Reviews tagging 'Emotional abuse'

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

153 reviews

dom_brlw's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-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

3.5

A surprising read, with a strange yet very well built world. It had me always expecting the worse, trying to figure what would come next but being gradually more surprised after each chapter. It was a very enjoyable read!

The negative part of the book will have to be the writing though, that  sometimes felt too cliché, or too « Wattpad »-like. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Grief, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

kary2012's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Drug abuse

min_franzi_'s review against another edition

adventurous mysterious slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

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Content Warnings

Minor: Emotional abuse and Physical abuse

melissalivanos's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Emotional abuse and Gaslighting

cordeliant's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: War

saurahsaurus's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Infidelity, Alcohol, and Colonisation

trippalli's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Gothic style mystery of suspense as students investigate the origins of fairy stories. Epic poetry and historic accounts that may have been credited to the wrong person looking to uncover the true author. They find themselves in danger and must deal at the threats of both the house that's falling apart. The family that is obscuring information and the question of if they're hallucinating or really seeing fairies and other things at the gothic mansion...

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Death, Drug use, and Emotional abuse

Moderate: Forced institutionalization and Car accident

embersbooknook's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense 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

4.25

This book was really good.  
Not what I expected, in a lot of respects - but thoroughly enjoyable.  
While I was able to predict some of what would occur

Angharad being the author, Ianto being the fairy king, Myrddin being not awesome, etc.

, that didn’t make it any less of a good read.  

Effy was initially slightly dislikable in a really relatable way - nervous, anxious, unable to trust herself, processing substantial trauma.  Thus seeking a tad flaky at first.  However after about 50 pages her character growth really started.  
I really enjoyed seeing her character grow throughout this book.  

Preston was a really good match for her - overly sensible perhaps, which I enjoyed seeing soften a bit throughout.  
It was really nice to see Effy’s degrading options about Argantians slide away as she got to know him.  
A reminder that when humans get to know people who are different from them, they are less prone to dehumanize an entire group of people. A reminder we need in the world as often and as much as possible. 🥺🫶🏽  

This book was a good exploration of how sexism affects a society in every level, personally, professionally, intimate relationships, etc.  I also appreciated how small mentions of colonialism and sexist intellectualism, and militarism/war made it into the book.  Ava set up a fascinating world and I very much hope more of these themes and its history are explored in book 2!  Overall a good read that I’d recommend and will enjoy revisiting.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and War

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Classism

The themes mentioned as trigger warnings are mostly minor mentions. Ava doesn’t write out the full

sexual assault that happened to Effy, or the full extent of abuse that Angharad suffered from Myrddin, as the Fairy King took him over especially.

As I always say, I am a sensitive reader and was able to handle this book’s themes.

demievrything's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

 Ich hatte Angst, dass ich dieses Buch nicht so sehr mögen würde. So ein großer Hype und hohe Erwartungen und dennoch war ich komplett begeistert von der Geschichte.
Perfekt war, dass ich parallel zum Lesen auch das Hörbuch hören konnte und Effy so direkt eine Stimme verliehen bekommen hat, die wunderbar gepasst hat.
Die Handlung geht einerseits langsam voran und dennoch zieht es sich zu keinem Punkt, auch wenn die Kapitel länger sind, sind sie stets mit Handlung und relevanten Informationen gefüllt. Die Geschichte lebt natürlich auch sehr von der ganzen Stimmung, die über dem Haus auf den Klippen und in Effys Innerem herrscht. Besonders mitgezogen hat mich Effy als Protagonistin, weil ich sehr mit ihr fühlen konnte, ihre Handlungen und Gedanken nachvollziehen konnte und sie als Charakter einfach sehr nah und echt wirkte.
Die wenigen anderen Charaktere sind eigenständig und ich kam gut mit den Namen und Unterscheidungen klar. Auch die Dynamik zwischen den Hauptcharakteren hat mich überzeugt. Vor allem das Ende fand ich besonders gelungen, da es mich einerseits zufrieden aber auch etwas wehmütig und melancholisch zurück lässt und gleichzeitig neugierig, auf die Fortsetzung.

Trotz Reihenauftakt ist der Roman alleinstehend mit abgeschlossenem Ende.

"A Study in Drowning" ist ein mitreißender Roman über den Glauben an sich selbst, die Ungerechtigkeit der Welt voller patriarchaler Strukturen und zeigt eine starke innere Entwicklung der Protagonistin.

Ganz große Empfehlung! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death

Minor: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Physical abuse, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Death of parent, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

poetsofsweetpea's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A Study in Drowning was a lengthy look into how superstition is just the ugly side of magic.  This is a dark and icky world where female characters have no agency.   It felt like a cross between Rebecca and the Magicians.  A devotee of a book discovers what it's like to understand her hero.  It's a little soggy.  

Well written though, this novel was filled with beautiful descriptions.  The characters were multi-faceted.  The world building was rich and filled with minute details.

I don't love the way Reid handles SA and its been present in all of her novels I've read so far.  Which I also don't enjoy.  

There were a few times when the characters' decisions seemed too convenient and not fully in character.  But for the most part, it's a good book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Abandonment