im not going to lie here, when i heard that a study in drowning was going to have a sequel, i was confused as to what it would even be about, as it seemed there wasn't much left to say, but nevertheless i was intrigued. ava reid also mentioned that she hadn't planned on writing a sequel book until everyone begged her to after the ending of the first one, and as much as i hate to say it; it shows.

you couldn't pay me to tell you the major plot of the book as i believe there was none. there were many small plotlines that followed effy and preston as well as other minor characters for sure, but i had no clear sense as to where the story was going at all, which made me slightly bored while reading. if we removed the added parts that just seemed to be added to lengthen the book, this would've been a very solid novella following effy going into the literature department and preston working on a new research project.

staying on theme with my issues, one of the major flows that effy and preston had throughout the book was their lack of communication about whatever difficulties they're facing and the secrets they were keeping from each other, which was not resolved???? the outcome of their lack of communication was barely addressed, but the main issue was not touched upon at all??? each feels like they can't talk to the other one for fear of adding to their burdens, and no discussion or mention of that was brought up at all, on the contrary, by the end, preston is still keeping a secret of his from her. and to that i ask, where is the trust??? i'm not going to say any spoiler, but how do you ask someone that question, without telling them something major that you know they've been having issues dealing without???

another thing that seemed to be tossed out the window is effy's fate at the literature college.... like what happened after all that??? for something so major you'd expect we'd get more information about what then happened to her, and i understand this book is mainly about what happens with preston and his shenanigans, but it is still double pov, and with the entirety of book 1 being about her wanting to get into the literature college, we'd at least get to know more about what happens with her there by the end, and how she resolves the issues she's been having there.

on to the positives, ava reid will never, and i mean never, give you something less than amazing prose. words flow through her veins i swear. she will write the funniest lines followed by the most gut wrenching ones on the same page, she will write a sentence so beautiful that it makes your breath hitch. there is no denying that she knows her way around words. what i will never forgive her for however is the amount of pain she's put effy through this book. effy is my girl, she's so precious to me, and she hasn't had a singular good day in this entire book. 

following the death of the elf king effy feels this emptiness inside of her. sure the elf king was a toll on her life, but he was something familiar and constant in her life that she now feels lost without, and the depression that came with that lost was dealt with so well, my heart was aching for her. with that familiar Weight gone, the discrimination she's been facing in the literature college, and her feeling like a burden to preston, effy had a LOT on her plate.

one other thing that ava reid never misses at giving, are men who are so down bad it's unreal. preston literally falls to his knees in front of effy, describes her as a saint multiple times like a REAL man!! my man is so devoted to her as he should be!! he can't imagine his life without her, feels physical pain at the sight of her... he's perfect that's how all love interests should be!

i could go into more details about other aspects of the book that i've missed, but my hand is getting too tired so im gonna stop now. all in all effy and preston are my babies they're what saved the book for me i love them

Effy defeated the fairy king and earned a spot at the literature college, making her the first ever woman to enroll. It is a dream come true except dreams aren't always what they seem. Those around her are constantly trying to discredit her, waiting for her to fail. After exposing Myrddin's legacy and defeating the fairy king she can no longer escape into the fantasy world and who is she without her stories. Preston is surprised to find he has a rage inside him at the thought on Effy under threat and he begins to dream of a place under the sea where he is the king but then the dreams start to follow him when he is awake also.

I think this was a good continuation of the first both and I adore Ava Reid's writing style. It is the perfect mix of fantasy, magic and realism. I loved that this book still focused on what it is like for Effy to be the first woman at the literature college and how that makes her feel. I also enjoyed getting to see more of Preston in this book and him struggle with sticking to his beliefs and learning more about magic.

When I saw this book was coming out I was surprised because I assumed that A Study in Drowning was going to just be a standalone, but I am very happy that this book came out! I thought that this was a very good sequel. I still loved Effy and Preston and I loved returning to their world. I really enjoyed this book!

A Theory of Dreaming is the perfect companion to A Study in Drowning, like a dream that lingers just as you wake. The world Reid has woven is wonderfully ethereal, drawing you in like a fog, soft yet all-encompassing. There are moments when the story stretches, like a sleepy yawn in the middle of the night, but even in those quieter moments, it still manages to enchant.

