Reviews with content warning for Violence - A Study in Drowning

As usual, a book by Ava Reid is phenomenal. But I think it’s the weakest of her current books, for one reason only: I think the demographic rating actually held her back a bit. If she’d been allowed to delve into it the way she went into Juniper & Thorn, this book would have been a masterpiece.

And that isn’t to say that the contents of this book were too “adult” for the YA genre or some other nonsense— as a mentally ill, Jewish SA survivor myself, Ava’s writing and handling of such topics means the world to me— but I know that she could’ve pulled out all the stops for such a story with no limitations placed upon her.

I also guessed the puzzle pieces of the mystery early on, but this was written like a good mystery: it allows the reader to figure things out for themself and the conclusion makes them feel like an intellectual instead of annoyed by a sudden rug-pull.

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girrllie's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense slow-paced

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

2.5

I think the author is intrigued by and wanted to write water imagery and metaphor and fit a story around it.

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sappix's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

4.75

I’ve been waiting for a proper modern Gothic ever since I first read my all-time favourite novel Wuthering Heights (my own Angharad). It had everything I was looking for and more - and in a YA novel, no less! This was definitely dark enough to be a full adult book; it did not hold back.

However, there are a couple of things holding back .25% of a full five star rating got me:

Firstly, there’s this personal, nagging quote I didn’t like. One of Preston’s last lines: “I don’t believe in objective truth anymore”. Like, I understand this is also a fantasy novel in which myths and dark Fairy Kings are real (or is he?) and truth in fantasy is different. HOWEVER, in this age of rampant misinformation, anti-intellectualism, and diminishing of what “truth” means, it rubbed me the wrong way. Because there is such a thing as objective truth in real life, at least in most regards. I understand not everything is objective and for individual human lives and feelings things can be subjective. This quote just rubbed me the wrong way.

Second: I think Effy and Preston could have had more character development. I love that Effy is more quiet, introverted, and not externally / physically strong, but I did feel she wasn’t given much agency by Reid. Effy seemed to develop rapidly at the end and in the final moments at Hiraeth Manor she framed her developing sense of worth on Preston and his view of her instead of her own self. And to some degree it’s fine; we all need to be rescued and externally validated to grab a foothold in our lives and struggles sometimes. I just think there is a way to be naturally more meek and quiet, yet strong, without derivation of self worth coming from a man.

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leonormsousa's review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? No

3.5

Interesting concept but I thought the execution was a bit meh.
Quite an atmospheric book with a nice setting but the plot was very very predictable.
Totally my fault on this one, but read way too much YA for me.
Thought the main character was a bit insufferable some times.
The topics of sexual assault and feminism were well woven and explored in the story, especially considering the target audience. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for the romance, which I felt had a very weird progression and didn't feel natural.
Finally, would have loved if we had left the fantasy part more as an open ending, where we got to doubt the MC pov and make thr story more universal in a way.
Just a fun thing: some others can't stop mentioning blue eyes, apparently Ava Reid has an obsession with crown bones.

Rant with minor spoilers regarding something I didn't enjoy:

I specifically thought that the scene where the MC and LI kiss for the first time and then immediately move on to having sex felt very out of character for the MC (and not because she is a SA victim). also why do they never kiss again in the entire book?! Also, can we have better sex representation in books?! I think the fade to black was a good decision for this book, but then did we have to mention how they only just had penetrative sex and it hurt a bit and then it was pleasurable?! Can we start showing young adults good examples, that focus on other types of stimulation as well, especially for women?!

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beefthedwarf's review against another edition

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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? No

3.75

No Spoilers:

"A Study In Drowning" was captivating, magical, and mysterious. I typically am not drawn to romances, but the relationship between the main love interests was compelling and sweet. I often see the book marketed as Enemies to Lovers or Rivals to Lovers, but I'd moreso call it Disagreement to Lovers or perhaps simply Opposites Attract.

Act 1 is quite slow to pick up, Act 2 does a good job building the tension, and Act 3 is exhilarating -- until it's not. It seems like the author lost some confidence that her work would speak for itself and added 30-ish pages of exposition that essentially explained the whole book and then some. A lot of it would have been more rewarding sprinkled through the earlier parts of the book. Nonetheless, it is very well structured.

Overall, the book was an amazing read and extremely rich in both prose, world building, and themes surrounding misogyny and sexual assault (both literal and metaphorical).

