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A review by purelykatherine
A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
If you enjoyed the book the book "The Grace Year" you will probably enjoy this book as well.
This book follows Effy who is the only female architecture student at a university, but her real passion lies in literature. Her favorite author has recently died and his son has reached out to the university in hopes that a student will redesign the house that the author lived in. Effy applies for this and is accepted however when she arrives at the house it is in absolute shambles plagued by "the drowning" that happened year ago. The house is falling into the seas and the water is overtaking the home however the son still thinks its salvageable so Effy starts to make her designs. Effy is not the only student at the home however; she is accompanied by Preston who is a literature student who is trying to uncover the true story about the author that has passed. While both of these students work on their academic goals they soon discover that there is more turmoil happening in the history of the house, the land, and the author. This eerie story will take you on a mysterious journey of Effy's self healing as well as touch on bits of magic along the way.
I think I went into this book with entirely the wrong expectations which made this book less enjoyable as I was anticipating full fantasy and fairies due to the tagging that occurred on booktok. I didn't to a ton of research into this book prior so honestly that's on me, but I enjoy going into books blind so its sometimes is a double edged sword. This story entirely focus's on Effy's past trauma and is in largely a story surrounding the treatment of women and the patriarchy. This story will take you on a journey of what it feels like to be the sole female at a university, looked down upon, and overall belittled and mentally/physically abused by men. I really enjoyed the message of this book and the authors writing style it just was not what I originally picked out the book for.
Overall a very good read albeit a bit repetitive in the narrative/information. There are a LOT of repeating lines and sentences that did take away from the story when you hear it for the 8th time.
This book follows Effy who is the only female architecture student at a university, but her real passion lies in literature. Her favorite author has recently died and his son has reached out to the university in hopes that a student will redesign the house that the author lived in. Effy applies for this and is accepted however when she arrives at the house it is in absolute shambles plagued by "the drowning" that happened year ago. The house is falling into the seas and the water is overtaking the home however the son still thinks its salvageable so Effy starts to make her designs. Effy is not the only student at the home however; she is accompanied by Preston who is a literature student who is trying to uncover the true story about the author that has passed. While both of these students work on their academic goals they soon discover that there is more turmoil happening in the history of the house, the land, and the author. This eerie story will take you on a mysterious journey of Effy's self healing as well as touch on bits of magic along the way.
I think I went into this book with entirely the wrong expectations which made this book less enjoyable as I was anticipating full fantasy and fairies due to the tagging that occurred on booktok. I didn't to a ton of research into this book prior so honestly that's on me, but I enjoy going into books blind so its sometimes is a double edged sword. This story entirely focus's on Effy's past trauma and is in largely a story surrounding the treatment of women and the patriarchy. This story will take you on a journey of what it feels like to be the sole female at a university, looked down upon, and overall belittled and mentally/physically abused by men. I really enjoyed the message of this book and the authors writing style it just was not what I originally picked out the book for.
Overall a very good read albeit a bit repetitive in the narrative/information. There are a LOT of repeating lines and sentences that did take away from the story when you hear it for the 8th time.