The story picks up right where we left off, with Effy and Preston grappling with the aftermath of toppling the Fairy King. Effy, finally free from the chains of her nightmares, is faced with the daunting task of completing her thesis. But with the university watching, waiting for her to fail, will she rise to the occasion? For lovers of dark academia laced with mystery and simmering tension, this book is the perfect ending to a hauntingly beautiful journey.

What a delightful continuation! As in the first book, Reid brings us a world that’s as beguiling as it is unsettling, where each page feels like a whisper in the dark. The themes—of unjust wars, nationalism, and the haunting silences that surround women and immigrants—are timely and profound. I found myself unable to tear away from its pages (which seems to be the case with all of Reid’s work). I’ll miss wandering through Effy and Preston’s world, but I’m so glad to have walked through it once more. On a craft level, Reid's characterizations, pacing, and world-building are as entrancing as ever.

Thank you, harper, collins and netgalley for the opportunity to read the arc

I could not wait to dive back into this world. Effie and preston are such amazing characters.I fell in love with them.During a study of drowning and this one did not disappoint the way their characters bond and have such a spark between them I ate this book up and I just needed more.I want more.

I was not convinced that A Study in Drowning needed a sequel, and I finished this book feeling the same. ATOD was beautifully written, Ava Reid is the queen of purple prose, and tackled darker topics like mental health gracefully. However the pacing fell flat in the middle and I found myself forcing myself to keep reading. The romance fell flat and there was a big disconnect between Effy and Preston. I still enjoyed the book, but not as much as I expected to.

“Our belief in a world that is just and perfect gives us strength to survive in a world that is anything but.”

Yes, it’s true I really liked A Study in Drowning and yes, I may also be a bit biased because my name is also Effy and I related to her so much. However, this book focused more on Preston following the events at the end of ASID, so I can truthfully say I am not biased at all when I say this is truly an amazing and beautiful book.

I know sequels are usually a hit or miss, but this book truly exceeded all of my expectations. This book was so beautifully written that I would really consider it a brilliant literary work.

Now, one of the things I believe makes this book so emotional is that it deals with many topics that the world is currently struggling with. It’s too relatable in today’s world. We see women being blamed, as usual, for men’s actions. We see immigrants being belittled. We see the consequences of war. And we also see how deeply depression and anxiety can affect someone.

In this book, Preston is trying to escape reality, a reality that is nothing but pain. And let’s be real, how many of us would want to escape reality too? There could even be an association from Preston escaping reality to go to the palace to many readers escaping the realities of life by picking up a book. It shows us how escaping reality can become sort of a coping mechanism, but we could never truly live and shelter ourselves in those dreams.

This is a story about grief, about being aware that life can be too painful sometimes, but also a reminder that as much as we want to shelter ourselves in dreams, we must remember to live.

I loved this one even more than a study in drowning. Preston is such a perfect book boyfriend and I am beyind grateful that we got a lot more of him! Effy and Preston are so beautiful a couple and the magic is fun!

I’ve been waiting for this one ever since A Study in Drowning. Well worth the wait and thoroughly enjoyed! Can’t wait to see what else she comes up with.

I loved ASiD and was excited to get an ARC for the sequel! Sadly, I didn't enjoy A Theory of Dreaming as much as the first book.

While the gothic vibes of the book rival those found in ASiD, I found the narrative repetitive and slow, and spent many pages feeling confused about the characters' thoughts, feelings, and the point of the plot. Ava Reid said she didn't plan to write a sequel for ASiD and it shows: though Effy and Preston have an equal share of chapters in the book, their plot lines don't really intersect. There are parallels between the book Effy studies and the story underlying the palace below the sea that Preston dreams of, but those parallels are never acknowledged by the other. I felt like most of the "conflicts" could have been easily solved with honest communication. Instead, the characters kept things to themselves (so as not to be a burden) and hid their worries and fears from their partner and friends, which was frustrating to read at times.

We still get to spend a lot of time with Effy, and particularly Preston, so if you're an Effy or Preston fan, this book might still make you happy. As always, I enjoyed Ava Reid's writing. The vibes were good, although a lot sadder and darker than in ASiD (mind the content warnings!). The side characters were great to read about, too: Master Gosse, Angharad, Preston's friend Lotto and Effy's friend Rhia.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This book was a perfect continuation of A Study in Drowning. The world felt very dreamlike and allowed me to be fully immersed in the story while I was reading. However, some parts in the middle of the book did feel a bit necessarily drawn out and dragged a bit. All in all, great book and I would definitely recommend this series to my friends.

