I have read a lot of books - if not all - by Adrienne Young, and I loved them all. Namesake is the sequel to Fable and while it is similarly action-packed, I daresay that this was not my favorite read; it was enjoyable, of course, but not as exciting as the first book in this duology. The story picks up right after the end of the first book where Young takes us on several adventures in which Fable must succeed. Again, this aspect of the story was great because we get the same rhythm and spirit of the duology even though it is quite - again, dare I say it? - repetitive and trite. However, one main critique is the lack of character development. This was the same issue I had with the first book, where the relationship between Fable and West was not only surprising, but random and, as a result, unbelievable and forced. In Namesake, all character relationships continue to miss some kind of an essence, of emotion if you will, and thus become unrelatable. Of course, these are just my own sentiments. I still think Young is a great writer and think her writing will become stronger with each book. Despite my minor criticisms, I think this book would be great for all school ages: middle and high school. I will definitely add this book to my classroom library.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this eARC. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.

Oh, my stars! I loved Fable and Namesake was on par with the first book!! An amazing, swashbuckling tale!

Thank you so much NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Wednesday books for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Namesake is the sequel to the amazing Fable, a book about a girl named Fable rescuing herself and trying to find her way onto a ship in order to be a full time dredger. Namesake starts exactly where Fable leaves off with Fable waking upon on the deck of Zola’s ship. Throughout the book we see Fable work hard to get ahead, trick others into doing what she wishes, and grapple with her skills.

While I overall enjoyed my reading of Namesake I did have a lot of issues with Fable’s relationships, specifically with West. Fable makes many sacrifices for West, who she barely knows and it makes her character seem immature. Namesake would’ve been such a strong story if we had more depth to their relationship in the first book because without it none of their feelings seem real.

There are many other relationships that just seem to happen with no explanation. Fable cares about these people and excuses all of their behavior. Or she/them are just supposed to get over something huge for literally no reason. In the end it just seems like a bunch of undeveloped toxic relationships between a bunch of people. An example of this is Fable and Saint’s relationship. I wish Saint had to do more to gain Fable back, but she does portray the child who just wants her parent’s love and acknowledgement and I respect that. It is just another relationship that gets fixed out of the blue even though huge problems exist.

With all that being said, I liked the premise of the story. I loved Fable’s time having to work for Zola and how much her badass side shined while she was there. She was independent and took no shit. I also really love the whole idea of being a gem sage and I would’ve loved to see more of that explored, but I love the discoveries she made with her skill throughout the book. While I don’t think this was the strongest sequel, I believe the first book is to blame. As I said before, if there was more development with relationship in the first book Namesake would’ve been such an amazing follow up.

Everything that I thought was missing in the first book, I got in this book in spades. So I loved it!
Action packed with twists, turns, scheming, surprises, love, angst...it’s all there. For me, there was so much more emotional punch to the story, and not going to lie, I got teary a couple of times. The relationship between Fable and Saint was the real star of the emotional show. My one tiny complaint would be that I would have liked a little more progression from West.
In a way, it reminded me a bit of Six of Crows, so high praise indeed.
Really enjoyed it; a great end to the duology.
5 stars

Namesake takes off right where Fable left off, with the title character having been kidnapped by a rival trader. I did not expect the story to go in the direction that it did but it was a fantastic adventure that I really enjoyed. Some of it was a little predictable, but other parts had me guessing and wondering what the author had planned.

Once again, I really enjoyed Fable as a character and how she was able to get herself out of sticky situations. I loved how her relationship with Saint developed in this book. West, however, annoyed the ever loving crap out of me. I was not amused with the way he went behind Fable and the crew's back on several decisions. He almost totally ruined Fable's plan against Holland, because he was trying to be a man and fix everything himself. Like, dude, just trust that your girl knows what she's doing and stop pissing off your crew.

This was an excellent and satisfying sequel with all plot lines wrapped up nicely at the end. Both stories were adventurous, fast-paced, and exciting. I look forward to more stories from Adrienne Young in the future.

I really enjoyed Namesake and am glad that I was able to read it right after Fable. Namesake is a fast-paced book that brings more twists and turns, and I loved each reveal. For me, the strongest emotional thread in this duology is the relationship between Fable and Saint, and those are the moments in Namesake that ended up being most memorable. I loved the crew of the Marigold but I wished there had been more development and depth for these characters that I really liked. Lastly, I never felt invested in the relationship between West and Fable. Overall, I enjoyed the writing and the plot, but there was a missed opportunity for stronger character development.

