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elliebelliev's review against another edition
2.0
Fathomfolk is a story about an underwater world with mythical creatures and a political plot. This story wasn’t for me as I found it hard to follow and I felt that the story only began after 200 pages. If you are a fan of mythical sea creatures and love a heavy political plot, then this story might be a good one for you.
allbythebook's review against another edition
Just not enjoying it. I’m not rooting for nor do I like any of the characters, they’re all making really stupid decisions, and I don’t feel invested in this world. Disappointed.
izzyrose95's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
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
chlhill's review
3.75
Love the politics and the characters, plus the sea witch/Ariel vibes. That stuff was definitely 5 stars…
That said, the pacing and the overall plot was messy, at times confusing, and worst of all especially for Mira’s character, boring… Mira’s character had the best voice and most intriguing concept and then she barely made any choices/didn’t have a goal. Cordelia is also so cool, wish I got more. I also can’t ignore the fact that Nami went missing for days multiple times and Kai and Mira never noticed??
The world building also needed some work. I have the illumicrate edition of the book which has beautiful sprawling art of the city, but I got none of that description in the book.
I’ll definitely try to pick up the sequel, but I hope there’s some writing improvements…
That said, the pacing and the overall plot was messy, at times confusing, and worst of all especially for Mira’s character, boring… Mira’s character had the best voice and most intriguing concept and then she barely made any choices/didn’t have a goal. Cordelia is also so cool, wish I got more. I also can’t ignore the fact that Nami went missing for days multiple times and Kai and Mira never noticed??
The world building also needed some work. I have the illumicrate edition of the book which has beautiful sprawling art of the city, but I got none of that description in the book.
I’ll definitely try to pick up the sequel, but I hope there’s some writing improvements…
rashellnicole's review against another edition
DNF @ Ch. 42
It’s hard for me to be engaged with the storyline right now. I think if I tried to read this again after some time away, I might like it. But for now, it’s taking me entirely too long to read it.
It’s hard for me to be engaged with the storyline right now. I think if I tried to read this again after some time away, I might like it. But for now, it’s taking me entirely too long to read it.
chasinggrace's review
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
This was very underwhelming. The world building left a lot to be desired - on one hand, I loved the concept and the analogies used throughout the story. On the other hand, there were so many animals and beings mentioned and then not described - after googling 2 or 3 I just gave up. You can’t mention a mythical water creature and then give NO explanation as to what they look like, other than a beak or a claw. The world and its populace could’ve really engaged me but it needed more.
The larger issue for me is that I disliked everyone in this book! Nami is your typical infuriating teenager, a younger sibling making stupid decisions and being very, very prejudiced. Also her love interest didn’t engage me at all because he’s just a fucking asshole?? Cordelia is just a bitch, sorry the whole “I’m a mother who would do anything for my kids” fell flat for me when she was lying to them and forcing them to hide their identities. Mira was fine, but she’s a border patrol cop…this bitch is ICE and we’re just supposed to go along with it bc she feels bad about it…?
Of course, the only character I liked was Kai. He was giving sweet, supportive, charismatic, amazing man the entire time. And for him to just fucking DIE AT THE END IS CRAZY. Like kill off the one likable character?? Be so serious rn.
This book also leaned more politics-heavy than I expected, which was fine but not something I was super in the mood for. We got SO CLOSE to enlightened conversations about immigration, police brutality, corrupt government, climate change, religion, etc, but I don’t think they were developed well enough, especially when the book is pro-immigration cop!
The end had me literally yelling. Like what do you mean Nami falls for Firth’s manipulation AGAIN, and we don’t even understand why Dan is in this mess at all?? He just poisons her and gets to leave?? And then she fucking tries to kill a god, makes it back to the city, and Kai sacrifices himself. Nami is USELESS and she uses his pearl/sacrifice to “save everyone,” but really just gives all the humans gills…? So the solution to racism and prejudice that’s deeply ingrained into the society is…make everyone the same race? LETS BE SO SERIOUS.
There’s going to be a sequel and unless I’m in a much better mood, I will not be reading. What, so I can witness Nami fuck everything up and have the one good character *maybe* come back?? No thanks.
The larger issue for me is that I disliked everyone in this book! Nami is your typical infuriating teenager, a younger sibling making stupid decisions and being very, very prejudiced. Also her love interest didn’t engage me at all because he’s just a fucking asshole?? Cordelia is just a bitch, sorry the whole “I’m a mother who would do anything for my kids” fell flat for me when she was lying to them and forcing them to hide their identities. Mira was fine, but she’s a border patrol cop…this bitch is ICE and we’re just supposed to go along with it bc she feels bad about it…?
Of course, the only character I liked was Kai. He was giving sweet, supportive, charismatic, amazing man the entire time. And for him to just fucking
This book also leaned more politics-heavy than I expected, which was fine but not something I was super in the mood for. We got SO CLOSE to enlightened conversations about immigration, police brutality, corrupt government, climate change, religion, etc, but I don’t think they were developed well enough, especially when the book is pro-immigration cop!
The end had me literally yelling.
There’s going to be a sequel and unless I’m in a much better mood, I will not be reading. What, so I can witness Nami fuck everything up and have the one good character *maybe* come back?? No thanks.
elin_berggren's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0