Title: A Study in Drowning
Author: Ava Reid
Genre: Fantasy, Young Adult
Publisher: Penguin Random House
Publication Date: 2023
Format: Hardcover, Illumicrate edition
Length: 376 pages

Read if you like: rivals to lovers, enemies to lovers, dark academia, magical realism, 
reimagined fairy tales, folklore, slow burn romance

Rating: 

I was so excited to receive A Study In Drowning by Ava Reid in my monthly Illumicrate box. I’m always a little cautious when it comes to really hyped books, but everything I’d heard about this one made it sound like something that was right up my alley. It definitely met my expectations in that regard and exceeded them in others. 

While A Study in Drowning is marketed as a dark academia fantasy, it felt like so much more. Reid does a superb job of highlighting practices and systemic issues of sexism and misogyny that, while in a fictional setting, it feels painfully authentic to real-world experiences. She also outlines such a brutally honest experience of anxiety and depression through Effy that, as a person who suffers from both, I found it overwhelmingly accurate. 

A Study in Drowning was a hauntingly gorgeous novel that tackled some exceptionally hard topics in ways that resonated with me. I don’t know what I expected from this book, but it blew me away beyond what I had anticipated. This one is up there as one of my favourite reads of 2023 and it’s a book I’ll be recommending indefinitely.

The Book: A Study In Drowning by Ava Reid

A Study In Drowning follows main character Effy Sayre, an architecture student studying the topic strictly because as a woman, she was forbidden from entering the prestigious literature college that she’d wanted to attend. It quickly becomes apparent that Effy is suffering from mental health issues, namely anxiety and depression, which seem to have been made exponentially worse by what slowly unfolds as a series of traumatic events with her male advisor at the college. She barely seems able to make it through her days without some male on her campus calling her names or judging her for what certainly feels like a situation in which she was taken advantage of. The result is an academic experience so anxiety-inducing that Effy is barely managing to make it through her days.

While at the university, Effy comes to find a contest being held in honour of her favourite author of all time to design a house that would honour his memory. While Effy doesn’t typically have any affinity or passion for architecture, she does hold an exceptional devotion to this author and his works, particularly the novel for which he is most famous and which has helped Effy through the hardest times of her life. She submits a proposed vision for a house that she feels is reflective of his character and, much to her surprise, she is selected as the winner. She promptly packs her bags and heads out to the rural location of the current house, which will be the site of the new house once she’s finished her work. She hopes this will be the fresh start that she needs and is grateful to be escaping the school that seems so hell-bent on making her sink. 

When she arrives in the small township at which the current house stands, Effy quickly comes to feel that perhaps she’s made a mistake. The town is incredibly small and full of superstitious locals who fear the Fairy King, a mythical man of local folklore who is also the subject of the novel that Effy loves so dearly. Typically the Northerners like Effy look down upon these beliefs, but Effy believes them to be true for one irrefutable reason: she’s been seeing the Fairy King ever since she was a child. As she’s being driven to the exceptionally remote location of Hiraeth, the current house, she catches a glimpse of the Fairy King himself and starts to wonder if perhaps she’s going crazy. 

When Effy arrives at the house, she quickly meets Ianto, the deceased author’s son and the one who held the contest. She then also meets Preston, a fellow student from her University and an Argantian, which is a nation of people who have been at war with Effy’s country for as long as anyone can remember. Effy immediately forms a bias against Preston because of his heritage, while also suspecting that Ianto is not as he seems either. Her stress over this project continues to rise as she’s given a tour of the decrepit house that she’s supposed to be replacing, eventually culminating in a full-blown panic attack as she fears that she is woefully underqualified to undertake the work that the project requires. 

While Effy initially considers quitting, she ends up staying and forming an alliance with Preston, who is there because he believes that the author she loved so dearly was not what he seemed. Together, they race against the clock of their assignments to try to find out what’s happening at Hiraeth, and what role their beloved author played in the stories for which he was famous. 

The Review

This was such a gorgeously crafted book for several reasons, but let’s start with the setting. While it was set in a fantasy world that felt like it had deep roots in a unique form of folklore, it also had familiar aspects that almost made it feel akin to a damp, foggy, mythical version of Scotland or Ireland. The constant calls to the ocean and to the way that it takes and takes from the land and its people painted this sort of dark and moody landscape of an unforgiving land that took far more than it gave. I have lived next to the ocean all my life, and there was so much about the setting that felt accurate that I found it incredibly immersive right from the very first page.

The other aspect of the setting that felt impactful was the university. The depiction of academia as a male-dominated hierarchy where Effy was barely considered a human let alone an equal set the stage for all of the abuse that she would endure as a result of her gender. It also served as the basis for her self-confidence issues, serving almost as a self-fulfilling prophecy where she questioned her abilities and perceptions as a result of what was placed on her by others. It felt very reminiscent of the way women were treated at universities until an appalling recent point in history, which lent to the authenticity of the feelings that Effy was having. 

Speaking of Effy, what a beautifully flawed character. She goes through so many internal battles as she grapples with her abilities, her reputation, and ultimately, her sanity. She’s been made to feel small and weak and insufficient her entire life and because of this, sometimes her biggest obstacle is herself. There are certainly villains around her, but she has to do a lot of inner work to be able to recognize that and stop taking the blame for everything and everyone around her. I felt like she was so wonderfully drawn out, I loved seeing her slow but steady evolution.

Reid’s writing is what brought all these different aspects of feeling, emotion, and setting to life. Her depictions of sexism and misogyny, racism and classism, anxiety and depression, all crafted such a compelling story so full of feeling that you were completely engrossed. The characters aren’t necessarily going on super epic quests or journeys, but there is so much emotion and meaning in what they do and who they are that it feels epic and important. Her writing was almost lyrical, and her depictions of mental health issues are achingly authentic. I loved this book, but there were moments I had to put it down because it was so resonant. 

A Study In Drowning exceeded my expectations. I loved every aspect of it and felt myself savouring it, even as I was still reading. This is a book I’ll be recommending to anyone looking for something lyrical, melancholy, full of emotion and with a dash of magical realism.