Reviews tagging 'Car accident'

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

29 reviews

reddeddy's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Stalking, Sexism, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Violence, Sexual content, Body shaming, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Classism, Confinement, Child abuse, and Mental illness

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Physical abuse, Rape, Terminal illness, War, Animal death, Torture, Suicidal thoughts, Drug use, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Blood, Colonisation, Dysphoria, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Medical trauma, Religious bigotry, Body horror, Bullying, Car accident, and Deportation

desiderium_incarnate's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.5

I think this story will stay with me for a bit.

For most of the book I was unsure how reliable Effy was as a narrator but I think think that might reflect more on me than it does on the book. It really is beautifully written, I just have one issue: Everyone mentions how smart and brave Effy is and of course, yes, she is, but whyyyy did you not go talk to the secretive and reclusive widow of your favorite author when you had the chance? Like you literally did everything including destruction and theft of property and nearly dying in a drowned basement instead of trying to communicate with people that are there and have not explicitly told you to fuck off yet. I was just waiting for them to get to that for nearly half the book so that was incredibly frustrating. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Death, Mental illness, Child abuse, Murder, Car accident, Child death, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Abandonment, Alcohol, Classism, Sexism, Medical content, Misogyny, Sexual harassment, Death of parent, and Panic attacks/disorders

daydaybookbay's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

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

2.75

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.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug use, Abandonment, Emotional abuse, Sexual harassment, Racism, Panic attacks/disorders, Violence, Alcohol, Classism, Mental illness, Addiction, Misogyny, Bullying, Child abuse, Cursing, Sexism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Xenophobia

Minor: Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Death, Child death, and War

micaelamariem's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring reflective medium-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? It's complicated

5.0

I loved this book! The writing and word choice was beautiful. The character development impressive. The worldbuilding involves creating whole new myths and stories and studies which I always find impressive. I’m in love with Preston. But above all, I love the extended metaphor of what it’s like to be a trauma survivor and what is required to survive; especially for women who survive violence against them at the hands of men. This was absolutely beautiful. Full review on my blog to come tomorrow. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism, Sexism, War, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Misogyny, Violence, Car accident, Abandonment, Alcoholism, Grief, Sexual assault, Classism, Death, Sexual harassment, Bullying, Addiction, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Cursing, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, and Sexual content

kiwij96's review against another edition

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Sexism, Drug use, Death of parent, Child abuse, and Bullying

Moderate: Religious bigotry, Addiction, Mental illness, Alcoholism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Abandonment, Medical trauma, Child death, and Car accident

chelbawamba's review against another edition

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Kidnapping, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Murder, Mental illness, Colonisation, Alcohol, Sexual assault, Death, Car accident, Addiction, Xenophobia, Sexism, Rape, Racism, Violence, Sexual violence, Sexual content, Misogyny, Gaslighting, Emotional abuse, Classism, Sexual harassment, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Physical abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Drug abuse, Death of parent, and Child abuse

milcahh's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism

Moderate: Xenophobia, Death of parent, Car accident, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Abandonment

Minor: Grief, Vomit, Confinement, and War

fraxica's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional hopeful inspiring 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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Misogyny, Classism, Panic attacks/disorders, and Confinement

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Car accident

The main character immediately shows distress over the micro actions her classmates, revealing slowly over the course of the story that they heard rumors of her having a sexual relationship with a school advisor. Eventually, she admits to herself that she didn't want the relationship to begin with and he exerted his power and control over her. There are flash-backs that show the relationship and abuse. At the end of the book, a newly revealed character has a very similar story and that is described as well. Although both characters take back a sense of agency in the finale, the entire book sits with the weight of their abuse, showing how powerful men use younger women. HEAVY SPOILER: the fictional fae book that drives the story is actually written by a young woman whose abuser bartered her father for the rights to her and her story. He claimed both for his own and succumbed to the Faerie King, which led to her abuse and captivity.

ladypalutena's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

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

2.5

I really wanted to like this book.

There are three main issues I have:

1. The pacing. The first chapter starts off with Effy saying she's going to enter a contest, then the second chapter starts with her winning the contest. The second chapter ends with there being a few weeks until she leaves for the Bottom Hundred, and the third chapter opens with her on the train. It's so disjointed, it's hard to keep track of time in any way. 

2. Effy. I know not every protagonist can be a strong independent woman, but there are no redeeming qualities for Effy for 90% of the book.

It's not until she faces down the fairy king that she grows any sort of spine, and even then, it's all to save Preston, it's not for herself.

3. The "love story." It's forced. Like, beyond forced.

The scene where Effy suddenly tries to mount him in the study? Where did that come from? Up until then she's spent most of the book either actively hating him or begrudgingly working with him.

There is no chemistry between the two whatsoever, and

the sex scene is WAY too forced. It's not like something out of ACOTAR or other romantasy books, but it is so wildly out of place in this book it's laughable

. 

The most egregious thing, I think, is that

the second to last chapter is just the Widow telling the two of them how everything happened. She appears out of nowhere to save them, and decides to tell them everything when she could have actually saved them long before this. It's lazy, and it's completely telling, not showing. I wanted more hints of something throughout the book, but it's all dumped at the end. The "hints" throughout are not very good.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Gaslighting

Minor: Car accident, Death of parent, and Animal death

tired_cicada's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

There is something to say about a world and a magic system that feel lived in. And if there's one thing that I can appreciate it's an author who trusts her readers to be smart enough to figure things out. Reid doesn't waste unnecessary time on flowery exhibition about how her world works, you just get thrown into it and you sink or swim. Personally, I like that a lot. I don't need an author to hold my hand the entire time and so would an author just says "here you go, figure it out" I just know I'm going to have a great time. Particularly if it's a standalone that needs to be good on its own merit.

I think that this is magical realism at its finest. The world in "A Study in Drowning" is very similar to our own from the 50s and 60s. Many of us have a working knowledge of that time period so it's easy to fill in the blanks for what's going on. Furthermore, the magic system is so well entrenched into the culture that it feels like a natural part of the world. So often magic systems are slapped onto a world but don't seem to affect it down to a day-to-day.

Reid's writing is very poetic, almost to the point of being lyrical in some cases. In previous experience my main criticism with this writing style is that it seems the authors will get so attached to certain phrases that they're dialogue suffers. As in out of nowhere a character who was previously flamboyant and ridiculous is all the sudden preaching at a pulpit over tea. I do not have this criticism here. Each of Reid's characters have a distinct voice that they keep throughout the story. It's easy to know who's speaking as none of them sound the same.

anyway I'm glad that Mr Benett(I listen to the audio books I don't know how it's spelled) got fired or whatever but he deserved to go to jail at least and I'm so mad that he didn't

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Body horror, Sexism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Rape, Car accident, Death, Sexual assault, Stalking, and Abandonment

Minor: War, Death of parent, Gun violence, Infidelity, Physical abuse, and Grief