I wasn't expecting this story to take my breath away with slow-burn horrors and empathy. Effy has long dealt with nightmares of the Fairy King coming to her. She has always wanted a chance to study the author Emrys Myrrdin up close, since she believes his epic Angharad saved her. The story features how the title character evaded the Fairy King's seductions.

The chance soon comes when she wins a contest to renovate Emrys's crumbling house. A rival student who wants to prove Emrys is a fraud also comes, and they enter a tentative alliance to uncover a big mystery. Effy starts to worry that Preston is right, that her hero has a tainted legacy.

It brings up the question about how a lot of women and minorities have white male heroes in creative fields because those are more likely the stories that receive acclaim and awareness. We also get a sense of Gothic literature, and a love letter to legacies.

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Reid possesses a writing style that is lush and all-encompassing. A Study in Drowning weaved together folklore and gothic themes, highlighting the harm of patriarchy and the expectations for women, both in academic settings and outside of them. I found the narrative both offensive and so incredibly important, as I’m sure the author wanted. The atmosphere was spot on, and while there were threads that I felt could be smoothed out a little, overall the story was captivating and compelling. Also, I loved Preston and the dynamic between him and Effy throughout the manuscript.

Thank you, Netgalley and the publisher, for an eARC version of this novel. Opinions are my own.

Moody, atmospheric with lyrical prose, at times ominous, A Study in Drowning is a beguiling dark academia fairy tale. The story centers around two college students investigating a literary mystery, holed up in a gothic house belonging to the late writer, Emrys Myrddin.

The fantasy element of the story is fairly light. Part of the intrigue is not quite knowing what is real or not, from Effy’s unreliable perspective: does the Fairy King she’s dreamed of since childhood really exist, or is she simply suffering from hallucinations as she’s been told? The question regarding the existence of the fae is one that everyone grapples with in this world: one of the strongest features is how writer Ava Reid creates and defines different geographic regions in this world (Llyr vs. Arganta, north vs. south), creating a rich tapestry of folklore inspired by Welsh tales; they are areas with varying political and spiritual beliefs, which adds a degree of reality to the world. While I wasn’t caught off guard by some of the latter twists, as the story barreled toward its ending, there were still some unexpected pay-offs and resolutions.

I was able to ask Reid if she was inspired a bit by A.S. Byatt’s Possession (which I read earlier this year), and while she had the idea for this book before she read Possession, she did say that reading helped inform some of the writing. Thematically, this book covers similar ideas regarding the feeling of ownership in scholarship/academia. But I also loved how this book reflects on additional ideas regarding women in male-dominated spaces. It’s hard to say more without dropping spoilers, but the constant presence of decay and nightmare that seem to envelop the story help to advance some of what is suggested regarding authorship and academia.

As characters, Effy and Preston are a strong rivals-to-lovers pairing. How they end up finding a home in one another is beautifully developed. I sort of wish we had more time with them in the end, to see Effy continue to develop, but I also appreciate where this one ended and that it’s a standalone.

(I do wonder if the YA rating is a bit of a stretch; I feel it’s more aptly New Adult since Effy and Preston are college-aged? It’s one I wouldn’t feel entirely comfortable recommending to all of my high school students given allusions to SA (though this is never explicitly described) and how at times it can feel quite dark.)

Thank you to HarperTeen and NetGalley for the advance copy in exchange for an honest review!

First off, let me say, that the concept of this story was a win for me. The silencing of voices, of women, the pervasive control exerted by men, married to the telling of fairy tales, of myth, and the differing opinions on what to believe or disbelieve.. it was all really enthralling. Helped, too, by the dreary and eerie setting, coated in danger and dampness, with an impending feeling of the world around you about to wash away in an instant.. yes, that was all very to the good.

It was everything else I disliked. As in, the characters. For all that they were a vehicle to move the story, to unravel the mysteries (which, let’s be real, I knew exactly how this was all going to go down almost right from the get-go) I felt they actually worked in opposition of my enjoyment and instead muddled it all up instead. And maybe it’s because I knew what was to come? It normally doesn’t impact my enjoying, the knowing, but when I’m struggling with an element of a story (again, the characters) maybe it did. Because it spilled over into the pacing, too. So maybe it was a two-fold thing.

