Book Review: If You Love Gothic Fantasy and Traditional Fey, You MUST Read ‘A Study in Drowning’
There’s so much to unpack with Ava Reid’s A Study in Drowning. I’ll be honest, I was skeptical on whether I would like this book because I shockingly was not a fan of her previous novel, The Wolf and the Woodsman. But I absolutely loved this. It’s dark gothic fantasy vibes, with a touch of Wuthering Heights. If you love traditional fey stories, and seeing a young woman fight back, face her fears, and find love, read this book! The writing is so vivid, I felt like I was watching a crystal clear movie in my mind. Seriously, you know those BBC period movies in the English countryside with the eerie music and lots of mist where everything seems a bit damp and cold? Beautiful. Reid also tackles some very heavy subjects that we, as women, deal with in real life, but I appreciated her handling of them. Let’s get into it…
Things to Know:
Standalone
Gothic Fantasy
Traditional fey
SA not on page
Set in an alternate world that actually reminded me a lot of the setting of Divine Rivals, we meet Effy Sayre, the only young woman at an Architecture college after they refused to admit her to the Literature college. Very quickly I was enraged at how all of the men treated her in this book. Having been the only woman in rooms full of men for most of my professional career, it made my blood boil. So be warned, there’s plenty of misogyny, and SA off page, but where Tomorrow, and Tomorrow, and Tomorrow epically failed IMO, Reid handles these situations masterfully.
“Do you ever get weary of being so snootily unsentimental?”
I loved seeing Effy grow throughout this book. The character development across the board was so well done. When we meet Preston, it’s really unclear if he’s going to be like all the other men in her life. While the story is fairly predictable (I called it!), I still loved see it unfold. This is also a book that makes you rage again the injustices of women. We fight to be seen, and valued in society, and this book doesn’t shy away from tackling this at all angles. On the softer side, I loved the romance in this book. No spoilers. Ultimately, this book is about finding and using your voice, knowing your worth, and surrounding yourself with people who will support you.
“I will love you to ruination,” the fairy king said…“Yours or mine?”
I loved this book and would recommend it to anyone who loves gothic fantasies, dark academia, and character driven stories. If I could change one thing, I’d stop the characters from smoking. I know, I know, but it’s a pet peeve of mine—cancer’s still a thing, ok? Can we not glorify it? Other than that, I feel like I could have read so much more from this world.
“…what could a little girl know about eternity? But I do know this: whether you survive the ocean or you don’t, whether you are lost or whether the waves deliver you back to the shore—every story is told in the language of water, in tongues of salt and foam. And the sea, the sea, it whispers the secret of how all things end."
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