This is my second Ava Reid book and I can now say, with confidence, if there’s one thing this author is going to do, it’s write the most relatable FMC with a MMC for the female gaze. I thoroughly enjoyed every moment of this book and I cannot wait to read it again. The atmosphere was suffocating, chilling, damp, rotting, and uneasy. The water motif was truly chef’s kiss. Every detail was so well done, down to the characters’ names. Mental illness is a major theme, along with the feminine experience; how unfair and often abusive it can be. I would recommend this to a more mature YA audience due to some sexual content, sexual abuse (off-page), and grooming. I would recommend for anyone who is a fan of Jane Eyre or Mexican Gothic.
I received an audio ARC of this book from Netgalley (thank you!) And will absolutely be preordering a hard copy.

I tried this book as an ebook and then thought this might be easier to read. This is such a boring book that I couldn’t do it in either format.

Rounding up to 4 stars here because I loved the premise of this - HOWEVER, because I was listening to an audiobook ARC of this, the reader was awful to listen to. I had to keep reminding myself not to judge the novel based upon how I felt about the reader for this, because I knew it wasn't the final narrated version. But choosing to listen this way made it much more difficult to get into this book than it might have been otherwise.

What did I love most about this novel? The dreary, drowning atmosphere/setting the author created for this world. I could easily imagine the crumbling rock and manor described. I loved seeing Effy connect with the novel Angharad and make a name for herself at the end. The slight fantasy aspect also made for an enjoyable read.

The beginning of the novel was slow, and so much of the narration was just in Effy's own head. I had some trouble with the world building until the second half, which is when the story really started to pick up as well.

I would categorize this as New Adult, not necessarily as Young Adult which it was publicized as. Thanks to Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC!

Interestingly enough, I didn't enjoy this book at first. In fact I was on the verge of not finishing it.

I'm glad I didn't give up. The story piqued my interest about halfway and kept me there until the very end. It became a very powerful story about the silencing of the voices of women and the strength it takes to fight back.

Ultimately, there are details in the book that would prohibit me from being able to place it on my classroom shelf or recommend it to a student. I will however, be recommending it to my friends that are avid YA Fantasy readers like myself!

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Teen for the ARC! A Study in Drowning blends fantasy with mystery and dark academia. Effy Sayre has always believed in fairy tales and has memories of nearly being taken by the Fairy King, but found solace in the writing of Emrys Myrddin. But as a female, Effy is not allowed entrance into the college of literature. She instead joins the college of architecture and when a chance to design Myrddin's house arises, Effy grabs it. Once there, she meets Preston Héloury, a literature scholar, who is studying Myrddin’s papers and is determined to prove he's a fraud. The two end up joining forces to uncover the secrets of Myrddin and his writing as well as the secrets of the Fairy King. A Study in Drowning features Ava Reid's hauntingly beautiful prose and fantastic storytelling that weaves in a lot of deeper meaning and historical injustice.

Advanced Reader's Copy audiobook provided by NetGalley, and HarperTeen in exchange for an honest review.

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid was an absolute joy and an experience to read. It's been dubbed "Ava Reid's YA debut in this dark academic fantasy..." and while I would agree that the story's lore and world building is giving dark academia, the main character Effy Sayre is giving a light academia vibe and I love it. Effy Sayre might even be one of my all time favorite characters, and I feel like a lot of readers may be able to relate to her. Effy has been through hell, but she find's strength in fairytales and folklore traditions. Her journey throughout the story felt authentic and I found myself really rooting for her.

I think fans of VE Schwab’s The Invisible Life of Addie LaRue, Spells for Forgetting by Adrienne Young, and Weyward by Emilia Hart.

A Study in Drowning is dark (and light) academia, a bit gothic, and atmospheric. The world building was easy to slide into and the characters easy to love! Definitely a 4.5/5 Stars!

This book was a really interesting blend of dark academia, gothic vibes and mystery/horror. I enjoyed the setting a lot, and was surprised at how much I liked Effy as a protagonist. Effy was so well realized and her narrative voice was so clear. The writing is very pretty, but it doesn't quite tip into being purple prose (which I am really glad for, because flowery writing and I do not mix). The plot was tight, and fast paced which kept me really engaged and immersed in the story wondering what was going to happen next. Even though this is marketed as YA, I think that a lot of adults (like myself) would really enjoy this. I am really excited to get physical copies of this at my library, and it is coming out just the beginning of the spooky season (mid-September) which is a great tonal fit for the story!
For the audiobook specifically: I didn't realize this was made with that synthetic voice when I first requested it, so I don't really have any notes or opinions on the audiobook since it wasn't really the full experience. The story lends itself well to being read aloud, at least.

