Review--A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

 

Effy Sayre has always believed in fairy tales. She’s had no choice. Since childhood, she’s been haunted by visions of the Fairy King. She’s found solace only in the pages of Angharad - author Emrys Myrddin’s beloved epic about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King, and then destroys him.

Effy’s tattered, dog-eared copy is all that’s keeping her afloat through her stifling first term at Llyr’s prestigious architecture college. So when Myrddin’s family announces a contest to design the late author’s house, Effy feels certain this is her destiny.

But Hiraeth Manor is an impossible task: a musty, decrepit estate on the brink of crumbling into a hungry sea. And when Effy arrives, she finds she isn’t the only one who’s made a temporary home there. Preston Héloury, a stodgy young literature scholar, is studying Myrddin’s papers and is determined to prove her favorite author is a fraud.

As the two rival students investigate the reclusive author’s legacy, piecing together clues through his letters, books, and diaries, they discover that the house’s foundation isn’t the only thing that can’t be trusted. There are dark forces, both mortal and magical, conspiring against them - and the truth may bring them both to ruin.

 

It is with a heavy heart that I saw A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid was not at all what I expected. Since this was Owl Crate's September pick, I was expecting something a little heavier on the spooky vibes since this tends to be their spooky pick. While there was a great air of mystery involved with this book, it sadly wasn't enough to keep  me invested in the story.

I guess my first problem was when I started the book I had no idea of the when and where. While that is usually expected in fantasy reads, I felt a struggled to grasp onto my surroundings. There were cars, telephones, universities, and all other matters of modern society, yet it very much was not current times, unless we are looking at a bleak and despairing future, customary of dystopian reads. While this may not be an issue for some, I find sometimes find it hard to get my bearings when I start a read and the setting and time are unclear. Having read various books over the years, the setting and time help me to orient myself to whatever "world" I'm entering at whatever point in time of the author's choosing. I did not get the subtle cues here, there were mentionings of years in the past about the fairy tales Effy enjoyed, but how old were the tales when she read them? Were they new? Were they already hundreds of years old? All unclear.

Effy is a young woman, likely about eighteen or seventeen as she is attending the university at architecture college. While Effy would rather be in the literature college, such things are not meant for women in this time. Which feels a bit backward to say that she cannot be in a school for the arts but put her in a more technical trade school, but I digress. Poor Effy has a hard time of it, she is the only woman and it is not in her favor. There was a past incident with a professor of hers that gets mentioned and it's enough to break your heart as there was no justice done and worse, many of the other students think Effy was to blame for it all.

When an opportunity arises for Effy to help redesign the house of her favorite author, Emrys Myrddin, Effy jumps at the chance. When her design "wins" the contest of sorts, Emrys is a bit baffled to find that a literature student is there and she will have to work with him, in a way, to get the job done. Effy and Preston do not get along well at all. They are nearly polar opposites despite the fact that Preston is doing what Effy wishes she could be doing.

Effy has a secret as well. Ever since she was a child, she has had dreams about the Fairy King who always seems to be haunting her. No matter what she does, she cannot escape him. She takes sleeping pills to help her sleep and dream less, though the dreaming less doesn't always happen. But Effy will soon learn how far from the fairy tales the Fair King actually is...which isn't so much a spoiler when you pretty much get the idea that her nightmares are about to come to life.

Then we learn Preston isn't merely trying to write a paper about the life of Emry Myrddin either. He believes that the author was a fraud and he's trying  to find the evidence in the author's family house that will prove this and he asks Effy to help him in his cause. Though Effy is actually a great fan of Myrddin and more-so agrees to help him, only to in fact prove him wrong. But they will both learn there is in fact a greater mystery surrounding the author of one of the world's most famous stories.

This was my first book by Reid and I have to say I wasn't quite ready for this particular style. While I felt like there was a decent job of world-building done in this book, I felt like a few of the more basic things were left out simply because they were basic and mundane. But for me, these are very integral parts of the story process. If I can't get a good grasp on what kind of world I'm entering within the story, I find it hard to follow the story as I get hung up on these details. The mentions of years that came from quotes before each chapter ended up only confusing more to be honest, as I felt like it's supposed to depict a certain kind of century entirely or maybe not even! I don't really know. I know it's a little thing, but as I said, world-building is an important part of the story for me. If I can't grasp the world I'm reading about, I can't follow along as well.

I will say that I did enjoy the characters of this story. Effy was a likeable heroine who I felt for. She's thrust onto a life path that she didn't want, she has a distant mother who honestly doesn't sound like she wanted to be a mother at all. Everything about Effy's life seemed to be controlled by others who didn't really care about what she wanted. Then there's Preston, who seems like your typical rich boy, smarter than thou kind of person who doesn't believe in such nonsense as fairy tales or magic. He and Effy couldn't be more opposite, but yet they seem to click in their most vulnerable moments. There are breaking points where you can see the other side to each of them. 

The developing romance of course, wasn't unexpected. It was a sweet slow burn kind of romance that I did enjoy. It has that sort of rivals to lovers vibe, I don't want to call it enemies to lovers as enemies has a strong vibe than what these two had going in the beginning.

The ending was more or less a bit predictable. I felt parts of it were a little anti-climatic. Once the conclusion rode its course we still had about 40 pages of gently drifting out to sea sort of vibe. It was a little bit cleanup, a little bit filling the void with some answers, but I didn't really find myself caring all too much. They weren't really the burning kind of questions where you wanted detailed answers to. Or at least, I felt that way.

All in all, A Study in Drowning was an okay read. It wasn't great. It most certainly was not the spooky kind of read I was hoping for given the theme for book of the month. It was just okay. I guess the lack of details in the world-building kind of threw me off at an early start and without that I was pretty much treading water instead of trying to move forward. The mystery vibe was the saving grace of the story as were the characters, yet I still felt like parts of the mystery were missing. Or it could've been I was already so lost that I might have missed the subtle hints as to what was coming. In the end, it really wasn't a win for me, but you can't win them all I suppose.

I would still recommend checking this out if the book sounds to your liking! I can't count the times I've read a book I was seeing get low star reviews and ended up loving it! Not every book is for every reader and while this one wasn't for me, it just might be the right read for you!

Overall Rating 2/5 stars