*Feature Friday is a meme hosted by The Tattered Page to feature YA books that have not yet been released by reviewing them.
*Warning: This review may contain spoilers. Read at your own risk.
Publisher: Wednesday Books
Release Date: September 1, 2020Pages: 368Source: ARC
THE STORY:
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.
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.
RATING: 
ONE-WORD REVIEW: IMMERSIVE
READING TUNE: Underwater by HANA
TAG LINE:
Trader. Fighter. Survivor.
OPENING LINE:
That bastard was leaving me again.
REVIEW:
Ever since reading SKY IN THE DEEP --my first Viking inspired YA fantasy--, Adrienne Young has been an automatic preorder for me. So, when I was at ALA Midwinter and landed a copy, I nearly fainted.
My favorite part of FABLE was writing. Adrienne Young is very a gifted writer -- to be able to weave words together like she's wielding magic.
“Home was a ship that was at the bottom of the sea, where my mother's bones lay sleeping.”
The world-building was phenomenal. Being set as a seafaring adventure, I could almost taste the seasalt on the breeze as I read FABLE. I could feel the stretch of sunbaked skin, the crust of seawater dried on clothes. The beads of sweat along a hairline under the hot sun while trying not to be blinded by its light. The rock of the ship as it cut through the crashing waves, the creak of swollen floorboards beneath every step. FABLE was fully immersive.
"Like light cast over the morning water, it became new. Every moment that lay ahead, like an uncharted sea. "
Four years ago, Fable's mother drowned at sea. Mourning the death of her mother, she was abandoned by her father, Saint, the most notorious trader in the Narrows. Stuck on a dangerous island ran by vivicuoius thieves. And in order to survive, she must live by 5 rules:
"Keep your knife where you can reach it.
Never, ever own anyone anything.
Nothing is free.
Always construct a lie from a truth.
Never, under any circumstances, reveal what or who matters to you."
All she wanted was to be reunited with her father. To have his acceptance, a place to belong. His love. For two long years, she waited for her father to return for her. True to his word, he never came back for her.
“It was the spot I'd sat every morning, waiting for my father's ship to return, even though he told me it wasn't coming back... it took me two years to believe him.”
Pissed and determined, Fable desires nothing more than to confront him and claim her birthright to demand her rightful place at his side with his crew--just as Saint promised.
“I'd crossed the Narrows for a man who's probably never even loved me. For a dream that would never come true.”
Desperate to escape the godforsakened island and claim her position on Saint's infamous trading vessel, Fable enlists the help of a young, stoic man and his crew of seaweathered misfits.
SKY IN THE DEEP and THE GIRL THE SEA GAVE BACK weren't heavy on the romance. But Adrienne really dipped her toes in the swoony arena this time around. And she did not disappoint. I was thrilled to see the unfolding of Fable and West's romance throughout the story and I cannot wait to see their relationship take the next step in NAMESAKE.
“What he was saying-the things he told me-was his way of showing me he trusted me. It was also his way of giving me the match. If I wanted to, I could burn him down. But if we were going to do this, I would have to be his safe harbor and he would have to be mine.”
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| FABLE Indie preorder incentive |
FABLE did not disappoint and I had such a fun time with the story. I recommend it to anyone willing to read it. In fact, I encourage them to read all of Adrienne's books.
CHARACTERS:
FABLE: Fable is fierce, independent, and strong but also vulnerable and yearns for belonging and acceptance. Her character was very well-written and relatable.
“The only safety that existed was in being completely alone.”
CAPTAIN WEST: At first glance, West is all mysterious and hardshell exterior -- when it comes to his dealings with Fable he is aloof and seemingly uninterested. But as their trust grows with each other we learn he's just a big cinnamon roll who was afraid to be vulnerable with the girl he's been secretly in love with for years. *Hearteyes*
"I have thought about you every single day since that day. Maybe every hour. I've counted down the days to go back to the island. And I pushed us into storms I shouldn't have because I didn't want to not be there when you woke up. I didn't want you to wait for me. Ever. Or to think I wasn't coming back."
IF YOU LIKEd FABLE, I’D RECOMMEND:
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Adrienne Young is the New York Times bestselling author of Sky in the Deep, The Girl the Sea Gave Back & Fable duology. 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.
***Check out Adrienne Young's website for more information about her and FABLE: HEREHappy Reading!
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