I wanted to enjoy this one, but I struggled to care for any of the characters. It just wasn’t for me! Hard to follow at times

I really enjoy the dark academia trend of complex women and soft nerdy boys. A Study in Drowning gives me the same vibes as A Far Wilder Magic by Allison Saft, which is one of my favorite books. Ava Reid continues her trend of making excellently conflicted and HUMAN characters whose trauma is just has an antagonist as the main villains, of which the Fairy King is only one.

I appreciate Reid's work to continuously call out the worst of institutions and society through her works. Here, she breaks down what the implicit sexism and ethnic discrimination steeped in academia. Effy is an unreliable narrator as she is drugged for the majority of the book, but whether her experiences, especially the sexual assaults she experiences, are believed because of the drugs and reputation of power men as the crux of the conflict in the story.

Additionally, as Effy and Preston work together to learn about mysteries surrounding Myrddin and his exalted works of literature, we see that not only is Myrddin a fraudulent academic, he is also one of the multitude of powerful men in academia who take advantage of women and profit off of their work.

If you loved Babel and want a similar work to continue the conversation around the worst parts of academia, A Study in Drowning should be next in your portfolio of content. This book both enraged me and gave me hope because I saw the story of so many of mine and other women's experiences within academia and ultimately, with the support of others believing her stories, Effy is able to find validation and justice for her experiences.
__

Two university students, Effie, an architecture major and Preston, and English major find themselves together in the run down home of an acclaimed recently deceased author, each with different goals. Preston is to be writing up the author's biography and Effie, first year student, is to create a new plan to rebuild the house. (This made no sense to me. Effie was in architecture school, as the university only allowed woman into the architecture program... not the English program as she truly desired. Isn't architecture MUCH more complex? What sort of policy is this? And why would the school allow a mediocre first year such a potentially prestigious project? Yes, there was a small scandal.. but still).
Initially antagonistic towards one another, the two do come to an agreement to work together and their relationship is rather sweet.

This slow moving gothic fairy tale failed to truly grip me. The narration was very good though.

Book Title: A Study in Drowning
Author: Ava Reid
Narrator: Digital Voice Galley
Publisher: Harper Audio- Harper Teen
Genre: YA/Teen Sci-Fi, Fantasy
Pub Date: September 19, 2023
My Rating: 4 Stars
Pages: 384

Effy Sayre has always believed in fairy tales; since childhood she has loved “Angharad” - about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King and then destroys him – story was written by Emrys Myddrin,
Now a university student in the architectural college and has won a contest to design a new manor for the estate of none other than Emrys Myddrin who recently died.
Effy soon finds designing Hiraith Estate is a real challenge as the manor is falling apart and sinking into the seaside.
Another student is also there, Preston Héloury, who is a literature scholar. (Aww Effy would love to be a literature student but women are not permitted – in fact, men decide what women can and cannot do!)
Preston is studying Myrddin’s papers supposedly to organize documents for a biography but he has another reason and that is to prove the author is a fraud.

There is a dark secret that goes back to the author and his famous novel.
Effy and Preston are a great team; they set out to find the secrets and solve the mystery of this manor which includes the Fairy King..

Love this ending!
About the author -Ava Reid – Her bio states that “A Study in Drowning”, her Ms. Reid’s debut young adult. She got her degree in political science from Barnard College, and has she moved to Palo Alto, where she continues to haunt university libraries.

Want to thank NetGalley and Harper Audio – Harper Teen for this VoiceGalley Advanced Audio Edition.
Publishing Release Date scheduled for September 19, 2023.

A Study in Drowning

Plot: 1
Writing: 1
World Building: .5
Characters: .5
Themes: 1
4/5

What you can expect:
- MC on medication
- Gothic, dark academia vibes
- Mystery/thriller
- Fae
- Underlying theme of feminism
- Off-page SA

It didn't pick up for me until ~55%. It's such an interesting concept with mystery and gothic vibes, but it was just really slow.

I was pleasantly surprised. After finally getting into it and things started unfolding, I was really enjoying the creepy vibes. I also wasn't expecting the theme of women and SA, being believed and being seen as more than just a girl. I think that's such an important thing for YA to be exposed to and learn about and I loved that we got it in a historical fantasy setting.

I love the gothic and dark academia vibes. I love the themes. This one is for you if you've got a bit of patience.

The audiobook was good. The narrator was perfect for this story and added so much to my enjoyment of it!

Thank you to Netgalley and Harper Collins for an advanced listening copy of A Study in Drowning. This is my honest review.

Absolutely everything I wanted it to be and so much more. I would read copious amounts of books set in this world and would love them all to ruination.

This story is absolutely beautiful.

