Reviewed by annieb123 on
Namesake is the second book in a YA fantasy duology by Adrienne Young. Released 16th March 2021 by Macmillan on their St. Martin's Press imprint, it's 368 pages and is available in hardcover, audio, and ebook formats. It's worth noting that the ebook format has a handy interactive table of contents as well as interactive links and references throughout. I've really become enamored of ebooks with interactive formats lately.
This is a very well written YA adventure with a strong and intelligent female protagonist, an ensemble cast of characters and a well controlled and technically adept narrative arc. The story moves along at a good pace and the action is engaging and carries the reader along. The language and themes are appropriate for older teens.
I hadn't read the first book in the duology and had some trouble following some of the more nuanced parts of the plot including the back-history between Fable and the crew, her complicated family connections, and much of the interrelationships between the secondary characters. Because of this, I don't think it works well as a standalone and recommend readers to read the first book before reading this one.
Four stars.
Disclosure: I received an ARC at no cost from the author/publisher for review purposes.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 1 April, 2021: Finished reading
- 1 April, 2021: Reviewed