Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Fable by Adrienne Young

19 reviews

madalina0_0's review against another edition

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adventurous lighthearted relaxing 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? It's complicated

4.0


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koistyfishy's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious tense medium-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? No

3.0

3 FABLE Stars ⭐
Spicy Level: 0.5🌶️/5 (𝘊𝘭𝘰𝘴𝘦𝘥 𝘋𝘰𝘰𝘳/𝘔𝘦𝘵𝘢𝘱𝘩𝘰𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢𝘭)

I'm not going to lie and say that I was instantly hooked because it took about 45% of the audiobook and a big possibility and internal debate of whether I should DNF before this fishy was caught. I had seen so many raving reviews by people I normally tend to like the same books of...so I PERSVEIRED...

This book is a first-person POV that follows Fable. She is a girl who has been abandoned on a remote Island in the middle of The Narrows by her father, Saint - the most powerful trader the Narrows has ever seen. He left her so she could "learn how to survive". Fable is desperate to find a way off the Island to claim what is hers (as Saint promised). She uses her skills as a dredger (which means that she can hold her breath REALLY WELL as well as scavenge items from reefs/shipwrecks) and eventually trades her way onto the Marygold where the plot unfolds.

I think that there were three aspects that made this not the best for me.
The first one is it's a first-person P.O.V., but the number of times that the word FABLE is screamed, shouted, called, repeated and just said is 57 times!!! Having the narrator constantly going "Fable" in my ears - or what felt like constantly - drove me nuts...

The second is I feel like I could probably crew on a trader ship at this point with the amount of technical knowledge and information that this book has about ships and sailing a ship. It went really into detail, too much detail. I did not need so much description on basically how shipping worked, from the sails to the anchor, to layout, to terminology.

That then leads to the third aspect. Due to the monotonous descriptions, I would find myself in a lull in the audio - at no fault to Emma Lysy (Narrator). I would zone out and be bored by just too much ship talk that I would completely not pay attention to what I was listening to... which was really detrimental because I would then zone back in and not know WHAT THE FUCK was going on. I had to rewind chapters multiple times to find some point that I remembered listening to.

I AM SUPER happy though that I didn't give up because the last 60% of the book was wonderful! I do appreciate that Adrienne Young had clearly done a lot of research into worldbuilding, as she created a simple but rich and realistic trader network in a world with a slight hint of magic. The vibe is completely filled with adventure and if you love books about pirates this is right up your alley.

Fable was a little frustrating at times and I did get annoyed at her. However, she was alone, abandoned and unloved for 4 years while still a child. She has had a difficult life and has a tenacity to survive, so she will do anything she can to ensure she does.

The rest of the characters were really well fleshed out and I thought the relationship dynamics between everybody and the eventual "found-family" element was sweet. The back stories of each character, their motivations and reasoning were beautiful.

There is also a small hint of a love story between Fable and West (that feels a little instalovie) but it's not the main focus of the plot. The Helmsman is broody and mysterious but he really and truly cares for his crew and it shows in every action and decision he is forced to make. Their first kiss was just *chef's kiss*.

This is the second book I have read by Adrienne Young and I feel that she is an excellent storyteller! There is:
▶ Treasure seeking
▶ Adventure
▶ "Pirates"
▶ Found Family
▶ He Falls First
▶ Cliffhanger

While a boring start this made up for it in the end! I could see the world, I could smell the sea.

Thank you to Netgalley and Bolinda Audio for the Audiobook in exchange for a review.
All thoughts and feelings are my own.
 

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giulianalb99's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

4⭐️


Fable de Adrienne Young nos cuenta la historia de Fable, hija del comerciante más poderoso de los Estrechos, y el mar es el único hogar que ha conocido. Hace cuatro años, vio morir a su madre, ahogándose a causa de una tormenta, y al día siguiente su padre Saint la abandonó en Jeval, una isla llena de ladrones. Para sobrevivir, debe aprender a no confiar en nadie y sólo confiar en las habilidades que le enseñó su madre antes de su muerte. Su único objetivo es poder salir de esa isla, y para ello, solicita la ayuda de un joven comerciante llamado West para sacarla de la isla e ir en busca de su padre. A medida que va transcurriendo la historia, se ven envueltos en los peligros y rivalidades de Saint, y la protagonista va dándose cuenta de que West no es quien parece ser.


No estás hecha para este mundo, Fable. Estás hecha para un mundo mejor.


