Eliza Chan's Fathomfolk offers a unique blend of fantasy and political intrigue, set in a world where humans and mythical creatures coexist. While the novel's premise is promising, with its Asian-inspired setting and exploration of societal integration, the execution leaves something to be desired.

The story follows Mira, a half-siren navigating the complexities of being the first fathomfolk in the military, as she becomes entangled in a web of political and magical conflict. While the world-building is well-crafted, the romance feels rushed and the plot occasionally falls into predictable territory.

Despite its flaws, Fathomfolk offers a captivating dive into a world of magic and political unrest. The novel's exploration of themes such as class, privilege, and the consequences of political involvement adds depth to the story. However, the pacing can be uneven, with a slow start followed by a rushed conclusion.

Ultimately, Fathomfolk is a mixed bag. While it offers a unique and imaginative setting, it falls short in terms of character development and pacing. Readers who enjoy fantasy with a strong political undercurrent may find it worthwhile, but those seeking a more character-driven story may be left wanting.

I went back and forth on how I felt about this book but ultimately I wanted more.

I didn't really connect with any of the characters, and some of the characters were juvenile, naive and messy (I'm looking at you Mira and Navi). I was very interested in learning about the two different worlds, the depths below with the seafolk and the humans above but I feel like we got so little exploration of the world itself.

Ultimately I wish the characters had been developed just a bit more.

Was so surprised and delighted to get to read this via NetGalley. A friend was raving about it and it didn’t disappoint. It wasn’t just an Asian myth retelling / fantasy book, but also an exploration of racial tensions and asylum seekers. Brilliant!

I've tried to come back to this a few times but I've found myself stuck by the pacing while being interested in the world and characters. Sadly, this didn't work on the whole for me.

I really tried but couldn't get into this - it sat on my kindle for months and sadly was a DNF for me

This was a disappointing read. I don’t really have many nice things to say about the book. The only thing that made me get through the book were the super short chapters if I am being honest.

There were three POVs and honestly, I did not enjoy any of them. I guess Nami was supposed to be the main character (?) and I really really hated her. She was such a stupid brat. At one point in the story her friend called her a „pampered toddler“ and that honestly fits quite well. Cordelia was such a snob and Mira was fine I guess. The chapters did not indicate whose POV we are going to follow next and it always took me a moment (honestly until the name was mentioned) to realize whose POV it is. I did not care about any of the characters.

One of the characters is a DRAGON and it was still lame. The setup for the whole „fathomfolk“ being water-beings was really cool but executed in a terrible way. Nobody was interesting and I do not feel like it added anything to the story.
Nothing really for described in a good way and I was not really able to picture anything or anyone. Therefore, the world building also was not really there.

What also was not there? A plot.
Really. The whole book had no goal we were working towards. I kept waiting for the setup for the actual story but it did not come. Just some random scenes that were cut in awkward ways. This also made conversations super weird. Also there were those random time jumps. A character does something and in the next sentence it says that „in the next 2 weeks blablabla happened“ - and this happened SO MANY TIMES!

I will not continue the series.

Haven't felt this neutral about a book in a while. The worldbuilding is neither groundbreaking nor terrible, the dialogue feels a bit forced but I've seen worse in debuts. All in all someone else might enjoy this a lot.

A fun foray into an intricate fantasy world! Fathomfolk was interesting in the way it set up the main characters through the different points of views and the political framework that surrounded them. I would’ve liked to see more of Tiankwani; there’s a great foundation for the world but I think I wanted more focus on the world itself rather than the inclusion of so many types of characters. It made reading confusing at times and really diluted Tiankwani because all of a sudden we’d be seeing this creature next to that one and it was intense without being in depth. Very well researched though, which I loved! I did wonder if it was a tad too ambitious though because a lot of mythology was blended together from different cultures.

The characters were interesting enough — I quite liked Mira but I’m looking forward to where the other two’s POVs take them in subsequent books.

Thank you to netgalley for providing me with an EARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.

It took me so effort to get into the book and it took me a while to finish it as well 🙈

The cover is very beautiful tho! It’s what had drawn me in at first

It was a very colourful and full young adult fantasy, however to my liking, there was just too much of everything. I also wish the author would have added explanations. For example, what is the difference between siren and rusalka?

I also had to force myself to finish this book, as not much was happening and I lost interest after a third of the book. I also did not believe the characters and their aims/goals.

I did like some bits of the world description, but often it was rather difficult to distinguish what was happening underwater and what's above.

I was definitely drawn in by the gorgeous cover and description, but unfortunately t fell a bit flat.

I had to push myself so hard to finish it. Especially the first half of the book. The main problem was the writing (all of it). It was very hard to find anything positive about this book.

