Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

111 reviews

embersbooknook's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

This book was really good.  
Not what I expected, in a lot of respects - but thoroughly enjoyable.  
While I was able to predict some of what would occur

Angharad being the author, Ianto being the fairy king, Myrddin being not awesome, etc.

, that didn’t make it any less of a good read.  

Effy was initially slightly dislikable in a really relatable way - nervous, anxious, unable to trust herself, processing substantial trauma.  Thus seeking a tad flaky at first.  However after about 50 pages her character growth really started.  
I really enjoyed seeing her character grow throughout this book.  

Preston was a really good match for her - overly sensible perhaps, which I enjoyed seeing soften a bit throughout.  
It was really nice to see Effy’s degrading options about Argantians slide away as she got to know him.  
A reminder that when humans get to know people who are different from them, they are less prone to dehumanize an entire group of people. A reminder we need in the world as often and as much as possible. 🥺🫶🏽  

This book was a good exploration of how sexism affects a society in every level, personally, professionally, intimate relationships, etc.  I also appreciated how small mentions of colonialism and sexist intellectualism, and militarism/war made it into the book.  Ava set up a fascinating world and I very much hope more of these themes and its history are explored in book 2!  Overall a good read that I’d recommend and will enjoy revisiting.  

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and War

Minor: Cultural appropriation, Colonisation, and Classism

The themes mentioned as trigger warnings are mostly minor mentions. Ava doesn’t write out the full

sexual assault that happened to Effy, or the full extent of abuse that Angharad suffered from Myrddin, as the Fairy King took him over especially.

As I always say, I am a sensitive reader and was able to handle this book’s themes.

mrsjoellebell's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, and Death of parent

Moderate: Sexual assault and Classism

Minor: War

shamaramill's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious reflective relaxing sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Sexism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, Blood, Medical content, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Sexual violence, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Abandonment, Alcohol, and War

p2evavaras's review against another edition

hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.75

I really-really liked this story! It was comforting for my soul and the characters were well constructed, even tho it's quite a short book I felt like there was something to be learned about them at every page-turn.

Effy was quite clearly mentally troubled but I liked the author's representation of her anxieties, as in they felt true to life. I also loved the small romance between Preston and Effy, it worked great as a subplot and gave the story a more lighthearted tone, also their banter was -chefs kiss-!!

The only reason why the book didn't get 5 stars from me is the very-very ending - it wasnt a bad ending by any means but something about it left me feeling like it was a tad bit rushed and somehow didn't feel as well thought-out and put-together as the rest of the book.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Panic attacks/disorders

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Alcoholism and Alcohol

ellenwm's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

This book is beautiful and brilliant. Truly stunning.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Misogyny, Sexism, Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, and Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Sexual content, Car accident, and Death of parent

Minor: Animal death, Gun violence, and War

zoer03's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

I liked the mysteriousness and the sort of fae like elements to the world that is built within this story, I just don’t like or couldn’t sympathise with the MFC, effy felt at times childish, naive, rude, horrible and a bit too dramatic almost to the point of madness I feel that with her moods she might be described as having depression. Granted her backstory is pretty harsh but she never apologises for how she treats her rival - lover Preston and I can’t accept it. I found the ending a bit flat. It’s good if you are looking for or love this wishy washy Edwardian style fantasy but I find it leaves a nasty taste in my mouth. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racial slurs, Racism, and Colonisation

Moderate: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

astound's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse and Sexism

aleilvandrea's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional inspiring mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexism, Blood, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Gaslighting, and Abandonment

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Dementia, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Alcoholism, Animal death, Infidelity, Grief, Car accident, Alcohol, Colonisation, and Classism

purplewidow's review against another edition

dark emotional sad slow-paced

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child abuse and Domestic abuse

wooblatoober's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

this review is littered with spoilers so do not read it if you haven’t read the book yet. i’m spoiler tagging the most major spoilers but i am leaving things unspoilered that might or might not be considered spoilers depending on the reader

i really loved some aspects of this book but was really bothered by others—i loved the imagery & the metaphors really made me feel the way i believe the author wanted me to feel. parts were very cozy in ways i haven’t felt since i was probably 14. i LOVED the love interest & i had a huge crush on him because he’s so perfect. whenever there was a scene without him, i wanted him to come back, & i believe reid did a good job of making him incredibly caring while still empowering the female lead. the book covered serious topics regarding misogyny & sexual assault very well,

& the way effy was able to bond with angharad & angharad was able to get some sort of justice was really touching to me, not to mention how the symbolism of angharad (who lived much of her life under an entity that seems to represent, as a whole, misogyny, patriarchy, & predation) being able to help effy break out of that cycle for herself. i also liked that even though angharad is old, it’s not treated like she lost her entire life under the repression of a man twice her age who was also sometimes the fairy king. very empowering that it was treated like, despite what was taken from her, she still had life in front of her to live, & be strong, & be free.

lastly, i could identify with effy’s sexual trauma in poignant ways. i really enjoyed reading this book for most of my time reading it & i liked it enough that i’ll likely reread it, which i don’t often do.
my complaint is this: effy’s fucking racist. & i love a problematic character who grows & learns lessons & changes, BUT SHE FUCKING DOESN’T!!! it’s just not dealt with well & leaves a bad taste in my mouth. she even calls him slurs at one point and i don’t think she ever took accountability for that at all??? like it seems like she got an argantian boyfriend so she’s absolved of all racism against argantians. it really just gives, “i can’t be racist because my boyfriend’s argantian (or insert any race/ethnicity/nationality in place of that).” book is also hypnotically caucasian, which, like, i know it’s set in a fictional place based on wales & england, but it’s a FICTIONAL PLACE so do all these characters really gotta be beans and toast ass motherfuckers?? last complaint, she throws her long blonde hair into a messy bun 👎 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Racism, Sexism, Sexual assault, Religious bigotry, Sexual harassment, and Colonisation

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Sexual content, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Confinement, Racial slurs, Rape, Violence, Kidnapping, and War