Review
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-arc of this book!
Overview
When I read Fable last year I really enjoyed it. The book was very good, and the parts of it I liked, I really liked. Even the parts that I wasn’t as wild about, I enjoyed. I was really excited therefore when I got the chance to read Namesake before it was published. Getting back into this world was amazing, because it was left on a bit of a cliffhanger, and I wondered what was going to happen in the next book and how many of the loose ends would be wrapped up. I feel overall that this book was an extremely satisfying conclusion to the first book.
Plot
In this book Fable is a “captive” of Zola. And from there things 100% absolutely do not get better for Fable. They only get worse. And while in another book this might feel contrived, in this one I liked it. Fable getting from point a to point b to point c is done very successfully in this book. The plot of this book focuses on Fable and her ambitions and family. One thing that continued through from the first book to this, is the underlying message of family, and what family means. I will say there was one part of the plot that felt contrived. I didn’t love that part, but overall, I felt it didn’t detract too much from the book.
Tone
Much of the book had the tone of family is not just blood, but is the people that you meet along the way. There were other parts too, that stood out. It didn’t feel like Young was beating you over the head with it either. Family was a huge plot point in this book, and I’m afraid to go in depth about it because so much of it is better read and not spoiled. Suffice to say, I think the plot of this book was exemplary.
Characters
Partially, I think, because the plot revolves around the characters. Fable’s character arc is much of what pushes the plot forward. Fable generally, is the main character in this book. There are other characters that appear from the previous book, but they don’t nearly play the part they had. Auster and Paj make an appearance, but they have very limited page time. Even Willa isn’t in it as much. The only other character that really I think almost matches Fable is West.
We have quite a few new characters in this one, Clove and Holland who take up page time. I loved Clove. I loved Fable and Clove’s interactions throughout the book. And Holland was an interesting antagonist.
Saint of course was back in this, but much like the first he didn’t play a huge roll. He was in it, but wasn’t like West or Fable. Speaking of West and Fable I want to talk a bit about the relationship. While it felt a little insta-love like in the first book (I don’t mind that) in this one they are a bit more settled. I appreciate that Young at some points had them talk some issues out. West and Fable’s relationship is an interesting point in the book, and Young was successful in depicting it.
Action and Adventure
This book, much like the first, maybe even more so, was absolutely action packed. We jump from one event to the next with very little downtime. You’re always wondering what is coming next because Young does such an excellent job with the pacing in this book. Some parts of it could be boring, but they are most definitely not. I was engrossed from beginning to end, and I really enjoyed every moment that I was reading the book. To that point, Young is a great writer, and I was sucked in by her writing style and the cadence of it. I felt that it was stupendous. I was drawn into this world she crafted and I didn’t want to leave it.
Last Thoughts
This is (if you’re worried) a great wrap up. I felt it was a satisfying ending and I was overall happy with it. I’d take a novella now – something more than the epilogue. I would love to see some of the other character’s stories as well.
Overall, I absolutely loved this book and it was fantastic. What a great ending to the duology!