Reviews with content warning for Sexual harassment - A Study in Drowning

Reviews tagging 'Sexual harassment'

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

422 reviews

ambermoony's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful medium-paced

3.0

okay first of all I thought the audiobook narrator was great, I really liked her performance. I really liked the setting! I thought the worldbuilding was pretty solid and the descriptions of all the locations were nice and evocative. I think the SA storyline was well-handled for the most part.

The romance was sweet enough but felt quite rushed, or maybe the writing just didn't give the best idea of the passage of time.

every time either of the characters professed that they'd wanted each other for such a long time I was just like. it has been like a couple weeks at most what are you talking about.

The prose is quite lovely but it does start to feel repetitive and kind of tedious at a point. There are only so many sea metaphors and similes you can make and ways to describe the exact same emotions over and over I suppose.

I don't always mind when a story is predictable but here it largely makes the characters come off as frustratingly stupid when I'm supposed to believe they're both clever.

The fact that Myrrdin's wife wrote the book is obvious from the moment the question of authorship is raised, okay, but the way they completely dismiss the widow and never seem to deem her worthy of looking into, that the possibility the woman in the photos could be his wife never seems to even cross their minds, that they never consider, especially after Effie's heartbreak over the possibility that a misogynist wrote the book, that maybe a woman wrote Angharad- it is all just kind of ludicrous. it could have tied perfectly into the themes of women being ignored and not listened to or believed- and how even the protagonists themselves fall into that trap!!- but it's never really addressed that way and the main characters are never criticised for it. And I just think that's a waste that makes the twist feel even more poorly executed.

stories where the protagonist is doubting their perception of reality can make for a tricky balance to strike. in this case I wasn't sure whether or not the author wanted the reader to genuinely doubt that supernatural elements were real

, but for me it was always obvious that they were. I think Effie's struggle between believing in what she was seeing vs what other people told her was real worked very well early on but it got to a point where she was ping-ponging back and forth between total belief and complete (and sometimes seemingly quite baseless) doubt got to feel a little frustrating and, again, repetitive

.

Overall this book started off promising and I certainly don't think it's bad, but at a certain point I was just kind of waiting for it to be over :(

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p2evavaras's review against another edition

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hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-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? It's complicated

4.75

I really-really liked this story! It was comforting for my soul and the characters were well constructed, even tho it's quite a short book I felt like there was something to be learned about them at every page-turn.

Effy was quite clearly mentally troubled but I liked the author's representation of her anxieties, as in they felt true to life. I also loved the small romance between Preston and Effy, it worked great as a subplot and gave the story a more lighthearted tone, also their banter was -chefs kiss-!!

The only reason why the book didn't get 5 stars from me is the very-very ending - it wasnt a bad ending by any means but something about it left me feeling like it was a tad bit rushed and somehow didn't feel as well thought-out and put-together as the rest of the book.

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alwu283's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

4.25

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theonlybaillie's review

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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karinreadsalot's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

2.0

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bookthief404's review against another edition

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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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malakahmed639's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I'd give it 2.5 but it's 3.5 cuz it's still enjoyable yet an expectable one with expectable ending.
The first 40% were making it hard to get into, too much inner monologue and info dumping that u skipped. The reason the other 60% was better because the interaction with Preston (a nice gentleman) was fun but I don't get the romantic chemistry between them it seemed forced. Also why does it seem like she is starting to heal because of her night with him😭. I still don't get how is architecture below literature it doesn't make senses. I started this one bec it's Gothic (they say) and the Mc wanted literature but chose architecture, that's what I am doing rn but obv not for the same reason 🤡. Didn't start my 1st year of architecture yet but I am sure making blueprints isn't that easy as making sketches for a drawing even if it's in mid 20s it doesn't work like that😭

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aleilvandrea's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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purplewidow's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

3.0

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cbharpy's review

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dark 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? It's complicated

4.0

I almost didn't get past the beginning of this book; Effy was so anxious and traumatized that my own anxiety and traumatic memories were responding. But I'm glad I pushed through. The mystery quickly tripped me; the romance charmed me, and moodiness of the setting was so real to me.
I rooted for Effy the whole way through, and her successes were cathartic for me. I no longer identify as a woman (trans masc), but I have experienced the same treatment from men that Effy does. I didn't realize how much I needed a story with

internal triumph over sexual assault and gaslighting

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