“There was an intimcy to all violence she supposed.
The better you knew someone, the more terribly you could hurt them.”
With a gloomy, gothic atmosphere and a mystery that goes back years, Ava Reid intricately weaves a beautiful, thought provoking, feminist story that is relatable and a wonderful read.
The story revolves around Effy Sayre, a woman plagued by hallucinations and accused of sleeping with her professor. She is the only student in the architecture college, even though she dreamed of studying literature, but she wasnt allowed to.
Effy applies for a redesigning of her favourite author's home and she meets Ianto, his son and an insufferable scholar, Preston Heloury who has ulterior motive for studying Myrddin's works.
A study in Drowning was real page turner for me. I loved Effy and I was pleased to see how Reid gave an insight in the problems women face in daily life, the obstacles they face when they want to succeed and the affects harassment has on their life. This book is scary, full of supense,itense and a very amazing read. The writing is beautiful, captivating and enga9ing. Ava Reid created characters that felt real and her worldbuilding is incredibly rich and detailed.
I am entranced by this page turner.

I was able to read an arc of A Study in Drowning via Netgalley, many thanks!

Possible spoilers ahead for the book,

At first I wasn't sure about the main character Effy, but the more I read and the further her character was explained the more I saw how important a character like Effy is to young girls, especially young girls who fall into category of upper YA books (Effy is 18). The struggles she faces as a woman in academia and how men treat her are so realistic to what a lot of women still face in traditionally male dominated sections.
The more the story grew, the more Effy grew as a character, she wasn't some frivolous and silly little girl (a huge theme that is played throughout the story), she wasn't the typical "strong female lead" that appears in many YA books, she is more soft spoken and hides into the shadows, but part of her story is learning to use what her strengths are to prove that she is worthy of being where she is.

I think the twists at the end of the book were so well done and had excellent build up. Im stilling thinking about final paragraph hours after finishing the book.

This was my most-anticipated read of 2023, and it absolutely blew me out of the water (no pun intended). Ava Reid is, simply put, a top-tier storyteller, and I will read anything they write.

The main character, Effy, is a shining reminder that you don’t have to pick up a sword and rush into battle to be brave. She was strong in subtle, sometimes unseen ways, but her strength was inspiring. I found myself questioning what was real and what wasn’t alongside her. As soon as I become convinced that one thing was one way, something would happen and I’d question everything all over again. The book’s mystery had many layers and kept me on my toes from the first page to the last.

The slow bloom of Effy and Preston’s relationship sucked me in and left me wanting more (simply because I can’t get enough of them). Ava’s books always leave me with lingering thoughts, feelings, and questions, and this one was no different. The ghost of this book will live with me a long time. A stunning, spectacular YA debut!

Thank you to HarperTeen, Books Forward, NetGalley, and Ava Reid for an ARC of this book.

This is an achingly beautiful and haunting book. Ava Reid is just the most gorgeous writer; hers stories are so evocative and immersive. I felt suffocated and drowned, yet offered a lifeline by the very words that dragged me under. Being in Effy’s head and she struggles with what is real and what isn’t and what that means is heartbreaking. Her journey and development throughout the book is fantastic. And I loved Preston too. Their romance is so sweet, and he is just amazingly understanding and supportive.
The mystery and tension are woven throughout, never leaving you able to feel at ease. I knew what the reveal would be, but I think we’re supposed to figure it out before the characters.
Again, the writing is just so beautiful. There are absolutely some difficult passages, so be kind to yourself as you read.

Some fav lines:
“The only reason anything matters is because it ends. I wouldn’t hold you so tightly now if I thought we could be here forever.”
“But if fairies and monsters were real, so were the women who defeated them.”

4.5 stars

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a requested copy to review. All opinions are my own.

Thank you netgalley for this arc. First of all, Preston 🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶🫶 what held this story together was the ship. Preston and Effy’s growth throughout the story was beautiful ✨. Though, while the writing style was pretty, I struggled staying entertained at times. I wish it was a little more exciting. Some of the scenes came off very slow. I have to say, I enjoyed Juniper and Thorn more, but the ship in this one was so cute. Preston is best boy and Effy is superior girl- we love to see it. And I really liked how the story ended.

