In Young's story, loosely set in the world of her Fable series, strong young Bryn fights for her own autonomy in an appealing tale of craftiness, determination, and love.
A letter from her uncle Henrik on her eighteenth birthday calls orphan Bryn back to the island of Bastion. It might be an understatement to say that she has mixed emotions about returning, but Henrik has plans for her that he's been building for ages.
Situations on Bastion are complicated by longstanding rivalries, the suspicious circumstances surrounding Bryn's parents' long-ago deaths, and an extended family with mysterious loyalties and plans of their own.
I originally saw this listed as the third book in Adrienne Young's Fable series, but I don’t see that reference now. At any rate, the story occurs in the same universe as the Fable books, but the stories are only loosely connected. (Auster, who we know from Fable and Namesake, is a stranger to Bryn but part of her extended family, and his escape from the cruelties of the family in Bastion is referenced in this book.)
I was thrilled to find that Young's wonderful, signature strong-young-female protagonist-in-a-man's-world element is in full effect here. Bryn finds her footing in an appealingly realistic, indirect fashion. She has missteps and recognizes an immediate need to develop a thick skin—as well as feeling the complicated impetus to establish loyalties while retaining her own secrets and power.
The dynamic between Bryn and her powerful, ruthless, greedy uncle is especially interesting when Bryn takes the lead on training him (and the rest of the family) in societal niceties and protocols, with an eye toward securing pivotal business connections.
Oh, and there's also the matter of her attraction to a forbidden, brooding artist who's bound to the family against his will--and Bryn is beginning to feel drawn to him while similarly shackled to her ruthless family.
This was satisfying and wonderfully immersive.
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Click here for my review of Adrienne Young's Fable, and click here for my review of the second book in the series, Namesake.
Young is also the author of Sky in the Deep and The Girl the Sea Gave back, both in the Sky and Sea series.