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jos_haunted_library's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-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
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Misogyny, and Classism
Moderate: Death of parent, Bullying, Emotional abuse, Xenophobia, Violence, Abandonment, and War
Minor: Blood, Gun violence, and Injury/Injury detail
booksalacarte's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-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
2.75
A Study in Drowning- 2.5⭐️ 2.75🌶️
YA Fantasy
Magical realism
Mid century ambiance
Coming of age
College setting
Underdog FMC
Visions
Ptsd
Paranormal
War
One bed
A Study in Drowning is a gothic coming of age story where the lines of fairytale and reality are blurred beyond recognition. It deals with the ideas of trauma, misogyny, prejudice, survivalism, and love.
The setting of a moldy, crumbling manor on the very edge of the sea was so vivid and a character in and of itself. I really liked the romanticism of how it was crumbling into the sea and the presented problem of what could save it. I wish there had been a little more background and world building. While it seemed to play such a prominent part in the story… everything was just vague enough that I was left disappointed. I would have preferred over-explaining.
I was captured by the ptsd and trauma that crafted the FMC’s journey, sharpening her as she went through opening herself up and telling her story. I love the idea that survival is brave…
The MMC wasn’t your typical overbearing alpha whose only purpose is to save the day. But I was as annoyed with his explained intellectualism that ended up being his only personality trait.
The chemistry between the two main characters wasn’t as palpable as possible. I think that there wasn’t enough tension to make the chemistry believable. I didn’t feel the irritable pull that comes with the bickering that happened throughout. Instead it felt like the FMC was too distracted by her perceptions of reality and her trauma to understand what what’s genuine attraction or not… In the end, while the romance wasn’t the main focus of the book, it took up way more space than it needed to… or maybe not enough?
I didn’t enjoy the prejudice and bigotry that was represented in the FMC and played off as falling in love with someone who your society is against. It was so frequently brought up and used as an excuse for witty banter when she was really just disparaging the MMC for his race/ethicist…
I liked this book, but I didn’t love it as much as I wanted to.
Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for the Advanced eReader Copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Toxic friendship, Racism, Murder, Emotional abuse, Classism, Colonisation, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Injury/Injury detail, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racial slurs, Panic attacks/disorders, Misogyny, Death, Sexism, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Gun violence, and Violence
kayceeisbookish's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Spellbinding mystery meets a twisted fantasy folly turned sinister. We all dream of meeting our favorite authors in person, but for Effy, this endeavor turns into a Drowning of her own that she never can turn back from after uncovering the truth of the manor at the sea side cliffs and the reclusive author who lived in its walls. This book was reminiscent of the Fall of the House of Usher by Poe with a strong feminist tone that gives women who have been wronged a boulder upon the shore of crashing waves to grasp and weather life's storms.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Car accident, Sexual content, Animal death, Death of parent, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Mental illness, Alcohol, Grief, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Racism
kris386's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
2.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Dementia, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexism, Child abuse, Confinement, and Death
Moderate: Classism, Gun violence, and Xenophobia
Minor: Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Blood, Violence, and Sexual content
soniajoy98's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
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
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cursing, Xenophobia, Drug use, Mental illness, Sexual harassment, Sexism, Misogyny, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Sexual content, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Emotional abuse, Religious bigotry, and Death
Minor: Forced institutionalization, Bullying, Colonisation, Stalking, Domestic abuse, Classism, Abandonment, Animal death, and Gun violence
lastblossom's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
tl;dr
An excellent mix of gothic and dark academia set in a world where the lines of reality are blurry, and the power of writing runs deep.
