Last year I reviewed Fable, and this year I’m doing the sequel. Namesake by Adrienne Young is the second installment in The World of the Narrows series. This picks up right after Fable gets the Marigold free of her father’s control and she’s kidnapped by Zola. Zola needs Fable to secure a partnership and pay off a debt with Holland, a very powerful gem trader. Fable reunites with Saint’s right hand man, Clove, while on the Luna (Zola’s ship). She’s shocked to say the least as she thought Clove had died. Clove has presumably betrayed Saint and Fable isn’t sure as to whether or not she can trust him. Meanwhile, West and his crew are looking for Fable; burning ships and Zola’s resources along the way. Fable and crew look to discover her mother’s past and hidden secrets.
Now onto things I liked or felt were generally positive. Saint and Fable’s relationship is better developed and more fleshed out. Saint and Holland are fun and add an interesting dynamic to a lot of the characters. A lot of the side characters get more exploration into their past, for instance Isolde and Auster. Koy is back and gets a bit more to do in the story. Generally it reads well. Thankfully, the novel is short.
Now onto things I didn’t like or felt were negatives. The pacing is a bit off in some parts and it dragged the story a bit. There’s a lot of telling and not showing. This is especially true with Fable and West’s relationship. Their whole relationship takes a serious drop: it’s boring, dysfunctional and toxic, West gets worse as the book progresses, and they have basically no chemistry. I think it’s supposed to be dysfunctional, but I hate this and it’s not executed well. Fable keeps comparing others (mostly West) to Saint; it’s too repetitive and doesn’t really apply a quarter of the time. The world building is terrible and dropped in quality compared to the first book. Instead of focusing on the world it focuses on contracts and trading agreements. It also focused too much on the romance between Fable and West.
I give this book two stars; overall it was boring. If you really liked the first book, this is for you. This book is the sequel to Fable, and there is also a companion book called Saint. If you’re interested in reading Fable or Namesake, the East Central Regional Library carries them in physical, audiobook, kindle, and eBook formats.
