I think I’ve learned that this author’s writing style is just not for me. I’ve read a few of her books and I’m always left wanting more, a little bit of deeper characterization or stakes that feel higher and more important.

Filled with action, emotion, and lyrical writing, New York Times bestselling author Adrienne Young returns with Namesake, the final book in the captivating Fable duology.

In Namesake, you get to see all the characters grow is such a perfect way. The descriptions are beautiful, and I loved diving below the sea with Fable again. In this book, we follow Fable as she tries to find her way back to the Marigold through new alliances as well as old and new enemies, but we don’t know who will come through to help her. I didn’t want this book to end

I love these characters so much aaaaaaaaaah. I think I liked the storyline of the previous book a bit more, though honestly I just loved the overall storyline of this duology so much. As I've said in my review for the previous book (iirc), highly recommend if you love Pirates of the Caribbean and found family stories!

I loved this! A great sequel to Fable. Definitely a quick read: I finished it in a day! Loved the twists and turns.

Adrienne Young is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I loved this series and this was a perfect way to end. The adventure and action was there and the romance that started in the first book. I loved the ending and the way all of the conflicts were resolved. This is a great read!

This was such a great follow-up to Fable! Although I wanted more West/Fable time, I did enjoy the father/daughter moments and the redemption arcs throughout. Adrienne's writing is beautiful as always and I'm excited to read more from her.

After loving the first book so much, I was a bit scared that I was going to experience the dreaded 'second book syndrome', where you expect too much from a second book and it just doesn't deliver. Except that's not what I got, I loved this sequel. It's just as well written as the first book, though it had less worldbuilding or character development. It's really fast paced, which I didn't really mind, but it's easy to overlook things. All in all, I really enjoyed both books and I'm definitely looking forward to all Adrienne Young's future books

This book was a solid 4.5 stars. I wasn't sure how Adrienne Young would continue the story and keep it exciting after the end of Fable, but her knack for storytelling, and finding inventive problems didn't disappoint in this sequel. The protagonist, Fable, was further developed in novel into a fierce force to be reckoned with. The last novel left us with her trapped on the Luna with Zola, and I was worried that this would turn into a man, West, must save his love. I was happy to discover otherwise. Fable consistently solved her own problems and even acknowledges when her solution has led to another problem. She has faults and I think that's what makes me love her. I found the story a little slow to start, but it led up to numerous twists and turns that made this book impossible to put down.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this novel to review.

I had a hard time getting into the beginning of the book. At about the twenty five percent point it started to pick up exponentially. I loved this book as much if not more than the first. Wes has secured himself a solid spot in my heart right next to will herondale.

I want to give it 3.5 but I can’t so I rounded up. I expected so much more from this book! The beginning was good, but it really started to drag along. There were twists along the way to help the story along, but I really wanted it to be as good as the first book.

The main issue I had was her relationship with West. It was hard tell if he really did love her...he is always so stand-offish when it comes to Fable. The relationship just doesn’t feel believable in this book. I love Fable’s spirit and how she sticks to her guns, but the story just missed a lot of the action that the first one had.

https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/53138025-namesake

I was excited to see this sequel. Young is a wonderful storyteller and she continues her story with excellent details. Fable's short lived freedom is cut when disaster rains down on the Marigold. Excellent story, and excellent twists and surprises throughout.

This story was very different than Fable, a brand new story! Really enjoyed the twists and turns of this one! I have a really hard time reading on ebook so I didn't actually read this ARC until I was given a physical copy, but I absolutely adored receiving that and the cover is obviously gorgeous! Very excited for The Last Legacy to continue in this world!

Namesake was the conclusion I have been waiting for. As Adrienne writes more, the more I love her books. The same goes for this duology. Fable and her crew are lovable and a force to contend with in this second and final book. Adrienne really toyed with my emotions though. Like they were free ok. And then of course, everyone wants a piece of a drudger who is keen on stones! I was honestly flying through this book after chapter 4 and couldn't stop until I found out what happened to my marigold crew!
Thank you Adrienne for this beautiful and heart wrenching story!

