I received a copy from NetGalley and Wednesday Books in exchange for an honest review.
Seeing as this is the first book I have read from Adrienne Young Fable is a great book, but nobody quiz me on anything about the book please 🙏
It is a very detailed book and normally I am all for it, but I still have no answers to the world building.
Why is it the way that it is? Why is it a world built for men? Who are the guilds and who decides who gets to be in charged of what? Why is it called the Narrows? Was the misnomer for the Unnamed Sea intentional? Why does Ceros have bridges leading up to the roofs, but no other port does? Why are storms so frequent in this world? What are gem sages and how does one become one? Is it a type of magic? (It's a cool magic if it is, but I was not clear). Why are there only coppers for monetary? How much would a copper be worth? Why is everyone so ruthless? Why can you not trust anyone with your relations or love or literally anything? Why is everyone trying to kill everyone? What is the main goal of this world? Was it always like this or did something happen to make it change? What came first the Narrows or the Unnamed Sea? Were there any people who were on the islands first? Why is Jeval considered the island of thieves when there are thieves on all of the islands? Is the Tempest Snare coral reefs or is it a carving of rocks/ice? Is the Tempest Snare supposed to be a deterrent to the people in the Narrows to stop them? Why is it so hard to navigate? How have people made it through it in the past if that is the way to the Unnamed Sea and many people have made it through there before? Is Ceros supposed to be a poor port or a middle class port because it talks about people being on the streets, but a vast majority of them were on the bridges? Is it something they do because they know the more wealthier people take the bridge? What would people do if they had no copper and had things to trade, but nobody else had any copper? Why is everybody stealing everything from everyone? Is this supposed to be like a Hunger Games but in the sea? What is the deal between Saint and Zelo (I probably totally butchered his name. This is how memorable he was to me apparently) and why are people starting wars with each other? What is so special about the city in the Unnamed Sea that has made people so cutthroat? Do they think that it will grant them favour with the guilds? And what is the deal with Holland? She gets mentioned a few times, but there is no clear explanation and you do not meet her in the book at all. I kind of wished we did just to get a better understanding of why people seem to fear her. (I don't know why they do.)
Also Auster's skin is mentioned as ivory and then a couple of pages later it is the color of wheat. What color is his skin? Because ivory is white and fair and you burn easily so technically if he was in the sun a lot it would not be ivory more of a reddish brown and wheat is more of a golden brown. It made it hard to picture him. Actually it was hard to picture any of them because sometimes it feels like the author got bogged down in the details only to throw most of it to the raging sea. This is why I am hoping nobody quizzes me on the book because it was too much detail but not enough to be like "ask me anything I can tell you anything even things that are not in the book". Honestly, I got confused quite a few times muddling through all of the details like it could give Victoria Aveyard a run for her money on the amount of detail in this book.
As someone who is directionally challenged I really wished there was more description on what was starboard and all the other sides of the boat. It was getting tiresome having to look things up because it's a great book and I finished it in a day and a half, but again those pesky details that never gave the right details. I had to look up poisons in corals and of course those pesky details, it was all forgotten about after a page. Fable mentions she will be sick and have fever and all this stuff, but she never actually gets sick or has any problems after she eats the stew. Also, after reading that the poison in the coral is enough to kill 80 people it is kind of hard believing that she was okay. She got more sick from drinking three glasses of rye than anything else in the book.
The only twist I did not see coming was at the very end and it ended on that twist (now I'm debating if I should read Namesake or not. What do you guys think for those who have read it; is it worth it?). All the other twists are so predictable and I could see them coming a mile away.
I know it sounds like I am hating on this book, but I am not trust me I became invested at around the 85% mark of the book because at that point I could not put the book down. I needed to know what Saint would do. I wanted to know if she could avoid the bad guy, Zelo/Zalo/Zaro (clearly he is so memorable to me guys that I can't remember his name after I just finished reading the book and it was the second to last name in the book:P)
West and Fable are so cute together and I will not spoil anything because the moments between them are *chef's kiss*. Willa I want to hug her and tell her she is brave. I want to smirk over Paj's and Auster's antics. I want to shake my head while hiding a smile from Hamish because secretly he is a teddy bear.
I loved all of the characters I just wished there was more because if the bad guy is any indication they didn't quite stand out from my mind. If to save my life I had to point out something unique about each character my chances of survival will be nil.
With all of that being said it is definitely a book I would consider rereading (preferably the corrected copy of it because some of the grammar made no sense "I words made me still" being an example. On it's own it could make sense but reading it in the book it was like West was talking and now you're saying I words... what do I know 🤷). Lord knows it made the inner English student in me very happy if the questions are anything to go by. English classes make me rip things apart I have no control over it anymore. It has been engrained into my brain and makes reading interesting.
4 out of 5 stars.
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