Fable | ARC Review

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Title: Fable

Author: Adrienne Young

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 368

Publication Date: 9/01/20

Publisher: Wednesday Books

Categories: Pirates, Young Adult, Adventure, Romance, Family, Survival, Fantasy

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

As the daughter of the most powerful trader in the Narrows, the sea is the only home seventeen-year-old Fable has ever known. It’s been four years since the night she watched her mother drown during an unforgiving storm. The next day her father abandoned her on a legendary island filled with thieves and little food. To survive she must keep to herself, learn to trust no one and rely on the unique skills her mother taught her. The only thing that keeps her going is the goal of getting off the island, finding her father and demanding her rightful place beside him and his crew. To do so Fable enlists the help of a young trader named West to get her off the island and across the Narrows to her father.

But her father’s rivalries and the dangers of his trading enterprise have only multiplied since she last saw him and Fable soon finds that West isn’t who he seems. Together, they will have to survive more than the treacherous storms that haunt the Narrows if they’re going to stay alive.

Welcome to a world made dangerous by the sea and by those who wish to profit from it. Where a young girl must find her place and her family while trying to survive in a world built for men.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

WOW.

My Reactions:

My Attention: absolutely swept away – read this in one sitting

World Building: epic – the setting is in the islands I’m sure inspired by the Caribbean but I could feel the humid air, see the school of fish in the reef, feel the pressure of the water as Fable dove deep….SO good.

Writing Style: flowed beautifully

Bringing the Heat: 🔥 – barely any but it didn’t need it

Crazy in Love: slow burn love story

Creativity: I loved everything about Fable and her gem mage powers, I want to learn more about it

Mood: Excited

Triggers: violence, thieving

My Takeaway: Fable is abandoned by the only parent she has but makes a promise to herself to survive and take what is hers.

First off – that COVER. It is to die for! Absolutely beautiful.
Fable’s story is pretty amazing – she is surviving on her own, trying to get back to the father that left her to die (or survive). She has grit, brains and courage! It also helps she’s a gem mage, it helps her skills as a dredger (a diver). She does what she has to do to survive. My heart broke for her when it came to her relationship with her father.
In any pirate story, it’s ALL about the crew and the crew of the Marigold is great. We have a gay couple, siblings and lots and lots of secrets. West is the helmsman who commandeers the ship and he is as mysterious as they come but we learn about his background.
Fable’s dad, Saint, tells Fable she doesn’t belong in this world. She feels like he means in the world in general…but he means HIS world, this rough, dangerous, cold trading world of the Narrows. It’s cutthroat and he meant for her to be safe. I like the complicated feelings and history between them.
Danger is everywhere in this story and the author captures the setting so well. I was rooting for Fable and nervous for her from the moment I started the book and I could not STOP reading. And when the book came to an end, I wanted the next book.

I’ve read this author’s previous series but this one to me takes her writing to a whole new level. I was so immersed in this story.
The magic Fable has is as a gem mage and though she uses it while doing her work as a dredger – I think there is more to learn about her skill and her mother’s history. I want to definitely learn more about her mom’s family!
The romance doesn’t overtake this story, it’s slowly building and you wonder if it will turn into something and when it does…wow. We shall see what this means for the sequel!

I love a good pirate story, there is danger, high stakes, traders trying to be or stay the top dog and keeping their territories under their rule. This story hooked me right away! I loved everything about this book and I cannot wait to read the sequel.

ARC Review | Foul is Fair

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: Foul is Fair

Author: Hannah Capin

Format: eBook (NetGalley)

Pages: 336

Publication Date: February 18, 2020

Categories: Young Adult, Contemporary Sexual Assault, Rape Culture, Revenge, MacBeth Retelling, Murder

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

Elle and her friends Mads, Jenny, and Summer rule their glittering LA circle. Untouchable, they have the kind of power other girls only dream of. Every party is theirs and the world is at their feet. Until the night of Elle’s sweet sixteen, when they crash a St. Andrew’s Prep party. The night the golden boys choose Elle as their next target.

