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saturdayslaughter's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Fun! Still didn’t care about West, which did make the plot harder to stomach, cuz a lot of it is about their relationship. Was brainstorming how to change the plot to remove the romance, I think it would have been better. I liked a lot of the relationships with her family, and her relationship with Koy felt like a more real friendship than her relationship with anyone on the crew. I enjoyed the settings, pretty as always. There were lots of little things I didn’t like and plenty of times I wished I knew the crew more. An enjoyable ride though, especially the beginning, which was more action packed.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
lottsofplots's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent
thereaderfriend's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Was hoping for more character development for Fable because I feel like she was handed many things and directed to many decisions rather than leading her own path. But then again that's probably because I struggle accepting help. I also didn't like Fable and West's relationship because it was instant love and we didn't really learn much about West. He was super withheld. Hoping that Saint's book will answer some unanswered questions about Isolde.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Kidnapping
Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Sexual content
queer_bookwyrm's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
4 ⭐ CW: violence
Namesake by Adrienne Young is the second book in the Fable duology. Although I did enjoy reading this one, it felt a little weird not interacting with the crew the Marigold as much, but we did get some good background on Fable's family.
We pick up from that awful cliffhanger from last book, with Fable being captured by Zola and his crew. Fable soon finds out that she's not a prisoner per se, but is expected to be a part of the crew and to do the tasks that Zola wants done. Part of the problem is that Zola knows Saint is her father, because his old navigator, Clove, now works for him, leaving Fable feeling betrayed. Cue the intrigue.
As I said before, we get to learn more about Fable's mother as she learns for the first time about her mother's past. Turns out she was running from her powerful mother. Similarly, we get to learn more about Saint, and he and Fable finally get to have a touching moment that humanizes him.
I found West to be quite annoying this book. The whole I -went -behind -your -back-and-and-decisions-you-wouldn't-like-because-i-love-you-so-much reads to me as unhealthy and, honestly, overdone. West seemed more flat in this book instead of growing. Instead of his love for Fable helping him see the error of his ways, he uses it as justification of his behavior.
We get a little more background on Paj and Auster, but we get nothing about the other crewman, Hamish (the ship nerd 🤓). I loved that Fable's rivalry with Koy from the beginning of the first book comes full circle, and they become reluctant allies.
All in all, I thought it was a good wrap on the series, I just wish there had more growth for our main characters.
Namesake by Adrienne Young is the second book in the Fable duology. Although I did enjoy reading this one, it felt a little weird not interacting with the crew the Marigold as much, but we did get some good background on Fable's family.
We pick up from that awful cliffhanger from last book, with Fable being captured by Zola and his crew. Fable soon finds out that she's not a prisoner per se, but is expected to be a part of the crew and to do the tasks that Zola wants done. Part of the problem is that Zola knows Saint is her father, because his old navigator, Clove, now works for him, leaving Fable feeling betrayed. Cue the intrigue.
As I said before, we get to learn more about Fable's mother as she learns for the first time about her mother's past. Turns out she was running from her powerful mother. Similarly, we get to learn more about Saint, and he and Fable finally get to have a touching moment that humanizes him.
I found West to be quite annoying this book. The whole I -went -behind -your -back-and-and-decisions-you-wouldn't-like-because-i-love-you-so-much reads to me as unhealthy and, honestly, overdone. West seemed more flat in this book instead of growing. Instead of his love for Fable helping him see the error of his ways, he uses it as justification of his behavior.
We get a little more background on Paj and Auster, but we get nothing about the other crewman, Hamish (the ship nerd 🤓). I loved that Fable's rivalry with Koy from the beginning of the first book comes full circle, and they become reluctant allies.
All in all, I thought it was a good wrap on the series, I just wish there had more growth for our main characters.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
vike's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Death, Kidnapping, and Death of parent
bookforthought's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
I read the first book in this duology, Fable, last year and I loved it so much it easily found its way on my best of 2020 list. So as you can probably imagine, I was equal parts excited for Namesake and terrified to read it out of concern that it wouldn't meet my now very, very high expectations. But, while in a sense it didn't, I still ended up really enjoying Namesake as well.
Namesake picks up exactly where Fable left off, which would have been perfect if I'd read these straight after one another. Because obviously I didn't, despite knowing that my memory is just not good enough for me to try stunts like this, it took me a minute to actually remember who some of the secondary characters were and what their deal was. Once I'd caught up, Namesake started flowing as easily as Fable had, and I was soon immersed in this world again.
Without going into too much detail to avoid spoilers, this book shows a new side to Fable. Where in the previous book the focus was on Fable looking for (and finding) her family and her place in the world, this time it's all about holding on to what she has - and as such, the stakes have never been higher. There was a lot more politics as well, and plenty of discussions featuring trade routes and regulations. I actually appreciated this as it helped flesh out the world even more and added depth to most of what we'd learned in the previous book. But don't worry! There was still plenty of deviousness, treachery and backstabbing to keep me on my toes, as the characters continue being their usual murderous selves.
The characters were actually what let me down a bit in this book, sadly. I had loved the interactions and the Marigold crew in the previous book and was really looking forward to a greater development of those characters and their dynamics in the sequel. Unfortunately, this didn't really happen. For the most part, we actually followed a completely new set of characters (aside from Fable) and, when the Marigold crew finally made an appearance, all they did was argue, leaving me with close to zero new development.
