This book was a different kind of haunting than A Study in Drowning - darker, heavier, and much more introspective. If the first book dipped its toes into dark academia, this one dove in headfirst and never looked back. It’s slower paced and definitely more emotionally intense, especially in the second half.

While Effy’s journey continues, this really felt like Preston’s story. He's the one wrestling with new, unpredictable magic and unraveling parts of himself in the process. Effy, stripped of the Fairy King and the fantasy she once used as a shield, is more raw and vulnerable here. Her character arc gutted me, in a good way. It was so delicately written, so full of loss and self-confrontation. There were moments where I had to put the book down just to breathe. Losing the pieces of yourself you thought were essential? Reid captures that heartbreak perfectly.

Ava Reid’s writing is as poetic and piercing as ever. It’s lyrical without ever losing depth. Her portrayals of anxiety, trauma, and obsessive thought patterns hit incredibly close to home. As someone who’s experienced those things firsthand, it felt seen - uncomfortably so at times, but in the best way. Her prose doesn’t just tell you what the characters feel; it makes you feel it with them.

I really appreciated getting more of Preston’s POV, his unraveling felt like watching someone walk through a dream and a nightmare at the same time. His internal battle with identity, power, and belonging added a rich layer to the story. The dreams, the sea palace imagery, his slow slipping from reality - it was all just so beautifully eerie.

My only slight knock is the pacing. It takes its time, and not every moment lands with the same weight. But honestly, even the slower parts served the mood and the unraveling tone of the story.

This is not a gentle finale, but it is a powerful one. A poetic, aching exploration of identity, loss, and what’s left when the story ends. It lingers, like all good dreams do.

My copy of this book was provided by NetGalley and HarperCollins for review purposes. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

Loved the first book and think this one may have been even better! The world building is so well done and I really loved seeing the evolution of Effy and Preston’s story. The emotion depth, social challenges and adventures they face was addictive! Highly recommend!

Thank you to HarperCollins Children’s Books for the ARC!

We return to the atmospheric world of A Study in Drowning to see how Effy and Preston fair after the events of book one. This sequel moves at a slower pace while expanding on culture and lore. Preston’s perspective is introduced which adds an interesting element. He and Effy both have their own plot journeys, so it felt fairly separate. Their relationship is incredibly sweet, I do wish we had more time with them together. I enjoyed their friends being more present in this book, they really needed their support. It took a while for the plot to move compared to A Study in Drowning, and the ending felt a bit abrupt compared to the pace of the story. However, I think readers who loved the first book will enjoy this one as well.

Trigger warning for some heavy topics, including sexism, xenophobia, prescription drug abuse, depression, and attempted suicide. This book is marketed as YA, but it felt like New Adult to me.

This might just be me but I think I liked the books more than the first. The gothic atmospheric writing was one of my favorite things that continued so beautifully. And I loved getting deeper into Effy and Preston characters. The vague nature of the magical aspects was something that i wish we spent more time exploring in the first book and in this book it was so gratifying to do exactly that. I'm so glad the series continued because this ending feels so right.

Probably should have left the first as a standalone.
This was beautifully written but ultimately seemed unnecessary
:(

What an awesome end to this duology. I loved the first book (and so did my teen daughters) and I was so excited to get to read this before it was presented to the world. It's beautiful and haunting and will take your breath away. Ava Reid is a standout author and is on my autobuy list from now on.

DNF @ 5% — I feel like this should not have been a sequel book. I loved ‘A Study in Drowning’, but this I don’t know I just could not get into this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and Harper Collins for this eARC in exchange for an honest review.

ARC REVIEW: A Theory of Dreaming by Ava Reid ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️.5 🌶️.5

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the opportunity to read this e-ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I was so happy that Ava Reid decided to continue with Effy and Preston’s story. I really loved seeing them back at university together and how they would navigate the sudden spotlight placed on them following the events of the first book. I again felt very connected to Effy’s struggles with mental health and feeling like a burden on those around her. In the first novel, the tense/scary elements were more rooted in fantasy, but in this story, the tension and fear came from the real life scenarios that Effy and Preston find themselves in. It gave the story a less whimsical fantasy vibe than before. Reid chose to place more focus on Preston’s character in this sequel and give him his own mystery to solve. Though I didn’t really enjoy this plot line, I do think it helped shape his character development.

