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vixairy's review against another edition
- 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
Moderate: Child abuse
Minor: Sexual assault and Sexual content
blackcat_mala's review against another edition
- 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
It made me cry. Like ugly cry at the end, mostly as a release of emotions.
I especially loved
I will highly recommend this book both for the immersive writing, exciting story and the wonderful characters.
Minor: Emotional abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
thehannahclaire's review against another edition
- 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? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Sexual content
vaguelyredhead's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Mental illness, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Sexual content, Abandonment, and War
jessversteeg's review against another edition
- 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
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.”
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Child abuse, Sexual content, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Child death, Sexual content, and War
anna_xiety's review against another edition
- 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
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
- 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
The negative part of the book will have to be the writing though, that sometimes felt too cliché, or too « Wattpad »-like.
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
story_singer_101's review against another edition
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
...
Yeah. Words. Um.
So, this was good. I checked it out on a whim after debating back and forth whether or not I wanted to read it for actual months. And then I promptly devoured the entire 10.5 hour audiobook in *checks calendar* just over two days. Yup. Couldn't turn it off. Couldn't put it down. Stayed up until 1am this morning to finish it.
Here's the thing. I've read a lot of YA fantasy, and, before that, I spent an entire childhood reading old faerie tales, hunting down mythology from other cultures, and meticulously planning how I would ward off an evil Fae creature from either court--Seelie or Unseelie didn't matter. So when I say that I can normally read the tropes and predict the endings of fantasy books, it's because I have a massive internal data set I'm drawing on of all the tropes used in the genre as well as the adjacent faerie tale/mythology genres. And yet A Study in Drowning kept me guessing pretty much the entire book. Right up until the end, I didn't know what was going to happen, who to believe, or even what the basic premise of the worldbuilding was, and it worked. It worked so well. I was completely enthralled. The imagery and thematic content were beautifully done, the message was clear and poignant, the writing was captivating, the world was fascinating, the characters grew and developed, and I was fully engaged and interested for the duration of the story.
The only reason this isn't a full 5-star rating is because there was an open-door (but pretty non-graphic) sex scene that contributed very little if anything to the plot (it's very easily skippable if you don't want to read that kind of content and are afraid of missing plot details) and because
In summary, you should read the book. It's really good. You should also know that this book deals very heavily with the themes of sexual assault, so, if that's triggering to you, you shouldn't read the book. I thought it handled the themes really really well, but, yeah, be informed and don't re-traumatize yourself.
...this means I need to find something else to read...
That's unfortunate.
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Sexual assault
courtsbooks's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Misogyny
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
rileydobereading's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship and Sexual content
Moderate: Drug use, Sexism, Sexual assault, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Drug abuse, Forced institutionalization, Car accident, Alcohol, and War