But regardless, I do still think this is a story worth picking up. It may not be the most enjoyable experience — Reid is doing a lot with her narrative and it’s not all pleasant but a lot of it is important — but I’m not mad I gave this author a second go. Even though, looking back, it seems I had the same issues with THE WOLF AND THE WOODSMAN that I did with this one (spoiler alert : characters and romance) so time will tell if there’s ever a third attempt.

I liked the cozy, atmospheric vibes, perfect for a rainy day. It had an interesting premise and I appreciated how it handled heavy topics with care.

My biggest grievance was, I didn’t feel invested in their characters or their connection to each other. I didn’t understand what to root for. and that really took me out of it.

thank you to NetGalley and HarperTeen for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

I'm so sorry my review is late! I absolutely loved this book. This YA dark academia fantasy treat is beautifully written, with a rivals to lovers romance and a dash of Fae lore. But more importantly, it’s a story about survivial, mental health and believing women and marginalized genders, about agency and finding your voice in a world that consistently silences you.

Plus, as I was reading this, I was imagining myself on a cliffside in Cornwall, wind whipping through my hair and coat, the Atlantic raging below.

Happy sigh. 5 ecstatic, desirous stars.

Thank you to Harper Collins for an e-arc of this book in exchange for an honest review!

A lot of my fellow mutuals and reviewers bring up great points about potential shortcomings in the book — specifically concerning the romance, worldbuilding, and the characters themselves. Whether or not these aspects land or not will ultimately depend on the reader’s tastes, especially considering this is an Ava Reid novel where readers are oftentimes divided.

Hearing these concerns, I was admittedly worried that I wouldn’t end up enjoying the book because these are important points that I believe an author should hit in some ways for me to enjoy. However, I don’t think the sparse worldbuilding is too sparse that it unequivocally undermines what the book sets out to do. I think whether the worldbuilding completely falls flat or not will depend on the reader’s tastes and expectations. Because so many of my mutuals pointed this out, I was already expecting it so this never ended up bothering me. (Though I do think there was still a great opportunity to expand and delve deeper into this if the book was longer!)

I also actually thought the romance in this book was quite beautifully done. It was subtle and tender in a way that can easily be mistaken for underdeveloped though I think this once again is highly dependent on the reader’s expectations and even perhaps our expectations of what constitutes a worthwhile, “highly” developed romance. If you’re looking for a “rivals to lovers” that hits all the typical beats traditionally seen within the YA space (two highly contrasting personalities, high tension, drawn-out animosity, etc), then I think this will let you down. I believe this depiction of the romance is quite appropriate considering the plot which is situated within a larger context of injustice, trauma, and the unwavering determination to survive amidst it all. Seeing two soft characters fall in love in contrast to the harsh, unforgiving world around them was a strong point personally.

Reid is also masterfully skillful at prose that is both raw, hard-hitting and symbolic of the wider plot at hand — it personally never crosses over into territory where it reads fanciful or overly embellished. This is the third book of theirs that I have read and I can securely say that their style of writing is for me — there is something so emotionally evoking and tender about their writing style that drew me to tears by the end of the book for no concrete reason.

All of this is wrapped up in a broader critique of academia that in part pulls from Reid’s personal experiences — they absolutely nailed enfolding this within themes of survival, sexism, and systemic oppression. What I also think Reid does skillfully is incorporating the “story within a story” theme here, often seen in their previous books but reworked to tackle and explore different themes that fringe reality and imagination.

Overall, as Reid’s debut YA, I think they utterly shine here in a way that differs from their adult books, in a way that I think I ultimately prefer more.

Effy Sayre has been an ardent fan of Emyrs Myrrdin ever since she was a child, holding close to her heart the story of Angharad which she finds a deep connection with. Despite her deep love of literature, she is a woman and women are not allowed in the literature college so she settles for the next highest college - the architecture college. When an opportunity arises for an architecture student to design Hiraeth Manor, the late Myrrdin’s home, Effy enters her name for the opportunity - and is chosen!

But designing Hiraeth Manor is an impossible task: it is literally crumbling into the sea. On top of that, when Effy arrives at Hiraeth, she finds literature student Preston Héloury there to study Myrrdin’s papers, determined to prove that he was a fraud. Despite their initial animosity, the two work together to investigate Myrrdin’s legacy - one trying to discredit him and the other hoping to redeem him - and find that Hiraeth’s foundation may not be the only thing that can’t be trusted.

