Reviews with content warning for Blood - A Study in Drowning

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A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

49 reviews

chezler24's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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

Via melding dark academia with eerie fantasy elements, Ava Reid has created a fairly successful mystery surrounding one of the fictional country's premier authors. Reid critiqued the country's social structure of placing women at the bottom both in daily life and more pointedly in academia. Many women, myself included, can relate to Effy Sayre in her struggle to be taken seriously by people for things that were outside of her control. I loved the atmosphere and world Reid created and wanted to learn more about Llyr and Argant. Preston and Effy served as nice foils for each other and bridged their respective realms of logic and fantasy.

While I did enjoy this read, there were some things that felt a bit rushed or I wished had been more integral to the overall plot threads. Effy wins the contest without any real struggle (yes I realize that the reason was explained later but I wish we could have seen some insight into drafting/sketching or something), her fight with the Fairy King felt like a blip, the war conflict between Argant and Llyr seemed unimportant, and the Sleeper Museum and the magic these figures possessed seemed glossed over.

The ending was nice. We see growth from Effy as well as justice for individuals wronged by those in positions of power over them.

The OwlCrate exclusive content was great! I almost wished I had a book focused solely on Angharad - the "real" one and not the book character within the book.

Probably a 3.5/5 for me. I'd place this for readers just getting into the Young Adult section with touching on more intense themes. (~16+)

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lizzye33's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful informative 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

3.75

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jos_haunted_library's review against another edition

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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

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azrah786's review against another edition

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4.25

**I was provided with an ARC through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review**

CW: misogyny/sexism, parental abuse/neglect, emotional abuse, gaslighting, adult-minor relationship/grooming, sexual harassment/assault, toxic relationship, domestic abuse, violence, injury, blood, death, death of parent, bullying, xenophobia, grief, mental illness including hallucinations and delusions, suicidal ideation and self-harming behaviors; post-traumatic stress disorder, depression, and anxiety
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This was my first Ava Reid book and it definitely won’t be my last!

A big reason for this is Reid’s writing, which is phenomenal and perfectly encapsulates the haunting and mysterious atmosphere of this story and setting.

A Study in Drowning follows Effy, a young woman who is an architecture student who grasps the opportunity to design the house of her now late favourite author, Emrys Myrddin as it also means escaping the misogyny and harassment at her institution. Upon arriving at Hiraeth Manor, Effy meets the author’s son who unsettles her with his demeanour and Preston another student who is out to prove Myrddin as a fraud.
Effy’s connection to Angharad, Myrddin’s famous book is more than just sentimental and so she falls in with Preston as a means to uphold Myrddin’s legacy but they both begin to realise that there is more to the house and the author than they expected.

I don’t actually recall reading the synopsis so discovering that the protagonist was an architecture student (albeit reluctantly, as women aren’t allowed to study literature in this world) was such a surprise! There is definitely a niche for more Dark Academia with an Architecture / Engineering focus and I have a mighty need!!

That being said the book does eventually diverge from architecture and despite the study of literature being a big part of the story I feel like genre-wise this leans more towards gothic fiction. Though there is still much commentary on the prejudice women face in academia and in society overall which was really well addressed.

On immediately finishing the book I enjoyed so many things particularly how immersive and vivid everything was and the mystery aspect to the plot. The rivals to lovers aspect did start off a little flat but I liked how it eventually developed.

I do think that the magic side of things wasn’t as fleshed out as I expected by the end, it felt more like it was there to add to the overall ambiance and was overshadowed by the themes of agency and power. Then again I am also a reader who isn’t the biggest fan of fae elements in books so this could have just been a me thing.

All that aside I did enjoy this book and i'm glad I finally picked up Reid's work!
Final Rating – 4.25/5 Stars

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krisglomb's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Things about this book that hit and hit HARD: atmosphere, a sense of doom, romantic descriptions of nature and people so heavy they feel positively gothic. This is the type of book I love however, there were some parts I felt could’ve been better.

First, the overall mystery. I liked the interplay of a haunted house/person, the ugly realities of Effy’s (and others’) day to day, and the main mystery of Angharad’s authorship. I feel like the 3 didn’t come together to make each story line stronger, however. I think it became obvious to the reader the solution to the main mystery halfway through. And while sometimes its ok for a reader to have information our MCs don’t, in this case it didn’t make much sense. And then, even though we had known the answer to the question for about half the book, we get to the end and instead of a clarity of pieces being put together in an event or revelation, its all revealed in an info dump. It wasn’t very satisfying. There was also a distinct tie between Effy’s “haunting” and her daily atrocities, but by the end they feel so far separated. Their combined resolution make her a stronger person able to step into her life more fully, but it felt like the author couldn’t quite decide if she wanted to keep her worlds separate/the consequences separate/etc.

I love this book for the potential for discussion and while sometimes the prose hit you over the head (yes, not only the sensation of drowning, but the word drowning is used HEAVILY in the book), it didn’t end up taking away from the atmospheric quality overall.

I would also say this is more light academia than dark academia. I know the definition is squishy and more of an aesthetic, but I was expecting some themes and tropes and mechanisms in this book that I didn’t get.

QUOTES

The solitude that had once comforted her had become an enormous empty space where so many bad things could happen.

She was tired, tired of trying so hard for something she didn’t even want.

It was an eternal feeling, this sense of being unwelcome.

There was an intimacy to all the violence, she supposed. The better you knew someone, the more terribly you could hurt them.

She wasn’t a Southerner, but she knew what it was like to drown.

“No one owns the right to tell a story.”

As if stories were not spoils of war.

“You don’t have to love something in order to devote yourself to it.”

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” “It’s terrifying.” “Most beautiful things are.”

“They didn’t think to fear the Drowning until the water was lapping at their door […] It’s the fear we have to learn. The fear keeps the sea from taking us.”

She was not afraid of the ghost. But she was horribly, wretchedly afraid of whatever had killed the woman it had once been.

“You’d be surprised of how much cognitive dissonance people are capable of.”

Anything can be taken from you, at any moment. Even the past isn’t guaranteed. You can lose that, too, like water eating away at stone.

Even though she was afraid of living, she didn’t want to die.

“Survival is bravery, too.”

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hailslynn's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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? Yes

5.0

This is the book I will reference whenever I talk about dark academia from now on. Poignant with beautiful prose and tough conversations. This book is heartbreaking and healing, leaving me feel seen and heard and giving me hope. Effy is strong and brave and brilliant and also fragile and scared. Preston is thoughtful and kind and the perfectly flawed male love interest to the perfectly flawed main character. This book is as real as it is fiction, and I loved getting to escape into it. Here’s to Effy.

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