Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - A Study in Drowning

I was fortunate to start reading this book with no prior knowledge of its plot, so I had no high expectations of a rivals-to-lovers plot or a dark academia setting. I rated this book 3.75* mainly because of how enjoyable the dark, rainy and oppressive atmosphere was, but also because it left me wishing I could pick up a copy of Angharad to read. I enjoyed the prose, and while it is clear that the author loves the overuse of similes, I thought this suited the book. I look forwarding to reading this again, to see what I missed now that I know the mysteries.

I've read mixed reviews of Effy's character, but, for the most part, I thought she was well written and believable. Less so were Preston and Ianto, both of whom would have benefitted from more depth and personality. Likewise, the broader worldbuilding left much to be desired. The emphasis on a literature degree over an architectural one felt contrived and unconvincing, and while Effy was not supposed to be a strong architect student, the vague descriptions of her 'work' on the house made me think that the author doesn't know much about architecture either. Lastly, the allusion to a war seemed tacked on, serving little purpose beyond highlighting Effy's xenophobia toward Preston, which went unresolved.

Ultimately, this is a book that would have benefitted from additional pages.

Content Warnings

amandaaahyde's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous dark emotional hopeful 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? It's complicated

5.0

Another book devoured in a day. I couldn't put it down and it has lingered in my dreams.

"I was a woman when it was convenient to blame me, and a girl when they wanted to use me."

Content Warnings

nozycozy's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional hopeful mysterious 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? No

4.25

Content Warnings

kiwij96's review against another edition

Go to review page

adventurous challenging dark mysterious sad tense slow-paced

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

3.5

I was excited to read this book as it featured a lot of words in my country's language and that's always a winner for me, especially when places like Lake Bala (Llyn Tegid in North Wales) and Saltney (definitely not based on the town in North Wales) are mentioned in the book. And Caer-Isel was an interesting University town name too for me as it translates to Hell Fort.

The book was only okay in comparison, the majority of it was long drawn out internal conflicts and all the characters were unlikeable. I also do not love books where the FMC is described as beautiful by literally every male character (main or otherwise), nor do I love books where the two characters say they love each other after knowing each other for 2 weeks. And for a book following two scholars, neither of them seemingly did any work. Or rather Effy seemed to do all of Preston's work while he had nervous breakdowns.

Don't get me wrong though, the book raised some important points about women's stories being erased and their voices never being heard. And I really appreciated the way that it ended. However, for 280 pages of Effy's internal conflict and the characters barely attempting to put the pieces of their puzzle together, the last 90 pages felt like the story could have been so much shorter.

From a Welsh person's perspective, the fact the house was called Hiraeth was a nice touch. "Hiraeth" being the feeling of homesickness or longing for a homeland you can never return to (a word meant specifically for the people of Wales). That was a constant foreshadowing in the story and one which I enjoyed very much.

Content Warnings

chelbawamba's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious reflective medium-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

2.75

This is my second attempt with this author and sadly I don’t think I can be convinced to try again. Ava Reid relies heavily on simile and metaphor, to a point of excessiveness, does a lot of telling instead of showing, and everything happens to this main character “suddenly” or “for some reason.” Even when the reason was obvious to me as a reader, it happened “for some reason.”

Overall, the concept of the story was interesting, but the way it was executed was extremely predictable. I knew early on what most of the reveals at the end were going to be. In my opinion, there is a fine line between good foreshadowing and offering too much too early on.

A personal pet peeve of mine is when characters speak about each other as if they’ve known each other for a long time when it’s only been a few days, for example: saying things like “he’s always been kind to me,” or “I had never seen him this flustered” when the character only knew the other person for maybe a collective three hours. This happened frequently in the first half of the book.

I didn’t not enjoy it, but I also didn’t enjoy it. Would not necessarily recommend it, but it had its moments and kept me engaged through the end.

Content Warnings

sabbathsoul's review against another edition

Go to review page

Too many unnecessary details made most of the book read like bad flavor text. Certain themes didn't mesh well with each other and the characters got on my nerves.

Content Warnings

haileekaye's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

Content Warnings

More...