It’s the season for dark academia and this story is the perfect addition to any TBR seeking those vibes. In this breathtakingly atmospheric tale, we follow a young woman who is doing everything she can to just survive in the world. From a young age, Effy has been spoken down to and her experiences discounted simply because she is a woman. Effy is heartbreakingly relatable, a character who is lost and struggles with her mental health but still finds a way to stick around.

An entire generation (looking at you fellow millennials!) is going to find themselves relating to Effy’s struggles while reading this story. With Preston’s digging into Myrrdin’s history, Effy faces the potentiality of the fall of her biggest hero and idol. A work that she has found comfort in for the majority of her life gets called into question due to the muddy waters that the author ends up in. If you grew up entranced by a certain wizard and his world only to find that the author is an utter and complete bigot, you know exactly how this feels.

This story will leave you aching, for Effy and everyone involved. It is a beautiful story that causes you to question things you know and hold close the ones that mean something to you. Following Effy’s journey from the start to end, though it hurts at times, also brings hope - that one person can make a difference and can make changes happen. It's also a reminder that social stigma can (and should) be fought against, especially when it comes to mental health struggles.

Some content warnings for those who need them: sexual assault, abuse of power imbalance, sexism, parental rejection, parental death, amputation, child abandonment, discussion of child sacrifice, potential for drowning, and mental health stigma.

Disclaimer: I received an advanced copy of this book from the publisher for free and have voluntarily written this review.

THIS WAS AMAZING!!!!!!!!!!! I literally read this in one sitting because I could not put it down. The atmosphere within this was untouchable, and the characters were incredible. I loved Effy so much and following her journey was truly a delight. I did figure out the ending prior to it, but I do think it was very well written and interesting. This is a must read!!

5 Stars

The perfect dark academia spooky FEMINIST RECLAIMING romance story for the fall 2023 season.

Other reviews have put it more eloquently and given this book the justice it deserves, but I’ll attempt to add my thoughts. A Study in Drowning is a multilayered tale that focuses on reclaiming one’s sense of self, their work, their sanity, and their purpose. It’s also a story around what the written word can mean to a person and how each reader can claim ownership over a story.

It’s also swoony and that plot doesn’t take away from the artful masterpiece being woven into the rest of the story.

I don’t know what to say exactly other than JUST READ IT. And on audio if you can.

4.5

Effy Sayre has had visions of the Fairy King since childhood, but she's determined to prove herself as a student in the architecture program at her university. After all, women aren't allowed to study literature. But Effy's heart is with Emrys Myrddin's Angharad, a fairy tale about a girl who falls in love with the Fairy King and destroys him.

Effy knows the book by heart, and it brings her comfort as she struggles through school. But when Myrddin's family holds a contest to redesign the recently deceased author's home, Effy is also determined to prove her worth as an architect. As soon as she arrives at Hiraeth Manor, she is met with a manor in complete disrepair and her (secret) foe, P. Heloury. You see, Preston checked out all of the books from the library about Myrddin when Effy wanted them. Egregious!

Preston is at the manor officially to write a biography, but unofficially to prove that Myrddin did not write Angharad. Effy finds this accusation incomprehensible, so the two briefly become academic rivals. As time passes, the two realize that something sinister is afoot. Can they save the manor and prove the authorship of Effy's beloved tales?

A Study in Drowning is my first Ava Reid book, but I loved it! The rivalry between Effy and Preston lasted the perfect length. Any shorter wouldn't have felt genuine, and longer would have felt like it was dragging out for excessive banter.

I thought I knew where the plot was going, but I'm glad I was wrong!

If you like:
- Gothic tales
- Dark academia
- Academic rivals to lovers
- Spooky seaside settings
... then you'll love A Study in Drowning.

I should begin by saying I might be a bit biased because Ava Reid is one of my auto-buy authors. I love everything she has written so far, and I loved A Study in Drowning, too, even if my love for it is more complicated than the love I feel for, say, Juniper & Thorn.

I’ve seen numerous reviews from people who’ve said this book gives them all the “fall feelings”. Well, then I feel sorry for what you think fall is, because this book made me feel incredibly sad, heavy, and emotional. I felt as weighed down as all of Hireath (the Myrrdin family home mentioned in the book’s blurb) feels in all its waterlogged sorrow. (Interestingly enough, I know the word Hireath from its Welsh origins, and while there is no direct English translation, to the Welsh, it’s a feelings that mixes longing, yearning, nostalgia, wistfulness or an earnest desire for what–or how–something used to be).

