Reviews tagging 'Violence'

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

84 reviews

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)!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Alcoholism, Car accident, and War

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

mollieweitzman's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

This was everything!!! Am I Ava Reid’s biggest fan now?!?? Yall were right!! Absolutely the best book to finish while in the dark and with no power for 3 days after a hurricane the vibes could not be more perfect I fear. Literally in the second drowning as we speak!!
 
As an aside I didn’t really like Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross and I know the plot doesn’t match up at all but this was kind of exactly the vibe I was wanting and missing from that!

 This book like it literally has EVERYTHING that I have ever wanted in a book please read this my moody dark academia girls who love the cruel prince and women destroying shithead men in power!! DO IT DO IT 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Xenophobia and Abandonment

artmuseam's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective 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? No

3.75

this book had everything i love in a romantasy: magic, academia, two misunderstood people who fell in love, and historical fantasy. i would say this was honestly pretty good for a ya debut novel, but i think the ending was very predictable, which made this book fall short. the pacing and world building was really well done throughout the beginning and middle parts, and i loved the slow but steady unraveling of the mystery. the ending ended up being exactly what i predicted, though, which left me feeling slightly disappointed. i wanted some sort of shocking plot twist after such a large buildup happening from the start, but i think the author decided to leave plot extravagance away from the focus. still, it was an enjoyable read and i loved the aesthetic and deep metaphors behind the story. 3.75/5 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

bookthief404's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• 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

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, Violence, and Sexual harassment

starlesscircus's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Physical abuse and Violence

Minor: Sexual assault

wooblatoober's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious medium-paced

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

4.5

this review is littered with spoilers so do not read it if you haven’t read the book yet. i’m spoiler tagging the most major spoilers but i am leaving things unspoilered that might or might not be considered spoilers depending on the reader

i really loved some aspects of this book but was really bothered by others—i loved the imagery & the metaphors really made me feel the way i believe the author wanted me to feel. parts were very cozy in ways i haven’t felt since i was probably 14. i LOVED the love interest & i had a huge crush on him because he’s so perfect. whenever there was a scene without him, i wanted him to come back, & i believe reid did a good job of making him incredibly caring while still empowering the female lead. the book covered serious topics regarding misogyny & sexual assault very well,

& the way effy was able to bond with angharad & angharad was able to get some sort of justice was really touching to me, not to mention how the symbolism of angharad (who lived much of her life under an entity that seems to represent, as a whole, misogyny, patriarchy, & predation) being able to help effy break out of that cycle for herself. i also liked that even though angharad is old, it’s not treated like she lost her entire life under the repression of a man twice her age who was also sometimes the fairy king. very empowering that it was treated like, despite what was taken from her, she still had life in front of her to live, & be strong, & be free.

lastly, i could identify with effy’s sexual trauma in poignant ways. i really enjoyed reading this book for most of my time reading it & i liked it enough that i’ll likely reread it, which i don’t often do.
my complaint is this: effy’s fucking racist. & i love a problematic character who grows & learns lessons & changes, BUT SHE FUCKING DOESN’T!!! it’s just not dealt with well & leaves a bad taste in my mouth. she even calls him slurs at one point and i don’t think she ever took accountability for that at all??? like it seems like she got an argantian boyfriend so she’s absolved of all racism against argantians. it really just gives, “i can’t be racist because my boyfriend’s argantian (or insert any race/ethnicity/nationality in place of that).” book is also hypnotically caucasian, which, like, i know it’s set in a fictional place based on wales & england, but it’s a FICTIONAL PLACE so do all these characters really gotta be beans and toast ass motherfuckers?? last complaint, she throws her long blonde hair into a messy bun 👎 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Sexual content, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement, Racial slurs, Rape, Violence, Kidnapping, and War

edilyaaang's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.75

Reading this book felt like a rollercoaster ride. 

Got really confused about everything at first especially because there were lots of gaps in the beginning. There were times that that I rolled my eyes hard at some parts but in the end I felt like those things married the story together in a way that gave it more depth.

 But whew, I did not expect the story to turn that way. Though I have already guessed some parts of the story, the plots twists blew my mind off.

Especially how the Fairy King was real. I did not see that one coming. And that bed scene came out of nowhere LMFAO.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Blood, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Death, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, and Grief

Minor: Animal death, Confinement, and Violence

hannahlikesbooks_'s review against another edition

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault and Violence

hspfost's review against another edition

dark inspiring mysterious reflective 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

5.0

This book gets a 5 for impossibly perfect water metaphors.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, and Gaslighting

Minor: Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, and Car accident