Firstly, huge thank you to Titan Books and NetGalley for providing me a copy of this novel in exchange for an honest review.

Four years ago Fable was left abandoned on an island by her father, the most dangerous and powerful trader on the seas, after his prize ship sinks taking his beloved wife, Fable’s mother, with it. Ever since, Fable has been determined to get off of the island and find her father to prove she has what it takes to be a member of his crew. After all these years she’s survived by her father’s rules: don’t trust anyone or reveal what’s important to you, but can she still keep to these rules when she has to rely on a young trader called West to get across the sea to her father...?

Fable, our protagonist, is a fiery young woman who is doing everything she can to survive. At first I was worried that she may be too perfect and would easily breeze through certain situations, however, I was pleased to see this wasn't the case. As her story began to develop and we learn more about the world - she very much fits perfectly into it. I loved how she would throw herself into anything - wanting to prove herself. I also liked how she was determined to lock all her emotions away, so when we did see a flicker of something it was much more meaningful. What I also loved about all the characters in this novel is how they all exist very much in the grey area. It isn't completely clear if they are "good" or "bad", they are much more complex than that with pasts that we barely scratch the surface of in this first instalment.

I don't think that I have ever read a fantasy novel that mostly takes place across the sea. This made the novel refreshing to read and also a really interesting take on the fantasy genre. I’m always really intrigued by the politics and lore of fantasy novels; so I particularly enjoyed this different set of politics among the ships and traders. I would have loved to have learned even more about them but as this is the first novel in the series, it was very much setting up for the rest of the series. I would have liked the novel to have been a little longer to develop certain aspects of the world a bit more but I also enjoyed how the novel ended and it has definitely left me wanting more.

Overall, I thought this was a great start to the series, which has a lot of potential, and I'm very excited to see what adventures await Fable, as well as what other secrets she will discover on the seas. Especially with the cliffhanger we are left on!

Fable was left on an island by her father several years ago and has struggled to survive ever since.  After spending all her time dredging for gems to sell to traders, Fable is finally able to pay for passage across the sea.  West, the captain of the trader ship she has sold most of her gems to, reluctantly agrees to take her, much to the ire of his crew.  With everyone on the ship keeping secrets, Fable is in good company, she has some of the biggest secrets of all.

I’ll start by saying I absolutely loved the characters in this one.  From Fable herself, to West, Willa and the rest of the crew, they were all well developed enough to have stories of the their own!  The world building of the dark and gritty places they visited was also detailed enough to have me feeling like I was right there beside them.  But, although I wanted to know what was going to happen, I found the story a little slow.  There was just too much sailing jargon and not enough action for a lot of the book. I know less than nothing about ships so I felt myself skimming over all the technical descriptions of what they were doing – they just didn’t interest me.  I would have preferred more of that time be devoted to the actual storyline.  To be fair, Sky in the Deep was one of my favourite books when I read it and what I adored most was the breathtaking, non-stop action.  So maybe I was expecting more of the same and I just …. didn’t quite get it. That by no means makes Fable a bad book, just a little different to what I was expecting.

This is definitely one of those books though, that despite feeling a little unmemorable for me, I absolutely have to read the sequel because I NEED to know what happens next 😅  The ending was a clear cliffhanger with a couple of reveals in the last few pages and I’ve got to admit, I love it when books end that way!

I'm not really one to read all that many books with sea voyages. Why, no idea. The few I read I enjoyed, so might have to change that.

Fable is a book that took me by surprise. It was really hyped and, even though I was familiar with the author's writing style and have enjoyed her Sky in the Deep, I was still a bit wary.

Shouldn't have been. Fable didn't have it easy. She had to be a fighter in order to survive. Her mom was gone and her dad, a powerful and known someone, dumped her on an island. But she inherited things from her mom and was almost as talented as she had been.

For the entire time she spent on the island, she was visited by West, who'd do trades with her. In the end, he was her get-off-the-island ride though he wasn't really all that eager to help.

So sort of enemies to lovers? Yes. At least, major dislike from both sides.

I also loved the side characters, West's crew. I loved their adventures and I didn't want to put the book down, so it's safe to say I loved it. It gave me feels and also has me waiting for the next book - 'tis a duology, you see, so it ends on a cliffhanger.

