Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

115 reviews

caffeinated_magpie's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Abandonment, Child abuse, and Misogyny

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual content

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

fkshg8465's review against another edition

adventurous emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

1.75

I’ve been steadily chipping away at NPR’s 2023 favorite books list. Starting to wonder why. There seem to be more I dislike than like, including this one. Yeah, heroine is great, but a lot of it is too contrived for me, and most of the characters are really despicable.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Abandonment, Bullying, Confinement, Grief, Adult/minor relationship, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Stalking

anntharai's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective tense fast-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

Jfc I went in with no expectations and only a vague idea of story as this was a reccomendation from a friend and they were right. I loved it and hated it and it made me super uncomfortable and angry as well as fired up and ready to go. I loved this reading experience. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Gaslighting, Sexism, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Colonisation, Mental illness, Grief, Classism, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Body shaming, and Alcohol

star_charter152's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual content, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Sexual violence, Abandonment, Death, Grief, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual harassment, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Racism and Child death

Minor: Animal death

aprilyang1's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.5

“You don’t have to take up a sword. Survival is bravery, too.”

-

I didn’t love this book, but the overall development and journey left a really strong impact on me. I especially liked how the plot kind of mirrored Effy's inner struggles. Ava Reid does a good job of insinuating what was happening through her details and plot choices, although I do think it made the plot somewhat predictable because I knew what was going to happen pretty early on.

Character wise, I didn’t really love Effy. But, while she initially seems selfish and whiny, she does go through character growth. Understandably though it is/was difficult for her to process certain emotions because of various traumatic experiences. So, while I do understand why she reacts anxiously or insecurely to a lot of the situations I don’t see those experiences as an excuse for the racial animosity she held towards Argantian’s in the beginning (yes, I know there is a war and everyone else also shared her similar sentiments but still?). I think that there would have been an even greater character arc had Effy mentioned or discussed her prejudices. She did say sorry one time (as far as I can remember), but I don’t think it’s necessarily enough to say “sorry” one and done and move on without more discussion. Especially, when I felt that she as a character constantly kept using negative remarks about being Argantian when she she was upset AND seemed to feel that it was wrong to do that in the same thought. 

Past the first 30% the story picks up with the magic and suspense. While there's a bit of romance (albeit not the strongest most developed romance), the heart of the story is really Effy's determination to overcome her traumas and find her voice in a society that constantly tells her and other women no. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Abandonment, Sexism, and Mental illness

Moderate: Death and Sexual assault

Minor: Death of parent

lila_still_reads's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Sexual assault, Sexism, and Misogyny

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Death of parent, and Suicidal thoughts

Minor: Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Injury/Injury detail, Xenophobia, and Grief

konohimawari's review against another edition

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad 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

4.0

Whoever says it has queer rep is lying. A lesbian side character who shows up in the first and last chapter is not queer representation. Other than that, I enjoyed it quite a bit.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Abandonment and Sexual harassment

dyanimae's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent and Sexism

Moderate: Sexual harassment and Sexual assault

Minor: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, War, Death, Sexual content, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Panic attacks/disorders, Mental illness, Dementia, Classism, and Abandonment

paigeupstate's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad fast-paced

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

2.25

I am happy that this author was able to write and publish this story, and even happier that it connected with people that needed it. The way it was executed wasn't for me. Too much telling, not enough showing. Incoherent plot, inconsistent and unexplainable rules of the world. Onerous writing, and very little payoff.

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Content Warnings

Minor: Abandonment, Ableism, Mental illness, and Sexual assault