A Study in Drowning is a dark fantasy/light horror set in decaying rural elegance. There is an enemies-to-lovers romance, as Effy tries to make sense of the nightmarish visions that have always been with her with the aid of a grumpy, serious scholar.

Ava Reid is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors.

a study in drowning is a captivating journey into dark academia with an irresistible blend of romance and mystery. effy, an architecture student haunted by enigmatic visions of the fairy king, takes us on a spellbinding ride to a decaying manor where the line between reality and fantasy blurs.

ava reid's storytelling shines as the story delves deep into profound themes, touching upon the theft of voices and the undercurrent of academic sexism.

the atmosphere is hauntingly perfect for a brisk autumn evening, enveloping you in an eerie ambiance. with concealed mysteries waiting to be unraveled, and reid's expert storytelling, the plot maintains a tight grip on your attention from start to finish.

Absolutely brilliant. Could not get enough of this book.

I have strayed away from YA the past few years, just due to shifting taste, but this has rekindled my love for it and set me up with so much hope.

Absolutely fantastic! This is probably one of the best books I've encountered this year. I've seen this described as dark academia, and while it definitely has elements of that, this feels much more like a gothic fairytale. It's a perfect, slightly unsettling fall read that had me hooked from the start.

I would have to rate this as a 2.5/3 stars. I pushed myself to finish this book, and I think perhaps I should have held off to read it at a different time. This book had plenty of aspects that I love; dark academia vibes, mythology, warring factions, and finding the courage to speak up for yourself and others, however it just had a slow feel for me and I had trouble picking it back up again and again. I would like to come back and revisit this at a later time to see if I still feel the same way because I do enjoy Ava Reid’s writing and prose, but this just felt lacking to me.

I really enjoyed the way the story balances fantasy and heavier materials. The character growth for both main characters was done very well and made the story stronger. It is very slow but as a short book, the pacing worked well. I actually enjoyed the voice of the narrator but you can tell that it isn't a real voice as the inflection was awkward and didn't match the emotions of the scene. Overall, it was a good read and the timing of publication is perfect for the dark atmosphere of the story.

An atmospheric read set in a mano on a cliff side near the ocean. Ava Reid writes such details in the setting that I could hear the waves crashing on the rocks and envision the wet described throughout. I also found myself enjoying the character descriptions in this story. I wanted to reach through the pages to offer a hug to Effy. I couldn't stop reading this book as I was hooked on the mysteriousness and how the story would unfold. I also enjoyed the myth being woven in. Thank you NetGalley and Harper Audio for an advanced copy! All thoughts and opinions are my own!

An interesting read for fantasy lovers who also love books featuring authors or their families. This one was a little hard for me to follow at times, but overall a great storyline.

*4.25⭐️
Warning: this review doesn’t feature any spoilers, but it’s also really hard to talk about this book without spoilers, so I didn’t go into much detail.

This poor girl. As someone who deeply related to multiple of Effy’s experiences, Ava Reid perfectly encapsulated both how to be a survivor and how it feels to survive. As a female history major, I think that Ava Reid also perfectly encapsulated how it feels to academically survive in a world where it’s assumed that “scholarly” articles are more valid coming from a man. Watching Effy survive and learn to thrive by the end of the book was really special.
This was one of the most complex YA books I’ve ever read and I really enjoyed that. I hope that more English teachers add this to their reading lists. The world building was very complex and I would love to read more books set in this world! I also can’t wait to read more from Ava Reid!

Also, I absolutely adored Preston. The world needs more Prestons.

The story revolves around young Effy Sayre, who is delicate and dealing with hallucinations of the Fairy King since her childhood. She is the only woman student in the architecture department, even though she dreamed of focusing her studies on literature: she can recite the entire words of Emrys Myrddin's Angharad. She is socially outcasted after rumors about her involvement with her adviser professor. She is so close to getting dropped from the faculty, failing from classes, and her neglectful, alcoholic mother has no intention of doing anything with her. Her favorite author, Myrddin's death, also affected her deeply. The book he has written is the only thing that can empower her to fight against her nighttime terrors.

The narrator was incredible. This story sucked me into the world and left me wanting to explore more right away. I really enjoyed the main character and her arc. However I felt myself longing for more details and to see the story of the Fairy King more literally on page than we got. That being said as always Ava Reid wrote a beautifully lush world that I could not get enough of.