"I am seized by such love, I vow / that I must come to ruin now."

What an excellent follow up to A STUDY IN DROWNING! Like in the first novel of this duology, Reid manages to craft a unique, dreamy, decisive world that captivates. Its subject matter too, on unjust wars, nationalism, and the abuse of women and immigrants, is timely and thought-provoking. I could not put it down (though that goes for all of Reid's works). I will miss spending time with Effy and Preston, and learning about their world. On a craft level, the characterizations, pacing, and world-building were duly superb as well.

I read A Study in Drowning a year and a half ago and a re-read would have done me good before starting the sequel. There is a lot of rich world-building that I forgot and it is very necessary for the continuation of the story.
After I familiarized myself with the world, I was able to jump back in with no problems.

A Theory of Dreaming was less whimsical and honestly very depressing. Effy’s mental health struggles resonated with me deeply. Xenophobia and misogyny is rampant in this world… which is no different to our own.

This line was especially poignant given our political climate: “But what he had not understood until now was this: he could not make the world see him as he wished. Instead the world pressed in upon him, molding, crushing, until he was the shape they made him. Until he fit the image of the enemy. He could protest, but it would be no more effective than beating his fists against stone walls as they flowered up around him, encasing him in his own living tomb.”

I love Ava Reid. I just feel that A Study in Drowning should have been a standalone. Much less fantasy and more of the dark academia setting than the first installment. It just doesn’t seem to fit in with the first book and that’s okay.

Thank you, NetGalley and Harper Collins, for this eARC in exchange for an honest review. A Theory of Dreaming will release on July 29, 2025.

Thank you so much to HarperTeen for an early copy of A Theory of Dreaming! 💖
A Study of Dreaming is almost like a fantasy romance (I mean what I said, not romantasy 👀) and it is an epic tale that picks up where we left off in A Study in Drowning! I absolutely adored A Study in Drowning and was SO excited for A Theory of Dreaming! I really enjoyed this story and I love that in this story, we get to have some of Preston's point of view and this story is almost like ASID but instead of Effy having her escape, Preston has an escape but like the Fairy King in book 1, Preston's escape causes problems and starts bleeding into the real world. I felt like there was a lot of suspense for me in the book and didn't really know why things were happening and was so curious to find out! Now, I will say, there was kind of a big action at the end but it doesn't really feel like there was an answer to the suspense (or maybe I'm just confused lol) but I did really enjoy the book! It was a little deeper and has some really sad/dark moments compared to A Study in Drowning but I still read the book in two days so clearly I enjoyed reading it! There were some big moments that had me COVERED in goosebumps and I cannot wait to talk to everyone who reads this once it comes out! I'm just SO thankful I got to read it early or else I may have imploded due to needing to read it! 😂🫶

I loved A Study in Drowning, and this book was pretty good, but I don’t think I enjoyed it quite as much as the first book. The plot felt slightly disjointed, and the pacing wasn’t quite right. Overall a pretty good book, I loved seeing more of these characters:

The conclusion of Ava Reid's A Study In Drowning, A Theory of Dreaming picks up where ASID left off. We follow Effy and Preston as they deal with the aftermath of overthrowing the Fairy King. EFFY is finally nightmare free and able to continue with her thesis but will she succeed with the university and all involved waiting for her failure? If you love dark academia mixed in with intrigue and tension, you'll love this satisfying end to A Study in Drowning.

So it’s probably shocking that I even requested an arc of this book considering how much I loathed A Study In Drowning. But one of the big problems I had with A Study In Drowning was the lack of explanation for the world they lived in. From my review of A Study In Drowning: “A lot of the story didn’t make much sense. It felt like the foundation of an interesting mythology was there but it was just missing enough details to make me care or believe any of it.”

So why am I bringing that up now? Because I feel like in this book, I’m getting more of the information and depth that I was missing in the first book. It feels way more intellectual, almost like it was approached as an intellectual writing about knowledge, versus a day dreamer writing about knowledge. I don’t know if that makes sense.

All that to say, I’m honestly surprised this book didn’t bore me because of how academic it was. It did take me a minute to get into but I think I had a lot of feelings about the first book I had to work through first. lol and this is going to sound mean, but I think it was good to see them have to deal with the repercussions of their actions. Not saying I liked watching them suffer a bit, but that it helped humanize characters that I didn’t particularly like after the first book.