I highly recommend it. I volunteered to read a copy via Netgalley and my rating is 5 stars.

Thank you to Titan Books for providing me with a digital copy for review via Netgalley. Fable released last year in the US, so I saw a lot of people loving it, and the hype definitely made me want to check it out. It releases on January 21st in the UK! I also haven’t read many fantasy books set at sea either so I was excited to see if I would enjoy this. I think the sequel is coming out this year in the US so I’m glad I don’t have to wait as long.

Fable is a YA fantasy primarily set at sea and on islands. In this world, trading by sea is how most people make their living. However, when she was younger Fable was abandoned by her father on a remote island and left to fend for herself after her mother drowned in a storm. She has to be very careful while living on Jeval, because no one would hesitate before taking advantage of her. However, she has to put her trust in a trader named West so that she can get off the island and find her father. However, West and his crew are hiding a lot of secrets, and there is a lot of danger in being a trader…

I really enjoyed the details on trade, such as gem trading, and Fable’s occupation as a dredger. This is a fantasy, but the magic is subtle, and while the characters are more traders than pirates, they definitely have questionable morals and actions. Not a huge amount happened at the beginning, but I still read it quickly. What I will say is that this book is SO fast-paced – I read almost half the book in just one sitting, and it only took me two days to read it. The plot really got interesting in the second half, but there were still some parts that I expected more from or seemed a bit rushed. Still, I was always motivated to keep picking up the book, and the chapters were short too.

I think one of the reasons I didn’t fall in love with this book is that I didn’t fall in love with any of the characters. I definitely didn’t hate any of them, but I didn’t really connect with them either. West was okay, but I didn’t feel attached to him really. I was honestly more interested in reading about Saint and Isolde, and I loved the bits of backstory we heard about them – I especially enjoyed this at the end, and there were hints we’d learn more in the next book. I really liked Willa too, and she was probably the side character that stood out the most to me. However, I did enjoy reading about the main character, Fable, and I think we’ll see a lot more development from her in the second book.

I believe this book is part of a duology, and the ending definitely made me want to pick up the sequel. I do think that the ending seemed like a shock factor just to make people want to read the next book – it was a very sudden ending that seemed to come out of nowhere. I probably would not be as invested in reading the sequel if the ending was different. Saying that, the technique worked and I do want to know what will happen! Duologies aren’t too much of a commitment, and I do think this book was slightly lacking in plot and character development so I would be interested in seeing where the story goes.

Overall, I had a fun experience reading this book! I wasn’t fully invested in the characters, and I had a few small issues with the plot, but I still couldn’t help flying through this book. The ending definitely made me intrigued to read the sequel, especially because it’s a duology. I also enjoyed this more than the other one of Adrienne Young’s book I’ve read, The Girl the Sea Gave Back.

3.5/5 stars

*I was given an ARC of Fable in exchange for an honest review. Thank you to Titan books and Adrienne Young.*

Fable is a story about a girl’s journey to find a family. The story follows Fable, who is the daughter of a powerful trader. At just thirteen years old Fable lost her mother to the sinking of their ship and subsequently, she lost her entire family. Her father did not die, instead, he took Fable to the island of Jeval and left her there. Giving her the challenge of finding a way off the Island, Fable become a dredger and sold her findings at a trade market. Here a handsome trader called West, who is the helmsman of the Marigold brought every piece that Fable brought him.

After a bad run-in with a Jevali dredger, Fable escapes Jeval and pays for passage on the Marigold to Ceros. Here she will be reunited with her father.

I really enjoyed this book, it was not really what I was expected. But it was still enjoyable. 

The plot was somewhat slow and I really had no idea where it was going to go or how long it was going to take to get there. However, when it did pick up, somewhere after the halfway mark, I really enjoyed it. 

Character-wise this book was okay. No one was really too interesting, other than Fable’s talent with gems which I would like to know a lot more about. West didn’t really ‘come out of his shell’ until the very end and the romance felt very rushed. 

I really wanted to like Willa and I thought she had a lot of potential to be a great character. However, she and the rest of the crew fell quite flat for me. Hopefully, in the next book, we will get more of an insight into their lives and why they are on the Marigold as I do think they could all be great. 

