When I knew that it was inspired by East Asian mythology, I wanted to read it and although I really wanted to read it, I felt that something was missing. There was something that didn't quite grab me, but that doesn't mean that it's a bad story or that it wasn't well written, because Eliza Chan does a very good job.

Here we find many stories that intertwine, that achieve harmony and also a constant struggle, where not everything is what it seems, where the twists in the plot are subtle but very interesting and where one does not know exactly what is going to happen next. continuation.

Fathomfolk is a light story to read, with different points of view, with protagonists who find their way in the world they live in and who do what they can with what they have.

Thank you Little, Brown Book Group for the ARC I read on NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This new release caught my eye with its beautiful cover. I’m very grateful to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read this book in advance!

Fathomfolk is set in Tiankawi, a half sunken city where both humans and fathomfolk live next to each other. Unfortunately, this co-habitation is everything but idyllic. The half-siren Mira tries her best to soothe the tensions between both groups as a public officer, but she seems to be nothing more than a powerless diversity token. Nami is one of very few waterdragons and arrives in Tiankawi in order to fight against the injustices of the human reign over the fathomfolk. The third protagonist is Cordelia, a sea witch, who has been scheming for years in order to keep herself and her family safe, not matter the cost.

The world building provides a very strong base for this book. I absolutely love the fantastic setting of a half-sunken city with its inhabitants that are myths come alive. I especially enjoy how you can feel the culture and history of the city throughout the plot, without it being a focus for the most part. Another strong point is the similarities between our real life societies and the one in Tiankawi.

This allows for the book’s strong political theme of social injustice to shine through the lens of the characters. It's very approachable: all of them are fighting stubbornly for safety and their rights, but they each have their own methods and goals. There is no right answer for any of them - which makes the book incredibly realistic. It did feel depressing at times just how realistic the negative sides of the inequalities between humans and fathomfolk are, although it does fit with the book’s main message.

The characters are highly enjoyable, the plot is full of suspense once it kicks off. The different perspectives allow us to watch the tensions run high in the city while keeping us just as helpless as the characters. It’s not very escapist fantasy, but I would still wholeheartedly recommend this book for everyone, especially fans of sea mythology and those who are interested in storys about rebellions and the fight against injustice.

DNF at around 50%. There are a few choices I don't understand about this book but generally it feels like an early draft and it's too much telling and not showing. The story names species and structures at such a fast pace without explaining them and as a result, I genuinely can't imagine what this world is supposed to look like. I hope the published edition offers a glossary because without it, a lot of people will be at a loss.

The pov chapters end abruptly to reopen in a completely different setting, hence disconnecting the reader each time. There's also way too much characters in this for the writing style. I think the book would have been better with less characters, you can easily introduce them in the sequel.

The characters remain flat and seem to be an afterthought. Mira’s career goal is to bring change yet she has no political skills and never grows as she never shows initiative to learn. Part of the plot makes no sense for that reason. There’s Nami, judgmental and juvenile. I think she represents racism by prejudice but the story offers no reason for why she’s like that. Her behavior is a filler plot device. The others are stereotypes of an evil sea witch with potential (that’s ruined by remaining too vague about her intentions), a privileged rich wife who puppeteers her husband, a husband without personality, and an insufferable love interest. I didn’t root for this mix of roles.

And then that ending (to which I skimmed), oh boy it's really bad... I'm actually angry at it because it's a cop out from the critiques on political injustices the story sets up throughout. It feels like the author backing off from taking a stand. There’s also a stereotypical epilogue that confirms my feeling that the ending is not good enough and they needed a plot device to justify a second book.

I also don’t understand why this is marketed as adult, everything feels YA (tropes, characters, plot) and that's really angering me as well. If it's adult because of the themes, it's executed poorly.

Thank you to Little Brown Book and Netgally for providing me with the arc.

The world building in this novel is wonderfully done. The beginning does well to setup that despite the equity the humans claim to have with fathomfolk, they still look down on fathomfolk both figuratively and literally.

Also I love the magic system and all the different sea creatures. I’m personally bias and love the sea dragons the best.

