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A review by queer_bookwyrm
The Last Legacy by Adrienne Young
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
3.5 ⭐ CW: violence, abuse, child abuse, murder mention
The Last Legacy by Adrienne Young is the third book in The Narrows world, but is separate from Fable and Namesake. Honestly, this one didn't really do it for me. Like Namesake, the romance fell kind of flat. I just didn't buy it. The extra world-building was cool, but it felt kind of unnecessary.
We follow Bryn Roth, the niece of Henrik Roth, the patriarch of the clandestine Roth family. The Roth's kind of gave me Peaky Blinders vibes, with their rough and tumble gangster ways while trying to move up in the world. Bryn wasn't raised among them, but now that she's 18, she's taking her place with them in the family business. She's kind of their diamond in the rough, since she was raised to understand the upper echelons of society. Her task is to whip them into shape to prove she can be trusted as one of them.
I found Bryn to be a strong FMC, but I felt it was undermined by the underdeveloped romance with the steelsmith, Ezra. Ezra isn't a Roth, but works for them. We get a forbidden fruit thing that I just didn't buy, because we don't see them interact enough to justify it. Bryn is fiercely independent, smart, and cunning, and throws it all away for a man. It was frustrating. At first I thought she would get over it and become a successful business person in her own right, but alas, amanormativity strikes again.
I really didn't think this stand alone added anything of value to the world of the Narrows. We get a bit of a better understanding as to how the merchant's guild works, but I don't think we needed a whole book for that. I still appreciate Young's writing, but these rushed and nonsensical romances really need to stop. We don't even get enough face time with any of the other characters to really care about them. I still have the prequel Saint left to read, so here's hoping that one is better than this one.
The Last Legacy by Adrienne Young is the third book in The Narrows world, but is separate from Fable and Namesake. Honestly, this one didn't really do it for me. Like Namesake, the romance fell kind of flat. I just didn't buy it. The extra world-building was cool, but it felt kind of unnecessary.
We follow Bryn Roth, the niece of Henrik Roth, the patriarch of the clandestine Roth family. The Roth's kind of gave me Peaky Blinders vibes, with their rough and tumble gangster ways while trying to move up in the world. Bryn wasn't raised among them, but now that she's 18, she's taking her place with them in the family business. She's kind of their diamond in the rough, since she was raised to understand the upper echelons of society. Her task is to whip them into shape to prove she can be trusted as one of them.
I found Bryn to be a strong FMC, but I felt it was undermined by the underdeveloped romance with the steelsmith, Ezra. Ezra isn't a Roth, but works for them. We get a forbidden fruit thing that I just didn't buy, because we don't see them interact enough to justify it. Bryn is fiercely independent, smart, and cunning, and throws it all away for a man. It was frustrating. At first I thought she would get over it and become a successful business person in her own right, but alas, amanormativity strikes again.
I really didn't think this stand alone added anything of value to the world of the Narrows. We get a bit of a better understanding as to how the merchant's guild works, but I don't think we needed a whole book for that. I still appreciate Young's writing, but these rushed and nonsensical romances really need to stop. We don't even get enough face time with any of the other characters to really care about them. I still have the prequel Saint left to read, so here's hoping that one is better than this one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, and Murder