Thoughts
I was going through a reading dry spell when I grudgingly forced myself to start reading this book. And then I finished the entire thing in a day. The book starts at a slow pace, but it gets its hooks into you early with an uneasy sense of uncertainty with the world. There's magic in the world. Or maybe there isn't. Strange things haunt Effy at night. Or maybe they don't? All we really know is that Effy feels unwelcome, and finds solace only in her worn copy of the novel Angharad. It's no wonder that she leaps at the chance to redesign the author's house, even if the invitation seems utterly suspect. And things get even more suspect when she arrives. The house is a character unto itself, a proper gothic crumbling mansion with locked rooms and nature creeping in and out of cracks in the ceiling. It's here that the story really closes in, as reality begins to blur even more, and the mystery surrounding the house and the novel take center stage. Literature student Preston provides a good partner in both the study and romantic sense, with a softer slow-paced romance that takes a back seat to the rest of the plot. The ending is expected, but satisfying, and I found the discussion on what it means to read or write a book to be incredibly touching.
Thanks to NetGalley and HarperTeen for an advance copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.
An excellent mix of gothic and dark academia set in a world where the lines of reality are blurry, and the power of writing runs deep.
Thoughts
I was going through a reading dry spell when I grudgingly forced myself to start reading this book. And then I finished the entire thing in a day. The book starts at a slow pace, but it gets its hooks into you early with an uneasy sense of uncertainty with the world. There's magic in the world. Or maybe there isn't. Strange things haunt Effy at night. Or maybe they don't? All we really know is that Effy feels unwelcome, and finds solace only in her worn copy of the novel Angharad. It's no wonder that she leaps at the chance to redesign the author's house, even if the invitation seems utterly suspect. And things get even more suspect when she arrives. The house is a character unto itself, a proper gothic crumbling mansion with locked rooms and nature creeping in and out of cracks in the ceiling. It's here that the story really closes in, as reality begins to blur even more, and the mystery surrounding the house and the novel take center stage. Literature student Preston provides a good partner in both the study and romantic sense, with a softer slow-paced romance that takes a back seat to the rest of the plot. The ending is expected, but satisfying, and I found the discussion on what it means to read or write a book to be incredibly touching.
Thanks to NetGalley and HarperTeen for an advance copy. All thoughts in this review are my own.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, and Gun violence
Minor: Alcohol
kays_reading_journal's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
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
3.5
A Study in Drowning is the YA Fantasy child of Emily Wildes Encyclopedia of Faeries and Divine Rivals. This novel is a stand-alone and is 3rd person pov. It takes place in a fictional world similar to the 1930-50s time period.
I really did have a fun time reading this and didn’t want to put it down towards the end, but I also had some problems with it. The synopsis sounded like way too much going on, but I actually think it was all tied together nicely in the end.
Writing Style: I’ll be honest, the first 50 pages was painful to get through and I don’t know why it felt so different from the rest of the novel. In the first fifty pages, the writing style is choppy, it’s telling and not showing, and I couldn’t figure out the setting. But I didn’t have any of those problems in the rest of the novel.
Characters: Effy’s prejudice to Argantians was incredibly annoying and I didn’t like the way it was handled. (For background, Argantian is the neighboring country that is at war with Effy’s country, and it’s where the LI is from). Effy said just absolutely disgusting things to the LI, barely apologized, and never really checked her prejudice as a whole. It was more of a “oh I met this one Argantian who isn’t that bad, oops” but her thoughts towards the nation as a whole are never held accountable.
Romance: I also felt that their relationship could’ve been developed more, or that the pacing could’ve been better. This was described as rivals to lovers but the rival part is very one sided and is just rooted in Effy’s prejudice. This story is also not romance focused.
Plot: As for the plot, it was fun to read and I wasn’t sure till the end if it was going to be happy or sad or a cliffhanger, but I did have the plot twist figured out at 60% so I wish it had been a little bit more held back from the reader.
As far as diversity/ rep goes, I believe everyone in this novel was white? There wasn’t anything that led me to believe otherwise, unless I missed some description. There is one sapphic side couple, that gets maybe three pages of time.
Overall, despite the issues, I still enjoyed this book and the gothic setting was definitely there. I was reading this with the light on because something about the depiction of the Fairy King really got to me.
Thank you to NetGalley and HarperTeen for an eARC in exchange for an honest review.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Bullying, Misogyny, Sexism, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Abandonment and Gun violence
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