Drift read more as a prologue to a full novel than a novella. It was nice to revisit Willa, one of my favorite characters from The World of the Narrows series, but she deserved more than this short piece! Fingers crossed we get more of Willa and Koy’s story in the future.

MY HEART!!
An incredible installment in the world of The Narrows! The writing was gritty and harrowing but refined and poetic. Adrienne Young has surpassed my expectations! I love Willa & Koy so much, they are so perfect together!

I will literally read anything set in the world of Fable. The narrows feels like going home. I love this world that Adrienne Young has built, and Drift was a fun, short story that gave me that hit I’ve needed since finishing Saint. The audiobook narrator was fantastic. The additional insight into this world and these characters was so fun. 4 glowing stars!

This novella was cute and short. It opened up a whole new storyline. It really made me want to go back to the narrows and read them again! It’s been too long.

I liked the narration enough. I felt the variation in the voices could have been better but it wasn’t detracting from the story.

Drift: Willa & Koy (A Narrows Novella) by Adrienne Young
Narrated by Isabel Pask
Publisher: Macmillan Audio, Macmillan Young Listeners
Genre: Teens & YA
Published: September 5, 2023

Drift: Willa & Koy is A Narrows Novella by Adrienne Young. I have not read the other books in The Narrows series (but really want to now!) and enjoyed this as a standalone book.

I thought this story was absolutely captivating! I loved the characters and want to know more about them. This book was fast paced and kept me on the edge of my seat. I know there is so much more going on under the surface!

The narration by Isabel Pask was wonderful!

I’ll definitely be reading the other books in this series because I need more!!!

I received an advance review copy for free, and I am leaving this review voluntarily.

This short & sweet novella was so good I really wish it lasted longer. The writing was amazing as always and the narration was great. I was happy to dive back into this fantasy world with such great characters. This author will always be one of my fave, her stories are amazing and I always lose myself in them.

Thank you to the publisher and @netgalley for providing a free advanced copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I loved going back to the Narrows, even if it was a short trip. This was short and sweet with a touch of danger.

I am so happy I got to go back to this world. I love Willa and Koy. Willa is a strong character that also has a tendency to mother others. She is fierce and very protective. Koy is just as protective of her. I hope there is more in this world. The narration is perfect. Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the arc in exchange for my honest review.

I always embrace a trip back to the narrows! I love anything and everything Adrienne Young writes and this was no different. Only complaint was how short it was - i needed more character development and more depth! But I'll take what I can from her!

Dear Drift: Willa & Koy,
Anytime I can return to the world of Fable, I am going to jump right on it. I have loved all of the books in this series, and you did a good job of creating a bridge to what I hope is the next book in this series. I cannot wait to see if Willa and West are reunited and all of the ways their relationship has evolved.

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the audio-ARC of Drift: Willa & Koy.

For those of you who are not familiar with Adrienne Young and her Narrows universe, you should definitely read Saint, Fable, Namesake, and The Last Legacy before diving into this novella.

I have really enjoyed all the books in this world, so I was thrilled to hear that a novella was coming out about Willa and Koy. I have a hard time rating novellas because I am often left with this feeling of wanting more, and that, inevitably, impacts my rating. As such, I find myself teetering between 3 and 3.5 stars because while I did enjoy the story, I think there were some issues that I had that knocked it down for me.

First, it was really short. There is a lot of drama with not much happening until the very end of the story. It just seems like there are a lot of loose strings here and there weren't any real conclusions. By ending on this weird note, it does appear as though Young is setting us up for another story. Whether that story is another novella or a full novel is yet to be seen.

Overall, this reminded me of when an author posts chapters on their blog/website as teasers for their readers while they are busy writing the full novel. In this case, instead of getting random chapters with little context, we got nine chapters in a row!

Second, because the story was so short, a lot of the plot points felt rushed to me. I was truly interested to see what became of Willa once she left the Marigold and what developed between her and Koy (if anything). Unfortunately, I think my expectations were a little lofty and I found myself somewhat disappointed.

