Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

115 reviews

cadimy's review

• 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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Misogyny, Sexual content, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Abandonment, Mental illness, Death, Car accident, Bullying, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Racism, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, Animal death, and Gaslighting

Minor: Religious bigotry, Suicidal thoughts, and Toxic relationship

zimmerlemon's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional reflective fast-paced

4.0

Very academia vibes, I enjoyed this! More magical realism than fantasy imo. Definitely a recurring SA & anxiety theme so be ready for that but it was handled well and is very real and fits with how everything unfolds. MCs are precious. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Violence, Abandonment, Sexual assault, and Bullying

Minor: Blood and Injury/Injury detail

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

chasinggrace's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious 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

3.5

Upon reflection, this book lived up to its positive social media reputation. I was not expecting the darker themes that are woven throughout the story (abandonment, PTSD, sexual assault, adult/minor relationships) nor did I expect the consistent use of water and architecture analogies. While the FMC character arc was slightly predictable (

a damaged, meek woman finds her voice through further trauma 👍🏼

), I think it was done well, especially when compared to

Angharad’s story

. 

I thought the setting was beautiful and the world building was not overwhelming at all. The themes of colonization, classism, & religious separations were touched on, but were not overbearing. The mystery & folklore kept me intrigued, and I thought the romance was sweet (even though Preston will not be a favorite book boyfriend of mine). 

Unfortunately, I needed to dock .5 stars for the writing, especially in the first 100 pages of the book. While I think similes are helpful literary tools and can be beautiful, they are completely overdone in this text. The author cannot write one singular page of this book without comparing two things and using the word “like.” Try it - flip to any page and you will find a sentence that uses this structure. While I’m not a style critic, I could not ignore it and it tainted the opening of the story. I also found Effy to be quite insufferable, before I understood her trauma. Finally, while I know Preston is self-described as unromantic,

I wish their physical intimacy could’ve been sweeter. This could have been a deliberate choice from the author to denounce the romanticizing of losing one’s virginity, or it could’ve reflected Preston’s stoic nature, but I still wanted a little more from that scene.

All together, I think this is a beautiful story that weaves dark themes with stunning comparisons to the relentlessness of water. It teaches you that you are the only one who constructs the house in which you live, if you can be strong enough to hammer the stakes yourself. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Bullying, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Classism, Gaslighting, Religious bigotry, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, and Sexual assault

maresuju's review

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism and Xenophobia

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, and Death of parent

Minor: Confinement, Animal death, and Abandonment

writingandwhimsy's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexism

Moderate: Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Sexual assault, and Xenophobia

Minor: Sexual content, War, Abandonment, and Alcohol

amka_yk's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional funny hopeful inspiring mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

‘I will love you to ruination.’

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

I LOVED THIS. Although it started off a bit slow and was a bit hard for me to truly get into it. I LOVED IT. THE LAST FEW CHAPTERS HAD ME SQUEALING I COULDN'T STOP READING UNTIL THE LAT WORD.

AND OMG EFFY AND PRESTON ARE SO CITE TOGETHER 😭😭❤️ I LOVE THEM! I absolutely adored effy, her character felt so fresh from the other female protagonist I've read before. She felt so relatable and deep. I LOVED the ending and felt so hopeful for Effy ❤️ ❤️

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexism

Minor: Abandonment

bookish_slagathor's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-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? Yes

4.5

Great book dealing with feminist themes, with a dash of romance on the side (I'll be honest, I could have done without it, but it was okay to have it included in the story). Be aware that the setting is heavily misogynistic, and the MC is dealing with severe anxiety/panic attacks. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Misogyny, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, and Violence

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, and Gaslighting

Minor: Blood and War

growplantsreadbooks's review

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? Yes

4.5

A wonderfully atmospheric gothic novel. The crumbling house of a dead author with an unseen widow, and brooding son still haunting it? Count me in! It was not without its faults though.  
The author put a lot of effort into the worldbuilding, but the world wasn't different from ours in any significant way. It was so clearly inspired by real, specific regional folklore. It felt like the author changed the names so she could have a reason for her protag. to be weirdly very prejudiced against her future love interest without the reader getting uncomfortable by the implications of it being real cultures. 
The romance was sweet, but it took them too long to get together so

them having sex at the end felt rushed and unnecessary. It didn't quite fit their characters or what was happening in the plot, and it didn't center female pleasure.

I think this story actually could have benefited from her being more interested in the author's son at first. His character could have been developed better

but that poor doomed soul just gets the shit end of the stick

Lastly, the plots reliance on "happenstance" to find evidence was... a bit much! It felt a little Scooby Do at times. 
Regardless, I really loved reading it and will recommend it to any teen who likes gothic romance. 
It handled trauma in a very sensitive way and I did really like Preston as a love interest - though reading this did make me want a cig lol.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis