Title: A Study in Drowning
Author: Ava Reid
Genre: Teen & Young Adult Historical Fantasy
Publisher: HarperTeen
Release Date: September 19, 2023
Format: ebook, hardcover, audiobook
Pages: 373

“You’re the sort of girl who likes to make life more difficult for herself. If you weren’t so pretty, you would have failed out already.”

I was recently gifted a copy of A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid and in a wild turn of events for myself (and I think bookworms everywhere) instead of adding it to my never-ending pile of TBR books, I opened it and promptly fell deeply into this atmospheric, gothic romance.

Effy Sayre is a character whom I so badly wanted to come out unscathed. She’s had to endure so much. Getting glimpses of her past in small pieces as A Study in Drowning unfolds was both heartaching and gives Effy merit to being able to withstand even the worst of humanity. Unable to attend the Literature college she covets, instead she attends Architectural college as the only female, and one whose reputation becomes quickly sullied due to toxic masculinity and abuse of power. While not occurring on page, assault is referenced indirectly in flashbacks so please take caution if that is a trigger for readers.

“But I think magic is just the truth that people believe. For most people, the truth is whatever helps them sleep at night, whatever makes their lives easier. It’s different from objective truth.”

Luckily, a chance for escape happens in the form of an architectural contest held by the estate of late author Emrys Myrddin—Effy is chosen as the winner, and she is thrilled to be able to have a chance at restoring her favorite author’s crumbling home. Only upon arrival, she fears the Fairy King who haunted her childhood now haunts the very same estate she’s tasked to restore. To complicate things further, her  infuriating, academic rival Preston is also in house and determined to uncover facts that have been hastily covered up surrounding Myrddin.

Myrddin’s son, Ianto, is also an enigma. Charming and welcoming one minute, lecherous and maddening the next. Effy is torn between what she feels is the truth, and what she sees. The problem for Effy is that she was told to not trust what she sees from a young age.

That was the cruelest irony: the more you did to save yourself, the less you became a person worth saving.

The past and the present, reality and fantasy, all clash together in a wild culmination that revolves around a decades old mystery on the Myrddin estate. Magic is woven so beautifully throughout the entire book, and I felt like the setting of Myrddin’s estate became yet another character. Preston and Effy’s reluctant partnership that turn to steadfast adoration and love is another aspect that made me swoon. I loved the dark, haunting, academic setting, the mystery of the past, and the frenetic energy of the present.

Ava Reid gives readers such a whirlwind of a ride with A Study in Drowning. I loved the metaphors, and all the themes. I particularly loved the idea of coming to terms with one’s childhood heroes. Our beloved authors are real people, and Effy has to come to term with her own past in order to learn the true past behind one of her favorite books. I truly cannot recommend A Study in Drowning enough. Ava Reid’s YA debut is not to be missed.