I have been waiting for this one since I turned the last page of Fable and once again Young has created an amazing story of found family, love and loss and discovery. I loved seeing who Fable becomes and am sad to see this story and world come to an end. Thank you so much for sharing an early copy !

This book is the sequel to Fable so if you haven't read that one yet please do so so you can understand what's happening in this one. That being said I feel like this one wasn't as great as Fable. Basically in this sequel Fable goes head to head with Holland to bring down her empire all so she can go back to the Narrows. If you remember from the end of book one she was kidnapped and that is where this one picks up at. Of course, she really doesn't stay kidnapped for that long since she makes a deal for her freedom which kicks off the whole thing with Holland who is her grandmother.

This is a good book but it's not a strong sequel in my opinion. I still enjoyed the story and loved how West and Fable stayed together through everything. She ultimately gets publicly announced as Saint's daughter and Holland's and it comes as a total surprise (except for Holland's reveal she told Fable she was going to do it). It is worth a read but it's nothing I'm going to write home about.

Namesake is the second book of the Fable duology by Adrienne Young. We follow Fable as she learns more about her past, more about her parent, and more about her home than she ever thought she would. This is a pirate-esk story of merchants and smugglers with questionable morals and somewhat noble causes.

I liked the first book, Fable, well enough. Unfortunately, my biggest complaints about the first book have bleed into the second book as well. While we get more history and character building in book 2, I feel like many of the characters (West, Im looking at you) are simply too one dimensional to be interesting or likeable. Honestly I found myself looking forward to the parts that Saint was in - he was a compelling character! Fable was brash, selfish, and does not think through decisions properly.

I enjoyed the book, I really did. But I think it could have been more. Could have been better. I think the author was more interested in keeping the page count down than flushing out a solid story.

This second novel in the Fable universe was so good! Namesake picks up where Fable left off. The story unfolds with more twists and turns along the way. Fable and the Crew of the Marigold find themselves in one predicament after another. Stories of the past are revealed and plans for the future are made.

Overall I really enjoyed this book. It got a little long in the middle, but the storytelling really carried it through. This was a story about family, both the one you were born into and the ones you find.

I loved this book! The adventure, the suspense, the fast paced narrative - all came together into a perfect reading slump buster. I couldn't get enough of these characters and this series and I was so sad when it was over. Very highly recommend!

Kidnapped by The Marigold’s arch-nemesis, Fable learns not only that she was being taken across The Unnamed Sea to help him secure an alliance with the powerful gem trader, Holland. Even worse, she finds that she’s been betrayed by one of the people closest to her. Yet, to return to West and the rest of the crew, she must negotiate the unfamiliar culture and out-strategize her enemies, even if that includes her father, Saint. As she navigates this new world, she learns more about her mother’s past and the secrets she died with.

I enjoyed the introduction of new characters and the unexpected return of others, all of whom heightened the tension and to one degree or another created obstacles for Fable. Additionally, West’s loyalty is swoon-worthy. Plus, I thought the development of Fable and Saint’s relationship was well-done. Every time Fable mocked or bemoaned frocks or finery, I. was amused!

I wish that the beginning had been shorter—I wasn’t as interested in what happened on the trip through The Unnamed Sea, especially since the other characters weren’t very important to the plot. While Fable was as daring as ever, circumstances forced her into situations where she had fewer options, and she was much more wont to cry. As much as I loved West, his unilateral decision-making in the name of taking care of people became tiresome.

While the second book of the duology had a strong ending and sufficiently resolved all storylines, there is still lots of life left in these characters!

- received an ARC from the publishers as an educator - To be honest, I was not a big fan of the first one, but this one BLEW MY MIND. It was written exquisitely, and it kept me guessing on what was going to happen next. 4/5 because some of it felt like TOO many plot twists, but they worked well within the story and the world building crafted.

I am so incredibly thankful that I had the opportunity to read Namesake via an ARC because I was ITCHING for more following the cliffhanger in Fable.

A bit of background about me, I LOVE Adrienne Young's writing. Her world building is phenomenal and her characters are nuanced and fascinating. I stayed up all night reading Fable, and have The Girl the Sea Gave Back on my TBR (and should be reading that VERY soon).

Namesake picks up directly where Fable breaks off (thank goodness) and has a lot of twists and turns. The thing I loved about Fable is the character building and it really felt like a character driven plot, to me. Namesake on the other hand felt more plot focused and I found myself wishing for more detail on the actual characters. Namesake was a bit of a slower read for me than Fable, I'm not 100% certain why. It reads more slowly and it felt like there was a lot more "waiting for something to happen." There was also some interactions with West and the crew that really annoyed me. There is a lot of people doing things for others without actually checking in and having a simple conversation here in this book.