Namesake, Adrienne Young’s highly anticipated sequel to her nautical themed fantasy Fable, struggles to stay afloat under the high expectations set by the previous installment.

The story starts off moments after the end of Fable. Fable finds herself abducted by Zola, a rival gem trader of her infamous father. Forced to become a pawn in this gem trading thug’s scheme, she wonders if West (her lover) and the crew of the Marigold will be able to find her.

But it’s not long till Fable discovers that Zola is not interested in her father at all, but rather her deceased mother Isolde—a gem sage. She had many secrets. Secrets that went with her to a watery grave.

Fable must dive into a world of betrayal and politics in order to protect the ones she loves. Old faces from her past appear, and it’s not long till she finds herself in over her head, risking everything in order to win it all.

My favorite book of 2020 was Fable. Young created a world and story I wanted to be part of, and I fell for it—hook, line, and sinker. I adored the dynamic between Fable and her mysterious and notorious father Saint, and the brooding, swoony romance between her and the Marigold helmsman West. Not to mention, the sparkly gemstone, high seas, pirate aesthetic definitely floated my boat.

So you could say my expectations were high for Namesake.

Now, Namesake is not a bad sequel. It does its job. It delivers more of the world, it delivers more of the swoony romance and the seafaring aesthetic. However, I found it to be missing its heart and soul, the emotional drive of the main characters.

Fable, West, and the gang all feel like cardboard cutouts of themselves. Most of Fable’s inner demons have been conquered in the previous book, leaving her feeling emotionally empty, almost like an automaton moving through the plot. Not to mention, for most of the book West is acting massively insecure about his relationship with Fable. This could have been compelling and a great place for character growth and conflict, but instead we get some rocky conversations. Still, ultimately West will do what West does, which is follow Fable around like a kicked puppy, and their relationship is fixed without addressing the heart of the issues.

Now, Young did expand a bit on her world in this installment, and we do learn more about Fable’s mother Isolde and her backstory. While I did enjoy the explanation, I did not enjoy the extensive political rigmarole that came with this information.

Get ready for lots of lackluster exposition about trade deals and the ship trading federation. Also, besides the extensive moments of exposition, the plot moves at a lightning fast speed, whipping you from one location to the next practically every chapter. This made the story feel like its only purpose was to have a plot to follow, rather than explore the characters or profound themes.

Yet, as I say all of this, there is one piece of Namesake that redeems it for me, that urges me to encourage readers to experience this story.

One word: Saint.

Fable’s father is such a fantastic and intriguing character. His charisma bleeds through the pages, despite barely making an appearance, just like in the previous installment. His estranged relationship with his daughter, and their story of healing and reconciliation is what makes me love this duology.

So rarely do we so this kind of relationship is explored in YA, and it makes me crave more. Their scenes together make me tear up. Young knows what she’s doing with this character.

To sum up, Namesake failed to live up to my expectations, with its exposition and plot heavy pacing. But, if you love this world, the characters, and Saint, then please pick up this book. It’ll all be worth it in the end.

Wow wowwwww. First of all, thank you to Wednesday Books for sending me an eARC of this!

I've read Fable 3 times, now, so you can say I was ecstatic to read Namesake!

Without spoiling anything, the cliffhanger from Fable is wrapped up very nicely. There were so many new characters that really gave that oomph a book 2 needs, without adding too much to the story to make it an info-dump. Adrienne's writing is beautiful as always, and the character development for literally all of them was spot on. We get to see more into Fable, her mother, Saint, West, and the rest of the crew of the Marigold.

Namesake isn't slow, nor is it fast paced. It's like rocking in a ship. Every beat of the story is absolutely necessary to the main plot, and yet, Adrienne weaves her web of character development and sauciness. I love the little bit of sex positivity in this duology, and I just want to say THANK YOU to Adrienne for writing such an awesome world not quite like we've seen it.

