fable by adrienne young - the one where there really should be pirates but sadly there are none

Fable

by Adrienne Young

Pages: 357

Publisher: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: September 1st, 2020

Cover Comments: 

This bighead cover is mostly redeemed by the cool ship graphic in Fable's eye.

First Lines: 
"That bastard was leaving me again." 

               Goodreads丨 Amazon

For seventeen-year-old Fable, the daughter of the most powerful trader in the Narrows, the sea is the only home she 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.

But her father’s rivalries and the dangers of his trading enterprise have only multiplied since she last saw him, and Fable soon finds that West isn't who he seems. Together, they will have to survive more than the treacherous storms that haunt the Narrows if they're going to stay alive.

Welcome to a world made dangerous by the sea and by those who wish to profit from it. Where a young girl must find her place and her family while trying to survive in a world built for men. Fable takes you on a spectacular journey filled with romance, intrigue, and adventure.

Review

I’ve now read Sky in the Deep, The Girl the Sea Gave Back, and Fable, and I am disappointed to say that Adrienne Young is very hit or miss for me. Sky in the Deep was great; The Girl the Sea Gave Back was my least favorite Young novel, and Fable hits somewhere in the middle. I was attracted to Fable for the same reasons as many others: a sea-faring adventure is usually fun and the idea of traveling the oceans during the time of quarantine is very enticing. However, sailing is pretty much all that happens in this book until the last quarter. Would a pirate battle have been too much to ask? Fable is a pretty standard YA main character. She’s capable, with a troubled past and a stubborn streak, and she has a special gift that she tries (poorly) not to reveal. She’s basically on her own, with a father who left her alone on an island and a mother who died years before. The other characters are similar trope-y types, especially the brooding and mercurial West. The single coolest part of this story happens pretty far into the book, and involves a map being revealed under mysterious circumstances, and a bit of a treasure hunt. This is where I began to be pulled into the story, only to immediately be thrown off by a relationship taking a turn with no indication that it was going that way (the Fable/West kiss, COMPLETELY out of nowhere). I liked the direction, but the lack of build-up made the moment rather lackluster. Finally, the story ended with a twist, but unfortunately, it was one that I wasn’t particularly interested in. I’ll read the sequel because I am a completionist, but I wasn’t blown away by this first installment. I would recommend Daughter of the Pirate King by Tricia Levenseller for a similar vibe that is better executed. 

☆☆

*Thanks to Wednesday Books and the author for the chance to read Fable before its publication date.

The Girl the Sea Gave Back, or, Just Skip to the Last Quarter

The Girl the Sea Gave Back

by Adrienne Young

Pages: 327

Publisher: Wednesday Books
Publication Date: September 3rd, 2019

Cover Comments: I LOVE this cover. The sea sweeping up around Tova and the way the title is centered on her is fantastic.

First Lines: 
"Give me the child." 

               Goodreads丨 Amazon

For as long as she can remember, Tova has lived among the Svell, the people who found her washed ashore as a child and use her for her gift as a Truthtongue. Her own home and clan are long-faded memories, but the sacred symbols and staves inked over every inch of her skin mark her as one who can cast the rune stones and see into the future. She has found a fragile place among those who fear her, but when two clans to the east bury their age-old blood feud and join together as one, her world is dangerously close to collapse.

For the first time in generations, the leaders of the Svell are divided. Should they maintain peace or go to war with the allied clans to protect their newfound power? And when their chieftain looks to Tova to cast the stones, she sets into motion a series of events that will not only change the landscape of the mainland forever but will give her something she believed she could never have again—a home.

Review

I finished The Girl the Sea Gave Back a couple months ago, shortly after finishing Sky in the Deep, and really enjoying it. While I can still recall the plot and details of Sky in the Deep, I had trouble remembering everything about The Girl the Sea Gave Back and thought I must have been forgetting something because I only remembered a few things happening in the plot. But that’s exactly it. Nothing much happens, until the end. I can appreciate that this is a wholly different novel from its predecessor, and I was looking forward to discovering more about the world and the new characters this book introduces. However, I found both main characters to be flat and forgettable. Events in the story that should have made me feel some emotion left me cold, because I never connected with the characters.

The romance was strange and halted for me. It takes way too long for the love interests to meet, and even once they had, it seemed like the only connection they had was “fate”, which is not a compelling love story. I was even a little surprised when a kiss finally happened, because it didn’t seem to fit with the relationship that had been built at that point.

