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adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
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
“There are some things that can’t be carved from a person, no matter how far they’ve sailed from home.”
“It was a long series of tragically beautiful knots that bound us together.”
Plot: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
It was a good book but not as good as the first one. Again, I really like the setting of this book and the inner conflicts the characters face. I found the tension between Fable and Saint to be more interesting than the primary plot and more interesting than her relationship with West. I’ll talk about that a little more when I get to their character development. Overall, I think the book was well done. Again, it’s YA so not really geared toward my age group but Adrienne Young doesn’t write her characters to feel immature and that’s something that I really like.
Writing Style: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Again, perfect pacing from Adrienne Young and I really like her writing. She’s very to the point without being choppy. I love the world building and you can tell she did a lot of research on ships to write this. I like that her writing teeters between fiction and fantasy. The world is without magic but there are a few fantastical elements, like Fable being a gem sage. I also love the way Young uses childhood memories in these books and the way Fable treasures them and hopes good moments she has now will remain with her the same way.
Characters: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Like with the first one, I found the characters to be compelling to read about. We get to hear more about the dark side of West, but I do wish Fable had been able to see it first hand. I really like her being bothered comparing West to her father and then later on realizing that she is a lot like her father, when the entire duo logy she has been drawing comparisons between herself and her mother. She has a lot of growth this book and comes to terms with the difficult relationship with her father, realizing that despite her complex feelings and their strained relationship she can still love him. Saint’s growth was my favorite, he came a long way from dropping his daughter off on an island to hide her and protect her because he didn’t know how to deal with loving her, to finally claiming her as his daughter openly and admitting his own complex feelings to Fable.
Themes/Motifs/Symbolism: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
Most of the themes in this book are similar to the first book, but this one has an overarching theme of forgiveness. We see this between Fable and Saint, Fable and West, and between Fable and Koy.
A symbol/motif throughout the book is midnight, which symbolizes Fable’s connection to her mother.
Enjoyment & Impact: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
I enjoyed this book a lot. I think the first book was better, which is usually how things go, but this was still a strong book. It was YA, so not my preferred genre but I do really enjoy Adrienne Young’s storytelling. I will definitely be reading more books by her. This was an easy and relaxing read.
19⭐️/5 criterion = 3.8⭐️ -> rounded to 3.75 ⭐️
Content Warnings
Minor: Death, Violence, Kidnapping, Abandonment
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It really feels like the first book was an elaborate setup for this one because a lot of pacing complaints I had about the first book were absent here. Though I enjoyed this book more than its prequel, there were a lot of things that bogged the experience down for me and thus I've given it the same rating as the first book (which is a shame because I'm starting to realise I like stories about pirates/crews at sea)
Things I liked:
Things I liked:
- I LOVED Holland as an antagonist and I wish we had more evil old ladies in books like her. I loved how her methods of manipulating people were subtle and how she's a master of throwing unexpected curveballs at people trying to bargain with her.
Things I didn't like:
- I just did not care for West and Fable's relationship in the slightest because they're so constantly hot and cold that it feels hard to get invested. Also I don't know what Fable actually sees in him and how she's suddenly okay with
how West is Saint's personal assassin out of nowhere despite fretting about it on multiple occasions. And speaking of... I don't think a lot of the antagonists outside of Holland pull their weight in being antagonists. I know it's more realistic that at the end of the day, they're just rival companies fighting against each other but considering everyone is a pirate or deals with pirates, I was expecting a lot more heinous stuff to happen. Holland is the only remotely threatening antagonist and West actually does more bad shit than the actual villains. - This is a personal gripe but I found it annoying that during the hunt for the midnight (gem), the gang abandoned their hunt at the reefs to go to Fable's Skerry on Fable's request, only for her to
become suddenly overwhelmed by the feeling of her mother and then conclude that it's not there... only for it to be later revealed she was right on the money if only she, you know, actually used her skills to do the job she was already doing and hunt its location. It felt very cheap and lazy to me. - The ending felt rushed, both in terms of the political intrigue <spoilers>(while Holland got what she had coming, everything wrapped up way too fast and conveniently)</spoilers> and where the characters ended up. Some characters such as Hamish and
Clove felt like they disappeared from the story altogether. When I read the epilogue I didn't understand how far along time had gone in terms of the timeskip, and it was just way too light to be a satisfying ending.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Kidnapping
Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Murder
Minor: Child abuse, Homophobia, Sexual content, Abandonment
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Kidnapping, Abandonment
Minor: Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Blood, Grief, Death of parent, Murder, Alcohol, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
There is something about escapades on the sea that sparks a desire to join them on their adventure. A fun quick read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Violence
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Kidnapping, Murder
Moderate: Child abuse
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If you like books with treasure hunts, characters with hidden motivations, deception behind every corner, and pages pressed with the salt of the sea, Namesake won't leave you disappointed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Kidnapping, Abandonment
Moderate: Death, Violence, Death of parent
Minor: Classism
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
How disappointing! Whilst Fable was a fun and atmospheric read with interesting character dynamics, its sequel failed to expand on these relationships and was instead rather dreary and repetitive.
Fable was by no means a revolutionary work of YA, but the things it did well really stood out. The father-daughter relationship was cleverly crafted as was the high-stakes setting, first of Jeval, and then of the seas the characters sail on.
In Namesake, the world-building is left behind and instead the author focuses on the MC's inner conflict between her father and her found family. This still could have been interesting if executed well, but sadly it dwelled too much upon the love interest and his 'bad boy' behaviour, their lovers' quarrels and their attempts to save one another by going behind each other's backs. It was so boring!
As I mentioned in my review of Fable, the side characters had potential that I was hoping would be explored further in the sequel. Some were, but only in a way that furthered the plot, rather than providing a richness of character for the reader. Despite the author heightening the stakes, they never felt so low for me.
Fable was by no means a revolutionary work of YA, but the things it did well really stood out. The father-daughter relationship was cleverly crafted as was the high-stakes setting, first of Jeval, and then of the seas the characters sail on.
In Namesake, the world-building is left behind and instead the author focuses on the MC's inner conflict between her father and her found family. This still could have been interesting if executed well, but sadly it dwelled too much upon the love interest and his 'bad boy' behaviour, their lovers' quarrels and their attempts to save one another by going behind each other's backs. It was so boring!
As I mentioned in my review of Fable, the side characters had potential that I was hoping would be explored further in the sequel. Some were, but only in a way that furthered the plot, rather than providing a richness of character for the reader. Despite the author heightening the stakes, they never felt so low for me.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Kidnapping, Grief, Death of parent, Murder
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Kidnapping
Minor: Death of parent
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Death of parent
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Was hoping for more character development for Fable because I feel like she was handed many things and directed to many decisions rather than leading her own path. But then again that's probably because I struggle accepting help. I also didn't like Fable and West's relationship because it was instant love and we didn't really learn much about West. He was super withheld. Hoping that Saint's book will answer some unanswered questions about Isolde.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Kidnapping
Moderate: Blood, Death of parent, Murder
Minor: Sexual content