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kghunter's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
“[…]the truth was very costly at times. How terrible, to navigate the world without a story to comfort you.”
If you were to remove all of the sentences in this book that described one of the characters blushing, it would probably be about half its current length. I don’t know if this is just a more common experience of fair skinned people or what but I think a group-read of this in which everyone took a shot every time someone blushes would be a pretty fun way to get absolutely shittered with your friends if they also happen to be into horny fantasy mystery novels that involve a lot of quivering and clenched fists.
Blushing and quivering aside this was a truly enjoyable read. Reid is brilliant at capturing the “dark academia” imagery and I loved how she used such a beautifully painted, fantastical storyline to examine themes of misogyny, victim-shaming, childhood trauma, and isolation, as well as gender-based violence, bigotry, and oppression. As a reader who originally chose to read this book to scratch my annually occurring wintertime dark academia itch, its depth and sincerity came as a pleasant surprise.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation
aliceinstoryland's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Sexism, and Sexual assault
sammiebauer's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
this book was very disappointing to me. i have read part of juniper and thorn by this author, and i finished the wolf and the woodsman, which i have moderate affection for simply because of the magic system and mythology. when i was looking for something new to read, i gave this a try. i did end up finishing it but it was a very close dnf. this was marketed as "dark acacdemia", which was completely incorrect, and it should have been marketed as a romance with academic and fantasy undertones.
the thing that bothers me a lot about reid's writing is that she has a very distinct style and interest that comes through in every book i have read by her: she has a huge interest in exploring misogyny and the way that women are exploited and oppressed, and a huge interest in discussing the way different hostile cultures interact with each other during some kind of wartime or industrial development between countries. now, i can see the merit of these topics. i myself have been on the receiving end of discrimination based on gender in the past as a transgender man. but...every single man in these stories except for the very best of them - the love interest - are predatory and terrifying to the very juvenile and immature young female protagonist. i found the protagonist of this story to be very uninteresting. her experiences deal mainly with being exploited by the men in her life, with no meaningful friendships outside of that, and when she does begin a friendship with someone, it's a man! and this young man she is friends with is now portrayed as the only good man. he respects her and thinks all other men are disgusting for what they've done, he is seen as this absolute paragon of goodness, and she automatically, immediately, has feelings for him, despite her past experiences. she seems to be fixed by her relationship with this young man despite everything else that has been done to her. and despite the fact that she has been sexually abused and harassed in the past by older men, she is extremely sexually attracted to this young man, and the story barely addresses the intricacies of her experience with that. it completely undermines the message of this story, which is about how women are mistreated in academic fields that are dominated by men!
now, to address the other part of my problem with this story -- this book is not the greatest offender of this crime that reid has written. i would say that the wolf and the woodsman is worse about this. this romance takes place between this young woman and this young man during a time of war between their two countries. there are interesting ways to handle this, certainly, but instead, the author chooses to use xenophobia as a bargaining chip in the banter between these characters. the young woman frequently insults the young man's heritage and call him borderline slurs based on his country of origin, and while he rarely rises to the bait and insults her back, he forgives her every time. his offense is to insult the magical religion of her country by being an academic skeptic, which is, in my opinion, really not the same. magic in this book is an extremely nebulous concept.
the fact that i gave it a whole three stars is me making a concession for this story. i thought the atmosphere and general plot of the book was very interesting and engaging. the worldbuilding was well done. the writing was not bad, it was just stylized and overly flowery and repetitive in places that i found to be very annoying. the emotional core of this story was affecting to be sure, i teared up slightly at the end, but i also saw the different twists coming from a mile away - literally from 20% into the book i knew how it was going to end. i also do not want this to be taken as me insulting the themes of misogyny and xenophobia. those are topics that can be explored extremely well in other places, but the nuance given to those topics here was incredibly poor and lacking in many ways. i do not recommend this book but i wanted to write down my thoughts on it anyway.
the thing that bothers me a lot about reid's writing is that she has a very distinct style and interest that comes through in every book i have read by her: she has a huge interest in exploring misogyny and the way that women are exploited and oppressed, and a huge interest in discussing the way different hostile cultures interact with each other during some kind of wartime or industrial development between countries. now, i can see the merit of these topics. i myself have been on the receiving end of discrimination based on gender in the past as a transgender man. but...every single man in these stories except for the very best of them - the love interest - are predatory and terrifying to the very juvenile and immature young female protagonist. i found the protagonist of this story to be very uninteresting. her experiences deal mainly with being exploited by the men in her life, with no meaningful friendships outside of that, and when she does begin a friendship with someone, it's a man! and this young man she is friends with is now portrayed as the only good man. he respects her and thinks all other men are disgusting for what they've done, he is seen as this absolute paragon of goodness, and she automatically, immediately, has feelings for him, despite her past experiences. she seems to be fixed by her relationship with this young man despite everything else that has been done to her. and despite the fact that she has been sexually abused and harassed in the past by older men, she is extremely sexually attracted to this young man, and the story barely addresses the intricacies of her experience with that. it completely undermines the message of this story, which is about how women are mistreated in academic fields that are dominated by men!
