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jenny_d's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism and Sexual harassment
aturb92's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
For this being marketed as a teen book I was a little surprised by the content. I would categorize this as a new adult book.
Looking past that, this creepy, Cliff side story held my attention.
Looking past that, this creepy, Cliff side story held my attention.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexual content and Sexual harassment
syd_s_r's review against another edition
4.5
Refreshingly unlike many other YA fantasy books being published now. I found myself wanting to know the truth just as much as Effy and Preston.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
melissalivanos's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
Minor: Emotional abuse and Gaslighting
the_rabble's review against another edition
dark
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Fantasyland pre-80s Berlin's xenophobia smashed together with FantasyOxford's academic gender segregation BUT NONE OF THAT'S IMPORTANT- TIME TO GO TO A DAMP, ISOLATED, LEAKY BEACH HOUSE.
Sexual assault and misogyny allergory that really, really loves aggressive and inconsistent water imagery. Buckle up for feeling sticky and coping with trauma via dissociation.
Single POV, 3rd person past tense, main characters are teen book nerds (college freshmen.) 1 semi-spicy scene.
Very strong world building. Would support this setting being used again. Likeable main characters. Plot, themes, and story structure are a bit of a mess. Action drags and we get a lot of heavy handed imagery and navel gazing.
In a piece that excels at world building, the villian [bad guy lore] isn't really explained as an entity. Which is fine, but things are overexplained through the whole book, except for the driving force of the book.
If this is on your TBR list bc the cover looks dope or it's been on lists, I suspect you'll get as much out of this book if you read the first two and last two chapters as reading the whole thing.
[Ending] Vibewise, Reiddoes a good job on the ending. The pacing is well done and you feel like this chapter of the story is done and the characters are ready to move on. Things resolve. I expect that's part of why this book gets good marks.
Sexual assault and misogyny allergory that really, really loves aggressive and inconsistent water imagery. Buckle up for feeling sticky and coping with trauma via dissociation.
Single POV, 3rd person past tense, main characters are teen book nerds (college freshmen.) 1 semi-spicy scene.
Very strong world building. Would support this setting being used again. Likeable main characters. Plot, themes, and story structure are a bit of a mess. Action drags and we get a lot of heavy handed imagery and navel gazing.
In a piece that excels at world building, the villian [bad guy lore]
If this is on your TBR list bc the cover looks dope or it's been on lists, I suspect you'll get as much out of this book if you read the first two and last two chapters as reading the whole thing.
[Ending] Vibewise, Reid
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Xenophobia, and Sexual harassment
Minor: War
cordeliant's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Bullying, Death, Emotional abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: War
booksmoviesandstories's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Animal death, Body horror, Child abuse, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Blood, Dementia, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment
moonchild_cos's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Drug use, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, and Classism
Minor: Alcoholism, Bullying, Child abuse, Sexual content, Grief, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War
vikinona02's review against another edition
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
5.0
Imádtam.
Neil Gaiman Az óceán az út végén c. műve után féltem új könyvbe, főleg ebbe belekezdeni, mert jóval hosszabb és komolyabb is, azt is tudtam előre, hogy a szexuális zaklatás valamilyen módon jelen lesz. De úgy örülök, hogy elolvastam! Az előző majdnem reading slump után most azért leszek reading slumpban, mert ez annyira jó volt.
Először az apró negatívumok:
Neil Gaiman Az óceán az út végén c. műve után féltem új könyvbe, főleg ebbe belekezdeni, mert jóval hosszabb és komolyabb is, azt is tudtam előre, hogy a szexuális zaklatás valamilyen módon jelen lesz. De úgy örülök, hogy elolvastam! Az előző majdnem reading slump után most azért leszek reading slumpban, mert ez annyira jó volt.
Először az apró negatívumok:
- Utálom, hogy nincsenek semmilyen jellegű figyelmeztetések vagy megjegyzések, hogy "hahó, ez a téma benne lesz". Szerencsére megtudtam máshonnan, de ideje lenne, ha végre a könyv elejébe is beletennék, mert hiába a 15 ajánlás (amik annyira feleslegesek), ha a lényeg kimarad.
- Lassúnak éreztem a hosszú fejezetek miatt, legalábbis az első felét, de illet a történethez és igazából jólesett így.
- A tetőpont számomra nem volt az a "nagy, maximális climax", de nem rossz értelemben.
És most... a pozitívumok:
Már valahol a közepétől tudtam, hogy szeretni fogom.
Effy és Preston! Prestont imádtam - na nem az elejétől, de egyre jobban beloptam magát Effy és az én szívembe is! Mindketten nagyon szépen kidolgozott karakterek voltak a többiekkel együtt.
A szexizmus és szexuális zaklatás témája, a fulladással való összehasonlítás - annyira szépen és érzékenyen dolgozta fel a témákat, komolyan vette, és ebben rejlik Preston karakterének nagyszerűsége is: hogy mennyire gondos, óvatos és tisztelettudó volt, szinte gyógyító hatással Effyre és az olvasóra is. Még csodálkoztam is az elején, hogy hogy fog annyi különböző témát egyensúlyban tartani: említés szintjén háború van, szexizmus, a főszereplő "fulldoklik" és azt hiszi, megőrült, itt egy rejtély, és szerelmi történet is. De nagyon jól csinálta.
Nagyon tetszettek az akadémikus ötleteléseik, elmélkedéseik.
Nagyon érdekes volt a világ: a költő-írók nagy, varázslatos "ereje" és szerepe, a tündér mitológia stb.