Overall, I enjoyed the ironic conflict of how the humans are polluting the environment that forces the fathomfolk to live in human settlements, while humans fear them and their magical abilities despite them creating the situation in the first place. I love seeing the completely different methods that Mira and Nami employ for basically the same goal.

However, since it is still an arc, the story has grammar mistakes. Also, the flow abruptly stops and is very jarring. Moreover, I get not wanting to over explain, but some details are hidden in context clues and would greatly benefit from just a single line explanation.

Fathomfolk focuses on revolution and a fight for equality. I liked that this book had these themes throughout to highlight serious issues in a fantasy setting.
The semi-submerged city and its inhabitants were the best thing about this book. Throughout the book the use of language is clever with water based words used. This and all the mythical beings gave the story a Disney feel to it.
Overall I didn’t understand how the fathomfolk are oppressed when they literally have the magic and therefore the upper hand. I didn’t feel this was explained. Possibly it was and I missed this. Additionally, the different POVs provided more information about the plot than about the actual individuals so I didn’t connect to any of the characters that deeply. Saying this I think the world is full of promise and there are some beautiful pieces of prose within.
Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an E-ARC. This is a voluntary review of my own thoughts.

Fathomfolk submerges readers into the world of Tiankawi, as Mira navigates the political undercurrents that run deep in the half-submerged city. The highlight of the book lies in its worldbuilding, blending together a confluence of mythological creatures to create a vibrant and whimsical backdrop.

While the narrative touches upon weighty themes such as class disparity, xenophobia, prejudice, and the spectre of climate crisis, the exploration of these themes only skims the surface. Equally, navigating the turbulent waters of such topics within the constraints of a few hundred pages is inherently challenging. While the political aspects didn’t quite hit the mark for me and I overall found it a fun and enjoyable read.

This is a whole new, intriguing and frightening setting, with a world half sunken and humans and fathomfolk at odds. In the first third of the book I was very eager to know more about the politics and conflicts behind everything, and wanted to get to know the characters.
Then I fell out of the story, which I found really annoying because the plot at heart was so interesting. It took me a while to analyze the problem, and I realized it was the characters.
We have three POVs - Mira, Nami and Cordelia. And frankly, I didn't care for any of them. Nami was annoying, Cordelia was so morally grey she became a blur, and Mira was okay but that's it. And to me my stories have to be character-driven, so that I can feel and fear for them. Sadly this wasn't the case here.
I did care so much for this world and its conflict. I wanted the fathomfolk to fight for their rights, and for diversity not just being a political tool. I feared for the fathomfolk and their circumstances. And I was deeply aware that even though this is a fictional world with sirens and sea dragons and sea witches, the politics are the same in our world. It's what made this story so intense.
I would have loved to see this world filled with at least one or two characters I could care about, but sadly it wasn't.

3,5/5 stars

Thank you @netgalley and @littlebrownbookgroup_uk for the eARC!

#Fathomfolk #Netgalley #bookstagram

Dnf at 28%

I tried. It just didn't work for me. Mainly because I'm in a slump, and mainly because it was really slow-paced.

Fathomfolk has an interesting plot...but too many main characters and too much happening which just jumbled it all up. I wish the author had considered keeping 2-3 characters for this and 2-3 main characters for the second book.

Personally, I just wasn't excited enough for this book. It wasn't engaging me in any way and the only characters I liked were Kai and Nami.
Mira was just too uptight and Serena was pathetic. Cordelia's character was so bipolar that I can't even form an opinion on her.

Plus too much info and a setting dump. Although the writing wasn't bad...it's just that I couldn't figure out a solid setting. I try imagining various places in East Asia but none are coherent.

Plus Kai and Mira's relationship made no sense whatsoever. I wouldn't have been surprised if Mira ended up a con artist at the end of the book.

Yonakuni, Tiankawi...all this could've been executed wonderfully. The blurb for the book is so intriguing and suspenseful but I didn't feel it in the book itself.

If the book wasn't in the third person-multiple POV and if the book had been edited a few times.

