A Study in Drowning

Out now!

“You don't have to take up a sword. Survival is bravery too”

Thank you Ava Reid, I've felt seen.

I am truly impressed with this book, it was very different and had much more depth than I was expecting.

”It was an eternal feeling, this sense of being unwelcome. No matter where she was, Effy was always afraid she was not wanted.”

I entered into A Study in Drowning expecting a fantasy novel based on folklore and mid 20th century England/ Wales, happening in a dark academia setting with a bit of mystery to move story forward.
We've get all this, and it is great. However, what I feel this books accomplishes best, is describing and validating experiences of abuse (sexual and parental abuse) and panic, dealing with trauma, misogyny and sexism, and finding agency and a new sense of self.

The prose is expertly crafted, giving a murky feeling to the story, and easily showing what I imagine to be the feeling of drowning. My senses were overwhelmed with the descriptions from the start until the end.

I've felt the romance was a bit rushed, especially given the circumstances. However, I believe it was an important piece of the healing process and I wouldn't change the length of the book.

As a fantasy, I wished we had a bit more worldbuilding and context regarding the hate, war and the drownings. A map would have been nice as well, I don't know if the final version has it or not.

I enjoyed it and I wish I had the opportunity to read something like this when I was younger.
I wish Effy was less relatable and that her experiences were conscripted to the past. However, this is still an accurate reality, fairytale beauty or not.

I'm glad this is going to be on Illumicrate box and that I get to have a pretty Edition of it.

I would like to thanks The Fairy King, Random House UK, Cornerstone, Del Rey and NetGalley for the opportunity to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

TW - sexual harassment, sexual and parental abuse, panic attacks, mental illness, sexism, misogyny, death of a parent