Fable

I knew I would love Fable, yet I put off reading it for months – maybe out of fear it wouldn't live up to my expectations?

Well, that was a stupid thing to do because I absolutely loved Fable.

The short and sweet summary: Fable is trying to prove to her father that she's capable of living the trader life and the ship is where she's meant to be – she just has to get herself off an island and find her way to him.

Sea adventures, a touch of magic, found family, and romance-but-not-too-forced romance? Check. Well-written characters that develop throughout the story? Check. Frustrating cliffhanger that makes me a little glad I put off reading the book because I only had to wait a few weeks for the second book? Check!

Fable had everything I love in a book. It might be too slow-paced for some, but I thought the action to plot ratio was perfect. I'll absolutely be rereading in the future!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Audiobook Review: At first, I wasn't sure about the narrator, but I quickly grew to love
Emma Lysy's voice for this story. She did a fantastic job of bringing Fable to life and had great voices for all of the other characters. I had to laugh at the beginning of each chapter, though, because of the very forceful declaration of the chapter numbers – it always managed to startle me.

Thank you to NetGalley for a copy of the audiobook for this tale in exchange for an honest review. Fable as a story has a smooth-sailing (pardon the pun) adventure tale that takes most of the twists and turns you expect in a satisfying way. The story lacks worldbuilding that at times feels important to plot development and I found myself often wanting to know more about the world itself and what that would mean for the characters and their intentions.
In terms of the audiobook, the team behind fable have picked the best person for the job. The speaker tells the story with the amount of gusto and passion hoped for, and makes the story entertaining. The only flaw with the audio presentation is that the gaps between chapters is fractionally too long, and each chapter had me glancing down to make sure that it hadn't paused itself!

Spoiler-Free Review:

I am forever blown away by Adrienne Young's storytelling ability. She weaves plot and character beautifully. I expected this to be a good read because I've really enjoyed her other works. Let's get into it... This story follows our female main character, Fable. Fable is a young woman who is on a mission to get off of the island in which she was abandoned as a child and find her purpose. She is picked up by a crew of great side characters, and that is where the story picks up. There are secrets and mysteries and intrigue, and at the end of it all a twist and cliffhanger that has me wanting to pick up Namesake pretty soon. I took off one star just because I felt like it needed just a bit more action. I think this will come in Namesake (book 2) but I felt like this was all groundwork and then it ended pretty abruptly. I am still looking forward to Namesake and then Last Legacy which also takes place in this world. I preordered Saint when B&N. Had their hardcover sale, and I'm curious, is it a prequel about Saint's life or is it a continuation. Let me know if you know! This is a pretty solid YA read, 14+

I have no words. Fable's story was moving and a rollercoster of emotions all along the book.

I really loved how the love story happend to be. No rushing, not a sugar coted one either. While reading you can pin point those scenes. Those where you are like, yes it is happening.

Ugh, I don't know how to explain it, but this book is definitely on my top reads of this year, and I can't wait for part two!

A quick, easy YA read. Female lead, pirate atmosphere. Not enough fantasy/magic imo. Fable is badass, and (teenage) romance is, fortunately, not a main theme.

For someone who usually don't enjoy YA fantasy, I read through this in a day's time. Well entertained.

It's closer to 4 stars than 3. I'm sure I'll dig into the sequel sooner or later.

Woah! This is what they mean when they say that venturing out of your comfort zone sometimes pays off! I originally brought this book before I even started my bookstagram page, just as I was really getting into reading and discovering a love for it mostly for one reason- the cover. Yes, I am a sucker for beautiful and shiny things and this cover is one of the most beautiful but as I discovered my main love for all things thriller, the book just got left behind on my TBR shelf and I was in no hurry to pick it up. Then, as I gifted this same book to a dear friend from bookstagram and agreed to do a buddy read with her, I had no choice but to give it a shot. And I am so glad I did! It was something new and exciting for me and definitely reminded me of my love for adventure and YA novels. I don't love all of them but this one is just top notch!

First of, Fable is about a girl who was raised on the sea and when her father abandons her on one of the most dangerous islands in the world to fend for herself, after her mother dies in a shipwreck, she must trade and dredge and do everything necessary in order to survive so she can get off the island and claim from her father what's rightfully hers. This plot actually seemed confusing to me when I read the dust jacket but once you get into the book it is very well explained and I had no problem getting sucked into the epic adventure story that blew me completely away. I love the unpredictable plot and now feel like I need to buy the second book as soon as possible because I am dying to see what happens next to these amazing characters.

Secondly, the characterization was mesmerizing. All the characters came alive on the page and jumped right out of the book for me and I felt as if I was on the crew with them, feeling all the emotions as they were feeling them. I loved that they all had pasts and weren't even close to perfect considering they had to do what they had to do in order to survive, but they still strived to be better and didn't let the hard world defeat their goodness completely. Even though the story was so out there and not something I could relate to, the characters have grown to be my friends and it was a joy seeing them form relationships and grow as human beings.

Thirdly, the writing style was very usual for YA but there was a certain sophistication to the way she formed her sentences and carefully connected precise words together to make the story flow beautifully and come alive before the reader's eyes. I really don't think there was anything below extraordinary in this book and I will be reading all of Young's other novels because she is a very gifted author and moved me beyond words.

In conclusion, this is one of those books that I think anyone would enjoy, that's how moving and profound and exhilarating this beautiful story is. Even if YA fantasy is not your thing, I believe strongly that you will be pleasantly surprised. I definitely was!

I've received this book through netgalley in exchange for an honest review. This book is easily one of the best books I've read this year. I've never been super interested in pirate stories before but this one immediately grabbed my attention. The characters are well developed and they make you root for them. The story isn't something I've seen much of around. It pulls the reader in from the very start. The main character is strong and smart and knows what she wants and goes for it. But she's also human and makes mistakes. It makes it so you feel for her and want her to succeed. I would highly recommend this to anyone that enjoys adventure and strong female characters!

I really wanted to like this book more. I was bored for a lot of it. I didn't hate it, but I just didn't want to read it while reading... When I think of the plot as a whole, there really isn't all that much that went on either. The romance was kind of creepy because homie stated that he fell in love with her when he first saw her at age 14 and thought of her every day since. His exact age isn't specified in the book, so I had to search for somewhere online where the author specified, just so I could get the feeling of him grooming her out of my mind enough to think anything kind of their “romance.” Saint and Willa were interesting, and Auster and Paj were cute. Fable was just blah and so was West. I'm going to try to read Namesake to see if it gets better before I decide if I'm going to complete this series.

4.5
Коли я взяла цю книгу, то багато не очікувала. Перші 50 сторінок було нудно і, чесно, думала вже кинути. Але потім за вечір і 100 сторінок, книга розкрилася і мені почало подобатися. Від ГГ до сетінгу. Не сказати що я фанатка піратського контенту (будь-якого), але тут мені прям сподобалось. Обережно, в кінці кліфгенгер, бажано мати або продовження, або хоча б розуміння цього. Окрема відмітка величкого slow burn. Та взагалі кайф. Коротше, ставлю лайк і йду купувати продовження.