A review by readundancies
Fable by Adrienne Young

adventurous emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

What you need to understand before continuing on along the thought train that is this review is that when it comes to books and sub-genres and tropes of that nature, some people are into mermaids, or fae or time-travel, etc., but myself? I kinda have a thing for pirates. Anything related to sea-faring adventures to be honest, but pirates have a special place in my heart. 

Which means there are expectations that I have for all things pirate related - and these are expectations that are relatively high. 

With that under your consideration, you should know that while I thought Fable was good, it didn't wow me. 
The characterization was not fully fleshed out for all of the characters (looking at you, West, I still don't know what your deal is) and I wanted the world-building to quickly immerse me and I never really felt like it happened. Places like Dern and Ceros felt like cities that didn't have any secrets to spill and then others like Jevali and Tempest Snare didn't give me nearly enough of anything substantial for me to be able to visualize them well in my head. I guess I wanted The Narrows to feel alive, for the ocean to be a physical presence, for the waves to speak. But I heard nothing. This may be a direct result of the pacing and length of the novel, which was quick and felt short. More exposition on this front might've altered things. 

I did however enjoy the discussion brought up about family - from West and Willa's sibling synchrony to Fable and Saint's tenuous tenterhooks in one another - there was a lot to explore and I thought it was done in a way that while not terribly expansive, still got to the heart of their matters. 
But, speaking of hearts, the romance was where everything really felt lack-lustre to me. It didn't feel complete, like it had no solid foundation even though it was alluded to that it should. It was a relationship we only get a glimpse of because it was supposed to be fostered over the span of years but happened really rapidly and didn't feel genuine. 

Did I love that there was a cliff-hanger? Not particularly. And I think it mostly has to do with the fact that even though the cliffhanger exists, the suspense isn't really pushing me to pick up the sequel anytime too soon. 

But the supporting cast of characters were solid for the most part, the world-building from a cultural perspective was interesting between the Jevalis, those from The Narrows and those from The Unnamed Sea, and I enjoyed learning about the different Guilds and about dredging and gems in general. 

I prolly won't be picking up the sequel anytime soon, but I won't rule out this duology as one that I won't be continuing either. 

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