DNF Series Review: Fable by Adrienne Young

Fresh Fridays: On Friday, I review a brand new series (ie. only has one book released so far) to see if the series is worth keeping up with. Here is this week’s offering:

Fable Series

Other books planned to be in the series:

Synopsis for Fable (from Goodreads):

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.

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.

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.

Series: Fable Duology
Author: Adrienne Young
# of Books: 2 (Full Reading Order Here)

There are some prequel novellas.

Book Order: Chronological
Complete?: Yes
Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Coming of Age, Pirates, Adventure
Heat Rating: warm
Point of View: First Person, Single
Publication Date: September 1, 2020 – March 16, 2021
Source & Format: Netgalley–eARC

Disclaimer: I stopped reading Fable at 20% (start of Chapter 9) and have opted not to pick up the sequels. Find out why below…

Why I Picked it Up / My Expectations:

I was trolling Twitter one day and noticed a tweet by Wednesday Books that a vast majority of their Netgalley library was available as Read Now titles. Like any sane book reader, I immediately when to Netgalley and browsed for any titles that would grab my attention. Fable was one that was mentioned many times in the replies to the Tweet so I made sure to grab it. I love the idea of a female pirate ruling the sea so I was excited to dive in and check it out.

What I Liked:

–Pirates!–

I love the idea of a lady pirate novel. Pirate novels are great for a lot of reasons–action, adventure, scheming, curses–but when the lead is a lady, that presents a whole other set of challenges. Watching a lady take charge in a “man’s world” is what great books are made of.

What I Didn’t Like:

–World Building–

From the start, I found myself struggling to get invested in Fable’s story. Part of the reason is that I got lost in the lack of world building. It almost felt like I should already know who this cast of characters was and I was getting people mixed up constantly.

–Fable–

I also struggled with Fable herself. She is far too angsty for me. I think every chapter ended with some doom-and-gloom thought by her. I get why. Her character background is explained well enough to know that she has a massive chip on her shoulder. I just felt like she was trying to hard to be a badass?

Will I Finish It?

I think I wanted a badass, take no prisoner lead from the get-go but that isn’t Fable. This is her coming of age story as she literally navigates the messy waters of her life and reality. In time she will get there but that wasn’t the story I wanted to read and so I am ending my trip here.