After the events of A Study in Drowning (book 1), Effy and Preston return to their literature college, where Effy is the first woman admitted, and Preston is elevated to teaching assistant. Set against a backdrop of war and prejudice, skeptic Preston is challenged to explain why he continues to hear the ringing of mysterious bells, and why he dreams about an underwater palace.

Both Effy and Preston struggle to continue their studies, very much outsiders in an increasingly hostile and discriminatory environment, and large portions of the book deal with their respective coping mechanisms. Themes of escapism and substance abuse are continued from the first book, and the relationship Effy and Preston forged on the seaside cliffs is tested in the heart of the city. Old supporting characters are still around and some return for a triumphant ending.

I was surprised that I liked this book more than the first. It’s just as lyrical and poetic, and talks more about the fear that comes with loving someone, rather than the fear of beginning to love. Both books focus on mysteries, interwoven with literary analysis (which was probably my favorite part). I thought the commentary on the selection of national heroes and what it takes to change a national identity was particularly poignant. Overall, a fitting conclusion to the tale!

I would recommend this book to fans of A Dark and Drowning Tide by Allison Saft, Tamsin by Peter S. Beagle and Boys With Sharp Teeth by Jenni Howell.

3.5
This one lacked some refinement, and the fantasy elements needed to be fleshed out a bit more. I liked the climax and how this felt in a lot of ways like it was supposed to be Preston's book like how the first one was Effie's, but reading this book felt like trying to see outside from a window with a film on it--just because you can make out what's happening doesn't mean you couldn't have a better view.

A Theory in Dreaming was simply put: a stunning encore. Much like A Study in Drowning, Ava Reid's lyrical prose and gothic setting left me feeling delightfully eerie and totally engrossed in the unfolding of Effy and Preston's story. This is a novel about scholarship and whimsy and ultimately hope. Just like the characters I don't know that we were meant to completely understand the story. I found myself haunted by the unknown in the best way and I will miss these characters.

While I felt that A Study in Drowning was simply a fine standalone book, I am very impressed with this follow-up. The complete duology is a dark academia fantasy that, specifically in this second book, touches on some very timely themes, including sexism, classism, the weaponization of nationalism, and the (mis)management of mental health. I would highly recommend.

Being back in this world with these characters that I adore so much was an utter treat. The lush writing, highly developed characters, fascinatingly unique lore, and atmospheric descriptions are all reasons I love A Study in Drowning the way I do, and all of those aspects of the novel endure in its sequel. I am eternally grateful to the author and publisher for gifting me an ARC, and I cannot wait for everyone to be able to read this masterful conclusion to Effy and Preston’s tumultuous story!

There were three questions A Study in Drowning left me with that had me highly anticipating this sequel: 1) Will we learn more about the history and lore of the Sleeper Museum and its magic? 2) How and why did Preston do what he mentioned to Effy at the very end of book one? and 3) Will Preston and Effy find a way to be together, despite all of the obstacles in their way? All I’ll say is that this book did not disappoint in yielding the answers, in an intricately painful yet beautiful way.

On top of that, the themes seen in book one are still just as strong, yet depicted through a brand new storyline. We see once again the heartbreaking truth of what it means to be a woman, yet we also see the otherworldly magic that women create. We see the effects of bad men’s actions, but we also see what it means to be truly loved by a kind man. We see the darkest places our minds can lead us, but we also see the process of healing and the support that makes such a thing possible. We see the betrayal of our heroes, but we also see the magic of the stories they weave.

As I’ve written about the first book, I do not think I have the words to adequately express my adoration for this one either. When a book touches your soul in a way no other book has, you become forever changed, and all I know is that I’ll never be the same.

I wanted to like this. I struggled to finish the first in order to get to this and felt the same about this. At this time this is a DNF for me. I may come back to it but did not vibe overall with the book. I appreciate the opportunity to read and review and will emphasize that I think this story is good just not for me.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for an advanced reader copy

A Theory of Dreaming by Ava Reid is a third person dual-POV YA fantasy romance sequel to A Study in Drowning. After Effy and Preston presented their findings to expose the truth of Myrddin, Effy is now a student of the literature college and the professor who was terrorizing her is gone, but war with Preston’s home country is looming, tensions are high, and not everyone has taken Effy’s side. The two will have to find a way to work through their concerns and insecurities if them and their love will survive.

