Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with this eArc.


Tiankawi is one of the last "true" cities of humankind in a flooded world. The semi-flooded city houses humans and fathomfolk alike, acting as a safe haven for fathomfolk fleeing from civil unrest in underwater havens. Though not everything is as great as it seems, and the three main characters, a half-siren, a sea witch and a young water dragon, get pulled further into the maelstrom of political intrigue, secrets and violence that works beneath the shining surface of the city. When will it be enough?


Fathomfolk has a rather interesting premise as it is set in a world after a climate change that caused the sea levels to rise so much that only scattered islands, cities on stilts, and underwater havens exist. It incorporates several Asian mythological creatures (mostly South East Asian and East Asian as far as I can tell) as well as British/European creatures like Kelpies. As interesting as the premise is, though, the entire story just falls flat because of the pacing. The first 35% are by far the worst because they drag on, involve tons of world-building, and are - frankly - just boring. Afterwards, the pacing picks up and draws the reader into the story. Unfortunately, the end (the last ~20%) are so rushed and unsatisfying in the resolve of the conflict. It also ends with a cliffhanger as well, so the reader has to continue the series if they want to know how the conflict looming at the horizon will be solved. Also, Kai deserves better.

The book has four POVs

Well, technically just three POVs as one character shapeshifts and is the same person that has their own POV.

and God, I hated all POVs aside from Mira's. Mostly because I disliked the characters so much. Nami is impulsive, stupid and utterly annoying because she never thinks before doing something, and her tongue becomes a knot as soon as a pretty man is involved. For all her education and upbringing, she's rather useless. She's very extreme in her political views, which feels like a thinly veiled criticism of politically active teenagers/young adults? It was weird. Her romantic relationship is icky as hell as it reeks of grooming and includes gaslighting. Mira is a goody-two-shoes who becomes more tired with each chapter, which is something that I can understand because she works herself to the bone and is still portrayed as a monster. Though, her relationship with Kai is also ... unsatisfying. Cordelia is just vain and a snob. The idea of her being a morally grey character is constantly harpooned by her own behaviour. Though, I still wonder about her purpose

(due to her dual character with Serena)

as she just sews chaos between humans and fathomfolk.

Fathomfolk is very political as it involves the themes of immigration (forced due to civil wars and pollution by others, but also immigration out of their own free will) and its effect on an established society, including racism and differences in classes. For a book that is labelled as 'adult' due to these themes, it felt like a YA novel with a dash of anime/manga, which is just disappointing. To be honest, the entire book feels like it's just a criticism of certain political POVs (aka left-leaning) because the end ... I'm so upset about the end. If the book would have been a physical book, I would have thrown it against the wall.

The ending is very much: who cares about moral dilemmas and actual action to solve immigration issues, racism and class differences. Everyone has gills now! Even if it was already noticeable that a majority of the humans hate it because they looked down on fathomfolk for their entire lives.