by Adrienne Young
ASIN/ISBN: 9781250254399
Publication: March 16, 2021
Series: Fable #2

Caution: There are spoilers for Fable.

**I was provided a copy of Namesake through NetGalley. I voluntarily read and reviewed it. All opinions are my own.**

After telling her he will return for her once she is older, Fable’s father leaves her on an island to fend for herself. Realizing her father doesn’t mean to come back for her, Fable takes things into her own hands and buys her way onto a ship to make her way to find him only to be disappointed by what she finds. However, she finds out about her inheritance and forms a new family only to be ripped from them. Namesake continues where Fable ended, and we finally find out what happens to Fable.

If you enjoyed Fable and were utterly mortified when the book ended the way it did (I was audibly gasped…How could Young do this to me?), Namesake will greatly appease you, but it doesn’t hit the same way that Fable does. Fable felt like a beginning, leading to some kind of exciting climax but now we are on the other side of it…and it’s not as exciting. Despite this, the book is filled with enough twists and turns you won’t know who to trust. In fact, you might end up like me and even be a bit afraid to trust anyone other than Fable. In the first book, Fable’s appearance ignites multiple events. Characters have to react to her as opposed to what happens in Namesake. Here, Fable finds herself on the other side, having to react to everyone else’s power plays. While the big player(s) already have their hands hidden and big plans to use her as a pawn, Fable has to figure out how to strategically play their game, trying to thwart them at any points possible. The political intrigue is more prominent in Namesake. The duology comes to a somewhat satisfying conclusion, with things wrapped up pretty easily. I expected a bit more fanfare so at one point I thought, wait, this is it?

While I found the romance in Fable to be sweet and West’s confession even made me a bit swoony (I’m a sucker for romance okay…let me swoon), I was less than pleased with West in multiple instances. He turns into this frustrating alpha male and refuses to listen to his crew. Not only does he override his crew but he also overrides many of Fable’s decisions. I wanted to smack him in the back of the head many times over.

I was nearly as frustrated with Fable’s feelings about her father as West was when she came to some conclusions about her relationship with Saint. I was not very satisfied with the resolution to their relationship. I get it, it’s complicated but he still basically threw his daughter to the wolves on Ceros and got off much too easy. I was not impressed by Saint’s confessions.

Overall, the duology was nearly a five star read. I liked Fable a lot (4.5 stars, possibly 5 stars) and prefer it to the second book, but Namesake was still a worthwhile read. I would gladly pick up the next book should Young decide to return to Fable’s world, because there is certainly more that can be told.