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A review by squids_can_read
A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
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
4.5
Effy has always loved literature. Especially an old fairytale written by a famed writer. But women aren't allowed to join the literature college. But one day a notice is placed up in the architecture school asking for designs for the newly dead writer's house by the sea. Effy wins the design contest and finally is allowed to be in the same place as her favorite writer, or at least where he used to be. But the man's former house is not what she thought it would be and danger lurks around every corner. Will Effy be able to leave with her life?
The main character of this story fell flat for me. She always talked about how she loved literature but it just seemed to me that she really liked this one book because of something that happened in her childhood. There is also something that happened to her in the Architecture school that she is also fighting. I thought that this part was really interesting and well-developed. However, the things that happened in her past felt very unstable and I didn't love the way that it was written. The other characters, including the dead ones, were extremely well-developed and I loved the way they were written, even if they were terrible people.
The world-building in this book is really weird. We have this country that butts up against another and they are at war(this isn't a spoiler and is talked about very early in the book). However, it doesn't seem like anywhere is really affected by war. There is one character I think that was affected by it and that is only briefly discussed. With the amount of times that the characters mention the war, there was very little consequence of it talked about. There was also a lot of racism in this book between the countries that didn't make sense. It would make sense if they were at war and there was no movement across the border but there were people from both countries in the university. Additionally, the magic system made absolutely no sense to me. A whole section of one country believed in magic but everyone else thought that it was just superstition. There was a vague reason talked about but I didn't really believe it. I just didn't understand how there was magic in this world when there was almost no magic in the book at all. It was just strange.
Despite all of the things that I disliked about the book, I did really enjoy it. I really loved the vibes of the story. Was it a masterpiece of fiction? Maybe not but I enjoyed it nonetheless.
The main character of this story fell flat for me. She always talked about how she loved literature but it just seemed to me that she really liked this one book because of something that happened in her childhood. There is also something that happened to her in the Architecture school that she is also fighting. I thought that this part was really interesting and well-developed. However, the things that happened in her past felt very unstable and I didn't love the way that it was written. The other characters, including the dead ones, were extremely well-developed and I loved the way they were written, even if they were terrible people.
The world-building in this book is really weird. We have this country that butts up against another and they are at war(this isn't a spoiler and is talked about very early in the book). However, it doesn't seem like anywhere is really affected by war. There is one character I think that was affected by it and that is only briefly discussed. With the amount of times that the characters mention the war, there was very little consequence of it talked about. There was also a lot of racism in this book between the countries that didn't make sense. It would make sense if they were at war and there was no movement across the border but there were people from both countries in the university. Additionally, the magic system made absolutely no sense to me. A whole section of one country believed in magic but everyone else thought that it was just superstition. There was a vague reason talked about but I didn't really believe it. I just didn't understand how there was magic in this world when there was almost no magic in the book at all. It was just strange.
Despite all of the things that I disliked about the book, I did really enjoy it. I really loved the vibes of the story. Was it a masterpiece of fiction? Maybe not but I enjoyed it nonetheless.