Effie has always seen things that no one else can see. The most common of her hallucinations is the Fairy King. After a childhood of horror and nightmares, she is finally put on medication to eliminate these bizarre hallucinations. Now as an adult, Effie is an architecture student who dreams of being a literature student at a college where only males are literature students.
When the opportunity arises to head South, into the lands where people believe in the fae, to build an architectural dream of a house for Effie’s favorite deceased author, she jumps at the opportunity to prove herself.
Once Effie arrives, she is surrounded by mystery and people who try to warn her of the Fairy Kings manipulation.

This book had me gripped from the very beginning, it is a slow and mysterious read. I found myself frustrated at Effie and her hot-headed behavior, but we all need those types of characters to remind us to be patient and keep our eyes open. Watching the relationship between Effie and Preston develop was so intriguing and I love that Effie is a strong girl who is out to make a path for herself and fight for her future, no matter who… or what, gets in her way. Go Effie!

I love a good book that has you wondering what is real and what isn’t, @avasreid does such an amazing job in this book and with her prose-like writing, ugh, I couldn’t get enough! What is the Fairy King? Is he real? Is he a metaphor for her trauma?

Reid's Gothic-mystery follows Effy, a first-year student at the college of architecture, who longs to be a literature student where she can spend more time with Emerys Myrdden's work. His stories are her only light in a world where she feels that she's drowning. When she wins a contest to redesign her favorite author's manor, she journeys south and meets up with sort of academic rival Preston.

The mystery was haunting, echoing themes of fighting misogyny and coping with life after sexual assault. Effy's world was harsh but buffered with privilege, also touching briefly on colonialism and the obscurity of searching for truth.

I especially enjoyed the romance with soft, gentle Preston, and how as Effy has to deconstruct the pedestal she'd built for Myrdden she finds a way to value herself.

I really enjoyed this book! It's well written and the story flows really well. There were some things that were mentioned in the middle of the story that confused me because it wasn't something mentioned earlier, but it gets explained later so I think it works well. I also really liked the character development of both of the main character's. The imagery is great, makes it very easy to imagine Hiareth Manor. The ending was a tad underwhelming, but if the author is making this book a series, then I think it works as a great cliffhanger!

I could not put this book down once I started. It blends gothic and fairy tale themes in a cat-and-mouse chase of "Is there or isn't there a Fairy King?" Reid's descriptions make me feel like I have been to and know the soggy damp Bottom Hundred and Hiraeth Manor. I'm obsessed with Reid's world-building and how Llyr is a place out of time, and that she does not feel the need to explicitly explain to us how the world works.

💫 A cinnamon roll MMC, a groundbreaking FMC, and their very soft, swoony and trauma-respectful romance ❤️
💫 A mystery solved across time
💫 Themes of female empowerment, especially for women explicitly oppressed by the patriarchy (sexual assault, loss of property/rights, forced marriage)
💫 An overall wicked but darkly enchanting faerie theme!
💫 The loveliest of hea's, with the oppressed women in question reclaiming their rights ❤️

TWs - sexual assault by men in positions of power (professors, employers) and the victims facing backlash/blame, attempted murder, drowning, extreme misogyny

-- ty to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for an advanced copy!

4 out of 5 stars. To be released November 2023.

Effy has always been a huge fan of fairy tales, especially the one about the Fairy King. As an architectural student, Effy jumps at the chance to enter a contest to redesign the author's estate. Effy wins and embarks on the journey south to the mysterious house. A literature student, Preston, is also at the estate and is researching the history of the author. Together they discover that things aren't exactly what they seem.

A Study in Drawing is a wonderful blend of myths and legends, truth and deception, and unraveling the past. Effy challenges the role of women in her society, who are seen as essentially not being able to be intellectuals or writers. The island estate creates a creepy atmosphere that adds to sometimes unnerving descriptions of the Fairy King. It was a unique take on stories about the fae and does not romanticize them at all.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books for providing me with a digital advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Release Date: Sep 19, 2023

I cannot think of a better read to get your hands on this fall!