Spoilers:

Something I thought was interesting about the book was that Reid created this entirely new world of fantasy realism just as the backdrop for her academic mystery. It could have just as easily been set in the irl 20th century United Kingdom. This isn't a gripe -- it's a fascinating choice that I found myself enjoying immensely. The faintly magical history, the cultural views of the characters, the fake excerpts from fake scholarly critiques and essays, the vague implication that this is a post apocalyptic fantasy future following the impact of irl climate disaster... -chefs kiss-

Act 1 was slow to start, as if the author wasn't quite sure where to begin. In her effort to avoid giving away Effy's character and history too quickly, the beginning was just too vague and I found myself almost DNF-ing. I just didn't feel compelled to care about any of the characters yet.

Ava Reid did an excellent job finding ways to push her characters to engage with the plot. This was especially important considering Effy as a character is described as an escape artist -- always running away from difficult problems. The plot really starts when Effy has no way to go back to college OR go back home. While her psychosis ends up just being the "Magical Psychosis" trope (booooo), I feel like her other mental illness is very real. The splitting, the assumptions, the black and white thinking, the urge to escape, the lack of identity colliding with the urge to know how other people view her, etc. All very common for folks with C-PTSD (or, if I were to armchair diagnose her, BPD). I feel like the author was very well versed in Effy's style of trauma response and handled it well.

I don't know how many times Effy was described swallowing her pills dry. Folks -- DO NOT DO THIS. I don't know how this poor girl did not develop an ulcer.

The book glosses over a lot of the characters' bodily functions. As far as we can tell, Effy's guesthouse has no bathroom, and the only bathroom we see in Hiraeth Manor is dilapidated and Ianto doesn't allow Effy to use it. Where does she piss?! Where does anyone piss?! No one ever seemed to eat breakfast or dinner either, except the one time at Blackmar's mansion. While there is a degree in which an author shouldn't be expected to elaborate each and every human maintenance, this was a very noticeable exclusion.

I loved the artificial history and scholarship surrounding Myrddin and literature as a whole in Llyr. It really made the world feel big and real, even if it was just a backdrop for the mystery. It made the characters feel big and real -- the world matters to them. However, I was disappointed that there was a brief descent into the politics of the warring countries, their respective settler colonial history, and which of them could actually be considered the aggressor, only to have it dropped entirely without a single additional mention.

I often see the book marketed as Enemies to Lovers or Rivals to Lovers, but I'd moreso call it Disagreement to Lovers or perhaps simply Opposites Attract. Effy got annoyed at Preston for petty reasons and Preston was more or less minding his business. There was a moment of conflict upon Effy discovering the truth of Preston's thesis, but an alliance formed quickly. It was well done and great to read, but not exactly what I'd call Enemies/Rivals to Lovers.

The changeling reveal for Effy was a bit sloppy, in my opinion. While the book was clear there was a secret to Effy, it would have been more interesting and rewarding if the concept of changelings and their naming conventions had come up earlier in the book.

The book deals heavily with Effy's sexual assault trauma and her responses -- escaping, escapism, anxiety, lying, splitting, emotional responses, etc. I also feel like the book was not-so-subtly hinting at the affects of childhood sexual trauma as well, thought less explicitly described. This can be seen in the way Effy both admires and vilifies Angharad (the character), and fears and fantasizes about the Fairy King. It makes sense -- even if the Fairy King did not touch her the same way her human assailant did, knowing that an adult wants to take you as a child bride is incredibly distressing.

Act 2 does a good job building the tension, and Act 3 is exhilarating -- until it's not. It seems like the author lost some confidence that her work would speak for itself and added 30-ish pages of exposition that essentially explained the whole book and then some. A lot of it would have been more rewarding sprinkled through the earlier parts of the book. It was incredibly boring sitting and reading Angharad reveal the answers to all the mysteries to our protagonists who'd almost died trying to solve them. Most of the evidence they managed to uncover was lost entirely, which was disappointing -- but I suppose they needed that information as the big push to go into the basement and find the box, which did survive. Given that Reid gave an acknowledgment to Zelda (presumably Fitzgerald) at the end of the book, I suppose Angharad's long winded exposition was the spirit of every female writer whose work secretly bolstered a man's career. Still, it was just not very fun to read after the excitement of the climax.

Speaking of the climax -- at some point, I totally lost track of how Ianto was doing anything. How was he grabbing Preston AND shackling him to chains AND hammering a stake into a wall AND holding a musket to his chest? Totally took me out of the scene trying to figure it out.

Overall, the book was an amazing read and extremely rich in both prose, world building, and themes surrounding misogyny and sexual assault (both literal and metaphorical). The Fairy King as a stand in for sexual trauma and grooming, paired with the recurring symbol of green representing victimhood, was very gratifying.

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wrensreadingroom's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

5.0

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sandwiiche's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense 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

3.75

an easy and enjoyable read! i liked the eerie, unsettling vibes, but didn't quite connect to the main character and found her to be a little bit frustrating sometimes.

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honuzbubbles's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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