I enjoyed this book immensely, but felt that it fell off the mark a smidge. I wanted to love the world and the characters but I was ultimately a bit disconnected because of how FULL the world is. I also really enjoy a bit more descriptive writing than the ‘telling” style here - but I can absolutely see that Eliza Chan is sinking her teeth into great story telling and she is an author to look out for as she develops her writing. I have no doubt that her next fantasy will be refined just a bit more to really let the story and characters shine through.

Thankyou to Netgalley and Orbit for a free e-arc in exchange of an honest review.

This book sounded absolutely amazing when i first read about it so needed to give it a go.
I very quickly came to realise it wasn't a book for me. I struggled with the political aspect of this and ended up DNF'ing fairly early on.

I may come back to this once its realised so that i can try it to with Audio and hopefully i can get past the first part.
Of what i readd, the writing is really good and the premise of the story is still really promising!

First of all, what a beautiful, gorgeous, breath taking cover!!! This book dealt with a lot of heavy topics such as xenophobia and checking one’s bias. It was a magical read. I loved the romance aspect of it!! Almost felt dream-like and surreal!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me this arc in exchange for my honest review.

I was really excited for this! The cover is absolutely gorgeous, and the description sounded amazing. Urban Fantasy, but in a High Fantasy setting? I can count on one hand how many books of that genre I’ve read, and I wish there were more. And all that in an East Asian inspired world? Literally the perfect book for me.
Or so I thought.

The World Building really was amazing. Something entirely different and it was beautifully done. So many different species, an interesting political system. The characters themselves were well designed, different species, different backgrounds, different tempers. But it all simply didn’t come together.

It was so hard to get into. I’ve realised that many books with multiple characters nowadays start out with introducing all characters at once with very everyday settings. So you have lots of different names and species, stuffed into not that different situations and no idea how to tell them apart. After the first chapter each character appears in, you don't get that many descriptions anymore, so every time they reappear, you simply get a name and have to figure out from context which of the afore mentioned characters it might be. Because obviously I won't remember every single name immediately. I don't mind books were I have to think. But I don't want to have to concentrate on remembering the characters. That should be an absolute given! The author wants to throw you right into the story, but instead, you’re being kept apart from it and in my case – I couldn’t be bothered to care about any of them at all.
Sometimes, books with many different main characters can be good. Game of Thrones, for example, has so many characters, but all the main characters can easily be kept apart. Six of Crows is another one that really managed this, if you're looking for a more young adult option. But most authors should probably stick to one or two main characters.
For a good book I need fantastic characters. No matter how brilliant the story is – without interesting characters, I simply won’t care. I’d prefer to read a book with the most amazing characters doing absolutely nothing. Characters are what brings a story to life. And if I don’t care about the characters, it will be difficult for the book to properly capture me.
This book didn’t manage to do that.

Overall, it simply lacked emotions and life. Everything was well done, the world building, the characters, even the story itself was interesting and well thought out on paper. But it felt really flat. It started out confusing, ended up being boring. I didn’t care about anything at all. I wasn’t interested in the relationships, I couldn’t emphasize with the characters. I was bored to death.
Without spoiling too much – there is a death at the end of the book. I’m pretty sure it was supposed to be really tragic, but I honestly couldn’t have cared less. I felt like I hadn’t even known that character, so why was I supposed to feel sad about their death?

I really wanted to like this book. But I didn’t care about it at all.

Thank you NetGalley and Little Brown Book Group UK for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This might be a sign for me to stay clear of Asian folklore..?
I don’t think this type of book is a match for me.
I really enjoyed the world building, I imagined it as ancient Singapore, it was beautifully described, I love the magic too, or at least what I understood of it. I did had more issues connecting with the characters, and that’s usually not a good sign, mostly for this type of genre.. there were moments I had the read some passages multiple time because I simply couldn’t connect with the moment.. I believe the book could be shortened..
I might still read book 2, whenever it comes out as like many others I am not satisfied with this ending, and I am curious.
It was a good read, although I am very thankful I got it at an ARC, I would have been pretty upset spending money on it..

Fathomfolk was an anticipated read for me. However, reading it felt underwhelming. The tone of the characters and worldbuilding felt juvenile despite the complex nature of the topic of the plot being based on prejudice. This wasn't really explored well and a lot of the worldbuilding is unclear.
The romance wasn't interesting and I found myself bored throughout the story. None of the characters really resonated as they felt inconsistent.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for an arc in exchange for an honest review.

