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.

A rivals to lovers romance set in a crumbling, isolated mansion? This book is a perfect atmospheric read for the beginning of Fall, don’t you think?

"A Study in Drowning" earned a well-deserved nomination for Best Young Adult Fantasy & Science Fiction in 2023, and it’s easy to see why. The novel offers a richly layered narrative that delves into the treatment of young women and the unjust burdens placed upon them by men. The characters are crafted with remarkable depth, and their journeys of discovering love and overcoming formidable obstacles are both inspiring and poignant. This book is an excellent choice for fans of psychological thrillers, mysteries, and enemies-to-lovers stories.

I get the love for this book. It has pretty prose and a fun concept, but I do feel like it was lacking a bit.

The execution was off. It had a lot of limp storylines that are never fully resolved or glossed over.

I liked the vibes and it was perfect for a gloomy day, but it didn’t hit my expectations!

A Study in Drowning is a beautifully written, atmospheric dark academia novel with tons of gothic vibes woven in. The mystery is compelling and the story is full of dark secrets.

Effy Sayre is the only woman in the architecture program, and is further isolated when rumours about her and the professor begin circulating. Her favourite novel is a tale about a woman fighting the Fairy King, who Effy has been hallucinating since childhood, this book is the only thing that makes her feel sane. When she gets the opportunity to redesign her favourite author's manor, she jumps on the chance. When she arrives, there is a rival student working on a project of his own.

I think I went into this with such high expectations because of how hyped this book was... I really wanted to love this, but unfortunately it fell flat for me. I found it to be so slow, that it was dragging for me, but I did finish it in one sitting so its not like it was bad. I was intrigued with finding out what happened in the story, which is why I kept reading, but it felt anticlimactic in the end to me. I can't say I cared about any of the characters, and I wasn't a fan of the majority of them.

Overall, just very lack luster for me, but I know a lot of people really enjoyed this, so definitely check it out if it sounds like something you would like!

The atmosphere of this book was true to the spirit that is the Dark Academia genre. I love the academic rivals in Effy and Preston. They’re both such interesting and unique characters. The world building was truly fleshed out and given several dimensions which just added to the layers of this story. While not my favorite DA book I’ve read, it is certainly up there as one of the strongest in the genre

I loved the dark academia meets fantasy vibes.
The atmosphere really had me gripped. I loved the imagery of a drowning, rotting manor. It felt like an old school epic- think Tam Lin- given new breath

I was looking for something a little darker, a little more chilling. The story itself was a little confusing until the end and even then I didn’t particularly like the characters enough to care. Took me a long time to get through because the story was so very slow.

I was so excited when I got this book and started immediately! There were so many twists and turns, and I was drawn to the characters!

Thank you to Netgalley and then publish ler for providing me with an advance copy of this title in exchange for an honest review.

The cover art to a Study in Drowning is absolutely gorgeous. It drew me in immediately, as did the description. However,nI found that the characterization of the main character, as well as the world building within the story, greatly detracted from my enjoyment of the story. It didn't quite hold together. Add in a romance that felt oddly heatless and I really didn't enjoy this title as much as I had hoped.

I did really respect the author's decision the center the main character'a trauma from facing constant misogyny as a young female academic who was also mentally ill. The book isn't bad by any means, but it didn't deliver what I had hoped for while reading.

Three stars.

An atmospheric combination of dark academia and gothic fantasy that emphasizing the topic of misogynistic. Took me a while to get my interest in the story but the last few chapters were quite satisfying to read. I wonder what the sequel will be about because i think the end concluded nicely…

Beautiful, atmospheric prose with a compelling mystery revealing dark secrets. If you like gothic horrors or dark academias, then definitely pick up this book.

I liked this story a lot though there were some parts of the fantasy aspect that I thought were weak and needed to be built on a little more (the sleepers). It was a little predictable but the writing was great and extremely engaging, especially in more suspenseful parts of the story.
I thought the romance element was really well done. I think the characters were all fantastically fleshed out!

Effy is a new student in the Architecture College at her university. She is ostracized in her college, being the only girl. Her only outlet is a fantasy novel written by a recently deceased author. To escape her college, classmates, and the desire to be in the literature college (which does not admit women), she applies for a contest to create a blueprint to fix the home of the deceased author. Once she gets there, she works with another student to uncover the true authorship of her favorite novel.

The story was hard to get into in the beginning. The book became interesting only after many of my suspicions were confirmed. I do like that what I suspected turned out to actually be what was going on, but it was also predictable. I was unsure why Effy and Preston did not consider certain theories. I realize that the book is set in a time where women were thought to be intellectually inferior, but that still did not excuse them disregarding the widow for most of the book. In the end, they were guilty of the thing they accused many of the men of doing in the book, which was focusing on the male characters and forgetting the only other woman besides Effy in the house. I do like how the story ended, and happy that Effy got justice and her rightful place at her university. Her and Preston worked well together throughout the book.

3.5/5

I found myself struggling with this book. I can’t necessarily explain why because I think it’s very beautifully written and the plot was great but I just didn’t find myself invested in the characters and I had to push myself to read it. This book is very metaphorical and maybe that’s what I didn’t vibe with because I just didn’t understand the deeper meaning of the book. I think if you like dark academia though you’ll love this!

This was a book I was very much looking forward to reading based on all the hype. I would say it lived up to the hype with atmospheric writing and gorgeous prose. This author does atmospheric fantasy and romance so well!