That being said, there were some INCREDIBLE moments in this book. Saint really took the cake for me, and I found myself getting emotional at the end. The whole reason behind the book's title was fantastic as well. I truly love the world that Young built and rest assured, I will be making sure that this book is on my shelf with the rest of her work.

Thank you to Adrienne Young, St. Martin's Press, and Netgalley for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

When I think about books with pirates I think about Fable immediately That's why I was so excited for Namesake. I believed that this book will be even better than the amazing first book, but I was sorely mistaken. Namesake isn't like Fable at all. The writing style in this book isn't that good, this book has really slow pacing that just doesn't fit with this type of story. Books about pirates shouldn't be slow and boring, they should be gripping, fast, and full of adventures! I usually love Adrienne Young's writing but I cannot say the same in this case.

The plot of this book is so simple that it looks like a long epilogue of Fable. And that's the main problem I have with this book. There isn't anything new about these characters, world, and so all of it seems to be bland even at the beginning. I was bored after a few chapters, and because of that, I couldn't concentrate. Honestly, I wanted to DNF Namesake many times, but since it's ARC, I decided to give it another chance, until I finished it.

Romance was another thing I didn't like in this book, but I had the same problem with this in Fable. I have to warn you, if you hate insta-love as much as I do, don't even try to open this book. I have to admit, there are some good insta-love romances in other books, but this book really needed slower, more belieavable romance. There isn't a spark between these characters, and that's all I can say about it.

Overall, I don't plan to read this book ever again. Although I like some characters and this world, there are many things that disappointed me. I can only recommend this book to someone who has low expectations otherwise you'll be disappointed as I was.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

**I receieved this ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.**

I read Fable as soon as I saw it on my library's shelf. I loved it so much that I immediately wanted to read the second. It did not disappoint! What a great duology. This was the perfect mix of a strong female lead with a perfect amount of romance (which is not a ton!). I also loved that it included an LGBTQ+ couple as a normal part of the story.

This pirate-eqse book made me want to go sailing. Fable is a dredger, but she becomes so much more than that. Her persistence and love for those around her make her extremely likeable. She is touch-as-nails and doesn't complain about the hardships she has been given.

I would give anything for this to be a trilogy, but it still ended perfectly as a duology. I will be recommending this to my teens again and again.

I loved Fable, so I was eager to dive right back into her story. It was great to see her trying to manoeuvre her way out of the situations she suddenly found herself in and I was on the edge of my seat for practically the entire book just waiting to see what would happen. I really enjoyed this duology and would definitely recommend it to any YA fans.

**Thank you Netgalley and to the publisher! I received an arc for an honest review**

After finishing Fable (my top read of the year!) I was dreading waiting for the next one. I'm so happy I got this one as well, and was able to finish the story. Adrienne Young has a way with words that completely transports you to the story. Once again I found myself tasting the salt in the air, and felt like I was there too.

Fable ended on a cliff hanger, and Namesake picks up directly where it ended. I felt like there wasn't as much action in this one. A lot of character building and interactions. I was also really put off by West's character throughout this. I started to like him again by the end though.

I loved the first book more, but overall I liked it a lot. It was a great ending to Fable's tale.

Fable was one of my favorite books of 2020 and it was one I wasn't even going to read but between the ACOBAF read-along and a friend pushing it, I finally picked it up. I was so excited to get an ARC of Namesake and be able to continue reading about West and Fable.

Namesake has a very different feel to me and the stakes are way higher. Fable was all about Fable finding her father and surviving, Namesake is all about Fable deciding who she is and what she wants. I loved that we got to learn more about old characters but also a new set of characters. The world was also expanded beyond the Narrows. I also loved that one of my favorite side characters from Fable had a big role to play in Namesake and Adrienne definitely gave him what he deserved in the end.

The plot of Namesake was so intricate and there were countless times I thought it was going in one direction, then all of a sudden we went somewhere else. I read this book in a single day and loved every minute of it. Adrienne Young has grown so much as a writer since her debut and I cannot wait to see what she writes next. Anyone who loved Fable will also love Namesake. And those who have not picked up this duology need to get on it ASAP.

*Thanks to Netgalley for the review copy*

I enjoyed it so much and wish it was a trilogy because i wouldn't mind reading a 3rd book. It had love, mystery (a lot of this), excitement and pretty much everything i was hoping it would have.