Author: Ava Reid
Genres: Young Adult Fantasy
Tropes: academic rivals to lovers, gothic mystery
Publication date: September 19, 2023
Edition I read: Kindle
Pages: 373
My rating: 4/5
Goodreads link: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/77783264-a-study-in-drowning
A Study in Drowning is a beautifully written fantasy based around a mystery, with definite dark academia vibes and a hint of rivals-to-lovers romance. Not only that, it deals with issues like mental health, anxiety, misogyny/sexism in academia.
I didn't expect a young adult fantasy to cover heavy topics so thoroughly and give us so many quote-worthy scenes.
This book was very easy and interesting to read with great pacing and no fluff. I don't think I'd reread it but I'd still highly recommend it. I gave it 4/5.
One of the most interesting aspect of the book for me was fantasy elements dueling with mental health. That sounds a bit strange, so let me explain.
The main character, Effy, talks about having seen the Fairy King multiple times during her life. Ever since her mother left her out in the cold for being a difficult child and he came to take her, Effy's been trying to run away from him. Because she believes that the Fairy King is coming back again and again just to take her.
But of course, nobody believes her. Her mother and the doctors claim she's had visions and hallucinations -and as such prescribed pills for her. Both for these and for her sleep, as she has such serious anxiety, she cannot sleep without them.
The way the book is written, from Effy's perspective, it keeps you guessing which one is real: the Fairy King or Effy's mental health condition.
Going into this book knowing it was a fantasy novel always made me lean towards believing Effy and the Fairy King's existence. But it was written so well, I'd still hesitate and wonder which one it'd turn out to be in the end.
The main plot is based around a famous author and his bestseller book: Myrddin's Angharad.
Effy's read it a hundred times and she swears it's what helped her survive. So when she stumbles upon the chance to help the late author's family redesign their crumbling estate, she applies. And miraculously, gets chosen.
There she meets a student from the literary college, Preston, who's there to process and analyse Myrddin's letters and documents. Or so it seems.
As Effy finds out, Preston believes Myrddin was a fraud who might not have even written Angharad and other works. He convinces Effy to help him uncover this mystery, even though she's hesitant to taint the image of the author she idolises so much.
I don't want to spoil the ending, so I'll just say I liked how the plot and mystery were written. There was one thing I guessed quite early on, but the issue regarding the book was still a mystery to me until the end.
Just as Effy and Preston were discovering and uncovering things, I kept guessing and changing my mind. Which of course made for a very easy and entertaining read.
The part where this book fell short for me was the romance.
Now I know that not all books including romance can and will be centered around it. But I still felt like the romance in the book was shallow and we didn't get to know the love interest on a depp enough level.
The book was shortish being less than 400 pages -so perhaps if it was longer, we could have gotten a better glimpse at their personalities and their growing connections.
Both at the beginning of being rivals -and then throughout the story of getting closer to each other as well.