A review by vaindesi
A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

mysterious tense
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

2.0

This is trying to do too much: aftermath of SA, academic integrity (death of the author), misogyny, mental health, climate change.. then there's the whole politics and war between two nations.. Ghost story and Fairy King, is it fantasy or just Gothic? Some terms are super modern in an anachronistic way to the historical-feeling setting. Also, Effy keeps calling Preston pretentious but it never shows in the actual portrayal. Maybe I would be more irritated in his agnostic disbelief if she wasn't so annoyingly flighty and overdramatic. Changeling child as "not normal". And childhood trauma of being abandoned to death, frostbite, loss of a finger. Still has church in "fantastical" country. Arguing over coffee.. so modern. And now there's television. What even is this world building? 
Good heavens, why does every little thing need to be explained to the readers in the end like they're idiots. Leave something for interpretation or discussion. Yikes. Ability to write a good phrase does not a good book make. 
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