between Fable and West.

Namesake is the conclusion to Adrienne Young's, Fable duology; a Seafaring Fantasy story with action, adventure and heart. After the cliffhanger ending of Fable, our protagonist finds herself once again, separated from the one's she loves, as she is used as a pawn in a rival trader's scheme for power. Just as she was beginning to find the place she felt she belonged, more challenges are thrown in her face.

On her new ship, she runs into an old acquaintance. A close friend of her parents, who she thought was lost forever. In her struggle to return to the Marigold, and the handsome Captain she left behind, Fable ends up learning a lot more about her Mother, particularly her earlier life; some of it surprising, to say the least.

This story takes the plotting and scheming to a whole new level, as the different trading organizations in this world vie for power and position. I really enjoyed watching Fable's evolution as a character over the course of these two books. Although she has always been a fighter, she was fairly helpless in the beginning in a lot of ways.

She was used so often as a pawn in other people's games, but as she grew and discovered her own power, she became a force to be reckoned with. She became like the center of a whirlpool, sucking everyone in around her.

Overall, I am so satisfied with how this turned out. It was really a lot of fun. I enjoyed the complexity that Young brought to this one, which I felt was lacking a bit in the first novel.

In my opinion, Fable deserves the world! She discovered so much about herself, that she didn't understand before. I feel like with that understanding, she was able to become who she was truly meant to be. My baby bird has left the nest.

Thank you so much to the publisher, Wednesday Books, for providing me with a copy of this to read and review. I really enjoyed it!

4/5 stars. I was fortunate enough to receive an ARC of this book from NetGalley. I devoured this book and that was both a good and a bad thing. I finished it right before Christmas and read it so fast that I didn't take great notes because I just wanted to see how it ended. I was so drawn into this story and I felt so invested in these characters that I hated to put this book down. Unfortunately, my life got a little crazy around the holidays so things just got put on the back burner for a while.

So I decided to skim it over again before I wrote a review and here are my thoughts!

Honestly if you loved the first book, you'll love this one too. Fable ended in such a cliffhanger that I was ecstatic to be able to read this one so close to finishing the first book. I'm going to be really careful to not spoil anything because I felt like there were so many plots twists and some were a little surprising to me (while I totally called some of the others).

You learn so much more about Fable's background and her family in this sequel. With a family like hers, Fable may have seemed better off alone on that island. Fable has so many decisions to make and has to be quick on her feet to save the people and things she loves the most. Young's writing style keeps you engaged and makes it difficult to put the book down. I definitely teared up at a couple of points in this book because I was so enamored with these characters.

I felt like this duology has been such a nice change to the YA genre as of late. I look forward to reading more of her books and being completely immersed in another book. This review is soooo hard to write without spoiling anything so I'm sorry it has to be pretty vague.

This cover is stunning - grabbed my immediate attention.
Fable finds herself on Zala's ship - not a good sign. Zala kidnapped her - in desperate need for her dredging skills. After hiring additional help, including of course Koy, they set off.
Zala intends to lift his trading ban on the Unnamed Sea. But Fable doesn't realize she is his bartering chip.
And then the plot just sucks you in.
Rich descriptions, family drama, West and his crew, and the ever elusive Isolde drive this plot. I loved it.

After loving the first book in the series & falling in love with the setting, characters, and gem searching— I knew I had to read the second book soon, I was absolutely thrilled when I got approved to read Namesake.

In Namesake, we follow Fable as she tries to make her way back to West while trying her best to escape from her father’s rival. Along the way, Fable is reunited with a powerful family member and learns more than she thought she could about her mother's murky past.

This was the perfect little series to get swept up in. A nice light heartwarming romance, mystery, action, political intrigue, and just the lightest touch of magic.

I enjoyed this book just as much as the first, it has easily become one of my favorite series.

