Wednesday, August 26, 2020

Fable Review

Title: Fable
Series: Fable #1
Author: Adrienne Young
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: Sept. 1, 2020
Purchase Link: Amazon Barnes & Noble

5 Heart-Scarring Hearts!

☺Many thanks to Wednesday Books for an arc of Fable via Netgalley! I'll be eternally grateful for having read this.
(Synopsis and Author Bio following review.)

Welcome to a world made dangerous by the sea and by those who wish to profit from it. Where a young girl must find her place and her family while trying to survive in a world built for men.

Review:

I picked up Fable in a ho-hum reading state of mind hoping to be wowed.  Young Adult Fantasy can be hit or miss for me, but I'd only read a few pages when I found myself being sucked in and down into the depths of a story consuming me in a torrential storm of emotion.  In a sink or swim panic, I frantically turned pages in an effort to wrap my head and heart around this story while seeking answers.  Fable is simply a stunning work of art, folks!  Consider me wowed!

After her mother is lost to the sea that she loved, fourteen year old Fable is abandoned by her notorious father on an island known for its thieves, misfits, and cutthroats.  Telling her she doesn't belong in his dangerous world, he brutally carves something into her arm and sails away.  Finding and proving herself to her father becomes the driving force in Fable's life as she barely survives the next four years as a dredger, diving for gems to trade to docking ship masters for coins with the goal of saving enough to eventually buy passage on a ship.  When events take a dire turn, Fable's forced to defend herself against one of the greedy thieves inhabiting the island.  It's only a matter of time until others find and kill her.  Hiding until she gets a chance to plead her case to ship master West,  Fable exchanges her saved coins for passage on the Marigold to the place her now infamous father is rumored to be.  The story that unfolds is absolutely riveting - a powerful, epic drama taking place on the high seas and exotic ports.   Avoid all spoilers and I guarantee this story will sweep you away to another place and time.  

Fable is a dark, gritty story that dwells in a vibrant setting of both beauty and malice, poverty and prosperity, desire and despair.  The author creates a resounding world with breathtaking views of sunsets, magnificent ships with sails billowing and gigantic storm waves breaking over the sea with coral reefs and long forgotten shipwrecks hidden beneath.  Sea ports are heavily charged with the sights, sounds and smells of markets, slums, and death with an aura of hope and hopelessness.  It's a ruthless, visual world of winner take all . . . or thief take all.  I won't say more about the story other than it's unique - a combination of suspense, action, drama, and fantasy with a subtle soft side of romance.  Young's writing is lyrical - at times surging like an angry sea crashing to shore and other times smooth as glass like a calm sea at sunset.  The kinetic plot unravels at a brisk pace propelling readers forward like a tidal wave barreling toward shore.  I can't say enough about the lead character Fable - she's strong, driven, spirited, and haunted by the past, dark secrets and a need even she doesn't fully understand.  The support characters are simply out of this world  - original, dynamic and intriguing in their own right. The emotional turmoil, trials and tribulations encumbering these characters overwhelmed me time and time again as I stowed away on this journey with the Marigold's motley crew. 

 Ultimately, Fable is a story about overcoming, growing, trusting, surviving, searching . . . for love, family, a place to belong, a reason to exist.  I'll go ahead and warn you this book ends on a cliffhanger.  It took me by surprise as I had no idea there was a book 2 coming in March 2021.  However,  I'm thrilled to say that the skillful manner in which this author builds anticipation and suspense while delivering a raw, gutsy, heart-scarring story bringing readers and characters to this point in time - well, it's flawless and totally worth it.  I read the final page with my heart pounding, lungs begging for air and an "Oh No!" escaping my lips.  I'm composing my email to the publisher pleading my case for an arc of Namesake NOW!  I can't wait until March . . . my heart won't stand it.  Fans of Young Adult Fantasy will devour this!  More than that, I believe fans of adventure, mystery, suspense and epic tales will also be blown away by Fable.  This one is special.  Highly Recommended!  All the stars over The Narrows!

Synopsis:

As the daughter of the most powerful trader in the Narrows, the sea is the only home seventeen-year-old Fable 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 a legendary island filled with thieves and little food. To survive she must keep to herself, learn to trust no one and rely on the unique 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.


New York Times bestselling author of SKY IN THE DEEP, THE GIRL THE SEA GAVE BACK & the upcoming FABLE duology from Wednesday Books. Agent: Barbara Poelle, IGLA

Adrienne Young is a born and bred Texan turned California girl. She is a foodie with a deep love of history and travel and a shameless addiction to coffee. When she’s not writing, you can find her on her yoga mat, scouring antique fairs for old books, sipping wine over long dinners, or disappearing into her favorite art museums. She lives with her documentary filmmaker husband and their four little wildlings beneath the West Coast sun.

For information on release, appearances, ARCs, giveaways, and exclusive content, sign up for the newsletter at https://adrienneyoungbooks.com/

Instagram: @adrienneyoungbooks
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