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A review by beefthedwarf
A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
No Spoilers:
"A Study In Drowning" was captivating, magical, and mysterious. I typically am not drawn to romances, but the relationship between the main love interests was compelling and sweet. I often see the book marketed as Enemies to Lovers or Rivals to Lovers, but I'd moreso call it Disagreement to Lovers or perhaps simply Opposites Attract.
Act 1 is quite slow to pick up, Act 2 does a good job building the tension, and Act 3 is exhilarating -- until it's not. It seems like the author lost some confidence that her work would speak for itself and added 30-ish pages of exposition that essentially explained the whole book and then some. A lot of it would have been more rewarding sprinkled through the earlier parts of the book. Nonetheless, it is very well structured.
Overall, the book was an amazing read and extremely rich in both prose, world building, and themes surrounding misogyny and sexual assault (both literal and metaphorical).
Spoilers:
Something I thought was interesting about the book was that Reid created this entirely new world of fantasy realism just as the backdrop for her academic mystery. It could have just as easily been set in the irl 20th century United Kingdom. This isn't a gripe -- it's a fascinating choice that I found myself enjoying immensely. The faintly magical history, the cultural views of the characters, the fake excerpts from fake scholarly critiques and essays, the vague implication that this is a post apocalyptic fantasy future following the impact of irl climate disaster... -chefs kiss-
Act 1 was slow to start, as if the author wasn't quite sure where to begin. In her effort to avoid giving away Effy's character and history too quickly, the beginning was just too vague and I found myself almost DNF-ing. I just didn't feel compelled to care about any of the characters yet.
Ava Reid did an excellent job finding ways to push her characters to engage with the plot. This was especially important considering Effy as a character is described as an escape artist -- always running away from difficult problems. The plot really starts when Effy has no way to go back to college OR go back home. While her psychosis ends up just being the "Magical Psychosis" trope (booooo), I feel like her other mental illness is very real. The splitting, the assumptions, the black and white thinking, the urge to escape, the lack of identity colliding with the urge to know how other people view her, etc. All very common for folks with C-PTSD (or, if I were to armchair diagnose her, BPD). I feel like the author was very well versed in Effy's style of trauma response and handled it well.
I don't know how many times Effy was described swallowing her pills dry. Folks -- DO NOT DO THIS. I don't know how this poor girl did not develop an ulcer.
The book glosses over a lot of the characters' bodily functions. As far as we can tell, Effy's guesthouse has no bathroom, and the only bathroom we see in Hiraeth Manor is dilapidated and Ianto doesn't allow Effy to use it. Where does she piss?! Where does anyone piss?! No one ever seemed to eat breakfast or dinner either, except the one time at Blackmar's mansion. While there is a degree in which an author shouldn't be expected to elaborate each and every human maintenance, this was a very noticeable exclusion.
I loved the artificial history and scholarship surrounding Myrddin and literature as a whole in Llyr. It really made the world feel big and real, even if it was just a backdrop for the mystery. It made the characters feel big and real -- the world matters to them. However, I was disappointed that there was a brief descent into the politics of the warring countries, their respective settler colonial history, and which of them could actually be considered the aggressor, only to have it dropped entirely without a single additional mention.
I often see the book marketed as Enemies to Lovers or Rivals to Lovers, but I'd moreso call it Disagreement to Lovers or perhaps simply Opposites Attract. Effy got annoyed at Preston for petty reasons and Preston was more or less minding his business. There was a moment of conflict upon Effy discovering the truth of Preston's thesis, but an alliance formed quickly. It was well done and great to read, but not exactly what I'd call Enemies/Rivals to Lovers.
The changeling reveal for Effy was a bit sloppy, in my opinion. While the book was clear there was a secret to Effy, it would have been more interesting and rewarding if the concept of changelings and their naming conventions had come up earlier in the book.
The book deals heavily with Effy's sexual assault trauma and her responses -- escaping, escapism, anxiety, lying, splitting, emotional responses, etc. I also feel like the book was not-so-subtly hinting at the affects of childhood sexual trauma as well, thought less explicitly described. This can be seen in the way Effy both admires and vilifies Angharad (the character), and fears and fantasizes about the Fairy King. It makes sense -- even if the Fairy King did not touch her the same way her human assailant did, knowing that an adult wants to take you as a child bride is incredibly distressing.
Act 2 does a good job building the tension, and Act 3 is exhilarating -- until it's not. It seems like the author lost some confidence that her work would speak for itself and added 30-ish pages of exposition that essentially explained the whole book and then some. A lot of it would have been more rewarding sprinkled through the earlier parts of the book. It was incredibly boring sitting and reading Angharad reveal the answers to all the mysteries to our protagonists who'd almost died trying to solve them. Most of the evidence they managed to uncover was lost entirely, which was disappointing -- but I suppose they needed that information as the big push to go into the basement and find the box, which did survive. Given that Reid gave an acknowledgment to Zelda (presumably Fitzgerald) at the end of the book, I suppose Angharad's long winded exposition was the spirit of every female writer whose work secretly bolstered a man's career. Still, it was just not very fun to read after the excitement of the climax.
Speaking of the climax -- at some point, I totally lost track of how Ianto was doing anything. How was he grabbing Preston AND shackling him to chains AND hammering a stake into a wall AND holding a musket to his chest? Totally took me out of the scene trying to figure it out.