I kept forgetting how old Fable was during this book and the fact that West was older than her felt wrong. However, it was completely fine as Fable is 17 and I was picturing West as being somewhere around 30. So that problem is on me and my bad memory, sorry. 

Anyway back to the romance. The blurb of this book actually says that it is ‘filled with romance’. I would not agree with that statement. This is probably best described as a slow burn, but it’s definitely the slowest burn I’ve ever seen. You don’t even realise that the characters like each other until the very end where they apparently love each other. Personally, it seemed a little out of place. 

The best part for me was definitely the world-building. It felt like I was really on all of these interesting Islands and honestly I wish you got to spend more time on them. The traders market in Dern was definitely one of my favourites and I wish you got to see more of it when Fable and the crew were selling there. 

As I already knew that this will be a duology I did start getting nervous near the end as I knew something was going to happen. Oh my did something happen. I cannot wait to read the next installment Namesake and I really hope that unlike Fable the UK will receive it at the same time as the US. 

I’m not sure if this review makes it seem like I liked this book, but I promise I did. I would have just liked to see a little more from it. Fable has definitely set up the next book well and I can’t wait to see what the crew of the Marigold get up to next.

For a book about diving and dredging, it has perfectly captured the feeling of being underwater - smooth, cool, and slightly cut off from the rest of the world. It feels exactly like gliding through water, everything painted that blue-green of clear, deep water. The prose flows so well, and to evoke an atmosphere that completely is very impressive.

This is not just found in the prose, but in the pacing and plot too. There's a tranquillity to this book that her Viking duology didn't have. It's not obviously building and rising to a big confrontation at the end - it's not frantic and sharp, but more observational and languid feeling. There is forwards progression, but it's much more relaxed, more interested in building the world and characters than demanding a big action sequence.

The ending, therefore, doesn't feel much like you'd expect in YA fantasy. It's not desperate and pulse-pounding - there is a cliff-hanger, but it feels more inevitable and very open, rather than the definitive end to a book. I guess it's like the last scene before an ad-break - there's a beat of tension, but it doesn't feel resolved because you know there's more to come. Unlike the first book in a more traditional YA fantasy duology, where it feels like the ending is the end of an episode.

I really liked it, because it suited the book so well, and I wanted to read something gentle but moving, a book that felt more like a setting and an escape to a real seaside world. Given everything that's happening, to be able to really feel like I was on a boat on blue waters (to me, it feels like the Greek islands in aesthetics, if not in culture), was something special.

***I received an ARC of this book through NetGalley (thank you Titan Books) in exchange for a honest review.***

I’ve hear a lot of praise of this book and I was not disappointed. I was completely hooked from the very first page and it was absolutely impossible to put down. Fast paced, beautiful world building and interesting, lovable characters and a perfect slowburn romance. 

Ever since her entire life was turned upside down four years ago Fable has been on her own, barely managing to survive by selling pyre to a young trader named West. After a series of rather unfortunate, although not entirely unexpected, events Fable manages to barter West into giving her passage across the Narrows to the island where her father resides. 
But everything is not what it seems and Fables father isn’t the man she remember growing up. But Fable isn’t one to give up and her journey has just begun. 

The only negative thing I have to say about the book is the ending; how on earth am I going to survive until I can get my hands on the sequel? I know it’s only a few moths away but still… I need more now! My only consolation is that I have yet to read Adrienne Young’s other books, otherwise I would be in for a major book hangover right now. 

If you haven’t read Fable already, you should definitely check it out!

Thank you Netgalley for letting me read this book in return for an honest review.

Warnings: Blood, Murder, Death by Drowning

This was such a good read! I loved the detail of what Fable had to as a dredger and just to survive. I would say this book is more character-based than plot-based, HOWEVER, it was still excellent, and the journies on the boat didn't seem to drag as the book felt fast-paced which gave it the sense of action and adventure that kept me hooked (no pun intended). 

The romance in this is more of a backburner but still incredibly sweet nonetheless. The book includes a pretty cool crew and I loved them all, especially as I learnt more about them. Fable is also really cool as a character and is such a badass- I love her! 

