Fathomfolk was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024 and it did not disappoint! This beautiful book blew me away with incredible, lush world-building, inventive fantasy, and characters that were flawed and complex and so easy to root for. Fathomfolk is a deeply immersive, rich fantasy that pulled me into its depths from the very start. It's a fantastic debut and start of a series I can't wait to continue!

Fathomfolk could have used more polishing.

Chan has constructed an absolutely intricate world in Fathomfolk and characters well on their way to being three-dimensional. Fathomfolk history, political dynamics, socioeconomic issues, food, and the physical city were so well done. I found those parts of the book absolutely immersive and fascinating. There were parts of this book I could not put down.

I really enjoyed portions of each of the character’s POVs. Mira, Nami, and Cordelia each had their moments as well-developed fathomfolk with varying, and sometimes conflicting, motivations. Each of the women brought their own layers and depth to the story and their individual plot lines duelled with each other to provide sufficient tension. Each character claimed my sympathy at different moments throughout Fathomfolk.

However, I’d continually get thrown from the story I was engrossed in. Each character would have a thought that was so uncharacteristic from the compassionate characters Chan was building. It’s not that compassionate people couldn’t have moments of doubt, anger, or malice. It’s that the entire tone of the chapter would be thrown to move forward the plot and I’d be thrown out of the story. Every time, it was to advance a plot point that would later be discarded. The lack of consistency unfortunately ruined my overall enjoyment.

Chan is an author with potential, but Fathomfolk needed more polishing and addressing the abusive relationships present throughout the book.

First I would like to thank NetGalley for the ARC I received of this book. I had high hopes going into this based on the synopsis and stunning cover art. I honestly was so disappointed by how SLOW this book was. It was like pulling teeth to get through this and there were many times I thought about DNFing. At about 50 percent it finally picks up just enough to pique my curiosity. It was so detail heavy with the setting and amount of characters but not in a way that I appreciated. I feel like even after finishing the book I still don’t have a clear vision in my head for what this world is supposed to look like. The last few chapters were well written and caught my attention, but I’m not sure if I’m willing to spend time reading the sequel.

Another book with an amazing premise, but poor execution. It's advertised as an adult fantasy about a world where humans and mythical water people live together. You get dragons and mermaids and sirens. I mean what more could you ask for. I came in this book so excited about the premise and I wanted to like it so much. I just couldn't bring myself to it. The plot was convoluted and so confusing at times. At some point, it felt like a chore to read this book. I am all for unlikeable characters but man, I did not like a single character in this book. I felt like this book was trying too hard to obtain so many goals. It wanted to be a Asian-inspired fantasy. It wanted to have political intrigue and somewhere along the way, it lost the spark that fantasy books have. As an Asian person, I hate to hate on any Asian-inspired books, but this one just wasn't for me.

I didn't like this as much as I thought I would.

The worldbuilding was beautiful and that was my favorite part, but everything else just didn't deliver. It has good ideas and elements in a rich fantasy world, but the character we spend the most time with was SO DIFFICULT to like. Nami is extremely frustrating and I found her to be very unlikable, so that affected my enjoyment of the story. I wasn't rooting for her and I think I was supposed to.

In general, the characters lacked depth. Also, the plot wasn't engaging to me personally. I get what this was trying to do, but it didn't quite get there with the politics and intrigue. As a result, the ending was a bit of a letdown. I don't think I will continue this series, I wish I liked this more than I did :(

I was drawn to and very intrigued by the cover and premise of Fathomfolk; a world combining mythological creatures from water folklore mixed with political unrest and injustice. Unfortunately, it just wasn’t quite for me. I found the pacing to be slow, and the multiple POVs were a bit daunting. I would have liked a little more time with each character to feel more of a connection to their stories and actions.

That said, if you enjoy a slower plot, with intricate world-building, and a larger cast of characters, you may like this one. It just wasn’t quite my speed.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit Books for an advanced electronic copy in exchange for an honest review.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

4 stars!

Liked:
Starts off pretty fast-paced and draws you in for the first couple chapters

Good character development and world building

Once I got to the middle of the book I didn't want to put it down!

Disliked:
Pace slows down significantly after the first few chapters (though does pick back up again later)

Timeline can be murky at times

Despite the slower first half of the book, I really enjoyed Fathomfolk and definitely look forward to continuing the series.

