In the semi-submerged city of Tiankawi, where humans and fathomfolk (underwater beings) live together, revolution is on the bring and a half siren captain, a dragon, and a sea witch are all at it's center. Tiankawi is a semi-submerged city where humans live on top while fathomfolk- sirens, seawitches, kelpies, and kappas live in the waters below. This story consists of various asian mythologies and cultures as well. Mira is a half siren who has just been promoted to captain of the border guard. She wants to work change into the system and wants to save her mother from the rot gill that is infecting her. Mira is in a romantic relationship with a dragon ambassador, Kai. Kai's younger sister Nami is a dragon who wants change but having lived a spoiled life with no real sense of consequence, she will jeopardize everything. Then there is the sea witch Cordelis/ who lives as a disguised human Serena. who made the bargain with Mira to protect her mother in exchange for half of Mira's voice. Nami is reckless and gets exiled while her friends are sent to prison when she tries to steal a dragon pearl and now has to live with her brother, but soon finds herself being lured in by the attractive member of the Drawbacks, a group of people who want to destroy the system.... even if it means killing people. Nami's decisions and choices as well as her work with Cordelia leads to a string of events that will cost Mira everything. This is the first book in the series and let me say it was not a fun time. The story is told from Mira, Nami, and Cordelia's POVS. Mira was the only person I actually liked, Nami was the worst and Cordelia was barely even a character. The story is long and drags on and on and on and I was just bored by the end. It was infuriating to have to read terrible decisions after terrible decision on Nami's part. She read as if she were a 15-16 year old girl and this felt like I was reading a young adult novel rather than the fantasy adult novel this was suppose to be. In all honesty, this book was lacking real propelling action and the story could have been cut in half. The length of the book felt undeserved and the characters were lacking actual depth and none of them really had you invested in them as people. I was partially invested in Mira's storyline and that was mostly due to liking the romance between her and Kai which went up in flames by the end sadly. Seriously, I do not see myself continuing this series and honestly can't say I exactly had a good time with this book or will remember much of it. If you like large worlds with various POV characters then maybe give this one a go, maybe you'll have a better time with this than I did.

*Thanks Netgalley and Orbit Books, Orbit for sending me an arc in exchange for an honest review*

**Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for the eARC of this beautiful title.**

So I absolutely adored the world that Fathomfolk was attempting to build. It took me back to reading fantasy as a kid and being able to navigate a world along with the MC. Unfortunately, there was so much going on in this one that things tended to get a bit confusing and certain threads were just left dangling. I don’t mind filling in blanks with my imagination, but I felt that I was doing a lot of the work on this one.

I also usually really enjoy multiple POVs - UNLESS I hate one of the characters or am not vibing with their storyline. In this one, I didn’t find myself more motivated to read any character more than the other. They all were a bit drab and whiny to me, and while I felt there was some solid writing underneath everything - pushing myself through was a little rough with the pacing.

I will definitely be giving this author another try (and even checking out the next book in the series.) I am hoping everything comes together a bit more as we get farther into the world. To be fair to the author, she was trying to accomplish a lot in under 500 pages!

I was really excited about this one but unfortunately it just didn’t work for me

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance readers copy

The absolute gorgeous design of this cover immediately drew my eye, and the summary made this an instant request.

The town of Tiankawi is split between the humans and the fathomfolk. And revolution is brewing in the streets as Mira, captain of the guard, Nami, an exiled teen girl, and Cordelia, a sea witch, all figure out how to live their lives and keep the town from imploding.

This was such an amazing read. The four POVs give such a diverse view of the town and the people. Mira is a no nonsense, hardworking siren who just wants to help her community. Nami is a naive and spoiled dragon girl, angry at the world and the injustice of the city. Serena is a pampered, cruel woman intent on elevating her family’s status. And Cordelia is a sea witch, focused only on what will bring her power and prestige, regardless of who she hurts. And these four characters each have different plans and values, and it was so interesting to switch between them.

The world building was absolutely breathtaking. The world feels so expansive, beyond just the town of Tiankawi where we spend most of the story, and I just wanted to explore farther and farther. We get information on how the different fathomfolk live in the city, and all the injustices they deal with every day from the micro aggressions Mira deals with to outright violence that they can’t fight back against.

The ending felt a little rushed and relied too heavily on a deus ex machina for my tastes, but overall this was a strong and enjoyable read that I highly recommend to anyone interested in high fantasy with elements of East Asian mythology.

I will be anxiously looking forward to the sequel and seeing how everything gets resolved.

My thanks to NetGaley and Orbit Books for the opportunity to read this arc!

