In my journey to discover what it looks like to be a writer who wants to be published I have started to become more aware of the different publishing houses. Adrienne Young’s titles are all published by Wednesday Books. As I look at the company these books keep I have realized that I really enjoy the books Wednesday puts out into the YA SFF world. So, thanks Wednesday. You’re doing fabulous.
I had the pleasure of meeting Adrienne during a tour stop with Isabel Ibanez and Shea Earnshaw. I had really enjoyed Sky in the Deep, specifically the religious parts of it. As a religious person I am always drawn to religion, even in fantasy and Sky in the Deep had some religious themes about the afterlife and character motivation I admired. When she talked about Fable I immediately wanted to read it.
Fable feels so deliciously YA to me. We have a girl seeking to find her place in the world and we are pulled into the adventure along the way. What more is there to a coming of age tale?
As the daughter of the most powerful trader in the Narrows, the sea is the only home seventeen-year-old Fable 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 on a legendary island filled with thieves and little food. 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.
I think my favorite thing about Adrienne’s writing is the atmosphere she invokes. I felt taken away to this world of oceans and sea ports. However it was the characters that sell this story to me.
The relationships are atypical. The crew of the Marigold all are developed pieces of a puzzle. I loved untangling their relationships, and if I’m honest, I had expected there to be a bit more drama between them all, instead I found myself with a true found family situation. At least for now.
I also appreciate that this story seems aware of the readers intelligence. A few of the things I had expected to be revealed were revealed, but much quicker than I expected and then pushed further. I appreciated that in the plot very much. It is what ultimately kept me reading and able to finish this book in one day.
I would recommend this for fans of Makiia Lucier’s atmospheric fantasies, or those who enjoy heroines ala Marie Lu and Merissa Meyer. Fable is out on September 1st, 2020.
This title was given by the publisher through Netgalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
A.J. Eversole 