We see a lot of YA books focusing on pirates when it comes to sea stories, but this focused more on trading, so overall, just really awesome!

If you loved Fable, I think you're going ot love Namesake evern more!

If you like strong badass women, pirates, and amazing adventures, then this is the book for you. Highly highly recommend this book to everyone I meet.

Namesake is the sequel to Fable, a story about a young girl who was left on an island of thieves by her father, who is the most powerful trader in the narrows. Fable's story of her getting off the island and making her own way into the world was truly captivating and amazing. And since the book left off with such a cliffhanger ending, I could not wait to get my hands on this book and continue Fable's story. This book did not disappoint, it felt as if you just left off with Fable and was equally as good as the first novel.

Fable is such a strong character, I can't help but admire her and how her brain works. She is clever, sarcastic and so strong yet vulnerable at the same time. She's the type of woman I would love to be friends with in real life, and honestly I was a little sad to see her story end.

This world that Adrienne created is also very captivating. She took a classic pirate/sailing world that everyone is somewhat used to (especially if you've watched pirates of the caribbean on repeat like I have), but turned into something new. The whole concept behind looking for gems and characters being gem sages is so creative and unique I absolutely love it. Well done Adrienne.

Not only is the world and main character captivating, but Adrienne also does an amazing job of creating side characters that you can't help wanting to know more about and rooting for as you see their character development on the side.

I have nothing bad to say about this book, I will be buying a physical copy of this book to add to my collection because I know I will want to re-read these books in the future.

This book was the perfect conclusion to Fable’s journey! The covers are stunning and I loved watching Fable grow into herself after finding herself in the last novel. The plot stayed steady and I absolutely flew through the second half of the book. Apologies on the late review. Life happened this past year and I had to take a break. Thanks so much for the copy in exchange for a review! I loved the series so much I’ve purchased both hard copies for my shelf :)

Actual rating 3.5.

“We were salt and sand and sea and storm. We were made in the Narrows.”

Namesake takes off where Fable left off. Fable is on Zola’s ship and her crew is trying desperately to get her back. Her and West continue to do everything they can to get them and their crew away from doing work for bad people.

Namesake didn’t hit me as hard as the first book. Fable was such a delight to read and I found myself connecting with the main character Fable, and rooting for the romance, and enjoying the time to get to know the crew. But Namesake follows the aftermath of book one and is therefore much darker and more ominous then the first. West especially has to deal with the consequences and has to decide if he really wants to put Fable before his crew and even his family. And then Fable has to deal with the aftermath of his decisions and what this means for their relationship.

Since Fable is stuck on Zola’s ship for most of the book we don’t get to spend nearly as much time with the rest of the crew. And because of this, the romance is very limited. These were two strong points in the first book (especially the tension between West and Fable in the beginning), but they’re exchanged for more high stakes action. I don’t think Namesake did anything wrong, but as a reader, I had a harder time connecting with the book.

As usual, the writing and the setting were beautiful and well-written. I love reading more nature-type scenes from this author as in this duology and Sky In The Deep she does an amazing job describing the scenery and really helping the reader feel like they are there.

Overall, I think this was a fantastic conclusion to the duology and I’d love to see even more from the author in the future.

I was worried I'd never find a book from Adrienne Young as good as her Sky in the Deep duology. I was wrong. This filled my heart with joy....ripped it out....stomped on it...put it all back together and filled it with more joy. Young has a knack for writing books that feel like fantasy, but aren't. And there's no magic in Namesake, but her high seas adventure, full of romance (I love Fable and West), betrayal, and OMG the twists. I loved exploring family and its importance in this series. It's got such a diverse set of characters, all unique and fully realized. The writing and pacing were fluid and quick. Seriously, this was a blockbuster. And it was a perfect end to a perfect duology.

This book was everything I was hoping for and more in the Fable sequel. We revisited the characters we grew to love in the first book and spent more time with their backstories. I loved the uniqueness of this plot. It kept me interested all the way through.