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A review by merada01
A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid
slow-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
This ended somewhere between a 3.5-4 star for me. I can’t decide how I feel about the book, which is new for me. It took arriving 120 pages to get into it before I felt like I actually started to care about what happened. I almost DNFd a few times but the writing itself is beautiful so I stuck around. But I was totally invested by the end so now I’m all sorts of flummoxed on how to rate it. The beginning was hard to read - the blatant misogyny in the academic setting was just hard to get through, and Effy came off as weak and too timid to care much about. But she truly grows throughout the book once we were no longer at the university and you realize she has been through a lot of shit and her way of coping was to almost shut in on herself.
The ending made the book for me. I was utterly confused for a moment until I went back into the book to reference the few spots of importance (don’t want to spoil but when you read the ending you’ll understand what I’m referring to). I highly suggest you read the bonus chapter from Preston’s pov (can be found linked on Ava Reid’s Instagram) because it made a WORLD of difference in understanding the ending and in understanding Preston.
The ending made the book for me. I was utterly confused for a moment until I went back into the book to reference the few spots of importance (don’t want to spoil but when you read the ending you’ll understand what I’m referring to). I highly suggest you read the bonus chapter from Preston’s pov (can be found linked on Ava Reid’s Instagram) because it made a WORLD of difference in understanding the ending and in understanding Preston.