Wales plays more than one part in this story, as Emrys Myrddin was the name of Merlin, King Arthur’s court magician, in the oldest known Welsh texts. Sadly, in those old texts, Merlin was just as atrocious a figure as Emrys is in this book, in the worst of ways. Also, notably, A woman named Angharad James was quite a notable poet in Wales from the mid 17th to mid 18th century. Both her son and husband died before her, and she wrote a beautiful elegy for her son. The manuscript survived and you can find it online.

I think my complicated feelings with this book begin with how much I identify with Effy, our female protagonist. It’s in her struggles to be taken seriously in academia, her mental illness issues, and her trauma. (BTW, here is a good place to suggest that you look up a list of TW/CWs before you read this book, if you’re the type of person who wants to know what they’re getting into before they start a darker book). For Effy, books have been her only friends and her only escape for her whole life, and I feel that sentiment in my bones. Books never leave like people do. Books never die. Books never physically harm you. Books are reliable, a portal out of here. And Effy, well, Effy has needed something to rely on her whole life because she’s had no one else to rely on. The only problem is she ended up relying on a single book to hold onto everything for her.

This book has a lot to say about misogyny, r@pe culture, victim blaming, grooming, the theft of women’s intellectual property for the sake of putting a man’s name on the work, prejudice against women in academia, philosophies behind what you believe and what you know, unwanted children, folklore, mythology, the younger generation changing the power structures, and more.

But what I find I enjoy more than anything when I read an Ava Reid book is the writing itself. The prose. The atmosphere. The imagery. The sentence structure. The way you can almost smell the sea, feel the ocean spray, shiver in the cold, smell the damp, feel the wood flooring bow beneath your feet, see the termite holes in the baseboards. Her books are immersive and evocative. You can feel the heavy doors and freezing water. You can see the trees flying through the air and the curving roads. And this is why I can’t help but love Ava Reid: her writing, just pure and undiluted, is magical all on its own.

I was provided a copy of this title by NetGalley and the author. All thoughts, opinions, views, and ideas expressed herein are mine and mine alone. Thank you.

File Under: 5 Star Review/College Romance/Dark Academia/Dark Fantasy/Disability Rep/Romantasy/Gothic/Standalone Novel/Spice Level 1/Women’s Fiction/YA Fantasy/YA Fantasy Romance

This book felt like living through my nightmares. Being thrust into a confusing existence along side the protagonist, Effy, means that you can’t take a proper breath. Effy being unable to trust anyone or anything (including herself) whilst experiencing this constant urgency to escape or do *something* and not knowing what that something might be had my heart racing and the pages turning. Like Effy I felt out of my mind and body at times. In a word, I felt sick. Sick with horror of what was past and sick with dread for the future, but I couldn’t look away.

At its core A Study In Drowning is about surviving the present and I’m glad I survived this book and was able to make I t to the end, experiencing each moment of the story along the way. Through it all there were moments of light and hope in a rotting and twisted world.

I can’t promise that reading this book will be pleasant but it will be *something*. Maybe one day I’ll figure out what the something was for me.

Even as I give this book five stars I don’t know if I enjoyed it. I liked it, sure, but I can’t say I enjoyed reading it. I enjoyed reading it the way one can enjoy clutching a piece of driftwood while trying not to drown in a hurricane, I enjoyed it because I had to hang onto it for dear life or I would drown.

Read at your own risk.

This story is told in third person and follows Effy. Each chapter is preceded by a quote from a work by Effy’s favorite author Emrys Myrddin or from other literary critics of his work. Effy has suffered from several traumas over the course of her young life that have impacted the way she comports and views herself. I found her conflicting aspects of sudden bravery followed by traumatic freezes or extreme self-consciousness to be immensely frustrating, but others may find her relatable.

Effy’s initial reactions to Preston were extreme enough for me to feel uncomfortable. I’m not sure whether the general dislike of Argantians was because of the war, snobbery, xenophobia or racism or maybe all the above, but Effy’s use of it was disturbing to me especially since she had been passed over because of sexism. Preston provides stalwart companionship and unwavering support. I did like him, but he was the only redeeming male in the story.

