A review by frootlupo
Fathomfolk by Eliza Chan

dark emotional medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

What could have been a heavy handed approach to a straightforward racial injustice analog, was instead propelled forward by surprisingly nuanced character work. 

At the top of this book I felt like I could pretty-much predict the entire path of the book. While not every twist was super shocking, I was very surprised by how much nuance and growth was instilled into the characters. Our main POV characters consistently resisted being pigeonholed and none of them landed exactly where I predicted. Even many supporting character had their own nuance and arcs (except our golden retriever best boy - but I'm not going to complain about a bit of consistent sunshine). 

The world-building was interesting and quite compelling at points, but did suffer a bit from glossary fatigue when trying to remember all the different titles and names of cities and neighbourhoods and police forces and so on. 

Overall, Chan impressed me enough that I'll be coming back for the sequel when it comes out.