4.5 stars

**ARC provided by Wednesday Books via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed Fable when I read it last year, so absolutely jumped at the chance to read an early copy of the sequel. Namesake was, if possible, better than it's predecessor and I enjoyed following Fable on her journey of self-discovery. Namesake picks up instantly from the ending of Fable, Fable has been kidnapped by Zola and come face to face with someone she thought dead. Zola tells her that he needs her for a quick job & then he will return her to the Narrows and the boy she loves. Only nothing and no one are what they seem, Fable will have to rely on new allies and old enemies if she is to make it out with all the people she loves still alive.

I really enjoyed reading from Fable's POV in book one and she really grew on me in Namesake. She is a girl who was abandoned by the people who loved her and has had to grow up strong and resilient, never before having people she can rely on, people who would fight for her. But now she has West and the crew of the Marigold, Fable has other people she has to look out for, something she is not used to. Some of her decision making may seem a little hasty, but Fable would much rather her own life be at risk than the lives of those she loves. I did get a little annoyed at some of West's decision making in this book, but he is the opposite of Fable, always having to look out for others and because of that it does make sense.

We meet some new characters in this book, as well a reacquainting ourselves with some of my favourites from book two. If I had one issue with this series though, it would be the lack of strength to the side characters. None really get enough page time for you to really bond with them, and because of that their interactions with Fable can seem a little fast, fast to friends, fast to lovers, fast to enemies. I would have loved for a few more POV's, even just West's, and I think this would have added a whole new depth to the story, especially in this book with them being separated for a large part of it.

If there's one thing Young thrives at it's descriptive writing. Similar to book one, I was completely swept away by the descriptions, not only of the places and the people, but of the Dredging that Fable is known for. You can easily immerse yourself in Fable's world, and I found myself flying through the pages feeling like I was on the boats along side Fable and the crews. The plot flows at quite a fast paced, largely thanks to the amount of plot twists the author uses. There were a couple I saw coming, but some completely threw me (in a good way) & I couldn't believe I didn't guess them.

Fable and West's romance continues in this book, and I will say that I still think it was a little rushed. Book one gave me major 'insta love' vibes and some of the decision making in this book made just seemed a little off for two people who have other people depending on them. I did enjoy delving into the other relationships in Fable's life, with Saint her father, Clove her fathers old crew member, the crew of the Marigold and someone else I can't mention for spoiler reasons. I actually preferred these scenes to the ones with Fable and West, and may have whooped with joy at a certain scene towards the end of the book.

Overall, this is a fun and fast paced series. It isn't heavy, there are no 'big' topics, or talking points being brought up and for that reason it's the perfect kind of palate cleanser for those of us who may want a break from the heavier fantasy reads. There were parts of this book I certainly didn't love, but overall I enjoyed it and I think a large part of that was reading it from Fable's POV. An easy 3.5* and I will definitely be picking up the authors other works..

I received an e-arc of this book from NetGalley for an honest review.

I’ll be honest, I was so excited for this series, but when I finally read the first book, I just wasn’t all that invested. It’s probably more about my personal tastes and preferences more than anything else. There were a few moments I liked and a few relationships I liked seeing how they’ll play out, but that was about it.

I’m happy that I stuck around to read the sequel tho. This book was a lot easier to stay invested in. I think since I already knew most of the characters and understood the relationships, it was easier to care about what else was going on. It was easier to root for West and Fable. It was clearer how I should feel about Saint. I enjoyed this book a lot more than the first. Tho I am just happy the series is over too. And I appreciated how it ended. I think it was just the right kind of ending for this story.

Deeeeeep sigh.

So I was sent this book without having read the first one, and when I went to read <a href="https://www.thefrumiousconsortium.net/2020/12/10/fable-fable-1-by-adrienne-young/">Fable</a> to get myself up to speed, I was Not Impressed. That was a book that romanticized immature people making irrational choices. This sequel has the dubious virtue of being utterly consistent with its predecessor.

Here's the deal: Fable has managed to make her way back from the cutthroat island where her father Saint left her to fend literally for herself as a pretty young 14 year-old (!!). She's found a new, accepting family with the crew of the Marigold, helmed by her lover West. Only, as the first book ended, she was kidnapped by her father's arch-rival Zola, for purposes unknown. Adding insult to injury is the presence of one of her parents' closest friends on Zola's crew. At first frantic with worry that West will think she's abandoned him, she soon discovers that there are greater threats to her health and happiness on her new, unwanted vessel, as enemies old and new come out of the woodwork to menace her.