now, to address the other part of my problem with this story -- this book is not the greatest offender of this crime that reid has written. i would say that the wolf and the woodsman is worse about this. this romance takes place between this young woman and this young man during a time of war between their two countries. there are interesting ways to handle this, certainly, but instead, the author chooses to use xenophobia as a bargaining chip in the banter between these characters. the young woman frequently insults the young man's heritage and call him borderline slurs based on his country of origin, and while he rarely rises to the bait and insults her back, he forgives her every time. his offense is to insult the magical religion of her country by being an academic skeptic, which is, in my opinion, really not the same. magic in this book is an extremely nebulous concept.
the fact that i gave it a whole three stars is me making a concession for this story. i thought the atmosphere and general plot of the book was very interesting and engaging. the worldbuilding was well done. the writing was not bad, it was just stylized and overly flowery and repetitive in places that i found to be very annoying. the emotional core of this story was affecting to be sure, i teared up slightly at the end, but i also saw the different twists coming from a mile away - literally from 20% into the book i knew how it was going to end. i also do not want this to be taken as me insulting the themes of misogyny and xenophobia. those are topics that can be explored extremely well in other places, but the nuance given to those topics here was incredibly poor and lacking in many ways. i do not recommend this book but i wanted to write down my thoughts on it anyway.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Violence, Xenophobia, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Religious bigotry, Abandonment, and War
Minor: Child abuse, Car accident, Death of parent, and Colonisation
cooldudenick's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Child abuse and War
theahappyhermit's review against another edition
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
A study and drowning
My soul feels wrinkly and puny, as if I was just soaking in the ocean for too long and I’m now lying on the beach to dry.
I had this weird urge to quietly weep the entire time I read this. Just little tears welling in the back of my eyes for seemingly no reason. But I almost think that was the point of the melancholy melodic, lyrical writing.
This book is written in a way that makes you feel like the author is not just taking you on a journey. She is on your back for a piggyback ride, holding your chin in her freshly painted nails, guiding your chin left right up and down, forcing your nose into the flowers . Shoving your face into clear pools of water so that you might see the reflection of your trauma back at you. Whispering in your ear intrinsic therapy sessions between the pages and yourself.
And there’s more to it there are two stories here three if you count the one that you go on with yourself. One is a story about a book and two students uncovering the truth with fairies and magic and what not but that’s not really the core of the story core of the story is about women, and the love letter between authors and readers, and also a profound ballot of love to the sea and all of these things become one, subtly and not so subtly woven between lines of fiction and nonfiction.
I just feel like I want people to read this, but I also don’t think you should read this unless you have a therapist on standby at the same time.
I also have never annotated such deeply personal things in a book before but I had some things I had written years past that fit so well between the margins giving a resting place for feelings that once haunted me
I don’t usually read books quite on this side of the scale of fantasy because while they are perfectly well written, almost too perfect I almost feel like the author does not leave room for the readers own imagination.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child abuse and Sexual assault
kat42's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.0
I really wanted to like this book and am sad I didn't. The one thing it did well, in my opinion, was tackle the misogyny in academia. The abuse women face at the hands of men, the assumption that women cannot compete intellectually with men, and the common occurrence of men stealing women's work. I also loved the setting of a crumbling house falling into the sea.
However, the characters and romance were dull to me. Effy's prejudice is somehow okay now that she's fucked Preston? Also the sexual abuse she has dealt with is pretty key to her character, but then when she has consensual sex with Preston, the word Reid chose to describe it was "assault"??? My other issue is that everything happened so easily for the characters at the end. The conflict gets resolved in like two pages, and someone literally just tells Effy and Preston all the answers to everything instead of the two of them having to piece it together on their own.
However, the characters and romance were dull to me. Effy's prejudice is somehow okay now that she's fucked Preston? Also the sexual abuse she has dealt with is pretty key to her character, but then when she has consensual sex with Preston, the word Reid chose to describe it was "assault"??? My other issue is that everything happened so easily for the characters at the end. The conflict gets resolved in like two pages, and someone literally just tells Effy and Preston all the answers to everything instead of the two of them having to piece it together on their own.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content
Minor: Child abuse and Mental illness
vixairy's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual content
chi__'s review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-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? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Grief, and Death of parent
bibliomania_express's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid intertwines magic and folklore with a quest to discover the true identity of an author. This is a book with an interesting premise that tackles hard topics like sexual assault, misogyny, and the erasure of women, but suffers from awkward worldbuilding, a bit too much on-page sexual harrassment, and a lacklustre romance.
