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bookboxbabe's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.75
(2.75)
folks 👏🏻
this was…something. a good something? not particularly
let’s start with what i enjoyed:
the world. this was asian inspired and the world was very unique, although it wasn’t fleshed out well. the author just kind of throws you into the deep end (pun intended) and you’re just supposed to figure things out with no support
now, onto my gripes.
1) you could make a drinking game out of this book. take a shot everytime the word fathomfolk is used. you’ll be drunk by chapter 3
2) i didn’t care about any of these characters. you’re supposed to feel betrayal and love and all these emotions clearly, but i just could not care any less about anyone in this book. who am i even supposed to be rooting for? i have no idea cause everyone is flat and confusing
3) what in the world was the plot? things just kind of happened for the sake of happening and it felt like nothing really served an overarching purpose besides at the very end. i don’t like that.
4) the pacing. we would be with these characters for hours and then the next paragraph would be a time jump for some unknown reason. you never really understood when or where you were until halfway through the chapter and then it jerks you the other way again. was very jarring and i hated it
if you liked the movie raya and the last dragon & also love the little mermaid an ungodly amount, you might find aspects of this enjoyable
i’ll still read the next book because i’m mildly curious where the hell we’re going from here, but i’m not shaking in my boots for it
Moderate: Death, Classism, Physical abuse, Hate crime, Murder, Blood, and Racism
Minor: Slavery
errie's review against another edition
3.0
Graphic: Police brutality, Racism, Violence, Toxic relationship, Hate crime, Death, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Drug abuse, Chronic illness, Classism, Deportation, Injury/Injury detail, and Trafficking
btwnprintedpgs's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
1.0
The world building in Fathomfolk is immaculate - from the political systems, to the Fathomfolk races, to the hierarchal classes within their military and government, to the machinations in the background, to their history and lore - everything is so detailed and well established that you feel like you've just popped into this fantastically flawed world. It mirrors ours so well in its discourse around politics, immigration, history, and activism. The fact that this was so well built is a testament to Eliza Chan's skills.
This skill bled into her characters, to an extent. I appreciated seeing Mira as a biracial half-siren, half-human struggle between worlds. Not human enough to be respected by humans, not Fathomfolk enough to be respected by Fathomfolk. It vibed well with real feelings that mixed people often have to contend with.
Serena was also a very interesting character, as she has her own plans and machinations in the background as she pulled strings and threads together to fulfill her personal goals.
And then there was Nami. Fricking Nami. She's young and brash and naive, and just happens to be the catalyst to like half the problems in this book. I really wish Nami would just not. As Kai's younger sister, she's always been very head strong, up in her righteous anger, and ready for action, and despite mistake after mistake, she never learns to sit down and think critically about anything before acting and it literally kills people. I was so frustrated with her from the start, and it only got worse over time. I feel like there's a statement somewhere in there about young and impressionable people jumping head first into activism without all the facts, but I'm not even going to look that deep. If that was the lesson I was supposed to take away from this book, then it should've been a YA novel.
The fact that half of this book's plot is people not realizing that their actions have consequences, that knocking down one domino takes out the whole lot, is wild to me. Like that's not plot, that's chaos. The only standout to me is the Kai is an angel amongst hellions. He was too good for everyone else in this book.
I'm not even going to touch the end of this book with a ten-foot pole. Thank you, next.
All in all, an absolute disappointment. The setup was strong, but this was a miss for me.
TW: racism (speci-ism?), classism, torture, death, murder, blood, injury detail, drug abuse, addiction, sexism, death of a parent; mentions fetishization, sexual assault
Finished copy gifted by Orbit in exchange for an honest review.
Graphic: Racism, Classism, Murder, Death, Drug abuse, and Addiction
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Death of parent, Torture, Sexism, and Blood
Minor: Sexual assault
devynreadsnovels's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Colonisation, Murder, Police brutality, Drug use, Drug abuse, Physical abuse, Violence, Animal death, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Death, Addiction, Animal cruelty, Bullying, Classism, Slavery, and Toxic relationship
nickel_books's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Graphic: Gaslighting, Grief, Hate crime, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Police brutality, Racism, Toxic relationship, Cursing, Deportation, Fire/Fire injury, Chronic illness, Classism, Racial slurs, Trafficking, Death, Emotional abuse, Drug use, and Violence
aliteraryescape's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Moderate: Blood, Racism, Violence, and Racial slurs
Minor: Gaslighting
mjscooke's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Minor: Kidnapping, Racism, Violence, Toxic relationship, Chronic illness, Classism, Death, Gaslighting, Confinement, Hate crime, and Injury/Injury detail
sarrie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Graphic: Xenophobia, War, Racial slurs, Police brutality, Racism, and Violence
Minor: Rape
luverbyrd's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Moderate: Death, Police brutality, Classism, Racism, Gaslighting, and Deportation
zombiewilhelm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
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).
Graphic: Racism and Xenophobia