Overall, the book was an amazing read and extremely rich in both prose, world building, and themes surrounding misogyny and sexual assault (both literal and metaphorical). The Fairy King as a stand in for sexual trauma and grooming, paired with the recurring symbol of green representing victimhood, was very gratifying.
"A Study In Drowning" was captivating, magical, and mysterious. I typically am not drawn to romances, but the relationship between the main love interests was compelling and sweet. I often see the book marketed as Enemies to Lovers or Rivals to Lovers, but I'd moreso call it Disagreement to Lovers or perhaps simply Opposites Attract.
Act 1 is quite slow to pick up, Act 2 does a good job building the tension, and Act 3 is exhilarating -- until it's not. It seems like the author lost some confidence that her work would speak for itself and added 30-ish pages of exposition that essentially explained the whole book and then some. A lot of it would have been more rewarding sprinkled through the earlier parts of the book. Nonetheless, it is very well structured.
Overall, the book was an amazing read and extremely rich in both prose, world building, and themes surrounding misogyny and sexual assault (both literal and metaphorical).
Spoilers:
Act 1 was slow to start, as if the author wasn't quite sure where to begin. In her effort to avoid giving away Effy's character and history too quickly, the beginning was just too vague and I found myself almost DNF-ing. I just didn't feel compelled to care about any of the characters yet.
Ava Reid did an excellent job finding ways to push her characters to engage with the plot. This was especially important considering Effy as a character is described as an escape artist -- always running away from difficult problems. The plot really starts when Effy has no way to go back to college OR go back home. While her psychosis ends up just being the "Magical Psychosis" trope (booooo), I feel like her other mental illness is very real. The splitting, the assumptions, the black and white thinking, the urge to escape, the lack of identity colliding with the urge to know how other people view her, etc. All very common for folks with C-PTSD (or, if I were to armchair diagnose her, BPD). I feel like the author was very well versed in Effy's style of trauma response and handled it well.
I don't know how many times Effy was described swallowing her pills dry. Folks -- DO NOT DO THIS. I don't know how this poor girl did not develop an ulcer.
The book glosses over a lot of the characters' bodily functions. As far as we can tell, Effy's guesthouse has no bathroom, and the only bathroom we see in Hiraeth Manor is dilapidated and Ianto doesn't allow Effy to use it. Where does she piss?! Where does anyone piss?! No one ever seemed to eat breakfast or dinner either, except the one time at Blackmar's mansion. While there is a degree in which an author shouldn't be expected to elaborate each and every human maintenance, this was a very noticeable exclusion.
I loved the artificial history and scholarship surrounding Myrddin and literature as a whole in Llyr. It really made the world feel big and real, even if it was just a backdrop for the mystery. It made the characters feel big and real -- the world matters to them. However, I was disappointed that there was a brief descent into the politics of the warring countries, their respective settler colonial history, and which of them could actually be considered the aggressor, only to have it dropped entirely without a single additional mention.
I often see the book marketed as Enemies to Lovers or Rivals to Lovers, but I'd moreso call it Disagreement to Lovers or perhaps simply Opposites Attract. Effy got annoyed at Preston for petty reasons and Preston was more or less minding his business. There was a moment of conflict upon Effy discovering the truth of Preston's thesis, but an alliance formed quickly. It was well done and great to read, but not exactly what I'd call Enemies/Rivals to Lovers.
The changeling reveal for Effy was a bit sloppy, in my opinion. While the book was clear there was a secret to Effy, it would have been more interesting and rewarding if the concept of changelings and their naming conventions had come up earlier in the book.
The book deals heavily with Effy's sexual assault trauma and her responses -- escaping, escapism, anxiety, lying, splitting, emotional responses, etc. I also feel like the book was not-so-subtly hinting at the affects of childhood sexual trauma as well, thought less explicitly described. This can be seen in the way Effy both admires and vilifies Angharad (the character), and fears and fantasizes about the Fairy King. It makes sense -- even if the Fairy King did not touch her the same way her human assailant did, knowing that an adult wants to take you as a child bride is incredibly distressing.
Act 2 does a good job building the tension, and Act 3 is exhilarating -- until it's not. It seems like the author lost some confidence that her work would speak for itself and added 30-ish pages of exposition that essentially explained the whole book and then some. A lot of it would have been more rewarding sprinkled through the earlier parts of the book. It was incredibly boring sitting and reading Angharad reveal the answers to all the mysteries to our protagonists who'd almost died trying to solve them. Most of the evidence they managed to uncover was lost entirely, which was disappointing -- but I suppose they needed that information as the big push to go into the basement and find the box, which did survive. Given that Reid gave an acknowledgment to Zelda (presumably Fitzgerald) at the end of the book, I suppose Angharad's long winded exposition was the spirit of every female writer whose work secretly bolstered a man's career. Still, it was just not very fun to read after the excitement of the climax.
Speaking of the climax -- at some point, I totally lost track of how Ianto was doing anything. How was he grabbing Preston AND shackling him to chains AND hammering a stake into a wall AND holding a musket to his chest? Totally took me out of the scene trying to figure it out.
Overall, the book was an amazing read and extremely rich in both prose, world building, and themes surrounding misogyny and sexual assault (both literal and metaphorical). The Fairy King as a stand in for sexual trauma and grooming, paired with the recurring symbol of green representing victimhood, was very gratifying.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Xenophobia, Alcoholism, and Pedophilia
Minor: Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence