Reviews with content warning for Panic attacks/disorders - A Study in Drowning

Reviews tagging 'Panic attacks/disorders'

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

131 reviews

sfeldmann's review against another edition

The plot really goes everywhere in this book. I tried to read it after DNFing it last year to give it another shot. I just can’t get into it. The atmosphere is great but all the themes and messages of the book are heavy handed and leave little room for the action of the characters and the plot to show the readers of just tell them. The romance isn’t bad either but it is a little bit insta-lovey.

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cadimy's review

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Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No

2.25

Architecture student gets chosen to design a home for her favorite author’s estate. At no point does she actually do what she was hired to do. She’s off hanging out with the other kid from her school and snooping around the house.

I get what the author was trying to do with the heavy misogyny and how it affects the MC deeply, so I did appreciate that at times. Unfortunately I had no connection to any of the characters- they fell so flat and there was no chemistry to be found.

Also, little to no backstory on the fairy king?? Why was he hanging around? He was apparently “stuck” on the estate because of the trees and berries everywhere but that doesn’t explain how he escaped to almost steal the MC? She said she saw him all of the time, but how? Not much story building, and the backstory of the north vs south seemed unnecessary other than to sprinkle in some racism for the characters.

I listened to the audiobook on a road trip, and the fact that I finished it gives it 2 stars, maybe 2.5. I was kind of hoping for a dark ending where her love interest was over taken by the fairy king.

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codyemma's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

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ginamiya's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional informative mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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manaledi's review against another edition

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dark reflective slow-paced

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

3.25

This successfully hit the line of being dark without being too dark or too creepy (for me). The foreshadowing was fairly heavy in figuring out most of the mini mysteries (but not all). Closer to magical realism than true fantasy in interesting ways.

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120read's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective 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

3.75

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autumnrh's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious tense fast-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

3.75

It wasn’t too bad. The writing was actually really good, especially the excerpts at the top of each chapter. I did find it somewhat unremarkable though. There really is no sound world building and all the big plot reveals are super underwhelming. BIG SPOILERS FROM HERE ON. Just a few things like the fairy king reveal was seen coming a mile away. I really expected a big showdown with some heavy growth but for her to just…hold a shard of glass up…and that was it. Also I believe Angharad could have played a bigger role rather than being in the literal last chapter or two. Could have made her presence more know, why say there is a mistress in the house if you aren’t ever going to show her. Also all the SKEEVY men were swept under the rug way too much. Hated that. Overall pretty good tho. Also that ending….please be serious what was that.

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