Több elismerést érdemel. Azt hiszem, azért tetszett annyira, mert sok volt benne a nüansz, a részlet is, a világ a végére teljesen valóságos volt, egy éjszaka még én is megijedtem, hogy megjelenik nekem a Tündérkirály. De nem csak a világ volt részletes, hanem sokkal inkább a karakterek, és a témák, mind egy cél felé tartott, egy nagy egésszé vált. Ebben van az ereje számomra.
És hogy egy kérdéssel fejezte be? Miféle dolog ez?!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Sexual content, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship
steimerr's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
A Study In Drowning is unique and intriguing. I feel we so often see YA fantasies written with the same similar tropes, ideas and themes time and time again and with this book I didn’t feel that way. Ava Reid’s writing is beautifully executed in my opinion. She incorporates lots of wonderfully mature vocabulary and all of her figurative language was intricately related back to the dark, wet and drowning mood of the book.
The included themes of misogyny and institutional sexism in this book were not too overbearing, yet still prominent, relatable and provoking. I enjoyed the incorporation of another story (Angharad) within this story, it added a distinctive and engaging aspect to the novel.
The pacing in this book is a mess. The beginning was mainly mundane world building then the rest of the book, until about maybe the 70% mark, was super slow paced and uneventful. Then the end of the book felt rushed and smashed together. It was so fast paced and jam packed with numerous last minute half ass explanations that ultimately only made the story more confusing rather than clearing up any confusion.
The world building in this book was strong when it came to the actual setting and descriptions. But when it came to the politics and folklore, certain things could have been explained further. Some of which seemed pointless to the story without further context. Such as the war between Llyr and Argant (neighboring countries) that was mentioned then never referenced again. I felt like there was a lot of telling of what or how things were without any actual detail or explanations as to how or why.
It was also nearly impossible to connect with either character in this book. Our FMC Effy is not a likable character. She is judgmental, stubborn and pessimistic and always unsure of herself. She is also rude to Preston from the start, especially regarding his ethnicity. Whereas Preston (MMC), is a total gentleman. From what I could gather, he is extremely cautious, respectful, and thoughtful towards Effy. I would have liked to have had Preston’s pov included, since he was actually a likable character and had lots of potential for more.
Furthermore, this book is labeled as a Fantasy Romance but I found the romance in this to be quite disappointing. It’s barely there until the very end of the book. The lead up to the turning point in the relationship of the two main characters’ is very bland. It would have been nice to see a little more obvious flirting or more in-site and clues on their thoughts and feelings towards one another. Since it’s a single pov from the FMC perspective, it is difficult to get any grasp of what our MMC is feeling or thinking in certain situations, which (being difficult already without his pov) made it even harder to analyze his character. Therefore, the romance ended up feeling kind of insta-lovey and thrown in there.
Overall, the writing and general ideas in this book were great but there were so many parts of this book that left me feeling like they needed a tad bit more explanation. Reid had so many great ideas incorporated in the story, yet they weren’t elaborate enough. I would have preferred less ideas with more explanation rather than such an abundance of ideas that lack enough context. This book could have almost been split into two much more in depth books within a series if Reid would have spent more time explaining the plethora of things lacking context.
The included themes of misogyny and institutional sexism in this book were not too overbearing, yet still prominent, relatable and provoking. I enjoyed the incorporation of another story (Angharad) within this story, it added a distinctive and engaging aspect to the novel.
The pacing in this book is a mess. The beginning was mainly mundane world building then the rest of the book, until about maybe the 70% mark, was super slow paced and uneventful. Then the end of the book felt rushed and smashed together. It was so fast paced and jam packed with numerous last minute half ass explanations that ultimately only made the story more confusing rather than clearing up any confusion.
The world building in this book was strong when it came to the actual setting and descriptions. But when it came to the politics and folklore, certain things could have been explained further. Some of which seemed pointless to the story without further context. Such as the war between Llyr and Argant (neighboring countries) that was mentioned then never referenced again. I felt like there was a lot of telling of what or how things were without any actual detail or explanations as to how or why.
It was also nearly impossible to connect with either character in this book. Our FMC Effy is not a likable character. She is judgmental, stubborn and pessimistic and always unsure of herself. She is also rude to Preston from the start, especially regarding his ethnicity. Whereas Preston (MMC), is a total gentleman. From what I could gather, he is extremely cautious, respectful, and thoughtful towards Effy. I would have liked to have had Preston’s pov included, since he was actually a likable character and had lots of potential for more.
Furthermore, this book is labeled as a Fantasy Romance but I found the romance in this to be quite disappointing. It’s barely there until the very end of the book. The lead up to the turning point in the relationship of the two main characters’ is very bland. It would have been nice to see a little more obvious flirting or more in-site and clues on their thoughts and feelings towards one another. Since it’s a single pov from the FMC perspective, it is difficult to get any grasp of what our MMC is feeling or thinking in certain situations, which (being difficult already without his pov) made it even harder to analyze his character. Therefore, the romance ended up feeling kind of insta-lovey and thrown in there.
Overall, the writing and general ideas in this book were great but there were so many parts of this book that left me feeling like they needed a tad bit more explanation. Reid had so many great ideas incorporated in the story, yet they weren’t elaborate enough. I would have preferred less ideas with more explanation rather than such an abundance of ideas that lack enough context. This book could have almost been split into two much more in depth books within a series if Reid would have spent more time explaining the plethora of things lacking context.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Sexism and Death of parent
Minor: Mental illness