A review by sam_appa
A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

adventurous challenging dark emotional funny hopeful mysterious 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

4.0

The story is of a young girl, Effy, who gets chosen to redesign the house of the late Emrys Myrddin, her favorite author. She has been having visions of the fabled Fairy King ever since she was little, the same Fairy King detailed in the Myrddin’s book ‘Angharad’. We follow along as her and the other collegiate guest of the house, Preston, uncover the mysteries of the book, questioning both it’s authorial origins and how much truth it’s words hold.

I enjoyed it, I thought the romance was really well done, the dark academia vibe was exactly what I was looking for, and the plot kept me interested. I did wish that either the magic was more complex and fleshed out (since I went into this thinking it would be fantasy driven) or Effy’s madness fully realized. I also wished that the triumph at the end was more.. triumphant?
This magical Fairy King that had been tormenting Effy  her whole life was defeated in a single page with his own reflection in a shard of glass. It felt rushed and a bit unsatisfying. The way in which her sexual assault was handled in the end also felt unfinished, though I appreciated that it was consistently validated as sexual assault. It never glamorized the relationship between an older man and a teenage girl, instead, using Angharad’s story as fuel to further validate the assault.
But it was nice to see Effy’s development as well as Preston’s. As a whole, although it’s predictable at times, I thoroughly enjoyed it. From the gorgeous writing to the lovable characters, this was a great read.
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