I've been avoiding reviews of this book and the little I haven't been able to avoid has been vehemently negative. I'm more on the ambivalent side. I think the book is doing some interesting things with its drowning motif and exploring mental health and the repression of women. It's depicting the casual sexual harrassment women are faced with that society expects them not to react to.
But. The literal only good male character is the main love interest. Who, while a fine character, seems to be the love interest only because he's the only person not sexually harrassing Effy and because this is a "romantasy" when it didn't need to be. The sexism is so pervasive that the triumphant ending seems a bit too good to be true.
My real gripe beyond the ever-present misogyny that made this hard to read is that the magic system and worldbuilding is all over the place. I had a hard time understanding what was accepted existing magic and what was just "local supersition", especially when the supersitions were maybe (?) having an effect on a literal real war. But also there was nothing about the book that felt like it was taking place in a country currently at war, even when the main setting was a university town on the border with the enemy country.
I think I've ended with a 2.5 stars mainly because it was fast-paced and interesting enough to keep me engaging and blasting through it, but the list of gripes is too long to warrant a 3.
I've been avoiding reviews of this book and the little I haven't been able to avoid has been vehemently negative. I'm more on the ambivalent side. I think the book is doing some interesting things with its drowning motif and exploring mental health and the repression of women. It's depicting the casual sexual harrassment women are faced with that society expects them not to react to.
But. The literal only good male character is the main love interest. Who, while a fine character, seems to be the love interest only because he's the only person not sexually harrassing Effy and because this is a "romantasy" when it didn't need to be. The sexism is so pervasive that the triumphant ending seems a bit too good to be true.
My real gripe beyond the ever-present misogyny that made this hard to read is that the magic system and worldbuilding is all over the place. I had a hard time understanding what was accepted existing magic and what was just "local supersition", especially when the supersitions were maybe (?) having an effect on a literal real war. But also there was nothing about the book that felt like it was taking place in a country currently at war, even when the main setting was a university town on the border with the enemy country.
I think I've ended with a 2.5 stars mainly because it was fast-paced and interesting enough to keep me engaging and blasting through it, but the list of gripes is too long to warrant a 3.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Child abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, and War
Minor: Grief, Medical trauma, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
jessversteeg's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
“Haunting and tender” one author said of this book on the back jacket cover. I agree.
It’s a weird, gothic book that crosses over university life and fairy folklore (or is it folklore?). It could easily be made into a thriller movie released at Halloween. It’s creepy and tender, but also quite sad.
A huge theme in the book is both the treatment of women and the ways women are perceived. There are a few pretty awful quotes about how women are either seductresses or submissive, how they’re unable to produce any real intellectual work etc. It also becomes clear early on in the book that the main character was taken advantage of by her academic advisor, and she basically has severe anxiety/ptsd over it. Her anxiety about her life experiences makes her wonder if she’s crazy or not, many people tell her she’s crazy and making stuff up. The story juxtaposes folk monsters with real life sketchy men. It’s about fighting back against abusers.
I doubt I’ll read it again, but I’m sure I’ll think about it a lot in the future. I kinda think it should be high school required reading so teens can learn about power dynamics and consent, believing women, etc.
Here’s a quote from the end that gutted me:
“I know I beat him in the end, but for so many years all I could do was run and hide. I just sat there and let the water pour in around me. I didn’t know that I could fight back. I didn’t know how to do anything but wait to drown.”
It’s a weird, gothic book that crosses over university life and fairy folklore (or is it folklore?). It could easily be made into a thriller movie released at Halloween. It’s creepy and tender, but also quite sad.
A huge theme in the book is both the treatment of women and the ways women are perceived. There are a few pretty awful quotes about how women are either seductresses or submissive, how they’re unable to produce any real intellectual work etc. It also becomes clear early on in the book that the main character was taken advantage of by her academic advisor, and she basically has severe anxiety/ptsd over it. Her anxiety about her life experiences makes her wonder if she’s crazy or not, many people tell her she’s crazy and making stuff up. The story juxtaposes folk monsters with real life sketchy men. It’s about fighting back against abusers.
I doubt I’ll read it again, but I’m sure I’ll think about it a lot in the future. I kinda think it should be high school required reading so teens can learn about power dynamics and consent, believing women, etc.
Here’s a quote from the end that gutted me:
“I know I beat him in the end, but for so many years all I could do was run and hide. I just sat there and let the water pour in around me. I didn’t know that I could fight back. I didn’t know how to do anything but wait to drown.”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Child death, Sexual content, and War