I decided to DNF at 22%. There is substantial world building with so many different folk introduced that I just could not connect. I think it would be better suited to a reader who enjoys depth of setting and a whole cast of characters before any real plot points.

Thank you NetGalley, Orbit Books, and author Eliza Chan for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Thank you to the publisher - Orbit Books - and to NetGalley for this eARC.

DNF @ 22% — No star rating given on Goodreads; however, NetGalley requires a star rating to be assigned.

I can only describe the writing as dense and slow going. There are long description-heavy paragraphs with very little dialogue.

I found it difficult to picture the city and underwater haven where the main story takes place as well as the different factions in play & how they came to be where they are. The underwater havens are getting polluted/destroyed forcing the folk into their human forms to eke out a living amongst the humans, but how did one subset of the population (humans without magic - who should ostensibly be powerless) come to subjugate so very many magically gifted beings? Readers skipped the struggle and are just supposed to accept the outcome of what was their “Great War”?

What takes the cake is how the folk characters are identified (kelpie, kappa, siren, jangjamari, dratsie, baiji, etc) but there’s no explanation of how they could possibly coexist. Creatures from many different cultures, biomes, and ecosystems (salt water/freshwater/ocean/streams/rivers/lakes) are living in a completely saltwater environment with little to no explanation of how it’s possible even if they do have multiple forms.

I just couldn’t wrap my head around it enough to enjoy the fantasy story.

Fathomfolk is an Asian mythology-inspired world where merpeople and other sea creatures live alongside humans in the half-above-water, half-submerged city of Tiankawi. The story follows multiple people living in the city who are trying to make peaceful cohabitation a thing of the present. But tensions are frighteningly high between the fathomfolk and the humans. Is this dream something that will eventually come to life, or will the fathomfolk be banished back to the polluted waters they came from?

Fathomfolk really does have the most immersive worldbuilding. The descriptions of all the different types of fathomfolk, from kappas to kelpies, sirens and seawitches, even water dragons, was so enthralling, and I loved imagining the city, with the sky-high towers to the submerged fathomfolk pubs and dives. I imagined this entire world in such clarity and for some reason pictured it in an animation style that really did justice (in my head) to the fathomfolk's features. I think the author did a really good job creating a really fleshed-out world that felt realistic, despite how many fantastical features and characters there were.

I really did want to rate this book higher and really wanted to enjoy this story more. Unfortunately, some things fell really flat for me. The main thing is that I felt there wasn't enough plot to move this story along. It was too long and the pace too slow for me to really feel enmeshed in the story, despite the amazing worldbuilding. If you like character- and world-driven stories, this may be more up your alley, because I think the character exploration and development in this story was really well done. I tend to like more plot-driven stories, though, and this just didn't seem to have enough plot until the end. The middle really lagged for me and took way too long to get through.

I really would like to say this was a cozy fantasy, because for a lot of the story that is what I would call it - slice-of-life fantasy; the ending was too high-stakes, though, and the allegorical racism toward the fathomfolk permeated the story too much for this to be characterized as cozy fantasy. I actually think I would have liked this story a bit more if the stakes were lower and this was considered more cozy fantasy.

I did really enjoy the ending. The plot picked up more, all the pieces and characters came together in an exciting way, and it really did set up an interesting take for book 2. I do think I will be picking up book 2 when it comes out as the worldbuilding really did sell this story for me and I would love to dive back in (pun intended) to this world.

*I received this eARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.*

2.5

I really wanted to like this (and the cover is gorgeous), but I just couldn't get into it. I think part of it was that the chapters kept jumping between several different POVs, and the characters felt similar enough that it took me a large part of the beginning of the book to even understand who the different characters were, and by that point, I'd lost some of the thread of the plot. The other part is that I just couldn't connect with the writing- I don't think there was anything wrong with it, but it's just not the style of writing that I follow easily.

This also had a slow-ish start. The last ~25% or so was definitely more interesting for me than the first part, but it didn't intrigue me enough to want to read the sequel.

