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kaky0523's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism
Moderate: Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Emotional abuse
vaguelyredhead's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Mental illness, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Sexual content, Abandonment, and War
mkdila's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
3.5
From the start, I really enjoyed this book! I love the academic setting, the rivalry between our main characters that turns to yearning, and the rotting mysterious cliffside manor is a favorite trope of mine.
The men in this book are infuriating (except sweet Preston), and really paint a picture of the culture in Llyr and Argent. The political intrigue and religious beliefs in these cultures were also a very fun aspect of this story for me! The world building had high fantasy vibes for me, while not being truly high fantasy.
I do wish I could give it a higher rating, but it really let me down with the climax of the book. I am not normally someone who guesses twists/endings of books, but i saw this one coming a mile away, and the stakes seemed so high but we vanquished so easily that it didn't feel rewarding.
With all of that being said, despite my gripes with the ending of this book, I will still be looking forward to the sequel next year, and keeping it to read on a cozy day.
The men in this book are infuriating (except sweet Preston), and really paint a picture of the culture in Llyr and Argent. The political intrigue and religious beliefs in these cultures were also a very fun aspect of this story for me! The world building had high fantasy vibes for me, while not being truly high fantasy.
I do wish I could give it a higher rating, but it really let me down with the climax of the book. I am not normally someone who guesses twists/endings of books, but i saw this one coming a mile away, and the stakes seemed so high but we vanquished so easily that it didn't feel rewarding.
With all of that being said, despite my gripes with the ending of this book, I will still be looking forward to the sequel next year, and keeping it to read on a cozy day.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Sexual assault
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
muchadoaboutliz's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Drug use, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Abandonment
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Gore, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
anna_xiety's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I loved this book so much- I was hesitant to start it because I had high hopes for it, but it definitely lived up to them. I think the start was a little slow but the pacing builds up and I love how Reid handles the issues in the book. and how the characters stories connect with each other ( put as a spoiler just in case)!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, and Sexism
Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Alcoholism, Car accident, and War
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.
The negative part of the book will have to be the writing though, that sometimes felt too cliché, or too « Wattpad »-like.
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts
Minor: Drug abuse
moonchild_cos's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
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? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Sexual content, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War
steimerr's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
A Study In Drowning is unique and intriguing. I feel we so often see YA fantasies written with the same similar tropes, ideas and themes time and time again and with this book I didn’t feel that way. Ava Reid’s writing is beautifully executed in my opinion. She incorporates lots of wonderfully mature vocabulary and all of her figurative language was intricately related back to the dark, wet and drowning mood of the book.
The included themes of misogyny and institutional sexism in this book were not too overbearing, yet still prominent, relatable and provoking. I enjoyed the incorporation of another story (Angharad) within this story, it added a distinctive and engaging aspect to the novel.
The pacing in this book is a mess. The beginning was mainly mundane world building then the rest of the book, until about maybe the 70% mark, was super slow paced and uneventful. Then the end of the book felt rushed and smashed together. It was so fast paced and jam packed with numerous last minute half ass explanations that ultimately only made the story more confusing rather than clearing up any confusion.
The world building in this book was strong when it came to the actual setting and descriptions. But when it came to the politics and folklore, certain things could have been explained further. Some of which seemed pointless to the story without further context. Such as the war between Llyr and Argant (neighboring countries) that was mentioned then never referenced again. I felt like there was a lot of telling of what or how things were without any actual detail or explanations as to how or why.
It was also nearly impossible to connect with either character in this book. Our FMC Effy is not a likable character. She is judgmental, stubborn and pessimistic and always unsure of herself. She is also rude to Preston from the start, especially regarding his ethnicity. Whereas Preston (MMC), is a total gentleman. From what I could gather, he is extremely cautious, respectful, and thoughtful towards Effy. I would have liked to have had Preston’s pov included, since he was actually a likable character and had lots of potential for more.
Furthermore, this book is labeled as a Fantasy Romance but I found the romance in this to be quite disappointing. It’s barely there until the very end of the book. The lead up to the turning point in the relationship of the two main characters’ is very bland. It would have been nice to see a little more obvious flirting or more in-site and clues on their thoughts and feelings towards one another. Since it’s a single pov from the FMC perspective, it is difficult to get any grasp of what our MMC is feeling or thinking in certain situations, which (being difficult already without his pov) made it even harder to analyze his character. Therefore, the romance ended up feeling kind of insta-lovey and thrown in there.
Overall, the writing and general ideas in this book were great but there were so many parts of this book that left me feeling like they needed a tad bit more explanation. Reid had so many great ideas incorporated in the story, yet they weren’t elaborate enough. I would have preferred less ideas with more explanation rather than such an abundance of ideas that lack enough context. This book could have almost been split into two much more in depth books within a series if Reid would have spent more time explaining the plethora of things lacking context.
The included themes of misogyny and institutional sexism in this book were not too overbearing, yet still prominent, relatable and provoking. I enjoyed the incorporation of another story (Angharad) within this story, it added a distinctive and engaging aspect to the novel.
The pacing in this book is a mess. The beginning was mainly mundane world building then the rest of the book, until about maybe the 70% mark, was super slow paced and uneventful. Then the end of the book felt rushed and smashed together. It was so fast paced and jam packed with numerous last minute half ass explanations that ultimately only made the story more confusing rather than clearing up any confusion.
The world building in this book was strong when it came to the actual setting and descriptions. But when it came to the politics and folklore, certain things could have been explained further. Some of which seemed pointless to the story without further context. Such as the war between Llyr and Argant (neighboring countries) that was mentioned then never referenced again. I felt like there was a lot of telling of what or how things were without any actual detail or explanations as to how or why.
It was also nearly impossible to connect with either character in this book. Our FMC Effy is not a likable character. She is judgmental, stubborn and pessimistic and always unsure of herself. She is also rude to Preston from the start, especially regarding his ethnicity. Whereas Preston (MMC), is a total gentleman. From what I could gather, he is extremely cautious, respectful, and thoughtful towards Effy. I would have liked to have had Preston’s pov included, since he was actually a likable character and had lots of potential for more.
Furthermore, this book is labeled as a Fantasy Romance but I found the romance in this to be quite disappointing. It’s barely there until the very end of the book. The lead up to the turning point in the relationship of the two main characters’ is very bland. It would have been nice to see a little more obvious flirting or more in-site and clues on their thoughts and feelings towards one another. Since it’s a single pov from the FMC perspective, it is difficult to get any grasp of what our MMC is feeling or thinking in certain situations, which (being difficult already without his pov) made it even harder to analyze his character. Therefore, the romance ended up feeling kind of insta-lovey and thrown in there.
Overall, the writing and general ideas in this book were great but there were so many parts of this book that left me feeling like they needed a tad bit more explanation. Reid had so many great ideas incorporated in the story, yet they weren’t elaborate enough. I would have preferred less ideas with more explanation rather than such an abundance of ideas that lack enough context. This book could have almost been split into two much more in depth books within a series if Reid would have spent more time explaining the plethora of things lacking context.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Sexism and Death of parent
Minor: Mental illness