Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - Namesake

Reviews tagging 'Kidnapping'

Namesake by Adrienne Young

28 reviews

sara_phoenix's review against another edition

adventurous inspiring 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? It's complicated

4.0

Adrienne Young does it again with Namesake! The second book of her Fable series picks up right at the cliffhanger we were left with in the first book. Fable is a young girl who has finally found a family on the sea with the crew of the Marigold. But when she is kidnapped by the infamous Zola, Fable must reunite with a the most powerful gem trader on the sea, Holland, who is more to Fable than she seems. Adventure on the sea, deception, political intrigue – this book has it all! I love this series for the fact that it’s fantasy-esque world is easily understood and navigated – it allows a bit of escape, and the references to ships, sailing, and the sea will make you want to wander through the Narrows yourself. I also appreciate that Fable is a strong female protagonist – she is smart, capable, and fierce. Fable’s character is even more compelling since this book is technically part of a YA (Young Adult) series, and I am thankful that young women have this type of character to read about. Perfect for a vacation or beach read. Make sure you read the series in order otherwise you’ll be lost.

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maregred's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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camiclarkbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

We jump right back in to the story, so abruptly it’s like we flipped to the next chapter of “Fable” rather than started the sequel. And, even more so than in the first book, the titular heroine finds herself in so many terrible situations—one right after the other. There were so many that it was difficult to stay invested, particularly when Fable didn’t seem all that concerned.

Fable’s constant internal monologue tells us exactly what she’s thinking and how she’s upset by the different strokes of bad luck, but ultimately she reacts very passively. She allows the situation to play out rather than doing much about it. Alternatively, she allows the other characters to steer her through these unfortunate events.

Since we learned in the first book that she had survived four years—alone—on the island of Jeval, it seems that Fable would be more of a fighter than she is. Her thoughts also don’t reveal that’s she’s given up after so many years of fighting and that she’s decided to go with the current either. Fable just doesn’t have much agency.

Although I was disappointed by the main character, there were several very interesting characters that were introduced. Holland, the feared gem merchant that was mentioned in the first book, appears about 1/3 of the way through the book. At her appearance, the book began to pick up and kept my interest more than the first few chapters had.

Other side characters from the first book appeared in “Namesake” and were ultimately more interesting than Fable and West, our main characters.

Although we barely saw it, even the love story between Fable and West feels bland in comparison to the love story that potentially developed between Willa and Koy. We just glimpse a few brief allusions to something between them possibly developing. For our main love story between Fable and West, we spent a lot of time rehashing that he had done bad things for Saint, and that the darkness had a hold of him, which concerned Fable, but not enough to do anything about her concern.

I would be remiss if I didn’t mention the writing. Adrienne Young is a master at describing the different scenes the book takes us to. When Fable was dredging underwater, I would find myself stopping what I was doing to listen to the rich descriptions of the underwater world the character was in because the words were so beautiful and vibrant. Even simple description’s of a character’s clothes were beautifully detailed enough that I could picture the scenes perfectly.

Overall, I wanted to like this book more than I did. “Namesake” is very much a plot driven book rather than a character driven book. But the plot is constant, there’s no break between anything. We can’t catch a breath before Fable is pushed into another problem. Yet she reacts passively to almost every situation she finds herself in. She’s very astute and introspective, but lacks agency. The book is beautifully written, with every scene described in impeccable, rich details that help to insert the reader in to the story. But kt isn’t quite enough to mask how bland the characters have become since the first book.

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mimccub's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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joricottone's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

4.25

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livvy_k's review against another edition

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adventurous 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? Yes

4.0

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kbairbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous emotional hopeful medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

I didn’t much care for the first 75% of this book. (Spoiler) with Fable getting kidnapped at the end of book one that left lots of opportunity for this book… but it just didn’t feel right. Her romance felt forced, and the timing of this book felt weird. I did like the creativity it took to come up with all the agendas and sneakiness and how everyone played everyone else but it felt like Fable was too naive and fell into things very easily and she felt like such a bystander with a bunch of things just happening to her. (Spoiler end)

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