In line with this, it took me a little while to get into the book. That's like the kiss of death, in my opinion, when the book is only 77 pages!

I do love the world of the Narrows and Adrienne Young, so whatever comes next I will be reading it!

Drift: Willa & Koy, A Narrows Novella
5/5 Stars
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

•••Spoiler free review below•••

I could read a million stories set in the world of the Narrows and never be satisfied! I was so excited for this novella and the possibility of seeing more from two of our most prominent side characters. Willa and Koy have both grown so much as characters since Fable and seeing them as the leaders on Jeval just brings everything full circle. Based on how the novella ended, I am hoping for another full length book 👀

Read this book if you like:
- low fantasy
- subtle romance
- sea life

Drift was released September 5th and if it's not already on your tbr, it should be!
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Special thanks to Macmillan Audio for sharing a free copy with me in exchange for my honest opinions.

A beautiful novella! This was so well written just like all her other books and I enjoyed the quick pace for such a short book!

Although Drift was a quick read (or in my case it was a quick listen), it packed a punch. This was Willa and Koy's story - or at least part of it because I'm pretty convinced that this is just a teaser for a full-size book still on the "horizon." I thoroughly enjoyed each word of this book and was quickly drawn into the world of the Narrows again. Adrienne Young has a knack for painting a picture of this world in a way that helps you to envision it for yourself. In addition, the character development and description is top notch.

Since I listened to the audiobook, it was like I was listening to a performance and it was simply wonderful. I loved every minute and now I want more of this world.

Thank you to NetGalley for this early listening copy. I chose to listen to it and review it and the opinions contained within are my own.

Two for Thursday

Thank you @wednesday and @macmillan for my gifted copies.

It’s like two for Tuesday but the other T. Ya know? I heard I needed to read The Last Legacy before Drift so I thought, “well ok let’s go” So here are two mini reviews of two amazing books by the wonderful Adrienne Young.

Drift: What kind of tease was that?! This short but sweet novella had me hitting my car stereo like it was supposed to spit out a few additional chapters. Again, the reader sounded a bit older, so it was perfect for the content at hand. It’s like Willa and Koy grew up with us. 🥺 This was such a good listen. My complaint is that it’s too short. That foot scene had me cringing so hard, but I love how gruesome we got with Drift. Plus, we saw a different side of Coen (see TLL) which totally made sense why I needed to read the previous one first.

Overall, back to back hits. I love this world, I love these characters, and I never want to leave. I can always hope there’s more in the Narrows to explore because it’s just such an interesting place.

It was so fun to be back in the world of the Narrows! This was a really quick but engaging novella and I enjoyed the chance to further explore some of the side characters that were featured in previous books. I could have kept reading the story for a while and was bummed when it ended. I definitely wouldn't say no to more books in this world!

The narrator didn't feel like anything too special or unique, but it was fine.

My first YA of Adrienne Young - I need to go back and read this universe better, but enjoyed the set up of the Narrows and the newest Port in the sea. Loved the tension between Willa and Koy, will definitely read the whole thing when it comes out.

A fun snippet back into this world. While it is a small story, it is engaging and provides some insight to the Narrows.

Love it! Need a physical copy now. Full of drama and suspense. Definitely need to read Fable, Namesake and The last Legacy before reading this!

Thank you to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for this ARC-Audio. These are my own opinions.
I was excited to delve deeper into the wonderful world of the Narrows and the Unnamed sea. Adrienne Young has done it again. This was a great side story of the continued story of Willa and Koy. as they work to make their dream a reality. I did feel like it was a bit short and it had me wanting more. It did keep my attention with all of the suspense that can only happen in Javal. I really hope that this is just a start to more novellas following the lives of the different characters that we met in the Narrows and the Unnamed sea. I can not wait for more stories from the Narrows and the Unnamed sea from Adrienne Young.