Not a terrible premise on its own, and Adrienne Young's prose is lively and engaging. But honestly, it's like this book was written with the sole purpose of showcasing several cool scenes, barely strung together by any writing as connective tissue, and certainly given no depth beyond the flashy set pieces. I didn't understand Fable's antipathy to Holland, which was couched as "oh no, Holland is such a good trader that she'll stifle all competition" like, that's not how trade works? Even inclined as I am to think that unfettered capitalism is bad, you HAVE to give me something more to work with than "she's so rich therefore she is evil." Yes, Holland is a murderer but so is everyone else in this stupid book! I didn't understand why Fable had to be a mean, wasteful brat any time she was given a new dress -- at least the pink one got repurposed! -- and I didn't understand... no, actually, I did understand all the West-Saint nonsense because it was really clear that Fable had daddy issues that she was transferring to her boyfriend, which was just weird and creepy to read.

Namesake felt like a book written for small-minded, shallow people, the kind who'll agree with Fable when she calls her mother -- who died when Fable was 14, mind -- a liar because Isolde didn't tell her about a certain detail from Isolde's past that never came up in conversation. I don't know who needs to hear this, but people are allowed to have secrets, y'all. They're not liars until they actively dissemble when asked about something. It was also really hard for me to believe that no one knew Saint was her dad given how all Fable's flashbacks were of how he doted on her aboard ship. Saint's crew must have been too dumb to live... which is awkward of me to say since all the ones who "didn't know" actually did die.

On the plus side, at least the sailing bits here didn't feel as egregiously offensive as they did in the first book, but boy am I glad I don't have to read any more of this nonsense.

Namesake by Adrienne Young was published March 16 2021 by Wednesday Books and is available from all good booksellers, including <a href="https://bookshop.org/a/15382/9781250254399">Bookshop!</a>
Want it now? For the Kindle version, <a href="https://amzn.to/314vo6k">click here</a>.

This book ends my favorite series of the year (so far). A fantasy with pirates, treasure, mystery and romance! Young wraps you up in a world of intrigue on the seas. The story is lyrical, I couldn’t tear myself away from Fable’s story. While the romance takes on to high sails, what really sets it apart is the evolution of Fable and her father. Their relationship is complicated to say the least and as Fable is led down a path she must choose between saving the boy she loves or the first man she’s ever known.

The second installment in the Fable duology did not disappoint. Although it was slightly less captivating than the first it still packs a punch of love, family and a healthy dose of con and double-cross. The characters we got to know in depth felt somewhat extemporaneous but then we also got to know several characters which had not featured prominently. All in all, a great ending to a fantastic duology. My only complaint is there won’t be any more Fable.

I couldn’t wait to read Namesake because I was really curious to see how this duology ended since Fable was such an intriguing series starter,

While Namesake was a quick and enjoyable read, I was just left wanting more. More explanation about the magic system, more character development, and more depth to the story. And more reasons to believe in the romance.

However, this book was still beautifully atmospheric, like all of Adrienne Young’s books. I also really liked the development of the relationship between Fable and Saint. Fable was still an interesting heroine and I’m glad I read this book because I liked seeing how her story ended.

Overall, I do think that the majority of readers who enjoyed Fable will enjoy Namesake!

This is the second novel in the Fable series. Part of me is really sad that Fable's story had to end. The other part of me understands why. I was completely swept away with this series and binged both books at once.

The story continues with Fable stuck on Zola's boat. As she sails the UnNamed Sea, West is determined to find her. Fable learns many things about herself and her mother when she meets Holland and she finally understands why her father did what he did all those years ago.

Great character development with a bit of mystery. This book became a quick read for me and one that I am sure my daughter will enjoy in another year or two. And those covers are just stunning.

Thank you to Wednesday Books, St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the #gifted arc copy of this book.

