Reviews - A Study in Drowning

15.2k reviews for:

A Study in Drowning

Ava Reid

3.86 AVERAGE

jwnewton18's review against another edition

5.0

adventurous dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

crystalsparkles's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

cerro7's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous dark 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: Complicated

abernin's review against another edition

3.25

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

akdiaz's review against another edition

4.5

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

readwithcesco's review against another edition

3.0

I’m not going to fluff this up with all of my overwritten opinions so I’m just going to list some hot takes.
The book is okay, not going to write home about it, but there are people out there that can love and relate this book without a doubt in my mind.

Pros:
Ava Reid’s writing is poetic and flows beautifully
The concept and idea is brilliant, however, it didn’t connect every time for me.
The ambiance is there
Honestly this book is all vibes.
Don’t trust the tropes and tags on this. They don’t hit the mark.

Cons:
This book is essentially a gothic political fiction that follows a mystery. It wasn’t giving any fantasy apart from the backdrop.
Effy was hella prejudiced for the first 30% of the book. But we’re supposed to look past that since she also faces discrimination.
Effy isn’t likeable for most of the book. That being said, if this book was marketed and written as more of a psychological thriller, it could have been epic. (For me)
Effy uses similes like nobody’s business. I noticed it immediately and thought that it was just her being poetic af. Nope, it ended up making her seem really naive and unlikeable. Children characters compare things together. A literature student (or whatever she can be considered) would NOT think or speak like this. It drove me crazy.
The antagonist was boring and predictable for me. There needed to be more fantasy elements brought into play sooner for me to not be bored by the time it was “revealed”

I have more to say, but overall the book is standard spooky vibes and I loved the love interest when Effy wasn’t a bigot for no reason. Feminist novels are amazing and so important to have in literature. However I don’t think this book does it in a positive way.