This is what I want in a Romantasy sequel if they got together at the end of the first book: I want the couple to not only be together instead of broken-up for Reasons, but to also be on each other’s side even if they are not communicating as effectively as they could be. There was no doubt in my mind that Effy and Preston looked at each other as life-long partners about a quarter of the way through the plot and that they were going to figure out how to make it through all the roadblocks presented to them. The tension is in the secrets they are keeping from each other because they don’t want to worry their partner.

A major theme is the separation of the art from the artist and it shows up most in Effy’s POV. The introductory course Effy needs to take involves a school of thought that focuses exclusively on form (syntax, cadence, rhythm, themes, etc.) and seeks to remove cultural influences and aspects of the author’s experiences completely from the text so that all that is left is an objective truth. As we discuss more and more if we actually can separate the art from the artist when said artist is still alive and profiting off of books being bought, this feels very poignant and current as Ava Reid takes the extreme end of this discussion and uses it to ask what is being left behind when we refuse to engage with more than the text. All of this is connected to the broader themes of art’s place in culture and society and then as a tool for nationalism.

The bells that Preston heard at the end of A Study in Drowning not only come up in this book but they are a part of his character arc and we see how they are connected to the worldbuilding over time. Like everything I’ve read by Ava Reid so far, things are planted well and sometimes it takes a little bit for the pay-off to come and it can be a subtle revelation instead of a grand, epic one full of shocks and gasps. Given Preston’s characterization and the book’s tone plus its focus on the growing xenophobia in response to the war, I thought the revelation being as quiet as it was really fit. This is not something that is consuming Preston in the same way his fears that he could lose Effy are and if he did make a much bigger deal out of it, it wouldn’t feel like him.

Content warning for mentions of sexual assault and depictions of sexism and xenophobia

I would recommend this to fans of YA Romantasy who don’t want the main couple to break up or be separated at the beginning of book two and readers of dark academia looking for something with more of a romance focus

✨What if your dreams weren’t just dreams… but doorways✨

I didn't expect to fall in love with a gothic mystery about trauma, nationalism, and academic gatekeeping wrapped in dreamlike vibes… but then Ava Reid walked in and whispered "Here’s Preston." And suddenly, I'm falling in love next to Effy.

A Theory in Dreaming is the hauntingly lush continuation of Ava Reid's dark academia duology. Effy and Preston, now scholars, survivors, and soulmates (I'll fight you if you disagree), find themselves entangled in literary conspiracies, trippy dreamscapes, and a world that’s determined to see them fail. The Fairy King might be gone, but the nightmares? Oh, they’ve only just begun.

This book had me hooked from the first what is even going on to the very last aching page. I’m not usually one for moody mysteries or foggy folklore vibes, but this story is the exception. It drips in atmosphere and has a beautifully subtle yet powerful way of exploring escapism, xenophobia, and healing. And let’s talk about Preston. He is everything! Gentle, sharp, soft where it counts. His mind and his loyalty? Swoon city. I loved reading this book from more of his POV!

🕯️📖 Tropes to tempt you
🏛️ dark academia
🕸️ gothic mystery
🧚 folklore and fairytales
🌙 dream realm

Huge thank you to the amazing Ava Reid, and the team at @harpercollins for the dreamy ARC.
This releases on Tuesday, July 29!

So tell me this. Do you ever want a book to confuse you a little, pull you under like a dream, and then quietly destroy you in the best way possible? Let’s talk about it 🖤💭

A readable but rather disjointed follow-up to the original. Preston's and Effy's stories hardly interact with one another at all, and much of the latter's character growth has seemingly regressed from where she ended A Study in Drowning. Both protagonists' refusal to discuss their struggles with one another is a frustrating retread of the tired use of miscommunication to build tension in a narrative, made all the more frustrating by the fact that neither of them have any real reason to keep secrets from one another beyond a vague desire not to impose on their partner's feelings--a maddeningly immature stance even for a pair of late teenagers.

