A review by the_rabble
A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

dark sad slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

Fantasyland pre-80s Berlin's xenophobia smashed together with FantasyOxford's academic gender segregation BUT NONE OF THAT'S IMPORTANT- TIME TO GO TO A DAMP, ISOLATED, LEAKY BEACH HOUSE. 

Sexual assault and misogyny allergory that really, really loves aggressive and inconsistent water imagery. Buckle up for feeling sticky and coping with trauma via dissociation.

Single POV, 3rd person past tense, main characters are teen book nerds (college freshmen.) 1 semi-spicy scene.

Very strong world building. Would support this setting being used again. Likeable main characters. Plot, themes, and story structure are a bit of a mess. Action drags and we get a lot of heavy handed imagery and navel gazing. 

In a piece that excels at world building, the villian [bad guy lore]
isn't really explained as an entity. Which is fine, but things are overexplained through the whole book, except for the driving force of the book.


If this is on your TBR list bc the cover looks dope or it's been on lists, I suspect you'll get as much out of this book if you read the first two and last two chapters as reading the whole thing.

[Ending] Vibewise, Reid
does a good job on the ending. The pacing is well done and you feel like this chapter of the story is done and the characters are ready to move on. Things resolve.
I expect that's part of why this book gets good marks.
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