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A review by karly_rose_reads
A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.75
A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid is a gothic tale that has fantasy aspects. Overall, I enjoyed the story, but it had a lot of untapped potential. I strongly believe that this story should have been a duology.
Things I enjoyed:
- The gothic atmosphere and glimpse of this world surrounding Hiraeth Manor
- Ava Reid's writing style
- The relatable FMC
- The feminist themes
- The small romance subplot (I would not consider this tale a romance)
I struggled on how to properly rate this book because of all the untapped potential. There were so many interesting concepts introduced that weren't fully explained and were underdeveloped. I was left with too many loose ends at the end of this story. Some of these lose ends are:
- The world itself outside of the school and house
- The ongoing war
- The Fairy King's origin and world
- The Sleepers and Sleeper Museum
- The MMC's character development—it only really existed to build up the FMC and not his own
I will note that I was uncomfortable with:
- FMC's prejudice and ignorance towards the MMC that wasn't fully addressed or resolved
- The somewhat Stockholm syndrome of one of the characters and justification of it
- The lack of trigger warnings for this book (especially given the fact that it's YA), which should have included SA
The beginning of this book was extremely slow for me and the ending felt super rushed. I can see someone really loving this book, but it fell short for me, overall.
Things I enjoyed:
- The gothic atmosphere and glimpse of this world surrounding Hiraeth Manor
- Ava Reid's writing style
- The relatable FMC
- The feminist themes
- The small romance subplot (I would not consider this tale a romance)
I struggled on how to properly rate this book because of all the untapped potential. There were so many interesting concepts introduced that weren't fully explained and were underdeveloped. I was left with too many loose ends at the end of this story. Some of these lose ends are:
- The world itself outside of the school and house
- The ongoing war
- The Fairy King's origin and world
- The Sleepers and Sleeper Museum
- The MMC's character development—it only really existed to build up the FMC and not his own
I will note that I was uncomfortable with:
- FMC's prejudice and ignorance towards the MMC that wasn't fully addressed or resolved
- The somewhat Stockholm syndrome of one of the characters and justification of it
- The lack of trigger warnings for this book (especially given the fact that it's YA), which should have included SA
The beginning of this book was extremely slow for me and the ending felt super rushed. I can see someone really loving this book, but it fell short for me, overall.
Content Warnings
Minor: Rape