En cuanto a los personajes, creo que me han gustado todos salvo alguna excepción.
Fable es increíble. Es un personaje que me ha encantado, tanto por su personalidad como por su manera de afrontar/actuar los conflictos. Es tan valiente y fuerte en un mundo que, por desgracia, está hecho para los hombres, pero ella demuestra su valía constantemente.
West al principio es un poco gilipollas, pero con el tiempo le vas cogiendo cariño. Tiene una personalidad bastante fría y seca. Es una persona bastante autoritaria, jefe de su tripulación del Marigold, pero me encanta ya que la autora lo ha plasmado como alguien que tiene miedo a perder a sus seres queridos y que por eso tiene una “coraza” para no sufrir. 
Willa, Paj, Hamish y Auster al principio son bastante reservados, pero después van cogiendo confianza y se sueltan más, y se hacen querer bastante.
Saint creo que es de los personajes más fríos que he leído. Después de haber perdido al amor de su vida, su dolor se convierte en algo persistente y eso hace que actúe de una manera increíblemente apática, incluso con su hija.


Este libro me ha parecido bastante bueno, sobretodo porque tiene vibes a Piratas del Caribe y no hay películas que yo más ame que esas. Es un libro de fantasía bastante rápido de leer y súper entretenido. La pluma de Adrienne Young es increíble, y aunque no tenga ni idea de vocabulario sobre barcos, me ha encantado cómo los describe. El tema de la piratería toma bastante importancia y se trata con sumo detalle, como buen libro de piratas que es. Son muy fan de los libros narrados en primera persona, y este lo es, así que eso ya es un punto a su favor, además que la autora es bastante detallista y te hace sentir como si tú mismx fueras Fable. El romance es un tanto escaso, pero me ha parecido muy bonito; es un <i>slow burn</i> en toda regla, y tiene una de mis tropes favoritas: grumpy x sunshine. El cliffhanger del final del libro debería ser un crimen, no debería estar permitido dejarnos así con tanta curiosidad😂.
Mis puntos negativos, aunque no son muchos porque me ha gustado bastante, son:
1. Es demasiado corto, le hacen falta más páginas.
2. Me hubiera gustado saber más acerca de los personajes secundarios (Willa, Hamish, Paj y Auster).
3. Aunque es un slow burn, el romance va de no haber nada a que de repente se aman, y pues me hubiera gustado más evolución.
4. Aunque sé que hay una precuela del padre de Fable, me hubiera gustado haber sabido más acerca de él en este libro.
Este libro de piratas es la primera parte de una bilogía. Lo recomiendo a quien quiera leer a esta autora, que a mi parecer está bastante infravalorada, y a quien le gusten las aventuras con un poco de traición, romance, supervivencia y mucho más.

Siempre recomiendo buscar información sobre los trigger warnings antes de leer el libro, porque puede haber algunos temas que pueden ser fuertes para algunas personas (muerte de la madre, sangre, violencia, duelo tras la muerte de un ser querido, muerte, asesinato, abusos, abandono, etc.).


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Fable by Adrienne Young tells the story of Fable, daughter of the most powerful merchant in the Narrows, and the sea is the only home she has ever known. Four years ago, she watched her mother die, drowning in a storm, and the next day her father Saint abandoned her on Jeval, an island full of thieves. In order to survive, she must learn to trust no one and only rely on the skills her mother taught her before her death. Her only goal is to be able to leave that island, and for that, she requests the help of a young merchant named West to get out of that island and go in search of her father. As the story unfolds, they become involved in the dangers and rivalries because of Saint, and the main character realizes that West is not who he appears to be.


⇢ You weren’t made for this world, Fable. You were made for a better world.
(the translation of this quote may vary if you read the book in English).


As for the characters, I think I liked all of them apart from for a few exceptions.
Fable is amazing. She is a character that I loved, both for her personality and for her way of dealing with conflicts. She is so brave and strong in a world that is unfortunately made for men, but she constantly proves her worth.
West is a bit of an asshole at first, but over time you grow to like him. He has a rather cold and dry personality. He is a authoritarian person, head of his crew on the Marigold, but I love it because the author pictures him as someone who is afraid of losing his loved ones and that is why he has an "armor" in otder to avoid suffering.
Willa, Paj, Hamish and Auster are quite reserved at first, but later they gain confidence and loosen up more, and you end up loving them all.
Saint I think he is one of the coldest characters I've ever read. Having lost the love of his life, his grief becomes persistent, causing him to act incredibly apathetic, even around his daughter.