**Mild spoilers below:***

Worse, there's another instance of A Study in Drowning's plotline of a woman's creative work being stolen and passed off by a male relation, only with an extra layer of discomfort and sexual assault built in. This all occurs off page and adds absolutely nothing to either this book or the original; it's simply a retread of Reid's apparent fixation on men co-opting women's creative work as their own, which was already thoroughly explored in the first book. When I realized this was what Effy's plotline was building towards, I audibly groaned, as it fully encapsulated this book's inability to progress her character growth any further than the original's.

The one silver lining is that this book is extremely readable and hard to put down; Reid's prose is lyrical and haunting as ever. But it ultimately lacks any real substance, and if I'm gonna spend hours in a world I need more to sink my teeth into than this tepid sequel.

You can't save everyone...

If you enjoyed the first book in the series, you would like this book as well. I actually enjoyed it more and found myself looking forward to picking it up to read.

Even though she has all these people around her who care about her, Effy still feels alone. A Theory of Dreaming continues the theme about finding something to cling on to when you feel like you are drowning.

***I encourage anyone who chooses to read this series to be aware of the strong mental health themes and struggles with addiction.

Effy views herself as weak and not worth loving. Her struggle with addiction continues from the first book into this story. She is still haunted by the Fairy King long after he is gone, and it is spiraling out of control. This causes her to make decisions that are not healthy.

The depiction of her addiction in this story is heartbreaking, and a lesson to be learned about how difficult it is to overcome it, and to be the family/friends who have to witness their loved one struggle. Both characters are in denial and lying to themselves for self-preservation.

I was curious to read how long it would take Effy to realize what was happening to Preston, as she was wrapped up in what was happening to herself. At the same time, Preston was hiding something from her, and neither one of them stopped to really look at what was happening to the person they loved. If they communicated with each other, they may have been able to piece it together sooner. But then, there wouldn't have been much of a story.

Preston has his own struggles, trying to find out why he is hearing the sound of bells and what that could mean, entering a dream world he has created to determine whether or not he is able to stop the war between Llyr and Argant. The secrets they uncover will change the world forever.

4.5 🌟
First off, big thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins for the ARC!

I read Study back in January, and while it left me satisfied, I definitely wanted more—so I was super excited for this one, and it did not disappoint. The story picks up right where it left off, and yep… my jaw dropped again. 😂

We get to dive deeper into Preston’s story this time, and I absolutely loved his character. He’s such a romantic! The book focuses more on him than Effy, but we still get a deeper look into what Effy’s dealing with mentally and emotionally. The pressure she’s under, plus the kind of “support” she gets from others, was both frustrating and super relatable.
We all feel a little alone at some point in our journey called life.

And poor Preston—he’s dealing with his own struggles too. There were moments I just wanted to slap some of the bullies. I almost chose violence, lol. As an immigrant myself, I really felt where Preston was coming from—just trying to chase a dream that once meant everything. I was emotionally hooked and totally rooting for people to get him.

Watching both Preston and Effy go through so much, grow, and eventually come together really gave me hope. For them… and a little for myself too, haha.

The ending was solid—I liked it! I was kind of hoping the epilogue would give us a bit more, but it still worked. Also, I have to say: in both books, the writing style fits this world of scholars so well. It just feels right.

As an emotional reader, I really connected with both main characters, and that made the story even more enjoyable. Overall, I liked it a lot and would totally recommend it.

ARC provided by Netgalley. Courtesy of HarperCollins Children's Books | HarperCollins

A much anticipated sequel for me as I loved A Study in Drowning!

I love Ava Reid’s writing, I always forget I’m reading a book and it’s like the world comes to life around me and suddenly it’s 3am in the morning, dark outside and I’ve read most of the book in one sitting without even looking up once.

This sequel is rich, stunning, and deeply emotional, Effy’s struggles in a world that wasn’t meant for her gender, trying to find her voice in a male dominated area is both heartbreaking and empowering as a woman.

Reid’s writing, lush, lyrical, gothic, haunting, dream-like, each sentence really sticks with you and makes you think.

The pacing is definitely slower in this one, it lacks a little in the middle and I did find myself losing focus sometimes. But as someone who thoroughly enjoys character driven novels, and loved the first novel, I was able to power through.

A great conclusion to an amazing series, I will miss Effy and Preston for sure!