Effy Sayre is an avid fan of the haunting fantasy works of the late great Emyrs Myrddin. When she is denied entry into the all-male literature college to study Myrddin’s works, she grudgingly settles on architecture. After winning a design contest, Effy is invited to Myrddin’s estate to redesign his now crumbling, waterlogged manor. While redesigning the manor, Effy becomes acquainted with Preston, a smug literature student studying Myrddin’s old letters. As Myrddin’s son and other unknown magical forces try to keep Effy and Preston from working together, they clandestinely operate to uncover the secrets held within the slowly sinking manor - secrets that could topple everything that Effy has ever held dear.

Effy is one of my favorite female main characters I’ve read. She reminds me so much of myself as a first year college student: determined, but timid and shy in a place she feels she just doesn’t belong. She’s strong without having to dominate every interaction, battle with swords, or make amusing quips. Effy is a wonderful example of quiet bravery, fighting against her past and clamoring to create her future.

The setting and world are haunting and eerie. I pictured everything in a washed-out sepia tone. Mythology and inspiration is drawn heavily from England and Wales. We also have some early 20th century technology, adding an unexpected element to the world. It’s a perfect ethereal dark-academia fall read!

The romance in this book is so tender, so real, and so beautiful. It was touching to see a relationship built upon trust, shared intellectual pursuits, and honest respect for each other. Our love interest shows such a realistic sweetness and gentleness that is (I believe) lacking in a lot of upper YA romantic interests.

There are a couple minor instances of swearing and one closed-door romantic scene. I’d recommend it for the older YA age group (16-19) as Effy is in her first year of college and this book is focused around themes of sexism in academia and grooming/sexual harassment.

If you want an atmospheric, dark academia, rivals-to-lovers, mysterious story, A Study in Drowning is the book for you.

A solid mystery that unfolds quite nicely and at a steady pace. Interesting how they intertwined the past with the present. Underlying story was “a woman’s place” in society. True then, now and forever! A great young adult book, characters are in college, but an interesting read for all audiences.

*Maybe 2.75 stars? 2.5? 3?
Mixed feelings seem to be a theme for me now! To preface, I've read Juniper & Thorn, which was adult horror, but seemed to be marketed more as adult fantasy by the publisher, which affected my experience and made me dislike it. Going into A Study in Drowning, I knew it was young adult fantasy dark academia, but I thought it would've been better suited to an adult label. It had both creepy and straight-up thriller/mystery elements, but just in general, I feel like it would've been better if it had truly just gone full send into the mystery elements whereas instead it became more predictable and boring in some places. I guessed almost every twist before most of them happened, but it felt more like, "oh, okay," than it being a crazy revelation.
I liked Preston and Effy and hated the people I was supposed to hate, but didn't have much passion about the story. I liked it in theory: dubious authorship of a lauded classic becoming a mystery about the life of this man, but the fantasy elements also tainted it a bit. I felt like this book was trying to do too much at once, especially when Effy started making crazy comments about Argantian stereotypes because she really pulled me out of it at times.
I wouldn't discourage someone from reading this, but I don't think I'd recommend it either. It was limited by its age range a bit and also too predictable at times to be much more. If you like mysteries, though, this could be interesting.

I have never run so fast to NetGalley to request an ARC as I did when I saw the author's Insta reel on the aesthetic of this book. Happy to say it lived up to that dark academia, hauntingly atmospheric vibe. The romance, dark fairy lore, and feminist undertones didn't hurt, either.

I love that this is YA. Reid's writing is lyrical and haunting, but she also has something to say about silencing the female voice, and I think that is an important message for teenagers. I also appreciate that Effy is just so...normal. She isn't the physically strong heroine slaying dragons and saving the world, she has insecurities and fears, and I think that makes her more relatable. "You don't have to take up a sword. Survival is bravery, too."