I wasn't fond of the cliff-hanger at the end as I am not into them but that is okay because the sequel is coming soon!
Rating: 4.5⭐
Would I Read It Again? Yes and I cannot wait for the sequel!
Would I Recommend it? Yes

I enjoyed this book!
Young‘s writing style was lovely and the plot interesting.
Overall a solid read.

I know I'm the only one who seems to have fallen off this particular band wagon, but I just don't get why this has taken off as much as it has. Right from the start I felt like I was just pushing through a story filled with non-events, predictable solutions to short-lived problems and really REALLY flat characters. 

Fable sees her mother die, and is essentially abandoned by her father on an island. She steals what she needs to survive and is determined to find her way back to him to take her rightful place on the crew. A predictable romance unfolds, as does quite a lot of pretty scenery, in truth, but the characters just washed over me and even immediately after finishing it's a genuine struggle to tell you any identifying features of any of them.

It's an easy read, very quick, but that's for significant reasons - there's absolutely no substance.

A compelling read about a stubborn red-head, Fable as she seeks passage across the dangerous waters on the *Marigold,* with the help of its crew **determined to return to her father, who she's been abandoned by on Jeval, the land of thieves and dredgers, fighting tooth and nail for any piece of copper, so she can finally leave the godforsaken land. She's been alone for so long and she's desperate for a crew. She's stubborn, headstrong, and unwilling to go down without a fight, not really one to listen to orders. 

It has a promising beginning that really sets of the story and as having not read many books based on pirate and ships, I wasn't sure if it was my sort of thing but this was delightful. It's mainly character-driven as there seems to be no real significant plot to the book, a maybe sort of spin-off for the next book, building it up for what is revealed later on.

Fable is a wonderful protagonist who also happens to have the fascinating ability to somehow read gems, making her one of a kind. The books kicks off when she meets the pirates of the *Marigold* whom I all adored, especially the endearing relationship between Paj and Auster. 

Then we have the helmsman, West, our love interest-though the book itself doesn't center on the romance-who is annoyingly vague and mysterious all the time, and seems to have more on his mind than he says. He has a past behind him that we're not sure is clean enough to consider him innocent, and secrets slowly unravel as she befriends the crew. I'd say the romance was sort of insta-lovey, though I have hopes that it may develop further into the next book.

Overall it was a quick and enjoyable read, the chapters flying by, but not really a shocking nor extraordinary one.

Quick, fun, easy... That's how I would describe reading this book. I wasn't blown away by any part of it. There's no building up to anything, nothing goes horribly wrong (They always have a way out so the stakes aren't very high...), and the characters are quite flat even the main character.

Writing style: This was my first book by Adrienne Young and I really enjoyed it. Her writing is easy to follow and it flows nicely over the page.
This book is written entirely from Fable's point of view and I would have liked her thoughts to be a little more interesting. We spend a lot of time inside Fable's head so I expected that to be a bit more intriguing.

Characters: My god, everyone was so darn flat. Don't ask me what anyone looks like, I honestly can't remember and I literally just finished the book. The only reason I know what Fable looks like is because she's on the cover of the book...
And the romance... Ugh. There was no spark. No chemistry. They just suddenly kiss under water and then a little later they spend the night together in bed (did they have sex? I don't know. It's a YA book so no one is gonna tell me). This book was advertised as book full of glorious romance... WHERE THE HECK IS IT?

Story: It was a nice plot. Just nice. It was a light fantasy read. No high stakes. No epic reveals. Any problem is solved within a couple of pages. THAT ENDING THO 😱 Young sure knows how to make sure someone reads the sequel 😂

I did enjoy the book, but I guess I just had higher expectations. It's still a solid three stars from me.

Fable is a book about pirates and I was very excited for this, it's not the sort of fantasy I usually read. Maybe my expectations were too high. 

It was very entertaining and exciting but not complex or surprising. There was plenty of fast-paced action and high stakes, and that was what really kept me hooked.

The plot is okay.  I'm not sure there that much of a conflict to resolve and what did happen seemed too easy and predictable. It seems that the true conflict may yet come in book 2 and this was more of a prelude. So, this aspect of the story felt a bit lacking for sure.