The characters were all very naive, stereotypical and boring. The relationships were a mess. Mira (?) and Kai. Honestly i believed when people thought they were together for any reason besides love. They had no chemistry. Neither had they much time togeter, so we could see anything. Nami and F (that was such a weird toxic relationship). How could she be so naïve, but also if F has not used any magical enhancement, that would surprise the duck out of me. Also Nami and her friend Dan?. I still think they were not actual friends. The interactions they had did not show me anything.

The world. Great idea, but when in most scenes you dont tell me if it takes place is underwater or top side, wtf. But also, there were so little descriptions of the actual world. Beside naming (literally) shit ton of food names.

Also same with fantasy creatures. Just listing several with no actual explanation or description.

I think i will DNF this series. It will be better for my health.


Edit: the plot was ok. But the ending sucked majorly.
Also, several times we had something happen and then nothing for several chapters and then we just got results. But like what actually happened.... Give it to me.

I was really keen to read Fathomfolk as Fantasy with political intrigue and multiple POVs really appeals to me in general. However, this one didn't quite live up to the hype for me.

I thought the world created was certainly fascinating, with plenty of interesting creatures. However, I felt the history of the world was somewhat lacking and even by the end I didn't quite feel like I had a clear idea of it. I also didn't really feel like I 'got' what exactly some of the characters were intending, at times it felt like things were happening just to fit an overall ending but with no clear reasoning for them.

Whilst Fathomfolk did address some really important topics, I personally would've preferred this to have been done in a less heavy handed way where the reader can see and interpret things for themselves rather than getting a lot of information and being told "this is bad" essentially. There was also one particular instance where what could have been an exciting reveal was made really obvious early on.

Overall I do think this imaginative world will appeal to a lot of readers, and I am still curious about what will happen next. I just felt that in some ways I wanted more from it, and in others I'd have preferred more subtlety.

I had high hopes for this one but I just found myself disengaged from it. The world building was beautiful but the story fell flat for me.

I got to the end but it was a struggle

I thought I was getting into a political adult fantasy that commented on social issues such as privilege and political exploitation but all I got was a mix of POVs and a story that didn't really know what it actually wanted. The bones of this story had so much potential. Even if the story just decided to focus on Mira, it would've been a hit alone. Too much info dumping and not enough movement in the plot to let the world sit with readers. Nami had a good arc at the beginning but it just felt like all the characters around her were doing all the heavy lifting.

I unfortunately didn’t click with the book, plot, setting or characters. I was very excited about this book which has such a gorgeous cover! But It was clearly not what I expected it to be like. I didn’t expect the plot to be so heavily political, and it read like a YA which I didn’t think it was going to be. The concept of the submerged city and the presence of so many different sea creatures was however very interesting.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for an ARC for my honest review.

Thank you to netgalley for providing me with an EARC of this title in exchange for an honest review.
This book could have been good, really good infact, if it hadn't been so over ambitious. Unfortunately there was too much going on in terms of aspirations of what this book could have been and dare I say what the author wanted to achieve without any clear direction. Sometimes it is much better to stick to one idea and be good at it than to throw everything at the wall just to see what sticks. In this case I don't think its fair to place the blame solely on the author, as there are many people within the publishing team, that should have edited this to ensure its proper potential was reached.
The concept and storyline is important, it is a unique world, with characters that are complex in their motivations. Unfortunately the plot is not paced in a way that makes you want to continue reading, and although there were many scenes throughout that I enjoyed, there was much of the book that felt like looking into murky water. Not sure if I would necessarily recommend this one although I would definitely like to see what else this author comes out with in the future because it is clear that they are imaginative and have a strong voice.

I'm going to start this by saying I love Asian fantasy and myth retellings.
That being said, I found this really difficult to get into. The characters were difficult to connect with or even really have much interest in.
At about 40% it did start to get more interesting which is why the 3 star rating and not a lower one.
Having said this, I would give a sequel a chance as it did get better further on in the book.

The ideas were good but everything was just so muddled together, it made the story confusing and hard to follow along. I enjoyed the themes the author dealt with, that and the political intrigued were what kept me going but ultimately, it needed another round or two of editing to make it "more digestible" and more "simple". The story was going in so many different directions but maybe too many and that's what made me dislike it. The characters were a little bland and clearly lacked any depth. A pass for me.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this ebook in exchange for my honest opinion.
This book was an interesting read, the beautiful cover caught my attention and I even own the Illumicrate special edition. But something was missing for me, the world was a fascinating set up with the humans and fathom folk in a beautiful semi-flooded city.
This is a political fantasy novel and I did struggle to read it, so much was going on with different characters and places to keep track of I got bored. It's a intriguing blend of Southeast Asian and East Asian culture I was spellbound by the descriptions of the majestic city.
This book was slow paced and I wanted more fantastical than political; rebellions and extremist young people fighting against a system that is against them, it was interesting setting but not as gripping as I hoped it would be. A fine start for a debut author, 3.5 stars for me.