Thank you to the publisher for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Fathomfolk is a unique, multi-pov fantasy novel that explores the intersection between the drastic consequences of climate change and systemic oppression of marginalized peoples. It asks if it is enough to fight a broken system by the rules and at the same time warns what can happen when a movement for liberation is coopted by the wrong people. This book is full of complex, interesting characters whose lives intersect in unexpected ways.

My few critiques: I don’t think the writing style was for me but I can overlook that with how interested I was in the story. I felt like the ending wrapped up without fully addressing everything that happened towards the end of the book. Despite that, I look forward to any upcoming books in this series!

First off thank you for sending me this book to review. It was an original story with great characters and an interesting world. I've read quite a bit of fantasy but nothing like this so it was quite refreshing for me. I would have to say Cordelia/Serena was my favourite character of all, even though she might have technically been the antagonist of them all. She was smart, strong and cunning and I really hope she's in the next book.

My only quarrel with this would be the lore and history. I do wish that I knew more about the history and lore at the beginning because it felt like I didn't know what the drawbacks were fighting for or really what they could accomplish/destroy. Even after finish reading I feel like there is information missing but maybe that will come in the second book.

I chose to DNF this book around 25%. I can not get into it and I'm just not enjoying it at all. The writing is poor and the characters are boring. I lobe the idea of this book, just not the execution. Life is to short to read books you don't enjoy.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

DNF at 25%

I am so bummed as this was one of my most anticipated reads of 2024....but 25% in I couldn't tell you what the point was supposed to be...what the main plot was going to be, the end goal. I was not invested in a single character and honestly only found one of them even mildly interesting (the sea witch). And I was bored - I didn't want to pick it up and read it, which to me is a sign I need to just let it go.

The writing was fine as far as quality - well written, gorgeous cover, good concept, but lacking in execution as far as character and plot depth. Disappointing but I'd give the author another chance in the future!

Thank you to NetGalley for giving me an ARC in exchange for an honest review. This world seems really interesting, but I'm not invested in the characters or the plot. This book is not for me. I'm only reviewing so it doesn't hurt my profile ratio, and it makes me leave a star rating.

Great world building and great character development from this author. Story had the right pace and went at the proper speed. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for an eARC. Highly recommend this book and can't wait to see what the author writes next.

This ended up being a 3.5-star read for me. It's not that I didn't like it, but I felt like I was forcing myself to finish it so I could move on to other things. The blurb sounded so good and the cover is gorgeous. It just wasn't as captivating as I would have hoped. The pacing felt slow and disjointed. I'll concede that it did pick up in the last third of the book, but I don't know if it's enough to make me want to read book 2.

There were several things I enjoyed about this book. The setting of Tiankawi is amazing. Her descriptions of the semi-submerged city were excellent. I think I might need a map because, like Nami, I found myself getting lost when the characters moved locations. It was sometimes difficult to recognize where we were.

I enjoyed the rich diversity of the fathomfolk. I recognized some of the names from various cultures worldwide, so that was cool. I recognized some of them, but I wish there were more descriptions of the folk. I like how realistic the society feels in terms of the racism and xenophobia that the immigrants/refugees encounter. But also in terms of the distrust and hatred within that community, like the prejudice against sirens from other folk.

Some parts didn't quite make sense. In this world, humans created laws to reduce the waterweaving abilities of the fathomfolk, which also leaves them defenseless against human violence. In fighting the injustice that the fathomfolk endure, which is horrific, there are two options presented: work slowly within the system or outright terrorism. There isn't any middle ground.

I didn't find myself particularly attached to any of the main characters. I feel like we changed POVs so frequently that we didn't get to spend a lot of time with any of them. It was painful to watch Nami keep making mistake after mistake. Her love/obsession with Firth was weird and predatory. Cordelia had a lot of potential as a bargain-making sea witch (very much Ursula).

DNF @43%
I had really high hopes for this until reviews started coming in and my hopes became strong misgivings. Having now read it, unfortunately I don't think this is the book/series for me.

Is this the real world? Is it just fantasy?:
My biggest gripe is that this isn't a Fantasy book. Not really. For a society that's supposed to be a combination of fathomfolk (various water-related mythological creatures) and humans, everything is very very human. For some unknown reason humans are at the top of the social hierarchy. Any fathomfolk that can shape-shift to look human do so pretty much constantly (or wear a glamor), and all of them that can afford to live on land instead of in the water.

Their politics and their technology, their jobs and social structure.... none of it is impacted by having half of the society being folk. And that feels really wrong to me, especially since even while the US was segregated, we still got Rock music.

Themes:
This book is NOT subtle in its themes which are largely about racism. Some heavy-handed quotes include:
"Oh my dear, you really are fresh off the boat" and "But where are you from? Originally?"