They picked the wrong girl.

Sworn to vengeance, Elle transfers to St. Andrew’s. She plots to destroy each boy, one by one. She’ll take their power, their lives, and their control of the prep school’s hierarchy. And she and her coven have the perfect way in: a boy named Mack, whose ambition could turn deadly.

Foul is Fair is a bloody, thrilling revenge fantasy for the girls who have had enough. Golden boys beware: something wicked this way comes

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for giving me a chance to read this eARC.

Golden boys beware, for real! Here we have a crew of four mean girls, but on one special night when Jade (Elle before the party, Jade is what she is after…) is celebrating her sweet sixteen they crash a St. Andrew’s prep party and their lives are changed forever.

After the party we are in Jade’s head as she plots and plans the demise of the golden boys of St. Andrew’s prep that hurt her. Jade’s got a kill list and she’s crossing out names: Duncan, Banks, Duffy, Conner, Porter, Malcom, Mack and one girl, Piper. It is time for revenge, and these girls don’t play, their claws are out and they are ready to draw blood.

I learned this was a MacBeth retelling but I knew as I was reading the line “foul is fair, fair is foul” that it felt familiar. Jade’s best friends, Mads, Summer and Jenny are like the witches in MacBeth. Jade refers to them as her coven. They’ve had things done to them when they were younger and these girls learned to fight back and rule the school. They refuse to be victims and they take what they want. They make things happen, they ruin lives if anyone tries to come for them. Not only was MacBeth all over this story, I got Heathers vibes too (which I grew up with and love) and it also made me think of the new tv series Euphoria (I’m kind of obsessed). It’s like Euphoria, in the sense of how the story flows from Jade’s thoughts, memories of the party, and other events that take place.
This girl squad is tight, they are honest, they are all in and got each other’s backs. But I also loved that the revenge wasn’t only for Jade, but for all the girls who came before her. I know it was kind of sick with the murders but damn was I cheering them on.
I loved how the “house of cards” fell and how Jade plotted the downfall. I was scared for her and scared of her – but she and her friends took those St. Andrews boys and one girl down like bosses! How are these high school kids so vicious? It helps they are all the rich kids and have power, fast cars, big houses and parents that are hardly around it seems. And lawyers, they have lawyers on hand! So important!
The story is a powerful message about rape culture. Here we have these golden boys who, in real life, would probably get away with this behavior for the rest of their lives. There was no remorse in these boys, they took what they wanted…but here comes Jade who comes to take what is hers, reclaim the power that they stole from her. Jade plays them like puppets on a string! I was like, damnnnnn girl…I think a lot of us females have had enough so we resonate with her rage. And Jade wouldn’t have have been able to do all of this without the support of her friends who believed her. They didn’t see the rape happen, but they believed her 100%.
This story is in your face, and unapologetic. The writing is poetic, but sometimes just a few words left an impact. Jade is not a sweet girl – she is hell bent on her plans of revenge. She gives no F’s, she is ruthless, she’s scheming and ready to spill blood. The story is violent, and at times bloody. Jade manipulates Mack to get what she wants.
I think the author did a great job showcasing each character, especially Jade and the boys at St. Andrew’s prep that was involved and their strength and weaknesses.

There are so many triggers in this books: sexual assault, rape, rape culture, attempted suicide, murder for the sake of revenge, violence.
Because this book is so dark, it may not appeal to some readers, especially because Jade comes off as a psychopath, she’s getting high off these murders! Also I enjoyed the poetic writing but I can see how some readers would get confused with the metaphorical writing.
The way Jade uses Mack to take down the golden boys was at times, for me, not believable. He fell for her so fast and was willing, just because she smiled a certain way, whispered the right words, kissed him a lot, now he’s about to murder his friends? She was doing a lot of emotional manipulation on him, but it didn’t seem like she needed to try very hard. I definitely had to suspend my belief there and go with it.
What happens next to Jade?! I need to know.