The main character Fable is a stubborn, clever and resourceful girl living and she was one of the things I loved about this book. I was rooting for her the entire time. The secondary characters were pretty quirky, a found family kind of situation and I'm looking forward to seeing more of them in the next book and learning more about this world.

One of things rhat I just didn't like at all was the romance. It was entirely unnecessary; it felt rushed and out of place, especially because these characters had no chemistry. It just didn't really add anything to the story.

Overall, I had a great time reading Fable. It had its flaws but I still recommend it if you're looking for something fun.

I got an ARC of "Fable" by Adrienne Young at Netgalley, for an honest review.

Fable started a bit slow but then it captured me into it's nets. And I couldn't stop reading. I loved the secrets that slowly got out of the box, and just made more questions pop up. Allso the love story that is on the side line is amazing and not to forget that cliff hanger. 

All in all "Fable" is worth a read, it's easy going, but exciting and secretive. Though I'm missing a bit more explanation about the "magic/power" in this world. But maybe it be explained in "namesake"

“Home was a ship that was at the bottom of the sea, where my mother's bones lay sleeping.”

Thank you to NetGalley and Titan Books for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.  
 
For seventeen-year-old Fable, the daughter of the most powerful trader in the Narrows, the sea is the only home she has ever known. It’s been four years since the night she watched her mother drown during an unforgiving storm. The next day her father abandoned her on an island filled with thieves and little food. To survive she must keep to herself, learn to trust no one, and rely on the skills her mother taught her. The only thing that keeps her going is the goal of getting off the island, finding her father, and demanding her rightful place beside him and his crew. To do so Fable enlists the help of a young trader named West to get her off the island and across the Narrows to her father. But her father’s rivalries and the dangers of his trading enterprise have only multiplied since she last saw him, and Fable soon finds that West isn't who he seems. Together, they will have to survive more than the treacherous storms that haunt the Narrows if they're going to stay alive. 

Fable is a feisty and resilient character. Precisely the kind of character I love! I love that she is adamant in her beliefs and she doesn’t allow anyone to turn her from the path she sets herself upon. I enjoyed seeing the world from her POV, how she approached different situations and her tenacity for staying alive, at whatever cost to do so. I also thoroughly enjoyed her mind, the way she thinks and how she clings to particular driving forces to see her through day by day. Fable has definitely made it to my favourites list!
West is a guy that you want to slap and kiss at the same time. Maddening and frustrating and intelligent and dreamy. Perfect ingredients for the star male character in a YA book, don’t you think? I enjoyed reading him as a character because he has the air of mystery about him that just sucks you in, beneath the cockiness and violence, of course. 
The crew of the Marigold are a group of rug rats that you want to be a part of. I love their bond, how they support each other and have become a close-knit family aboard the ship. I appreciated seeing them skittish and untrusting of Fable when she first went on the ship - it’s a realistic response compared to accepting her with open arms as some stories portray. I liked seeing their camaraderie grow and watch as they accepted Fable into their fold. 

I’m so happy to see that this isn’t a story dominated by an element of love. The main focus is Fable and her survival, her persistence to reach her father and get what he owes her. I like that this isn’t the typical YA story that sees the heroine falling in love and navigating a relationship with her new beau - not that I don’t enjoy those stories because I LOVE THEM, but it’s a very refreshing change. I can’t wait to see what the sequel brings - I am FURIOUS with that ending because I meed to know more!!!!

Overall, Fable is a brilliant blend of adventure, violence and pirates that leaves you desperate for more. 

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

Thank you again to NetGalley and Titan Books for an advanced copy.

A pretty average read, not what I was expecting at all. I felt like it was trying to imitate the friendships in Six of Crows a bit, which I was not a fan of in either book,. The writing was good though, I just wasn't as keen on the storyline when I actually got into it. Hasn't put me off reading anything else by Adrienne Young but I hope that the friendships aren't all like these!