Now one thing I really enjoyed about this was Preston’s side of the story. It felt so out of character for him, but I loved seeing this side of him. Breaking down the no nonsense scholar, while also making him face something on his own that was unbelievable. But poor Effie, she really had a rough time of it in this book. I mean let’s be real, this book was not kind to either of them.

But truly, I enjoyed this book SIGNIFICANTLY more than A Study In Drowning.

I really loved reading A theory of Dreaming by Ava Reid. I love the cover as well as the authors writing style and the plot is as great as book one. I'd like to read more from the author and definitely recommend reading this series.

"[Preston] only felt a great sadness rise up in him, a longing for things that he once had, but never would again, and for things that he imagined, but which could never be real."

I have mixed feelings about this book on the whole, but the experience felt a lot like reading Rebecca Ross' "Ruthless Vows" after finishing "Divine Rivals." A lot of the world-building that was lacking in the original installment comes out in spades in the sequel, but it does so at the cost of and detriment to what made the original so appealing in the first place, particularly where the characters and the love story are concerned.

"A Study in Drowning" is still one of my absolute favorite books. I didn't hate "A Theory of Dreaming," but it lacked the same spark its predecessor had. The first half of the book drags and meanders its way through trying to build to something, and the second half, while better, reaches these points of interest and climaxes with a fizzling sort of fanfare. There's a lot of potential with the set pieces Reid has in this book, but they barely weave together into something resembling a coherent narrative. The best description for the overall "plot" of this book is more that it deals with trauma via vibes than anything else.

This all comes at the expense of Effy and Preston both as characters and for their relationship. There are elements that I found interesting that I wished Reid had honed in on a little better: Effy struggling with depression in new shades in the aftermath of the events of the previous book and the trauma that compounds as a result of events in this book; Preston struggling to determine a new sense of self as his belief system is questioned and he ends up in the crosshairs of anyone with significant power. I wanted more time and development with these aspects of the story. The portrayal of Effy and Preston's relationship also feels more hollow as a result of this- in large part due to the fact that they're not communicating with each other freely and thus aren't connecting the way they should. Their love story is one of the big draws of the original story; it didn't pack quite the same punch this time around.

The other big draw of the original story, for me, was exploring the trials and tribulations of being a woman through Effy's eyes. That too felt like a shell of its former self, partially due to Effy's retreat into herself because of her experiences. Because Effy struggled in a way that was more about shutting down and shutting out than using escapism as a coping mechanism, she ends up feeling like her whole character takes a backseat in a narrative that it supposed to be about women reclaiming their own voices.

I don't think choosing to use dual POV was the problem;exploring Preston's character makes a lot of sense here. Exploring the loss of innocence (and girlhood); the way depression can hollow out your personhood; the way sometimes survival and safety and peace are the only methods through which to shoulder the burdens of love and trauma and systemic oppression; the way it's extremely difficult to learn to ask for help and rely on others (even when they care about you) when you're used to being alone and shouldering the burden of responsibility and accountability- all of these are things that Reid touches on and spends some time with, but it feels like she barely scratches the surface.

I loved the framing devices of various novels and diary entries and newspapers, although there are a *lot* of names thrown around which makes it difficult to keep track sometimes. I did also like the inclusion of the various cast of secondary characters, but they could have been featured more and fleshed out better. The story wasn't about them, but they felt more like props than characters.

TL;DR: 3.5-ish stars. I loved the original but the sequel, while promising and full of potential, falls flat in delivering a fully coherent narrative and tries to expand the known universe at the detriment of its characters and core relationship. Reid's writing style is poetic and beautiful, but this sequel falls flat compared to its predecessor. It felt like a first draft that still needed some wrangling and editing to reach its full potential. I am still always willing to pick up Reid's work, and I'm sad that this left me somewhat disappointed.

[NetGalley was kind enough to provide me with an ARC for this title.]

What an amazing sequel!!!
I consider this one darker than the 1st book. We see how Effy and Preston struggle with all of the injustices going on at the school.
The dream world was amazing! It was defitnately my fave.

I suggest reading books 1 first and then this one in order to fully comprehend what's happening.

I love the author's writing style and so happy we got this book to enjoy!