Two things are keeping this from a 5 star rating for me. The first is that I felt the romance was a little rushed. Not in an insta-love way, just that I would have liked to see and feel a slower burn with more intimate tension and release moments. The second is the climax with the Fairy King was too quick and easy, and the mystery reveal was done in all telling with very little showing.

Reid's writing definitely passed my vibe check and I will be adding her other books to my TBR pile ASAP.

Ava Reid has done it again, and again, and again. I was very interested to see how their first YA debut would play out and I was NOT disappointed. This book kept me on the edge of my seat. I loved Preston and Effy. Ava Reid excelled at writing another story where characters can make you quite uncomfortable, queasy, and scared of. I loved the whole plot of this book and it felt like an outstanding debut for Ava’s YA work.

Overall, this book was good. It spins an inspirational tale of feminism and progress and growth. I love Effy.
However, I don't think this was the book for me. I feel like the plot could have been fleshed out more, maybe some more world building before jumping it. The romance felt rushed, as did the climax scene with the Fairy King.
Don't let that keep you from reading, though. This is still a very special, necessary story to be told to a YA audience.

Thank you to NetGalley, Ava Reid & HarperCollins for an arc of A Study in Drowning in exchange for an honest review.
Ava Reid never misses, and that's a fact! They are an instant author buy for me so to receive this eARC was such a gift!
Now to get into the story.
Reid has the ability to transport me anywhere with such a succinct and lush description of the world. Truly, the sensations of the sea, the creaking of a house on a cliff, all of them were so visceral. Effy, my beloved girl, I will truly treasure her as a character into the future. Reid weaves the well felt tragedy of women in academia with such vigor, at many points, Effy’s despair and my own past were intertwined. This is the heartbreaking story of a girl discovering herself, and I am blessed to have been part of the journey.
Where I felt I wanted a little more in terms of story was with Preston. I loved Preston, and I loved his support of Effy in her journey. However, his haunted past was referenced many times in the novel, and I wish I could have known more. I can only hope one day we will see a little more of Preston and his past, as well as his future.
Overall, this story is a 5/5 for me, I loved every second and I wish I could turn back time to reread it for the first time again.
Ava Reid, if you are reading this, I am on my knees, please give us the full story of Angharad.

Wow. This book was incredible. The story telling and world building kept me wanting more. This was my first book by Ava Reid but I have their others waiting on my shelf.

Effy's growth and character development were everything. Unfortunately, I think most young girls/women have an experience similar to Effy and just letting things happen. When she found her voice and stood up for herself, I could have cried.

Things I liked about this book:
- Setting: This book's setting had an unexpected twist on living by the sea. In most houses near the sea, you can expect luxury and extravagance. However, that couldn't be further from the truth for this book. The way Ava Reid wrote about the smell, sight, and fear of the sea was something I had not read in a novel before.
- Spidey Sense: Throughout this novel, I knew something was wrong but I could not place what it was. Ava Reid leads her readers to question, does the Fairy King exist? Is anyone telling the truth? What is there to fear about the sea? These were just a few questions readers might have when reading this novel.
- North vs South: This novel had a clear outline of what the Northerners think versus the Southerners and how that in itself creates a sort of conflict of belief. Wherever you grow up, you are told different stories/myths/folklore, and that changes how you perceive different matters. Ava Reid outlined those differences in beliefs perfectly in her novel.

Things I think could have been better (SPOILERS AHEAD)
- Chemistry: The romance between Effy and Preston felt a bit random. I didn't get much chemistry build-up between the two. Their romance also had odd timing considering their time was very limited.
- Modern-day technology: The use of cameras, cars, and cell phones felt out of place due to the fantasy-like setting. I think this novel could have gone without modern-day technology altogether and it would not have changed the story.
- Characters: The reason for my 4 star review instead of 5 stars was simply because I personally found it difficult to connect with any of the characters. Effy was never able to quite stand up for herself until the end and I was left questioning how loyal Preston was until the end as well. While I understand why Effy could not stand up for herself, it made it more challenging to connect with her on the lack of action.