Great audiobook of a fantastic novel! I've already got requests lined up for oeople I think will love this!

It was really hard for me to into this book at first. I think the first four chapters or so there was just so much going on and so many random thoughts that it was challenging for me to figure out what was important.

However, after that I was hooked! I have never read a YA fantasy book that is also a mystery AND also has such a strong feminine character with real-life problems and a strong feminist point-of-view. Again, look how much I just listed is going on in this book. I will say that the narrator would've been helpful trying to do different voices or giving more variation to character voices to help me keep the story straight and follow along with each character.

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to have access to this book free for an honest review.

I ended up loving this book! Atmospheric dark academia and a touch of dark fairy folklore - my perfect recipe for a fall read. The book took place mostly in a secluded single location and I would so love for another book to see the wider world where this is set.

This is a lovely book about trauma, and the power (and fallibility) of stories.

As is often the case with many intense and thorough fantasy books, new names for everything (cities, storytellers, countries) made for a confusing beginning. However the worldbuilding was absolutely lovely and I really liked how the author built the lore and mythos and what’s important to the city and its people.

The lead character is a timid but determined girl, and I appreciated that she differentiates from so many of the fierce heroines of YA lit (who I also love! but it's wonderful to see a different kind of bravery in a female protagonist).

Unfortunately, the audiobook file itself had some technical issues! I noticed some odd garbling noises in the background of the audio files at several points, which sounded like they were background errors in either the voice recording or the editing file. This was a bizarre issue I haven't run into with other audiobooks, and while not too distracting, it definitely pulled me away from the story. I hope it was fixed in the final release. Here are the chapters and time stamps of two examples: Ch1 29:45 and Ch4 10:07.

I appreciated the voice actress's performance in general. She had a beautiful accent, and was good at describing the scenery. But her intonation was often a little off, in a way that didn't give weight to the spoken lines and so it sounded a little hard to differentiate sentences and quotes, a little robotic at times.

Overall a very stunning book seeped in gorgeous dark autumnal atmosphere and a love of stories.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5/5
a study in drowning by Ava reid

thank you to Netgalley for an advanced listeners copy (ALC) in exchange for an honest review

I truly don’t know where to begin with this review…other than Effy is 100% my soul character. Effy is the only girl in the architecture college at her school, however, she wants nothing more than to be in the literature college. she volunteers to take on the project of designing her favorite author’s mansion but soon finds another student in the literature college, Preston who is also her academic rival, is there trying to uncover a mystery that would change the way Effy admires the author.

This book is full of commentary on sexism in academia and how women are constantly made to feel that their ideas and work are inconsequential. Effy has this soft strength that will make many feel seen, she’s anxious (like many of us are), she has her fair share of hardships trying to justify herself to the men she’s in class with, as well as professors— fighting for her rightful place at the college. even after all she’s been through and all that she’s done to contribute to the study of the mansion, author, and fairy king, her college board still wants to keep her name off the paper stating it will never be accepted because a woman’s name is on it.

the romance between Effy and Preston is an excellent slow burn with just beautiful feelings. it truly is on par with the romance in divine rivals…just gorgeous.

This is a Welsh inspired fantasy world filled with hope for all those who have felt like an outsider. Not to mention that it's a gothic horror tale with stunning atmosphere. There is tension and love and hope all wrapped up in a riveting story.

If you like dark academia and good character building you will enjoy this book. Ava Reid created a strong character and a great atmospheric story. I wish there was more world building and a way to tether yourself to a realistic age. I had a hard time placing the characters, I feel like it either needed to be a little more fantasy or a little more realistic. The mystery was fantastically done in the fact that I didn't guess how the story was going to end. Ava Reid has a great writing style and does great character building. I feel like if I enjoyed dark academia work more then I would have liked this more, but that is just me.

The narrator did a wonderful job telling this story. The book itself is great.
Dark moody academic fairy tale.

This book immediately grabbed me, and I read the first half super quickly! It didn't turn out to be the book I thought it would be. I thought there would be a lot more of the house itself being the evil, but it ending up being what it was was very interesting. Overall a pretty good YA read.