Reviews tagging 'Sexual content'

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

187 reviews

literarymary95's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

2.0

I really wanted to enjoy this book and it had a lot of potential, but for me it just fell flat. I tried really hard to get into it but I just really couldn't.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Mental illness, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Sexual content, Abandonment, and War

amber_rose_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark inspiring mysterious reflective slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Xenophobia, Grief, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Minor: War

eradell's review

mysterious reflective sad slow-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? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Misogyny and Sexual content

drearyletters's review against another edition

emotional hopeful medium-paced

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

3.0

I’m not mad, just disappointed. 

This book was packaged as a “dark academia” book, and I guess what I want out of dark academia is different than everyone else. I’m looking for mystery and intrigue, mixed into the halls of academia. In this book, it is just the general backdrop for a romance, most of the book not even taking place on the university (Which is FINNNEEEE, just not what I want out of this book). I feel similarly of A Study in Drowning as I do of Divine Rivals and What the River Knows, an interesting fantasy world that is subjected to a basic romance. There was an interesting thematic discussion of rationality vs mythic belief, represented by the two love interests, and some explorations of the legacy of authorship that gave the book more depth. 

I did come around to like the two main characters(I found Effie’s struggle with past trauma and identity well thought out), but even then, I found myself rolling my eyes at the contrived romantic tropes (rivals at first, only one bed, situations that force the girl to take off her clothes—conveniently). The main mystery was pretty obvious from the first, and all I hoped for was more complexity and mystery.  

I need to stop reading YA Romance and being surprised that I don’t like it. 

Content warning: suggestions of sexual assault, one mildly explicit sex scene. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual content

Minor: Sexual assault

ajslifelibrary's review against another edition

dark hopeful 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? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Violence, Grief, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Bullying, Confinement, Cursing, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Torture, Xenophobia, and Blood

ammcilroy's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexism, Sexual assault, and Sexual content

leafilys'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? Yes

4.5

I loved the world-building in this book, the lore is quite unique and left me thinking about it even after I finished the book. It earned the book an extra .5 stars for me. 

Effy and Preston are interesting and developed characters, and the romance was well paced with lots of chemistry. This book has lots of detailed descriptions and prose, which can be hit or miss with a lot of people, but I loved it. It was so atmospheric and immersive.

Unfortunately the last quarter of the book let me down a bit. The pacing felt too fast then too slow, and the mysteries were wrapped up a bit clumsily in my opinion. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Xenophobia, Stalking, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, Colonisation, and War

reedrl333's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious slow-paced

3.5

This was my first read by this author and I enjoyed it. It is slower paced than my usual reads, but I was invested in the characters and enjoyed the authors writing style. 

The main reason my rating isn’t higher is because the ending felt drawn out. It was unnecessary to explain every detail of the mystery like the end of a Scooby Doo episode, especially when it wasn’t all that hard to guess at in the first place. Even for a YA novel, I think the author should have a little more faith in the comprehension ability of the reader. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, and Sexual assault

Minor: Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual content

beigecupid_'s review against another edition

dark 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

1.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders and Sexual content

Moderate: Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

val_theburrowofstories's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

2.0

 

• My hatred towards stories with girls who are sexually assaulted / raped will always influence my rating in a book :( I’m sorry but I just can’t handle it. Maybe if the campaign of this book wasn’t just “oh sweet YA with faeries and mystery” and people mentioned what happened to her as a trigger warning then MAYBE I would not have picked up this book.
• This poor girl has NO ONE rooting for her and she doesn’t stand up for herself. She might as well be all alone in the world because her mother is an alcohol addict who doesn’t care about her at all, she’s the only girl studying architecture and every man or boy looks at her like she doesn’t belong there. She only has this one girl friend but they don’t see each other that much.
• I hated her fucking mother so much you cannot even imagine 😭
• In general I would say is a very simple story and despite the things I hated (what happened to her, her asshole mother and how women are treated) I was entertained with the audiobook and I liked listening to it while I was doing house chores (then I discovered that was influenced by the fact that the narrator is one of my favorites and has narrated some of my favorite historical fiction books)
• I don't think this book was enough for me to want to continue whatever book is next in the series and honestly I do not want to pick up another book of this author either. I think every single one of her books include rape or sexual assault and I do not like to read books with those “elements”.
• So yeah, 2 ⭐ and that ending was very underwhelming.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Misogyny, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Sexual content