A stunning YA debut! A Study in Drowning is a haunting narrative about the power of art in our lives. The prose is lush and atmospheric. The story is gothic with elements such as the isolated manor, mystery and suspense, and a girl who is haunted in different ways. Effy as a character was compelling and I resonated with her experiences. She has suffered at the hands of the institution she attends and her family isn’t that great either. Preston is a great love interest and I loved his character. The trajectory of the story was great and well paced. This is a great dark academia that tackles devotion to art and how stories bring comfort when no one else can. Beyond that this is a narrative that asks us to critically engage with the art we consume even if it brings joy, solace, and comfort. Even though this book doesn’t take place in the college which might deter lovers of the school setting the elements of dark academia are present like the gothic elements, obsession, mystery, and the ugliness of academia along with how it affects or even traumatizes a person.
As the author asks to engage with literature in a critical manner, I want to detail a few aspects of the story that fell short for me. I do think that there needed to be more moments in which Effy unpacked a lot of her opinions about Preston’s heritage. It is my hope that this will be explored more in the sequel. Also, I wish Effy would have been in the Literature college from the beginning. It would have felt more like they were academic rivals because the dynamic was presented that way but it was more of a fan versus a scholar.

All of this being said, I highly enjoyed this novel and am excited for its sequel!

This fantasy book was so good! I loved the Fairy King storyline. And the house was just like another character in the book! What a chilling portrayal. So good!

this book really did feel like it had potential but the world building was just too confusing for me to follow and the fantastical aspect just complicated it for me. would i have liked it better if the book focused more on developing the characters and the central plot? perhaps.

i will say, i was intrigued by how the author portrayed the more deeper themes of this book, primarily the effects of trauma on mental health and the struggle of women in male dominated fields. it was definitely heavier than i anticipated it to be in terms of the topics discussed.

however, it was difficult to be in the mind of our main protagonist Effy, because of the lack of connection i felt to her character as a whole. she felt very passive and constantly let things happen to her over and over again (in reference to some minuscule incidents where she’d let people walk all over her) and it’s difficult to root for a character like that when it happens repeatedly.

the book is also very slow paced, more than i’m particularly used to and pushed the boundaries of what i usually enjoy reading.

overall, i don’t entirely think it will one i come back to but i would love to try out another one of this author’s books.

Really this review is the result of a gap between the material and my expectations. I was expecting a more adult book, as her others have been, and this is closer to YA. While I love a lot of the material, characters, and plot, I wish they were more developed. I wanted a depth I didn't get there. This is a conflict between one who believes in fairy tales, and one determined to debunk them. A rivals to romance Gothic mystery, this ventures into Dark Academia.

I thought this was really cute and devastatingly sad. It a tale as old as time of women being manipulated and taken advantage of. While the tangible antagonist is the faerie king, most of the men in this story are no better -- trying to overwrite or squeeze everything they can from the women of this society which many women can relate to.

It's not too terribly complex, but the poetry in it is beautiful and quotable.

Quick read. Easy to get through.

I enjoyed this well enough, but thought the writing could have been better. Will still purchase for my teen readers, as I think they'd enjoy the concept and atmosphere.

This book was such a pleasant surprise.
It's more than just a Dark Academia book, more than a romance. It's about women surviving, it's about breaking the silence, it's about monsters and women slaying them.

This story was such an incredible one. I wanted to read the books Effie and Preston were reading. And what a powerful move by the author, when you want to study the history and the books the characters are enjoying.

The parallels between the stories and what is reel was incredible. There were parts I didn't know anymore what I shoul believe, what was true. But in the end, monsters are monsters and monsters are real.

And Effie ! I loved her so damn much. She's an amazing character that went through so much in her life. And she learned to survive through stories and there isn't something more relatable to readers than that.

Which readers haven't found solace in a book ?

Finally, read this if you love :

✨ Dark Academia ;
✨ Folklore, Fae ;
✨ The power of stories ;
✨ Romance ;
✨ Book about books ;
✨ Surviving.

Enemies to lovers is tough because it’s really easy to make one of the characters an actual villain if the author isn’t careful. And. I’ve gotta say Reid was not careful. Effy is a xenophobic hypocrite and I didn’t want good things for her. Preston was… have you ever had really cheap white bread that went stale? He could have literally been anyone!

Overall I think there were *some* okay aspects to the book - I think it fits well into the gothic genre, and Reid does an adequate job with descriptions (if some of the prose veers into purple, that is the least of the sins). If she didn’t have characters who were, at my most generous, deeply boring and, at my least generous, actively hateful that the reader was supposed to believe both fell in love with each other and deserved the final reward of love? I still wouldn’t have liked the book (it was so boring), but I wouldn’t be texting all my friends who have this on their “want to read” shelf like “hey girl. Let me tell you about this book.”

REVIEW✨
A Study in Drowning
By Ava Reid
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I have some mixed emotions about this book, I loved the vibe and the gothic/dark academia feel to it. It deals with the sexism in academia, dark academia vibes of a house rotting on a cliff, the main character is dealing with SA, and the way that the main character deals with her drama was very beautiful. But I had a hard time connecting with the plot and some of the characters didn’t make sense to me.

Romance: ❤️
Plot points: 💥💥💥
Stars: ⭐️⭐️⭐️

Ava Reid is a master class in literature. I loved this world, the characters, and everything about this story. I wouldn't change a thing.