3.5 stars

Set in a richly described, semi-submerged city, Fathomfolk tells the story from three main voices, and how they each are attempting to carve out their place within the heavily political and inequal Tiankawi. I walked away from this read with a solid image of the world Chan had crafted, from the factions of rich and poor, the multi-layered citizens existing there, and the delicate balance between subordination and revolution.

Mira, Nami and Cordelia all offered good insight into the corruption of Tiankawi, but I struggled to become truly invested in the characters themselves:

Mira's story is from a righteous point of view as a Fathomfolk born in Tiankawi and yet is still faced with hate for being seen as lesser than the ruling humans. Out of all three characters, I found Mira the most taxing to follow, because her angst didn't stem from having to face the constant setbacks, but rather, from her relationship with water-dragon and high minister Kai. Their relationship is established from the beginning, which is an interesting twist for fantasy and follows the rich boy-poor girl storyline. I grew tired of her struggles with comparing Kai and his lavish lifestyle to the one she grew up in and not being able to find a comfortable spot within her relationship. I often felt they truly lacked any substance until the latter portion of the book and it didn't offer enough to the storyline. By the time their relationship actually mattered, it felt rushed and more telling than showing.

Nami is Kai's sister who is exiled to Tiankawi from the deeper oceans by her mother at the beginning of the book. Upon arrival in the city, she is thrust into the excitement of the underground (underwater, perhaps?) revolution, and proactively takes part in protesting despite it causing issues for Mira and her brother. Whilst I can respect the author's intentional choice to make Nami naive and easily impressionable, I couldn't grasp her personality. It felt too much like she had no idea of who she was and would react according to the scene then any set character traits.

My favourite voice was Cordelia's and her delicate placement within the upper human circles despite her darker identity that belonged under the sea. She's determined and manipulative with every breath she takes, and whilst her seemingly villainous role does meet its consequences in the end, I appreciated her insight the most because she was actively doing something to better her cause. I liked that she used every facet, even just as simple as being evil and resourceful, to her advantage, but one thing that stood out to me was that there was no real end game for her power or greed. I suppose she didn't need one, but it seemed like she was hustling a lot for someone who didn't have an evident reason for why she pushed her husband to the very top. I had my suspicions, of course, but it would have been interesting to see what she planned to do if she did topple the human rule to her specifications.

I would have appreciated having more reason for everything in this book. Aside from showing discrimination of the Fathomfolk, the corruption and systematic oppression from the leading council and humans, and being set in an East-Asian world, the storyline didn't impact me in the way I had hoped. The characters' justification at times wasn't clear, and the explanation for the Fathomfolk's existence was bare bones. I had so many questions and found myself confused a lot of the time, feeling this book was more vibes than concrete at times. I also found it tediously dull and not paced well enough to keep me intrigued. The last portion of this book was decent, however, and whilst rushed to make it all work, I did like the storyline better there and the actions that were taken. It then just dropped away again into being vague, which given this is a start to the series, would work for those who plan to continue reading. I don't think I will be interested in doing so, and I did struggle with how to rate this because I was bored a lot, and yet, I also liked some of the author's crafting of the world.

The worldbuilding is vivid and interesting. It is fascinating and it reminded me, a bit, of Aliette De Bodard's "Dominion of the Fallen" series, especially for the vibes. But all the rest is just dull. I wasn't interested in the least in the plot, and I get that it was just starting, but my interest was nowhere to be seen, and the characters were, again, dull. I wasn't invested in any of them, I didn't really care at all. And I know that things may still change because I stopped reading around 20% but... but if after more than 80 pages the only thing the book made me feel is boredom, well, I don't see the point in going on with it.

Amazing premise; incredible worldbuilding - bust of a novel.

The book felt very juvenile and I didn't like any of these characters. I didn't like following them or their lives. However, the world they inhabit was so interesting. I wish authors loaned out settings to other authors.

Thank you to Orbit and NetGalley for providing me with an advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review.

