Namesake (Fable, #2)

by Adrienne Young

[thepunktheory]

Full review on my blog!


Oh, this was a lovely book. I cannot get over how stunning the setting is. The way it is described it gives me a severe case of wanderlust. This is something that I mentioned when I talked about the first book in this series, but I would love to see an adaptation of these novels. A movie or preferably a show that allows us to see these gorgeous shores, these marvelous underwater settings would be amazing. I’ve never lived anywhere near an ocean, so maybe it’s just a me thing that this made me feel so dreamy.

One thing that an adaptation might also help me with is ships and nautical stuff. I know absolutely nothing about ships, so a lot of the chapters on that front are to a degree lost on me. I can kind of understand what everybody is doing and working on, but since I am not really familiar with all the tasks on a ship (or even with the terminology used) I sometimes had little idea what exactly Adrienne Young is talking about. This was a bigger problem in the first book though. While it still happened occasionally in Namesake, there are a lot more other things going on, so the focus isn’t so much on that. Again, probably a me problem, but if you are also a person who isn’t really into nautical stuff, keep that in mind. I want to point out though, that it didn’t make me like the book any less or detracted significantly from the story. So, really no biggie.

The story of Namesake comes with several intriguing twists and turns. While some might be a little predictable, others will surprise you. Granted, you shouldn’t look too closely at the logic behind some of those twists all the time. There were instances where I certainly raised an eyebrow, but overall it’s a well-crafted story. It’s already such a big win simply because the setting is so unique and different from most other books that somehow come my way.

I, furthermore, appreciated that it’s a fairly short novel. Right now, I’m still fighting my way through the Wheel of Time books and oh my god these are chonky. So, it’s nice to find something in between when you want to sink into a story, and get lost in a different world, but without spending a month of my time on getting through the book. I’m sure I’m not the only one who appreciates a novel like this every now and then.