A STUDY IN DROWNING by Ava Reid (2023)

★ ★ ★ ★ .25 - the atmosphere & vibes of this book were perfect for the cold & rainy spell we had in the middle of May this year. Reid’s descriptions & scene-setting was immaculate.

Jun 05, 2025

∙ Paid

‘Over the rotted wood was the cliff face, green and white and gray, dotted with eyries and smaller gull nests, feathers catching in the wind. Below it, the sea looked sleek and deadly, waves gnashing their teeth against the rock.
Effy felt the height in the soles of her feet and her palms turned slick. Before, when the cliff had broken apart beneath her, it had been so unexpected, she hadn’t even had the chance to be afraid. Now she understood the danger of the rocks, the ocean’s foaming wrath.
“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Ianto said. Even in the wind, his hair still lay mostly flat.
“It’s terrifying,” Effy confessed.
“Most beautiful things are,” Ianto said.’

title: A Study in Drowning

series: A Study in Drowning (book one of 2.5?)

author: Ava Reid

published: 2023

publisher: HarperTeen (HarperCollins)

genre/subgenre: YA fantasy/dark academia

setting: fantasy world of Llyr (feels very Welsh-inspired), it felt like it could have been inspired by the like mid 20th c. aesthetic? There were cars but the vibes were very tweed trousers, film cameras, turntables, old books, etc…

main themes/subjects: fairy stories, classic literature, university, architecture, crumbling stormy boggy seaside manorhouse, hagstones, a beloved old novel, climate change, political awareness, predatory older men, lies & truths, glamours: looks can be deceiving, literary/academic mystery, theft, problematic faves, the flimsiness of realities manufactured out of fear, exploitation of women by men/women as property, national art, changelings, redemption, justice & revenge

representation: mental illness (medication), queer side-characters

tropes: dark academia, rivals-to-allies-to-lovers, m/f romance, fairy king

‘The Fairy King had many forms, and some looked, on the surface, identical. Some days I could not tell if the husband who came to me was the one who would kiss my eyes closed with infinite tenderness, or if he would press me down into our bed and not care that I whimpered. Those were the most difficult days. When I could not tell the kind version of him from the cruel. I wished he would be a serpent, a cloven-footed creature, a winged beast—anything but a man.
— From Angharad by Emrys Myrddin, 191 AD’

my thoughts:

premise: I actually really liked the premise of this book & the use of the Fairy King trope to explore the effects of sexual predation & the exploitation of women & their work through the manipulation of power imbalances & systemic misogyny.

execution: I had no problem with the execution, particularly as this was a YA fantasy story, but whew if it could have been adult I can only imagine how dark & deep it could have gone & especially with a particularly elevated literary writing style… that would have been 😙👌🏻 too, too good.

writing style: very YA appropriate.

characters: the FMC & MMC were very sympathetic & relatable; the large cast of antagonists were a bit too one-dimensional for my taste…

story/plot: really good—I feel like there could have been a bit more of a reason as to why Preston was involved beyond just his seemingly random academic interest but it’s fine. [SPOILER>>]Definitely not just salty that my theory about the widow/real author of Angharad being his grandmother (or even godmother) was incorrect… 😆 But wouldn’t that have been cool??[<<END SPOILER]

worldbuilding: really good. Perhaps too subtle for a YA? ironically enough? (I really could have used a map) & I never quite understood what the Sleeper magic was all about nor the precise relationship—geographically, culturally or racially—between Argantia & Llyr but it was only mildly distracting from the story which didn’t rely too much on those details… perhaps book two will sort this out…? The atmosphere of the university & later of Híraeth were positively phenomenal though. Immaculate dark academia & boggy dark magical island decaying decadent manor house vibes.

philosophy: often surprisingly subtle for a YA & yet still deeply effective. Reid managed to couch some deep themes of climate change & the politics of academia & art almost entirely in her worldbuilding & plot. Really well done.

The theme of women’s rights, agency, autonomy & dignity were central to the story &, while legitimate, they were all somewhat heavy-handedly treated, which I actually do appreciate for a YA book—this is going to be a valuable read for many young girls & femmes I’m sure—but I always personally prefer a bit more subtlety, & allowance for grey area, especially in the characterization, when it comes to such things…

notable elements: Bonus points for the use of the changeling motif! I did not see that coming & I thought the impact was really powerful. A solid twist in the story.

i would recommend this book to readers who enjoy darker YA fantasy stories with strong dark academia vibes & a haunted boggy seaside mansion setting with fae & folklore tropes & motifs. this book is best read seaside, on a dark & stormy night! Or, failing that, with a good stormy sea ambience video on like I did. Although we were having a bit of a chilly wet-spell mid-May when I was reading so it all worked out very nicely. 😆

‘“…no one believed Angharad, either. And because no one believed her, the Fairy King was free to take her.”
…Over and over again Preston’s words thrummed in her mind: I believe in your grief and your fear. Isn’t that enough?
No. It wasn’t enough. As long as that was the only thing he believed, she would always be just a scared little girl making up stories in her head. She would be infirm, unstable, untrustworthy, undeserving of the life she wanted. They put girls like her in attic rooms or sanatoriums, locked them up and threw away the keys.’

final note: I’ll definitely read book two. This book could have done fine as a standalone so I’m really curious to see what’s continued & built on in the sequel. Maybe more about Sleeper magic & politics?

CW // sexual assault of a female student by a male academic adviser, ptsd (medication, hallucinations), toxic abusive mother, misogyny

spice level: 🌶️🌶️ (open-door, low-level)

season: Fall

music pairing: dark academia playlist /ambience videos, stormy seaside cottage ambience video

Quotes, Notes, & Annotations…

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A STUDY IN DROWNING by Ava Reid (2023)

★ ★ ★ ★ .25 - the atmosphere & vibes of this book were perfect for the cold & rainy spell we had in the middle of May this year. Reid’s descriptions & scene-setting was immaculate.

‘Over the rotted wood was the cliff face, green and white and gray, dotted with eyries and smaller gull nests, feathers catching in the wind. Below it, the sea looked sleek and deadly, waves gnashing their teeth against the rock.

Effy felt the height in the soles of her feet and her palms turned slick. Before, when the cliff had broken apart beneath her, it had been so unexpected, she hadn’t even had the chance to be afraid. Now she understood the danger of the rocks, the ocean’s foaming wrath.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Ianto said. Even in the wind, his hair still lay mostly flat.

“It’s terrifying,” Effy confessed.

“Most beautiful things are,” Ianto said.’

title: A Study in Drowning

genre/subgenre: YA fantasy/dark academia

— From Angharad by Emrys Myrddin, 191 AD’

my thoughts:

‘“…no one believed Angharad, either. And because no one believed her, the Fairy King was free to take her.”

…Over and over again Preston’s words thrummed in her mind: I believe in your grief and your fear. Isn’t that enough?

further reading:

Books I’ve read & loved or that are on my TBR by authors thanked in Reid’s Acknowledgments:

Click on the star ratings beside the titles I’ve read to read my reviews/thoughts about the book.

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Quotes, Notes, & Annotations…

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