There’s a lot to like about this debut novel. The story of radicalization it tells is heartbreaking and believable. I really enjoyed the world building, and some of the characters really shine. However, the prose could have used a bit more polish, and it still has some rough debut edges that made the reading experience less than ideal. Fathomfolk is an Asian inspired climate allegory Little Mermaid retelling. If that sounds like a lot, you’d be right. The author has set herself a high degree of difficulty and mostly succeeded.
In a world where climate based flooding has reduced humans to living on stilts and in highrises on flooded cities, and pollution is pushing part-human-part-sea creatures called fathomfolk into smaller and smaller habitable areas of the sea, a clash of cultures is inevitable. In the largest of these cities, Tiankawi, Mara is a mixed race siren, who is dating the Fathomfolk ambassador, a dragon named Kai. As tensions rise in the city--inflamed by the terrorist group the Drawbacks--she fights for the rights of the Fathomfolk immigrants and the safety of all people. Nami, Kai’s niece, has been sent on a mission, and she will be drawn into the political tides. Meanwhile a sea witch has her own plots to juggle. Finally, we see the ambitious human minister of defense, who is willing to step over whoever he needs to to gain more political power.
At 448 pages, this book is a little messy. In particular, at about 80% of the way through the book there’s a point that feels like a very satisfying ending, and then the book tries to fit one more twist, but it feels oddly paced and rushed. In a debut like this I think it might have been a better strategy for the author to write a 350 page book with a slightly lower degree of difficulty and make it cleaner, and tighter, rather than this book which has some very good elements but ultimately sags a little under some of the weight.
I recommend this book for people who like Fonda Lee, Wesley Chu, and aren’t bothered by a little debut clunkiness.
I received an ARC from the publisher in exchange for this honest review.

Beautifully written and incredible world building. The vivid descriptions make you want to go to this place of water and bridges and fantasy. Just incredibly built world and descriptions. Interesting plot and storyline as well with intriguing characters. I want to get a physical copy when this is released because I enjoyed it so much. Thank you NetGalley for the opportunity to read an advanced copy!

Eliza Chan creates a captivating fantasy with Fathomfolk, as I have not read fantasy in a while it was a refreshing break. It is a book about trust and change. The imaginary town of Tiankawi is brought to life with rich characters. The plot was interesting and kept me engaged. I will be looking for the next in the series.

DNF @30%.

This is one of those books that the concept sounds good but the execution is poor. The writing wasn’t engaging. I didn’t feel compelled to keep reading. As I’m reading Heaven Official’s Blessing right now too, this story doesn’t seem to make that connection to a specific Asian culture. It jumps around and picks parts out, parts that the wider readership might recognize. However, by generalizing every Asian culture, this book reduces the significance of any particular, specific culture. This, in turn, does a disservice to the amazing variety of cultures that coexist in Asia. I would have preferred that the author had chosen one and highlighted the culture, mythology, and customs of it instead of jumping around so much. Overall, I couldn’t find it within me to care about the plot, characters, or development because of how much the beginning was lacking.

Moving forward, I would suggest doing a deep dive into one culture, developing characters further, and ensuring that the first chapter is one that hooks the reader.

While a promising debut, this book needs some editing and a touch more magic.

What I liked: The world building was fantastic with strong influences of cities like Hong Kong and Beijing. I thought the mixing of all sorts of water-based magical folk throughout the world added so much dimension and the history of folk and humans leading up to the current time was well done. I also enjoyed the complexity of the major and minor characters. No one is purely good or evil. Everyone in this city has baggage and trauma. Some people just want to survive, some want to thrive, and some want to burn it all to the ground. Everyone is justified in their reasons making it all the more messy and real.

What I didn’t like: First, this did not feel like an adult fantasy. When I read over the details of the book, I was surprised to see it labeled as adult. I assumed by its style that it was YA. Second, this book was too long; I found myself skipping quite a lot of exposition. It took far too long to get to the first action piece that sets the story in motion. Third, that sort-of-cliff-ending was frustrating. I do not care for it at all and I hope the fallout of it will be well addressed in the second book.

What I loved: The social commentary was spot on. Seeing the city and the issues through the eyes of different levels of power really lent to the intensity of the action once it started. From Nami’s youthful rage and ignorance being used by people with ulterior motives to Mira’s rise in the police ranks as a well-known political token and its impact on her relationship with Kia, even Cordelia’s dual role below and above the waterline, each POV lent itself to show a city in the brink of unrest.

I will most likely pick up the sequel of this debut because I really am intrigued by the hints of what may happen next. As far as a debut, this is a fine start for Eliza Chan and I can see a lot of potential in her growth as a storyteller.

Thank you to Netgalley for a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fathomfolk is a very compelling debut novel by Eliza Chan that doesn’t shy away from complex themes. The story is set in the fictional city of Tiankawi, where humans and “fathomfolk” (mythological creatures) live together VERY uneasily. The Fathomfolk are treated terribly by the humans, and Chan doesn’t shy away from being explicit about the racism throughout the story. The story is told through the POVs of three female main characters whose roles reveal the complex political structure that Chan weaves expertly into a story filled with lush world-building and gorgeous writing.