In spite of all of the above, Adrienne Young really can write some great battle scenes, and the last few chapters of the book were truly riveting. I just wish I had been hooked before the end.

☆☆

*Thanks to Netgalley and the author for the chance to read The Girl the Sea Gave Back before its publication date.

Glass Sword, or, The One In Which Mare Provokes Me to Violence

Glass Sword by Victoria Aveyard

Pages: 444

Publisher: HarperTeen
Publication Date: February 9th, 2016
Cover Comments: I love these simple and clean covers, and this one is particularly effective with the themes within the book of fragile power.

First Lines: "I flinch. The rag she gives me is clean, but it still smells like blood."

If there’s one thing Mare Barrow knows, it’s that she’s different. Mare Barrow’s blood is red—the color of common folk—but her Silver ability, the power to control lightning, has turned her into a weapon that the royal court tries to control. The crown calls her an impossibility, a fake, but as she makes her escape from Maven, the prince—the friend—who betrayed her, Mare uncovers something startling: she is not the only one of her kind. Pursued by Maven, now a vindictive king, Mare sets out to find and recruit other Red-and-Silver fighters to join in the struggle against her oppressors. But Mare finds herself on a deadly path, at risk of becoming exactly the kind of monster she is trying to defeat. Will she shatter under the weight of the lives that are the cost of rebellion? Or have treachery and betrayal hardened her forever? The electrifying next installment in the Red Queen series escalates the struggle between the growing rebel army and the blood-segregated world they’ve always known—and pits Mare against the darkness that has grown in her soul.

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Review

Oh, Glass Sword. I had such high hopes for this book. I read Red Queen a year or two ago and have fond if slightly fuzzy memories of it. While I still find the world Victoria Aveyard built very interesting, I could. not. stand. the main character, Mare Barrow, in Glass Sword. Herein lies an itemized list of reasons I find Mare unbearable.

1. Can you say high horse?

I can't even count the amount of times that Mare refers to herself as a very important and special person. She goes on and on about the symbol she is to people, the incredible power she wields, and how no one can really understand what she's going through.

I'm playing my tiny sad violin for ya, Mare.

2. Bloodlust.

Okay, I'm all for a hero with flaws or even a really good villain, but Mare is neither. She kills without mercy and seemingly only regrets any of these deaths when they become another reason for her to feel sorry for herself.

3. Prejudice.

Even though Mare thought she was a regular Redblood for most of her life, she now treats Reds without powers as literal scum beneath her boots. She talks about Kilorn, one of her closest friends and one of the few people who stands by her by the end, like this:

"Who is he to question my orders? He's no one. A fish boy with only good luck and my foolishness to protect him. Not like Shade, a teleporter, a newblood, a great man."

For someone who has been treated as "less than" for her whole life, I'm disappointed that Mare would turn this quickly.

4. Empathy = 0%.

Mare has no sympathy for anyone other than Newbloods (only because they are integral to her mission) and herself. She doesn't care about Silvers who have helped her, the deaths of anyone not close to her, or even the fates of thousands of Red children.

5. Cheese with that whine?

Despite being the most horrible person in the book, Mare doesn't seem to realize what a sacrifice others make just being in her presence, and constantly whines about everyone and everything else. She even seems strangely offended by inanimate objects, calling an office "offensively organized" and a door "offensively red".

Mare has definitely had some bad things happen to her, but no more than her other friends, and certainly not enough to warrant her level of whining.

*itemized rant over*

I found the plot to drag throughout most of the book. The romance between Cal and Mare was so awkward and stilted, and Mare's trust issues make it impossible for her to have a real relationship at this point anyway, so it's painful to see her even try. I got so sick and tired of hearing the line "Anyone can betray anyone." Mare takes this advice to strange conclusions, trusting her gut feelings about complete strangers, but watching her back around lifelong friends.

As a result of the above items, I found myself completely unsympathetic to Mare even when horrible things happened to her, so I'm not sure how I'll rally behind her in the next book. However, I'm really interested to see if Maven is really as heartless as he seems, and I hope King's Cage takes Mare's character in a different direction. If not, this quote from my favorite character might ring true:

"Mare, I am very afraid for you. Things have been done to you, things no person should suffer. You've seen horrible things, done horrible things, and they will change you. I'm so afraid for what you could be, if given the wrong chance."

2/5 glass swords