Some books capture the sign of the times so perfectly and this book does it well. It’s the rage we feel these days with the MeToo movement, unleashed through Jade and her coven. Women are fighting back the powerful golden boys that have ruled for what seems like eons and it’s about time.

If you can handle the triggers in this book, I think it’s an intense, bold story that dares you not to look away from the damage rape culture can cause. I believe this is the first book in a series or duology, I’m not quite sure, but I am VERY curious to see what happens next after the ending of this book. I think this book could have stood strongly as a standalone already, but maybe we get to see how society paints Jade when they find out what happened to her and what she’s done in retaliation. Things could get intense, I look forward to reading the sequel.

ARC Review | The Grace Year

My Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Title: The Grace Year

Author: Kim Liggett

Pages: 416

Publication Date: October 8, 2019

Categories: Horror, Thriller, Suspense, Young Adult, Dystopian

Disclaimer: **I received this book free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.**

No one speaks of the grace year. It’s forbidden.

Girls are told they have the power to lure grown men from their beds, drive women mad with jealousy. They believe their very skin emits a powerful aphrodisiac, the potent essence of youth, of a girl on the edge of womanhood. That’s why they’re banished for their sixteenth year, to release their magic into the wild so they can return purified and ready for marriage. But not all of them will make it home alive.

Sixteen-year-old Tierney James dreams of a better life—a society that doesn’t pit friend against friend or woman against woman, but as her own grace year draws near, she quickly realizes that it’s not just the brutal elements they must fear. It’s not even the poachers in the woods, men who are waiting for their chance to grab one of the girls in order to make their fortune on the black market. Their greatest threat may very well be each other.

With sharp prose and gritty realism, The Grace Year examines the complex and sometimes twisted relationships between girls, the women they eventually become, and the difficult decisions they make in-between.

Thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for giving me the chance to read this eArc.

I just wanted to get through two chapters and fall asleep because it was already past 10pm. But what happened? Five hours later, at 3 in the morning I was done with the book! 👀 And by the way, that book cover depicts this story so well – it’s pretty pink with petal outline designs and then that dripping red ribbon. This is not a sweet story, it is dark. This book kind of terrified me. Kid you not, the first thing I muttered after I finished the book was “that was so f-ed up”. 😅

I do not ever want to live in the world The Grace Year takes place in. No woman should ever have to live in a place like that.

But what is the grace year? It’s a year where a group of sixteen year old girls get sent to an encampment to rid themselves of their “magic”…because it’s what makes them crazy. Uh huh. 😕 They have to exorcise the magic out of themselves or die trying.

Every year girls get sent outside of the county where there are poachers, tales of ghosts haunting the woods and girls and women who live on the outskirts of the county because they were thrown out. Not all the girls come back home, and when they do come back, most come back very different from who they were before.

Tierney James, is sixteen and all she wants is freedom. But it’s finally her time to experience the grace year and when she’s there, all hell breaks loose. Think…Lord of the Flies. 😳

Horrible things start to happen, but was it because of real magic in the girls? Was it the beginnings of insanity? Was it ghosts really roaming around haunting them? And then there are poachers that want to take girl’s parts waiting in the woods. NOPE.. Nope, I would not survive the grace year at all. Tierney has to survive the girls, the poachers, the woods, and even herself if she wants to ever see her family again.

The story is fast paced, raw and gritty, and it doesn’t shy away from violence and blood. It paints a picture of how the men in this county view girls and women like chattel, or should I say, like cattle? They prey on the women, both the poachers and the men in the county. 😠 I had many “Oh hell NO” moments while reading this book, I was so pissed off.

Tierney’s journey in this book is nothing short of a miracle. It is heartbreaking, but in the end there is hope and I even teared up. The message in the book is powerful. Women are stronger, together, not tearing one another apart. There’s a multitude of issues that this book touches on.

The Grace Year is a riveting and brutal story about women’s place in society and how we survive and the fight to endure and try and change the system.

Get it here: Amazon

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