This myth-rooted story of magic and revolution, set semi-submerged in Tiankawi sounded right up my street – it’s touted as ‘perfect for fans of Jade City’. I couldn’t wait to sink my teeth into a chunky 400+ page adult fantasy! Tiankawi is a safe haven for those fleeing civil unrest in surrounding waters and land. But, in the semi-submerged sea city, humans are looking down on the fathomfolk – sirens, switches, kelpies and kappas. This is an ambitious political story that layers in social disparity and economic inequality. Sadly, it didn’t really hit the mark for me.

First, it is far too long. I wanted a chunky adult fantasy, but this read as a bloated YA fantasy. You all know I love a little bit of YA, so that wasn’t the issue. The issue was that it required at least another round or two of edits. The second arc and boat race arc was where things started to fall apart for me. Scenes felt drawn out and messy, while the world building in the first part was really quite masterful. I also began to lose sense of the world too, since there’s a lot of crossovers in East and South East Asian names and traditions. Again, it’s fantasy so I can forgive a lot of this, but it also distracted from the social disparity themes. Am I supposed to be rooting for change… or to continue the blended communities…? I also found it strangely difficult at times to draw apart the three main characters: Mira, Nami and Cordelia. Given they’re supposed to be the female leads of three wholly different political parties/communities, this felt like an odd choice.
 
Oh, and the ending. Yikes. I’m not sure I want to see where the second instalment in the series will go.

3 Stars

Fathomfolk has strong themes of modern social issues and presents them within an immersive fantasy context. We are introduced to the half-submerged city of Tiankawi where wealthy humans sit at the top of the hierarchy, quite literally sitting above the poor and fathomfolk in their skyscrapers, while the water is heavily polluted and causing sickness. The story follows multiple perspectives, with all characters being very distinct and well developed. They are complex characters with their own self interest and world views which ultimately influences their actions in this story. The world building was really interesting and original and I loved the concept, however I did find when reading I was sometimes confused when we were on land and when we were in the water which did take me out of the story a few times.

I found one character in particular extremely frustrating with the choices she made, however after reflecting on how I feel about this book as a whole I realise that this is not that she is a badly written character but a fairly accurate portrayal of a character with privilege and naivety involving themselves in a violent political movement and the impact of grooming. There are lot of uncomfortable themes in this book which I think were done okay, but could have been done better to be more impactful.

While this was extremely action-packed, frustrating and heart-breaking, and there were elements I loved, I feel there was bit too much going on to adequately flesh out all the storylines. The first 30% of the book was very slow and I did feel like I had to drag myself through it, and when it did pick up it felt rushed and ultimately the conclusions very simplistic for such a complicated political setting.

I am also confused on whether this is supposed to be a adult fantasy or a young adult fantasy. It reads YA, however the themes and marketing suggest it is more aimed at an adult audience. Overall I am not 100% sure how I feel about this book but I will see how I feel when the sequel comes out before deciding if I want to continue reading!

Thank you to NetGalley and the author for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!

This felt like a fresh fantasy amoung so mant chosen one fae books so it deserves credit for just being different tbh. It was also one of the more slow paced books ive read but that works in its favor it takes time to live in the world with systematic racism against the fathomfolk and build on plot points that pay off in the end one of them being the revolutionary group that one of the POV characters Nami gets involved with. I think the book handled that type of group very well especially the inner workings and how someone might get sucked in so easily. This also shows one of my favorite thing in books which is a slow buildup where the plot actually begins fairly early on but its like boiling frogs, you dont notice until its in your face and you realise all the little moments that have been happening.

As for negatives its mostly minor things like the disregard from Mira, another pov character of military hierarchy as she talks very disrespectfully to the wife of an officer who is her superior (not by rank as they are technically the same but by the fact that hes human i think?) such dialoge could have worked better as inner monolouge and she could lament on having to be polite when that is what she actually wants to say etc.

I also do not understand the comp titles for this book, ariel? the only hint i could lind was cordelia who is pretty much ursula but more interesting, when i think of comp titles i think of something that matches the plot or theme of the book not just some random detail. A wrong comp title will attract the wrong kind of readers who will just dislike the book. Id rather say that this is a more political less actiony fishman island arc from one piece.