This was my first encounter with listening to text to speech instead of an actual audiobook and it was pretty weird - something you definitely need to get used to. I am glad I was able to read along with an e-arc from Edelweiss. Since it isn't a true audiobook, there is no varying inflections or differing accents/voices. Everything is fairly monotone and mushed together. Occasionally there would be a voiced 'text break', but not for every break in text. Also there were many beginning sentences after the text break that weren't said at all in the audio. I would love to relisten when the official audiobook is released. Regardless, I am grateful to Netgalley for even having this version available to listen to!

*Thank you to netgalley for the audio and edelweiss for the earc*

This was a great book! It had some subtle foreshadowing that helped me guess what might transpire. I thought the main character was a bit too timid but by the end of the book she did find her voice. I really like how everything came together at the end. The description of the setting and characters was helpful. During the storm, I could feel the water rushing in. Nicely done! I read the actual book and listened to the audiobook. The only problem I saw with the audiobook was the narrator’s inflection/voice didn’t change at all. So during conversations it was hard to know who was talking.

I don't want to review the book because I'm fairly certain I enjoy the story, but the narrator is just not for me and my mind wandered SO much! The narrator had such a bland voice and the cadence never changed...and I just don't know, the narrator was not for me.

Darkly romantic, unsettling and moving all at once, A Study in Drowning is an atmospheric story about readers and their relationships to stories; academia and the institutional sexism that it is built upon; and the frustrating treatment of women's voices both in academia and in life, especially among family. Reid's prose is so heart-achingly beautiful, the book is filled to the brim with lines I want to read over and over again.

The Gothic backdrop of a crumbling estate on a cliff is the perfect setting for this dark academia story. I could practically smell the salt as I read the book. The rivals to lovers romance is so tender and beautiful and really sets this book apart as one of my favorites of all time. The main character, Effy, broke my heart because of how relatable and frustrating her experiences have been. The world building in this story is excellent, giving the reader the sense of a complete world full of its own myths, religion, and history. Reid is a master at writing fantasy romance that is intense, bold, unsettling, and touching, and she has proven herself yet again with this YA debut!

Thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children's Books/HarperTeen for providing me with an early copy in exchange for an honest review!

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Collins for an arc of A Study in Drowning in exchange of my honest review.

It's official, Ava Reid is in my category of auto-buy author and I'm impressed how beautifully written and how she manages to include such powerful messages in such well-rounded stand-alone fantasy books. Her work seems to talk to each other but at the same time they are so diverse in themes that only show how versatile she is.

A Study in Drowning is the story of Effy, the only female student in an architect school that wished she could have been studying literature instead. When she gets the opportunity to work designing the house of her favorite author she jumps at the opportunity, just to arrive there and see Preston, a literature student that is trying to unravel this author's work.

As usual, Reid brings a lot of heavy themes to the book but woven them really well into the narrative. Starting with Effy, she is looked down upon not only by her peers, professors but her own mother, she also suffers sexual assaults from her "mentor" and still has to be quiet about it, and lastl,y she suffers from PTSD and illusions (which we will later learn what they are) and relies on pills to function. It was impossible for me not to compare her with Marlinchen from Juniper & Thorn. Reid again brings this theme of how survival is also bravery, and how you can seem powerless because you don't fight back, but it doesn't mean that you are less strong.

Moving on to a broader aspect of the book we also have the discussion of stories appropriation. We have so many examples in history of how women did marvelous academic discoveries that were not credit to them. This hit me right in the gut and I loved to see how Effy grew through the story and how he dealt with this issue at the end of the book.

We also have discussions about academic sexism, abusive power dynamics and misogyny. One point that really stuck with me is how the society perceives females as fragile/innocent/iffy GIRLS for everything, but they are WOMEN when they have to receive mockery and consequences of assaults they are victims of.

All those big and heavy discussions are super well rounded in a story that has rivals to lovers and this haunting, eerie, fae-like environment that Ava Reid writes so well.
I totally recommend and I will keep talking about it non stop!

Wow! This was definitely not what I was expecting first of all. It was very dark and at times heavy. I loved the bigger message it gives. The FMC did appear a bit immature but I think there was a point in that. I wasn’t too into the love story part (I didn’t feel the connection much), but I was very satisfied at the end. I thought the character arc was immensely important and fantastic for young women! I was always rooting for Effy. I did feel like it was very male-heavy, which I would assume is the point. But I did wish she had more support from a female voice OR we had the side that the females don’t support her… I just found that nagged at me a bit. Although again, there is a point there too but I just wanted her to have SOME female light in the dark. Overall it was very well done!! 4.5 stars rounded up! Thank you very much for Netgalley and the Harper Collins Teen for an advance copy!!

4.25/5

Thank you NetGalley and Harper Audio for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

This was a beautiful written novel that ties together both fantasy and the real world. The female roles in this book deal with the struggle of men dismissing their intelligence and strength while ultimately learning to stand up for themselves and fight back.