I think if I had been told it was YA ahead of time I might've expected it to be closer to this.

Characters:
There are 3 main POVs-- also mentioned in the synopsis (so it also really telegraphs the "twist" reveal having to do with one of them). Mira is a half-siren who represents both a biracial experience as well as tokenism, despite her accomplishments people only see her race instead of her as an individual. Cordelia is passing with passing children. And then there's Nami who is a petulant child who has been insulated from their world by being one of the good races as well as terribly wealthy and politically connected. I found all of them to be unlikable and not very fleshed out.

Writing:
Nami is the biggest crutch in what very strongly feels like a debut. She acts as the audience stand-in who doesn't know anything so people can explain the world to her through dialogue (thereby explaining to the reader). She also uses her naivety to create plot contrivances that would otherwise be uncharacteristic and unlikely.

Overall:
I'm very disappointed by the world-building, by the YA nature of the text, and the heavy-handed handling of the themes.

Thank you to NetGalley and Orbit for providing me an arc. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Full disclosure, I went into this reading a little blind. I was expecting an Asian influenced fantasy story, with some cool mythological sea creatures. What I didn’t expect was the fairly political plotline or how one of its major themes would be discrimination.

Fathomfolk follows the lives of Mira, Numi, and Cordelia. All three of them are “folk,” or what were once believed to be mythological water creatures from all over the world. Although it never specifies if this story takes place on Earth, it is a world very much like it, however flooded to the point where it is almost completely covered in water. Humans and Folk share what is left of the planet, but the highly polluted conditions of the oceans have made living entirely in the water nearly impossible for the folk. Instead, a majority of the folk choose to share the half-submerged cities with humans, and accept being treated as second class citizens
.
While I did enjoy this story, there were definitely things that made this a more difficult read. The author introduces several different species from a multitude of cultures. While this adds to the creativity, at times descriptions or explanations can be lacking. I got to fully appreciate my Kindle during this read, as several times I had to highlight and search what she was referring to in order to make sure I was following the story. There was a lot of telling, versus showing, and that could make following the story little confusing at times. This applies to character relationships as well. It’s not enough for me to know you have a deep relationship with someone, show me.

Despite my criticisms I do have to applaud the author for how well she tackled some pretty tough issues, including discrimination, classism, and the mistreatment of minorities. Several times I would read a passage or encounter and have to take a moment to process it all. This, more than anything, is what kept me reading the few times I got frustrated with the writing. This is the first book in the Drowned City duology, and if I’m being completely honest, I don’t know if I’ll read the next book.

Thank you Eliza Chan, Orbit Books, NetGalley, and all involved for the opportunity to review this book!

A stand out element of this story was the excellent world building. Envisioning Tiankawi as it was described was fun and I was left wishing it were a place I could visit one day. The atmosphere sucks you in and the East-Asian inspired elements were simply delightful. There was never a dull moment - you get:
💙 romance
⁉️ mystery & who-dun-it moments
⚔️ conflict
✨ magic
🥷🏻 strong and intelligent FMC’s

I absolutely cannot wait to see some fan-art for this unique story and its characters. The next book can’t come soon enough!

In the city of Tiankawi, humans live with fathomfolk - magical water creatures. I loved the overall concept for Fathomfolk! The worldbuilding was good and unlike anything I have read before. I liked that sea creatures from different mythologies and cultures were represented.

There are some romanatic subplots, but overall the focus is on the fantasy and political elements. I did find it took some time to get into the story, but the plot picks up in the second half. Due to the multiple POV's, I think that some of characters didn't get as much developement as I would have liked.

Thanks to Netgalley providing the arc!

This was so beautifully written! I was completely immersed in the story and fell in love with the memorable characters. Eliza Chan creates a lush world without overwhelming the reader, weaving a fantasy perfect for fans on all levels of the genre.

Tiankawi is a semi-submerged city that is home to magical beings called Fathomfolk, as well as humans… but they are far from equal. Fathomfolk must fight tooth and nail for their rights and better living conditions, while navigating socioeconomic and political struggles. Mira and Nami, two badass female main characters in their own right, must make difficult decisions for the future of Tiankawi.

Inspired by East Asian folklore, this is a story of rebellion perfect for anyone who has ever felt the defiant spark spurred by the injustices of the world.

I found this book hard to get through. It reads a lot like a YA fantasy instead of an adult fantasy and a lot of the characters and POVs felt disconnected from the actually story.