Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - A Study in Drowning

I rated this book a 5.5 out of 10. There are many elements to this novel I enjoy, but I wish each had been explored more. By dropping the adolescent romance, more effort could be dedicated to expanding the settings and main plotlines.

Ava Reid writes beautiful phrases and sprinkles them throughout the chapters. Her artistic metaphors rest on the boundry of remaining applicable. The wording captures the reader, but any further, the intention would be lost. She uses imagery to convey emotion and the characters' mindsets.

The characters fell a bit flat for me. Each character was one dimensional and served only one purpose throughout the book. Preston exists to be an on-paper protective love interest. Effy is constantly reminding you how misogyny, sexism, and her beauty overshadow her genius. Every other character means nothing to me.

Effy's low-key racist. Her xenophobia is front and center, but we are
overlooking that? Why?! Time and time again, she shows her
academic rivalry" is really just her prejudice against Argantians.

I wanted more from the fairy-tale.

We are to believe the Fairy King is real, so why are there literally ZERO other elements involved? Everything points to Effy actually having mental health issues where she has "episodes." If Angharad was a ghost/spirit or if Effy would have seen an alternate reality through the hagstones, these would be easy places to incorporate fantasy aspects.

Is Effy a reliable narrator? Honestly, I'm left thinking the fantasy aspect is really part of Effy's imagination. She experienced great trauma from her mother, and her obsession with Myrddin's novel plays a role in her coping. I'm left to feel she really has mental health issues, and maybe the pink pills are good for her.

I know that's not the conclusion I'm "supposed" to reach, but...

I wish there had been more development in the setting and the characters. The countries, the North and South, the school, the house, the land... I could never picture them. The only thing I was able to imagine was the door to the basement. There is this whole world Reid introduced in this book, but we never get a clear picture of what it's like.

I really wanted to love this book. Part of me feels I would have enjoyed it more as a physical book because I would get bored listening to it. I never got the feeling of being immersed in the story.

I love the moody vibes Reid is able to create. The feel and the way she conveys emotion is beautiful. I wish the attention to the setting had matched. I want to visualize where the characters are and how the North/South/Bottom Hundred look and compare to each other. I wanted to pull more from the text.

Content Warnings

mynameisrebecca's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense

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

4.0

This book could have benefitted so much from a prologue or map of sorts. The world building is kind of choppy and it's really hard to figure out the geography and customs of the various people. The time frame is confusing to me as well - it's clearly meant to be a fantasy world, but it's around 150-200AD yet they have modern conveniences... Almost wish that was left out entirely. Also Effy's character is middling, and it rests a lot on her mental illness as a plot device rather than part of her character which sits weirdly with me. The story however is rich and the rest of the characters are well done.

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lila_still_reads's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

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graco's review against another edition

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2.75

Nice concept and I enjoyed the atmosphere and exploration of myth, storytelling and lengend but overall it was pretty sloppilty done. There were a ton implausible plot points to further the story and the climatic resolution/conflict was so non-climatic it was laughable. Lots of things weren't explained well or given extensive backstories (characters, magic system, reasons for the geopolitical conflict, history). The main character, Effy was also just causually nationalistic and xenophobic and I thought maybe there would be a learning moment but she but she seemed to just get over it because she was in love.

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darlingmoira's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious medium-paced

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

2.75

This is not the book for me. The writing style is good, it allowed me to finish the book despite really struggling with the story.
This book is talked about as an enemies to lovers but once again hugely misses the mark! The “enemies” part relies on the main character being openly racist to her counterpart. For the majority of the book she talks and thinks about how her soon to be lover shouldn’t even be allowed to study at her school.
The plot could have been really well done if it removed that aspect of the story completely.
I have to acknowledge that the “feminist” aspects of this story are well done. How the main character handles a SA situation internally and then makes progress with dealing with it is portrayed very realistically. Everything about that part of the story is well done but otherwise book would have just been a 2 and nothing more.

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amyalwaysbooked's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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