Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan

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

Actual rating: 2.75 stars.

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.