I think that there is a lot of room for growth in this series. The characters are fairly immature and make impulsive decisions at times, but this is, I believe, the first book in the series- I am excited to see how the ending of the book (which is too spoilery to talk about!) impacts them in the next novel in the series. It feels like Throne of Glass in the sense that it is the first novel that is setting the scene for character growth and a complex storyline. All in all, I am a new fan of Eliza Chan, and I am very excited for what she comes up with next.

Thank you to Eliza Chan, Net Galley, and Orbit Books for letting me have an ARC of this book!

Thank you Netgalley & Orbit Publishing for an eARC ♥️

Eliza Chan has crafted a story that's like a breath of fresh air in the fantasy genre. The world-building is insanely good - imagine a city that's half-underwater and home to all sorts of mythical creatures living beneath the humans' fancy skyscrapers. We've got Mira, a half-siren who's all about reform and making things fair for everyone, and then there's Nami, a water dragon who's like, "Nah, let's just burn it all down!" And don't even get me started on Cordelia, the sea-witch who's playing everyone like a fiddle.

As the story unfolds, Chan expertly explores some heavy themes like prejudice, power, and what it really means to make a difference. It's like, how far are you willing to go to make a change? Is it worth sacrificing relationships, or even your own morals? The characters are all flawed and complicated, making their choices feel real and relatable.

The plot twists and turns in ways you won't expect, and Chan's writing keeps you on the edge of your seat. I mean, I was literally wondering what would happen next! It's clear that Chan has put a lot of thought and care into crafting this story, and it pays off in a big way😍🔥

Thank you NetGalley for providing me with an ARC of Fathomfolk.

Unfortunately, I dnf at 36%

I was really looking forward to reading this book. The premise sounds fantastic. I do enjoy the writing. I believe Eliza Chan has a lot of potential. Sometimes, I feel like I'm walking down the streets of the city, smelling food and hearing the city noise.

The world is pretty interesting and unique. It's a bit urban, but not quite. There's a lot of tension between different groups. There are discussions about migration and pollution, which are relevant to our own world, and I appreciate those topics in the book.

But, I feel the story is not moving fast enough for me.

I think there's just too much going on and there's a lot of repetition. Each POV will discuss the same issues, politics, etc. The actual plotline and other helpful descriptions (like what certain fathomfolk look like) get pushed aside.

All the chapters are quite short, so I feel like we switch POVs too fast, and I can't get a good grasp on the characters or get to care for them. Cordelia is very interesting, though; she's my favourite POV. Her character is a lot more complex and we understand her motivations a lot better than Nami's or Mira's.

Overall, the thing that's really preventing me from enjoying the book is that the setup is unnecessarily long. I feel like I've been reading for a long time, but I still don't understand the world, the characters, or the plot. While it has a lot of potential, and I can find certain aspects that I enjoy, the book would greatly benefit from more editing.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for this advanced copy! You can pick up Fathomfolk on February 27, 2024.

I appreciated the world-building and fantastic creatures Eliza Chan created in this book, but I didn't find myself invested in the characters or their stories. Unfortunately, I had to DNF this at 21% after struggling to read it for the past few weeks. While I'm sure this would appeal to a high-fantasy reader who loves interspecies politics and magical underwater creatures, I felt disconnected from the characters and their plights. Another reader might be more invested in the characters than I am, so I would definitely encourage people to pick up this book if they're okay with a slower story that seems to build towards a grander conclusion.

DNF @ 26%

I kept trying to pick this book back up today and my brain just deeply didn't want to, so I'm doing the brave thing and DNFing it. I just wasn't vibing with this book and don't get the feeling that's going to improve if I keep going with it. The world has the potential to be interesting, but the way everything was being introduced just felt so clunky and haphazardly done. Even 100 pages in I still felt like I had walked in halfway through a movie with no one bothering to catch me up on what I'd missed, and like I was constantly clutching at any detail I could to figure out what the heck was going on.

I'll also admit that I'm probably being a bit swayed by the other reviews to put this one down early. If other people had been loving it I would probably have stuck it out longer to see if it would grow on me, but seeing as the general consensus from those who have finished it is that it's not worth it, I'm going to spare myself the experience.

I really REALLY wanted to love this one and there are aspects of it I heartily enjoyed but I think, ultimately, the first half suffers from having the story serve the politics rather than embedding the politics in the story and trusting the reader to parse their importance and the end from the decision to kill a character when there were so many other options available.
I loved the world and a lot of the story threads but the characters seemed very much like placeholders that checked boxes rather than people inhabiting that world and those threads, which made it difficult to stay engaged with, or care about, them.
Taken as a whole, there was much that was promising and while it didn’t pan out fully I would read future books by Chan when she’s had more opportunity to develop her long form skills.

Honestly, I had no clue what was happening... Not a big fan of the book
2.5 Stars
I'm really disappointed about this