Thank you to Netgalley, Titan Books, and Adrienne Young for my arc of Fable in exchange for an honest review. 
Published: 26th January 2021 

Fable has always lived on the sea. Growing up as the only daughter of The Narrows most terrifyingly powerful trader meant she grew up sailing on ships and learning to dredge the seas with her mother. But the day after she watched her mother drown at sea her father abandons her on the ruthless isles of Jevan and she has spent the past few years fighting to survive and get off the islands and back to her father. When things go suddenly wrong she has to take the chance she has to escape aboard a ship with a young trader called West and heads back to her father's home. But there are many dangers around them and together they must fight to survive the storms of the seas and the storms of the people around them.

I loved the previous books I read by Adrienne so I was already expecting to enjoy Fable but it still managed to surprise me with just how great it was! I can hardly wait for the sequel!!
I loved Fable's character she is so sweet and yet so strong, the romance element was so cute it made my chest ache. There was lots of intrigue and plenty of questions raised from that have left me wanting more. Every character in this book is just fantastic, relatable and full of banter. A brilliant read and an easy 5*.

I’m always a little nervous to read a hyped book, entering it with high expectations, but Fable definitely deserves it’s hype! This book is incredible, with a badass, vulnerable female protagonist, a sexy love interest who sizzles on the page (I love him!!!! It may have helped that I pictured him as Cary Elwes in Princess Bride throughout the book :D)), a complex wonderful array of characters you grow to love very quickly,, great world building and the plot isn’t convoluted but keeps you interested throughout. 
Adrienne Young’s books have always impressed me and she is brilliant at shaping female led empowering stories, Skyrim the Deep and The Girl the Sea Gave Back, are among my favourites, her writing is beautiful and in each book she creates a wonderful world for you to step in, with history, rules and culture that she’s really dedicated to. I’ve hit a bit of a YA reading slump this year, feeling dissatisfied quite a bit but but this was definitely the book I needed to bring me back. As soon as I finished Fable, I ordered a copy for my shelf and the sequel, Namesake. This book wasn’t mindless escapism but an exciting, layered adventure with heart and I can’t wait to come back to Fable, West, Willa in particular, thank you NetGalley for the early copy!

Fable is a story about the daughter of the most powerful trader in the Narrows. Fable has been abandoned by her father for four years on an island filled with thieves. Her only goal is to get off the island and claim her rightful place. When Fable has earned enough money to buy passage from the island, she ends up on the Marigold where she meets West and his crew. But things aren't always as they seem and the journey back to her father brings her on an unexpected adventure.

Fable is a very enjoyable read filled with adventure and suspense. I was hooked from the very first page and read this in one sitting. A story about traders, storms at sea and a great crew. I loved the setting, the premise, the suspense and the family of characters.

Fable is an amazing main character. Smart, a true survivor but also very human in the things that she craves. West is a deliciously broody character with the weight of the world on his shoulders. The rest of the crew of the Marigold has a great dynamic and I wish we could've learned more about their backstory.

The fact that none of the characters are telling the truth leaves you on the edge of your seat. Trying to figure out everyone's motive. I loved how the story unfolded and it took many surprising turns. The ending was great. Just as you think that things are coming nicely together, Adrienne Young completely turns the tables. I can't wait to read the sequel.

So, there's two things I need you to know about my review for this book before you read it:
a) this was an ARC (@NetGalley and Titan Books: Thanks for that)
b) I didn't even finish it


Let me explain the last part:
I did not care for it.

It sounds mean, but I've come to chapter 26, and I don't care for any of the characters in this ragtag group of a crew. Which is a shame, because there's so much potential to this story.
But the characters are so shallow that you can see right through them, Fable couldn't be more average for a main heroine and there is not a single twist to this story that you can't see coming from five miles away. The idea of gem sagery is cool and all, but it's so weakly done up until now. 
One thing that bothers me especially about Fable is that, even when she says she feels like this or that, there is nothing portraying it. She's like... Let's keep with the sea-related similes. Fable's character is like a puddle. Every emotion or disturbance is very... I wanna say perfunctory? It fades as quickly as it has risen and it has no lasting effect on her or the way she behaves.

So, I'm sorry. I truly am. I adored Sky in the Deep, and re-read it as one of my comfort-reads, but Fable didn't work out for me at all. It's not a bad book per say, but if at 60% you still don't care about any of the characters, it's not worth it to finish this book.