I found this book quite good, especially because it has vibes to Pirates of the Caribbean and there’s no movies that I love more than those. It's a pretty quick fantasy book to read and super entertaining. Adrienne Young's writing is amazing, and even though I have no idea about boat, ships and all of that, I loved how she describes everything. The subject of piracy is quite important and is dealt with in great detail. I am a big fan of books narrated in the first person, and this is one of them, plus the author is quite detailed and she makes you feel as if you were Fable yourself. The romance is somewhat lacking, but I found it very beautiful; it's a true slow burn, and it has one of my favorite tropes: grumpy x sunshine. The cliffhanger at the end of the book should be a crime, it shouldn't be allowed for authors to leave us with such curiosity😂.
My negative points, although there aren’t many because I liked it a lot, are:
1. It is too short, it needs more pages.
2. I would have liked to know more about the secondary characters (Willa, Hamish, Paj and Auster).
3. Although it's a slow burn, the romance goes from nothing to suddenly them falling in love, and well, I would have liked more evolution.
4. Although I know there is a prequel to Fable's father, I wish I had known more about him in this book.
This pirate book is the first part of a bilogy. I recommend it to anyone who wants to read this author, who in my opinion is quite underrated, and to anyone who likes adventures with a bit of betrayal, romance, survival and much more.

I always recommend looking for information about the trigger warnings before reading the book, because there may be some issues covered in it that may be strong for some people (tw such as: death of parent, blood, violence, grief, death, murder, abuse, abandonment, etc.).

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mrssmithreadsrom's review against another edition

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adventurous tense 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? No

4.5

I loved everything about this book except for 2 things:

1) I’m not big on secrecy and lying, two things that the world Fable lives in thrives on. Knowing it is how her world works helped me look past my own irritations, but it did keep me from fully loving this story. 

2) There we’re some passages where I was confused about the setting. It seemed like those were instances in which Fable was daydreaming she had a functional family, but it made it hard to understand when she was dreaming up her father’s presence and when she wasn’t, or when she was having memories of times she truly experienced and when she wasn’t. 

The cliffhanger was a little confusing too, but that just adds intrigue to reading the next book for me. 

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katievallin's review

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adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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

4.75


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fromjuliereads's review

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adventurous dark mysterious medium-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? Yes

3.5

I enjoyed this well enough! It was a quick read and some parts were fun. The twist was good - I thought it would go a different way! I liked the characters. I think there were just some things that bugged me. The characters aren't very well developed for how many there are - I had to keep reminding myself who the hell Hamish was 😅 I think there was too much "keeping secrets" and it made the characters under developed. And I obviously haven't read the second book but I feel like things could have been cut to be one book... 

My biggest annoyance? Fable continually refers to her mom by her first name which I found so weird for a teen. It made sense for her dad but not for her mom, who she was close to and lost... 
Anyways. If I can find the second book inexpensive then I might read it 😅

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booksalacarte's review

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adventurous emotional hopeful inspiring 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? No

5.0

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. 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. 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. 

✨My Opinion✨

Fable was a compelling heroine that was dynamic and not overtly feminine, which I really liked. She was practical, humble, smart and tenacious. She knew her worth.

West was stoic, but a caretaker. While not flowery with his words, his willingness to risk it all for those he cared for made him a man to be respected and admired as a romantic interest for Fable. He was the stability she could depend on when her dad was absent.

The stakes were high from the beginning and really drew me in to the story. Survival, found family, parental death, estranged family, enemies-to-lovers. There was a lot going on, but it was spread out and explored fully so you didn’t feel like you were bombarded with trope. 

The tension that came with the hesitant savior/enemies-to-lovers was well done. I enjoyed every moment. 

The word building was seamlessly intertwined with the familiarity of maritime seafaring. It gives you the sense that oceans are the same in any world, and maybe even an additional character. 

I enjoyed it so much and started the second book right away.

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taelights's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Loveable characters? Yes

3.0

I did enjoy the setting, plot, conflicts, and characters in this. Those elements really got me hooked to the book and made listening to it very enjoyable. 

But, I hated the romance elements. Honestly I thought Fable and West had no chemistry at all. Like Fable has a huge crush on West throughout the book but I never bought her feelings for him and other than his looks didn't understand why she liked him so much. I also thought their interactions had basically zero chemistry and felt really forced. Fable had a lot more actual chemistry with Willa who would have been such a better love interest for her. Yet another book where the cishet romance is boring and falt and the possible queer romance that authors refuse to acknowledge would have been 10 times better and more interesting. 

It wasn't a bad book and I will probably listen to the sequel one day. I'm not dying to read it but this was a solid short read that I did enjoy though! 

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gwynn0715's review

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adventurous emotional funny mysterious fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0


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matheo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5


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