Namesake by Adrienne Young (ARC Review)

Title: Namesake
Author: Adrienne Young
Type: Fiction
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Adventure, Romance
Publisher: Wednesday Books
(Macmillan Publishers)
Date published: March 16, 2021

A complimentary digital copy of this book was kindly provided by Raincoast Books in exchange for an honest review.

Note: This book is part of a series, and there are likely some spoilers in the synopsis below.

Trader. Fighter. Survivor.

With the Marigold ship free of her father, Fable and its crew were set to start over. That freedom is short-lived when she becomes a pawn in a notorious thug’s scheme. In order to get to her intended destination she must help him to secure a partnership with Holland, a powerful gem trader who is more than she seems.

As Fable descends deeper into a world of betrayal and deception she learns that her mother was keeping secrets, and those secrets are now putting the people Fable cares about in danger. If Fable is going to save them then she must risk everything, including the boy she loves and the home she has finally found.

Filled with action, emotion, and lyrical writing, New York Times bestselling author Adrienne Young returns with Namesake, the final book in the captivating Fable duology.

⤖ My Review ⬻

I still remember every emotion that I felt when Fable, the first book in this series, ended. I needed–absolutely needed–the second and final book in the series, Namesake, STAT. And I needed it right then and there. That’s not how publishing works though, haha, but I will say that I was incredibly happy about the wait between books being shorter than a year (6.5 months to be exact) so I didn’t suffer an incredible amount.

All jokes aside, though, I was really really really needing this book and to find out what happens next and also how things end. So, when I received an ARC to review, I couldn’t wait to dig in!

I remember when reading Fable, that some of my closest friends were raving about it, and I was reading it…but nothing struck me as remarkable…until I reached a certain point in the book. That’s when I really strapped in for quite the ride and enjoyed every second of it. It was so good.

When starting into Namesake, I found that I was experiencing the same sort of process. Nothing was really hooking me aside from the excitement I’d felt while reading Fable, so I figured that the same thing would happen and I would get really really hooked (with no hope of getting unhooked) at some point into the book.

In retrospect, I shouldn’t have compared Namesake to Fable in that way, and I also shouldn’t have hyped myself up as much as I did before reading Namesake. It just didn’t have that same umph for me. Yes, I did enjoy the book and seeing the characters again and reading about how their plotlines wrapped up. There were some really satisfying moments! But Fable remains my favourite if I had to pick a favourite.

While that might be the case, however, I would like to say that I really really enjoyed this duology and that I plan on picking up Young’s other books because of it (while also keeping an eye on her Goodreads and Twitter for any updates on her next book/s). I recommend this series as a whole!

⤖ About the Author ⬻

New York Times and Indie bestselling author of SKY IN THE DEEP, THE GIRL THE SEA GAVE BACK, FABLE & NAMESAKE from Wednesday Books, Adrienne Young is 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. For information on release, appearances, ARCs, giveaways, and exclusive content, sign up for the newsletter at https://adrienneyoungbooks.com