This was a unique tail that I was surprised at how much I liked. Ava was able to capture an almost dystopian like five and an end of the world vibe with how she concocted the study and drowning story. I enjoyed the main character a lot and I thought that the main female was kind of witty, but also a unique twist on being more intellectual than a fighter. I liked all of those surprises that she threw into the story. And I really enjoyed the resolution of the flood and the drowning system, and the whole prophecy that the story was based on.

Absolutely obsessed with this book that I've read it a few times. I thought I already made my review and I apologize that it wasn't posted here. After reading it the first time, I made my book club read it and it was so interesting to hear the different perspectives and people share things that I missed. I have bought three editions of this book physically and I do think it's going to be added to my yearly re-read list.

I absolutely loved the book and it’s probably one of the better ones that I’ve read in a while. I have PTSD and the drowning metaphors didn’t seem like too much for me personally because I could fully understand each one and the moment. This book had me feeling her anxiety with her and the last few chapters kept bringing me to tears. I love stories that bring out my emotions.

The little pre chapter snippet for chapter 8 is when I caught on to a twist, I just didn't get it exact!

I loved Preston from the start and how he was always trying to be respectful of her and her space. Learning later (*SMALL SPOILER*) that ~of course~ he knew about the rumors made me love him more.

Effy grew on me throughout the book. She couldn’t even handle a man talking to her or being in the same space at the start of the book until Preston. It felt like she didn’t even have the same skittishness with him at all and that hit. As someone with PTSD, I remember feeling so weird that I had no negative feelings about my husband when I met him for the first time which was SO different than most men I meet for the first time. I’m glad she fought for herself by the end of the book.

I will say, the butler annoyed me. I could never tell whose side he was on/who he cared about. Did he know? Why didn’t he warn them at all? He literally just bounced and never came back. I couldn’t even tell if the bit about him at the end meant he was back around and had helped Angharad get set up or if she just meant he did all that after her husband passed.

I really appreciated the in world magic and was so satisfied with how this book ended.

This is my new favorite book!
I loved everything about this! The romance, the story, the mystery, all masterfully done.
I was iffy on Ava’s first couple of books, but this one knocked it out of the park. I’ll be shouting from the rooftops about this book!!!

I saved this book for exactly the right mood and moment and it did not disappoint. The story revolves around young Effy Sayre, who is delicate and dealing with hallucinations of the Fairy King since her childhood. When she applied with her project to redesign Myrddin's estate, Hiraeth Manor, which resides in a very dangerous part of the country, she didn't expect to be chosen for this impossible task. But she gets an invitation telling her that all of her expenses will be covered for six weeks, including her travel fees. When she arrives at the dilapidated house, which is hardly affected by the last drowning and crumbling into pieces, she not only meets Myrddin's eccentric son, but she also finds out that a literature scholar, Preston Heloury, also works with the letters and manuscripts of the late author with a secret agenda. When she finds out Preston is conducting a secret investigation to prove that Myrddin is a fraud because there are inconsistencies with his signature on the letters written for the publisher, and he didn't have a background as an uneducated fisherman's boy to write an epic masterpiece, Effy becomes livid. But Effy's nightmares about the Fairy King increase. She teams up with Preston to find out the truth about the manor and Myrddin, not only for her curiosity but also to end her misery about her biggest childhood mystery!

The horror, mystery, enemies-to-lovers romance, paranormal, and psychological thriller genres are perfectly blended at the same portal. The riveting mystery makes you guess until the end as the spine-tingling, eerie, drowning house pushes you to hide under blankets. You're drawn into the unreliable narration of the traumatized heroine and complex storytelling. But this book is more than a dark academia, paranormal fantasy, or bone-chilling horror novel! It was layered and enthralling; one I will absolutely not forget anytime soon.

Loved this. I’ve really enjoyed everything by this author. She’s an autobuy author for me. I love how every one of her stories is completely different from the others but you can still feel she’s the author. A very strong voice - one I really enjoy.

This was my first time reading Ava Reid and I really enjoyed this book. However I did not realize it was categorized as young adult nor did I know it was a first in a series! The first 75% of the book was incredibly sloooow. But once you get to the climax the story takes off!! I cannot WAIT for the next installment. Ending alone makes the whole book worth five stars!

This book was a bit of a let down after all of the hype around it. While the writing was beautiful and I understood the point the author tried to make, it felt clumsy at points. The reveal of the actual Angharad author was extremely predictable and while the atmosphere of the creepy house certainly was there, the plot failed to keep me engaged. Effy and Preston were also quite bland as characters, with few defining traits. I do see why people loved it though, it just didn't work for me.

I enjoyed this immensely. The deft way the narrative is woven together struck me again and again as masterful. With passages of poetry, academic study, and cautious whimsy alike gracing the beginning of each chapter and then dispersed throughout. This in no way reads like a young adult novel. It’s full immersive fantasy at its finest. A credit to storytelling and dark fairytales a like.

Dark academia, high fantasy, Welsh-inspired folklore? Say less. I absolutely devoured this A Study in Drowning and the plot twists frequently kept me on my seat. I loved the dynamic of Effie and Preston, and appreciated the character development for both of them. ASID takes place in a world where the fae are not friends, and superstitions are more than just a story to scare children into behaving. I loved the literary elements that were woven into the story. Definitely pay attention to the trigger warnings, especially those dealing with sexual abuse and uneven power dynamics. This book is for anyone who has ever fought for their voice to be heard, and who has ever felt like who they were was not enough.

I loved getting to know Effy and the the rest of the characters, but my favorite element of the story was easily the eerie atmosphere of the house at the center of their story. It's so thick you can practically feel it.