Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

259 reviews

bblatnik's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, and Kidnapping

cosypuck's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense

• Strong character development? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

4.5

Dropped 0.5 because I found it difficult to understand where and when it was set and it distracted me a bit at the beginning. Otherwise I am fully on board. Do pay attention to the content warnings especially the sexual assault, as it's a heavy theme throughout.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

shellbell_04's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark tense 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

3.75

The plot was fine, but the romance aspect was cuteeee

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Sexual violence, and Violence

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual content

5aru's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

4.0

The story was beautifully crafted; you could understand what the truth was, not because it was a predictable twist but because it was properly foregrounded. Effy and Preston were likeable protagonists, though the development of the romance felt a little lacking for my taste. In fact, I think the major problem is that the book should've been longer, or else differently paced: as it is, the last quarter is too packed with information and so it feels like too many things happen at once. If some of the reveals

(especially the Fairy King being real)

happened earlier, the final confrontation would've been better set up and thus more satisfying to lead up into the reveal.

I still enjoyed it immensely, though. I liked the worldbuilding and felt very close to Effy's experiences, particularly one which I'm sure is almost universal (esp. as a woman) — that of finding out your favourite author, in fact, sucks.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Sexual assault and Medical trauma

haley_mil_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Grief, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Xenophobia

annakh16'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? It's complicated

3.5

A story about stories, focused quite closely on our main characters, with vivid scenic descriptions of a drowning house. Ava Reid is certainly a good writer, and the visuals/vibe and some book quotes were great here. 

I thought the dark themes were handled well, especially for a YA book. I do agree that Effie‘s xenophobia was forgiven really quickly though? Hopefully the next book will explore the political conflict more, including its impact on the characters - we‘ll see. 

I enjoyed the dynamic between Effie and Preston, although the romance only really came through at the end for me and their feelings seemed a bit intense then compared to the rest of the book. I almost preferred them as friends/academic partners. The mystery was unfortunately pretty predictable to me, which was a bit of a bummer. 

Based on some reviews, I had hoped to be more obsessed with this, but it was a solid read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Misogyny

Moderate: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Alcoholism and Sexual content

The sexual assault, revealed very early in the book, was committed by a professor to the student - couldn’t find a specific CW option for that.

zonnestraal's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Oh, this book was gorgeous. The worldbuilding, the atmosphere, the plot... everything was just perfect (okay, I did notice one tiny inconsistency concerning the language Argantian, but it really was minor and didn't obstruct my reading pleasure) I was on the tip of my seat and figured out the most of the truth at a reasonable time before the reveal (I hate it when I figure it out to early) I just loved the way I was kept wondering: is any of this reql? Are fairy tales real in this world or not?? Is it just Effy's mind making things sort of bareable? Anyway this book combined a lot of things I liked, fairy tales, literature and architecture. And did so in a beautifull way. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Sexual harassment

Minor: Bullying, Death of parent, Abandonment, and War

drhoneybee's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, and Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Grief, Sexual harassment, Injury/Injury detail, and Classism

Minor: Animal death, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Blood, Religious bigotry, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

florecita_lectora's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

zoe_larrimer's review

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? Yes

5.0

This book is really stunning. It deals with the themes of

trauma and sexual assault

in a very realistic and empowering way. The fmc is someone I deeply rooted for
throughout the story and the mythology elements were such an interesting twist. I feel like the fairy king in the story is a unique portrayal

of the potential for evil that hides itself within many people.

I really love this book and would highly recommend it, it may be my very own Angharad.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Sexism

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Violence

Minor: Death, Xenophobia, Blood, Death of parent, War, and Classism