I was so excited to get to dive (no pun intended) back into Fable's world. There was a LOT that happened at the end of the first book and we continued on RIGHT where we left off.

I love the ambiance and atmosphere of the world Young writes--her descriptions transcend the page and completely immerse the reader. The arc of each of the characters, namely Fable, West and Saint, were completed effortlessly in a way that mended my broken heart and left me with this huge, embarrassing smile.

I docked half a star only because I feel like the ending of this book (and the first) really carried the entire plot; as far as events, I am not sure I would feel the same way about Namesake if I hadn't loved the last 50 pages so much.

4.5/5

Namesake is the second book in an exciting YA fantasy duology by Adrienne Young. I loved the first book, Fable, because it featured a badass heroine and of course pirates, so I couldn’t wait to dive into the finale.

Namesake picks up right where the first book leaves off so you definitely need to have read the first book to have any idea as to what is going on. The crux of the story is that even though all Fable wants to do is sail away with the Marigold ship and its crew, free from the influence of her estranged father, Saint, Fable instead finds herself being used as a pawn in what turns out to be a very complicated scheme, the ultimate goal of which is to eliminate Fable’s father as a force in the shipping trade. Even though she’s estranged from Saint, she doesn’t want to see him ruined and so Fable must come up with a plan of her own, to save her father and to get back the crew (and the man) she loves.

Fable and her relationship with her father has definitely been one of the major draws for me of this series, so I was pleased to see it at the forefront of the finale. I was excited by the depth of the family drama that we delve into, not only with Saint, but also with Fable’s mother, who apparently took some pretty big secrets to the grave with her when she died. Where the first book in the series was all about gem trading and Fable trying to make her way in the world, Namesake is all about secrets, betrayal, deception, and the idea that no one Fable has known throughout her life is entirely as they seem. I don’t want to give anything away, so I’ll just say here that I never would have expected going into this duology that Saint would end up being one of my favorite characters, but that’s exactly what happened.

While I enjoyed the family aspect of Namesake immensely, especially the unexpected addition of another member of Fable’s extended family who isn’t what she seems, I didn’t enjoy this book quite as much as I enjoyed the first book in the duology. There were some places along the way where the pacing felt a little slow for me, particularly each time they went back into the water looking for gems. I think it was such a novelty in the first book that it fascinated me, but by the second book, I just really wanted to get back to the family drama stuff with Fable and didn’t care as much about how skilled she was at finding gems. I also wasn’t as into the romance in the second book as I was in the first. I’m honestly not even sure why. I think maybe it was, again, due to the fact that I was most interested in the family drama and everything else just felt in the way.

Even with those couple of issues though, I still found Namesake to be a satisfying conclusion to the series overall. I even teared up a bit at some of the final family moments. I would definitely recommend this series to anyone who enjoy YA fantasy, pirate adventures, and stories that feature complicated father-daughter relationships. 3.5 STARS

I was so excited for this sequel to come out. I loved Fable and needed to know what happened. I loved everything about this. I loved the dilemmas that Fable and West faced and I loved the drama with the crews and Saint. I loved that Fable grew as a character and that she received some of the closure that she needed in her life!

So far, I have loved everything I have read from Adrienne Young. I am excited to see what else she puts out!

A great sequel, we are brought back into the story leaving right where we left off in Fable. It was good to jump back into things and have a new adventure. The stakes were high for Fable and the crew and time counting down, everything could change. Love Fable and West's intense chemistry throughout and I do like the mystery and overall closure we got from this story.

This was a perfect finale for "Fable", which I loved. The story picks up where "Fable" left off, and follows Fable on an adventure or two as she fights to get back to the crew she joined in the first book and discovers more about her past and her parents' relationship to each other and to her.

I was enthralled the whole way through, cheering on Fable and West. The characters are strong and well-drawn, and Adrienne Young gives further details of the world that she developed in the first book that I thoroughly enjoyed. There's even more scheming and double-crossing than in the first book, and the ending was so satisfying.

Anyone who enjoys adventurous novels with strong female leads should read this duopoly. I'll definitely be re-visiting it.