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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
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
i dnf. the characters felt flat and i found it boring
mysterious
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
informative
inspiring
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
DNF. Couldn’t understand the world/time-period influence. No attachment to characters and found the narrator annoying.
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-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
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
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
Book Review: A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid
4.5 ⭐️ | 0.5 🌶️ (closed door but a bit more descriptive than other YA books)
This novel is a literary analysis lover's dream. Each sentence and description was chosen with such care. I was amazed at Ava Reid’s ability to utilize imagery as a way to evoke emotional awareness in our main characters. I can’t help but think of my creative writing professor who said to show, not tell. Ava could write a master class on this topic.
I would go as far as to say that this is a story that will have you analyze the intention behind words so closely. As you read it, you’ll find various meanings all in the same sentence. Beyond just the connection to the characters and story, but to life as we know it.
From the beginning, I knew that our main protagonist, Effy, was a girl who existed on two different planes. One where she’s hyper aware of what is going on around her, and the other, where she is so deep into her own thoughts that she drowns in them. I found her to be flighty at first and inconsistent, but as the story continued, I began learning the nuances of what happened to her before the book even started. It was a slow reveal, but one that felt earned and also made me love (appreciated) her even more.
Preston, on the other hand, was the perfect mirror to Effy. They have a lot of similarities in how they analyze life and the words that fuel them. However, he is seeking truth as a way to fuel his ambition to live justly. Effy is seeking truth to live freely of the constraints life has put upon her. Preston does a great job of getting Effy to feel and live in the present moment. He is a walking green flag, and I will hear no slander upon his name—unlike the rest of the male characters in this book.
I’d like to talk a little bit about setting and story as well. The setting in which the story takes place is so euphoric and mythical but very much feels like a novel written by Edgar Allan Poe, Emily Brontë, and similar writers of that period. I’m not comparing the written work to those authors, but rather more to the feeling this world evokes. I loved the added dimension of fae and folklore to the story. It wasn’t used to detract from the human problems and issues this world faced but instead shone a light on them in a different way. The background of war and segregation between two parts of a country was similar to the Civil War in some regards, but without the slavery component. My only complaint is that I never got a good enough understanding of the conflict between Ilyrians and Argantians. It was almost glossed over, and I felt like I was missing some important context regarding the social structure of the world in which we’re inhabiting. I can admit, though, that that it is not necessarily pertinent to the plot. I do think though that it would have added more nuance to the characters interactions amongst each other.
Effy’s mission to reassert her own power and uncover the truth about her greatest literary hero was the main driver of this story. Along the journey, we get to see what it’s like for someone to learn that their heroes aren’t as heroic as they’d like to believe. I felt for Effy as she went on this journey; her character growth was exactly what I hope to see in a YA story. This doesn’t even read as explicitly YA as I would have thought. It felt human and messy, but in a way that adults could also understand and relate to. I’d like to add that the ending was as mysterious and awe-inspiring as the sea this whole story was connected too. I could predict some of what was revealed, but it was unveiled to me slowly, like the tide revealing the sand. I enjoyed this, and I am so intrigued that I immediately bought the next book.
If you do pick up this story, the pacing at the beginning feels a bit slow. The writing style was also a little hard for me to get into. That said, once I got into it, I couldn’t stop reading and couldn’t stop thinking about it. I found myself only stopping to sit down and write my thoughts, as if I was composing an essay. I have so many tabs with eloquent quotes I read, and I will be sure to share them.
Note: This novel mentions sexual assault and power dynamics (student/ professor). Nothing explicit, but it is alluded to quite clearly.
Should this spill into your TBR? Yes!!
You’ll enjoy this if you like
✨ Historical fantasy
💕 Academic rivals to lovers
🌊 Vivid imagery
😎 Strong character development
🖋️ Lyrical writing
🧚 Fae elements and mysticism
The writing in this book was so atmospheric. I loved all the little blurbs at the beginning of each chapter. The story didn’t hit me as hard as I’d hoped, though, and I did guess the plot twist a good while before it happened. I wish the theming was a little less overt.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No