The setting was beautifully atmospheric. I loved how the decaying cliff house mirrored the decay of the characters in the plot. However, much of the story was filled with ambiguity and allusion that I found frustrating. Around the halfway mark, I guessed what was going on with Preston’s project and it made me feel like the end was rather anticlimactic.

Recommended to readers that enjoy female protagonists who have overcome extreme trauma and love atmospheric myths come to life.

Thank you to Netgalley and HarperTeen for a copy provided for an honest review.

This book is excellent but I feel like it is for very specific audiences. Gothic magic lovers will appreciate its uniqueness. If you don’t need a dark academia novel then skip this one. Otherwise definitely read!

The dark academia/gothic romance of my dreams! A smart and ambitious girl beset by dark visions! A rival with his own secrets! A house that is literally falling into the sea! I. Loved. It.

I can see where this will appeal to a lot of readers. It has great atmosphere and touches on some heavy topics. Unfortunately for me, I needed a bit more from the plot and characters. I feel like this is an all vibes kind of book. Which is okay, but I really wanted more ti in with the fae king.

This book, oh this book, it will take you along on this epic tale filled with love, loss, fantasy, reality, and folklore that twirl together like fairies dancing in the glen.

To say I loved this one would be an understatement, I want to live in this world, good and bad, with the seamless blending of magic and realism, it's just brilliant.

Effy's character is perfection, she loves literature and does whatever she has to do to prove her thoughts and dreams to be true, she's the kind of character that will make you believe in everything and nothing at the same time.

Preston is her perfect counterpart, he has doubts, he wants to prove that Myrddin is a fraud and that all of Effy's dreams are just that, dreams.

While the characters are fantastic, the house, Hiraeth Manor is its character, it has life, purpose, and everything that makes gothic settings my absolute favorite type of setting.

If you like gothic settings, tales that blend magic with whimsy and reality this book is for you, if you like books that make you question reality this book is for you, if you just want something that will let you escape reality for a while this is the book for you.

Thank you to Harper Collins Children's Books, Harper Teen, and NetGalley for providing an advance copy of this E-Book, I have voluntarily read and reviewed it and all thoughts and opinions are my own.

This was my first outing with Ava Reid, and I THOROUGHLY enjoyed myself. I loved how the story takes a slanted real-world setting (Wales & Cornwall, but not quite) and imbues it with qualities of those cultures' folk tales, but then also adds elements of fantasy and the gothic. I went into this not quite sure what to expect, and if at the beginning you'd told me that all those elements would be playing together, I'd be worried about how the book would go. But I ended up with a book and a reading experience that was delightful, engrossing, and not quite like one I'd had before. The only issues I had were with the antagonist (I didn't fully understand how that worked) and with how the story resolved (a bit more tell than show for my taste).

Otherwise, I had a delightful time. I do recommend, and I'll likely purchase my own copy in the future.

Thank you Harper Teen for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest thoughts.

I have been having a difficult time trying to sum up my thoughts on A STUDY IN DROWNING. It’s a book about fairytales, mental illness and keeping the stories we love close to our hearts. I think most readers will immediately fall in love with the main character Effy. She’s a soft and anxious girl and unlike any YA heroine I have ever read. Effy is someone who’s been hurt by the people around her so she is extremely vulnerable. She’s a survivor. Effy is also a young woman in academia trying to navigate spaces that were not meant for her. All while she is having visions of the Fairy King that cause her to question her own reality.

Ava Reid continues to show that her strength lies in writing compelling narratives centered around the experiences of female suffering and anger. But the biggest strength of this book is probably the gothic atmosphere that serves as a backdrop to this story. The present is being haunted by the past. Effy and Preston trying to discover the secrets of Emrys Myrddin in his manor that is literally crumbling into the sea is a perfect example of that.

I loved how sweet and tender Effy’s relationship with Preston was. At first, their relationship was a little rocky, much like the rocks that are crumbling into the sea. But once Effy saw that Preston wasn’t there to judge her, her personality unfurled like a little delicate flower. The “romance” that takes place between Effy and Preston isn’t the focus of the book by any means but it shows that you really only need one person in this world who sees you for who are to make you feel like you can be brave and take on the world.

I could go on and on but you don’t need to keep reading for you to know that I am in love with his book and will continue to ready anything and everything that Ava Reid writes. A STUDY IN DROWNING just might be my favorite book from Reid yet!

5/5 stars!