Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

98 reviews

saurahsaurus's review against another edition

adventurous dark hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexism, and Abandonment

Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Xenophobia, Death of parent, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Infidelity, Alcohol, and Colonisation

mollieweitzman's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious 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

5.0

This was everything!!! Am I Ava Reid’s biggest fan now?!?? Yall were right!! Absolutely the best book to finish while in the dark and with no power for 3 days after a hurricane the vibes could not be more perfect I fear. Literally in the second drowning as we speak!!
 
As an aside I didn’t really like Divine Rivals by Rebecca Ross and I know the plot doesn’t match up at all but this was kind of exactly the vibe I was wanting and missing from that!

 This book like it literally has EVERYTHING that I have ever wanted in a book please read this my moody dark academia girls who love the cruel prince and women destroying shithead men in power!! DO IT DO IT 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Xenophobia and Abandonment

feignedfennix's review against another edition

• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny and Sexual assault

Moderate: Xenophobia

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

kaiyakaiyo's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective sad tense medium-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

this book starts a bit slowly but man did I soon feel like I was imprisoned in a rotting house on the sea… “mad” wives locked away… sublime climatological events… the Gothic TM!!!! Reid took NOTES on gothic classics and passed this practical with flying colors methinks 


Effy is deeply, sadly relatable: scared, often cowed by the incredibly shitty hand she is dealt, but empowered by genuine love and support, and her commitment to never backing down from her dreams. Preston was almost uncannily perfect as a love interest, and frankly I need me a literature freak like dat. hinge isn’t working so maybe i gotta start hanging out in the bookstore looking ready to Have Discourse

I liked this a lot, and am very interested in reading Reid’s other work. I didn’t realize this was YA until I’d already started it, but I would call this a really good example of YA writing, maybe towards the end of YA and into New Adult (is that still a thing)? the themes are very timely imo for 17-20 year olds moving into higher ed and the workforce, and something I think would’ve really resonated with me at that time. as a 26 year old, they still ring quite true for me as a person a bit beyond those years, but still able to remember the simultaneous freedom and fear inherent in being a newly “adult” woman. you’re on your own! but that means you’re on your own. a terrifying and exhilarating time of life, and a vulnerable time to those with power over you or your future. great read

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Sexual assault and Xenophobia

Minor: Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual content, War, and Injury/Injury detail

terrastrial's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

not my favorite of hers, I liked the plot tho and the strength of connection formed between young women who've been preyed on by older men. The resilience that sparks when someone finds another that has suffered the same trauma and validates its reality. I do feel like Ava Reid built up a whole fantasy world with political strife and two warring countries and then placed this story inside it, I think the xenophobia was unnecessary but I may have missed something.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Misogyny, and Sexism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Xenophobia, and Gaslighting

Minor: Domestic abuse

hspfost's review against another edition

dark inspiring mysterious reflective 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

5.0

This book gets a 5 for impossibly perfect water metaphors.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual content, Violence, and Gaslighting

Minor: Xenophobia, Blood, Trafficking, and Car accident

haley_mil_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Grief, Gaslighting, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Xenophobia

annakh16's review against another edition

dark mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

A story about stories, focused quite closely on our main characters, with vivid scenic descriptions of a drowning house. Ava Reid is certainly a good writer, and the visuals/vibe and some book quotes were great here. 

I thought the dark themes were handled well, especially for a YA book. I do agree that Effie‘s xenophobia was forgiven really quickly though? Hopefully the next book will explore the political conflict more, including its impact on the characters - we‘ll see. 

I enjoyed the dynamic between Effie and Preston, although the romance only really came through at the end for me and their feelings seemed a bit intense then compared to the rest of the book. I almost preferred them as friends/academic partners. The mystery was unfortunately pretty predictable to me, which was a bit of a bummer. 

Based on some reviews, I had hoped to be more obsessed with this, but it was a solid read. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness and Misogyny

Moderate: Child abuse, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Xenophobia, Death of parent, Abandonment, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Alcoholism and Sexual content

The sexual assault, revealed very early in the book, was committed by a professor to the student - couldn’t find a specific CW option for that.

valpyre's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

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

3.0

in a weird way, this was like a head empty all vibes book for me? like the writing was good, and the plot was fleshed out enough that it didn't put me off and i was just along for the ride.

i suppose a lot of the style of the book is meant to reflect effy's state of mind, especially considering her recent trauma, which seems to have exacerbated all her childhood trauma. i think all the water related imagery and metaphors were a little overdone, but obviously fit the theme of the book so im not complaining too much. 

i guess i wished that this book was more magical than it ended up being? like were effy's hallucinations just that, or something more? i feel like the whole unraveling of the mystery at the end was a bit blown over, but perhaps that was to put emphasis on the women of the story (honestly, at one point, i  was confused as to whether a certain character was even real or not). 

i was also intrigued by the war between fantasy france (??) and fantasy wales but it didnt play much into the plot at hand, plus i could've done without the xenophobia throughout. i felt like preston was way too forgiving about that, but i guess that's reality in a way too. 

the romance was very sweet, and at the same time, it didn't pull me in or make me feel too much. it just felt like a given of the story, so i enjoyed the beats as they came.

overall, this was a fine read, but i don't think it's a story that will stick with me. i might check out the sequel when it comes out as the very ending of the book holds intrigue in that sense, so i'm a little curious.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Child abuse, Sexism, Sexual content, Violence, Xenophobia, Sexual harassment, War, and Injury/Injury detail