West was probably the biggest letdown, as he displayed really horrible behaviour towards everyone, continuing in this even after he was called out on it and explicitly asked to stop. I did enjoy getting to know and re-evaluating some secondary characters from the previous book who had space to shine here, and to my surprise, previously horrible Koy and Saint actually became my new faves. As much as I love found family tropes, the father-daughter scenes in this book were hands down the best and absolutely unbeatable.
Keeping up with the ruthlessness and darkness of the previous book, Namesake was a highly satisfying conclusion to this duology. Even though some of the characters didn't quite live up to the previous book, there was plenty here to keep me entertained and turning the pages way into the night.
Namesake picks up exactly where Fable left off, which would have been perfect if I'd read these straight after one another. Because obviously I didn't, despite knowing that my memory is just not good enough for me to try stunts like this, it took me a minute to actually remember who some of the secondary characters were and what their deal was. Once I'd caught up, Namesake started flowing as easily as Fable had, and I was soon immersed in this world again.
Without going into too much detail to avoid spoilers, this book shows a new side to Fable. Where in the previous book the focus was on Fable looking for (and finding) her family and her place in the world, this time it's all about holding on to what she has - and as such, the stakes have never been higher. There was a lot more politics as well, and plenty of discussions featuring trade routes and regulations. I actually appreciated this as it helped flesh out the world even more and added depth to most of what we'd learned in the previous book. But don't worry! There was still plenty of deviousness, treachery and backstabbing to keep me on my toes, as the characters continue being their usual murderous selves.
The characters were actually what let me down a bit in this book, sadly. I had loved the interactions and the Marigold crew in the previous book and was really looking forward to a greater development of those characters and their dynamics in the sequel. Unfortunately, this didn't really happen. For the most part, we actually followed a completely new set of characters (aside from Fable) and, when the Marigold crew finally made an appearance, all they did was argue, leaving me with close to zero new development.
West was probably the biggest letdown, as he displayed really horrible behaviour towards everyone, continuing in this even after he was called out on it and explicitly asked to stop. I did enjoy getting to know and re-evaluating some secondary characters from the previous book who had space to shine here, and to my surprise, previously horrible Koy and Saint actually became my new faves. As much as I love found family tropes, the father-daughter scenes in this book were hands down the best and absolutely unbeatable.
Keeping up with the ruthlessness and darkness of the previous book, Namesake was a highly satisfying conclusion to this duology. Even though some of the characters didn't quite live up to the previous book, there was plenty here to keep me entertained and turning the pages way into the night.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, and Death of parent
sarahsbooklife's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood
Moderate: Violence, Kidnapping, Murder, and Alcohol
Minor: Child death, Death, Sexual content, and Death of parent
madsmcw_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Just like Fable, Namesake started out slow for me. It took me about halfway to fully get into the book. I wasn't a huge fan about Fable being away from her newfound family on the Marigold. I obviously know why this part was super important to the story so I can respect it, I just didn't like it all that much.
SAINT. My goodness. I was so ambivalent toward him in the first book. But dang did he show up in this one. I never expected his character to have the arc that he did and I seriously loved it.
I also really enjoyed getting more into the dynamic of Fable and West. They're guarded people with parts of themselves they want to hide, but the way they learn to love one another despite is all made me happy.
Koy was an unexpected spark in this part of the story! I liked getting to know him more and seeing who he really was.
I also loved that this story ended happily. I love my endings with a nice little now and I was a little nervous I wasn't going to get that here 😅.
Overall this is a very strong duology. I loved the adventure and the intrigue and I'm really glad I took the time to read them
SAINT. My goodness. I was so ambivalent toward him in the first book. But dang did he show up in this one. I never expected his character to have the arc that he did and I seriously loved it.
I also really enjoyed getting more into the dynamic of Fable and West. They're guarded people with parts of themselves they want to hide, but the way they learn to love one another despite is all made me happy.
Koy was an unexpected spark in this part of the story! I liked getting to know him more and seeing who he really was.
I also loved that this story ended happily. I love my endings with a nice little now and I was a little nervous I wasn't going to get that here 😅.
Overall this is a very strong duology. I loved the adventure and the intrigue and I'm really glad I took the time to read them
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, and Murder
Moderate: Death of parent
Minor: Sexual content
erniedresser's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Kidnapping, and Grief
Moderate: Blood and Death of parent
sfbookgirl's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Cue the Pirates of the Caribbean soundtrack. I am obsessed with all things sea, pirates, and ships after reading Fable and Namesake. In case it wasn’t evident, these books go together and are best read back-to-back. The books tell the story of Fable, a seventeen-year-old girl who was dropped off on a mostly deserted island by her father after their family’s ship was destroyed during a storm. Fable wants to find her way back to her father with the hopes of finding a place on his crew. But she has to get there first…
These books are perfect for both young adult and adult readers. While it did take a bit of time for me to familiarize myself with the characters in Fable, I really enjoyed Namesake because it allowed me to spend time with Fable and her crew. The world is corrupt and dangerous, but nothing can stop Fable from achieving her dreams. The duology is perfect for those looking to get a taste of the seas from the comfort of their couch and the chance to explore a new world of trade and secrets.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Violence, and Grief