BWS Review: A Study in Drowning

Bookworm
Jul 31
6 min read

Updated: Aug 6

Quick Overview

Author/Publisher: Ava Reid / Harper Collins Publishers

Story: Effy Sayre has been haunted by visions of the Fairy King since she was a child. Her only solace is in the pages of her favorite book, Angharad by Emrys Myrddin. She meets Preston Heloury, a young literature scholar, who is determined to prove that Effy’s favorite author is a fraud. As the two students stay with the Myriddin family, dark forces, both mortal and magical, are conspiring against them.

Published Date: September 2023

Genre: Young Adult, Fantasy, Dark Fantasy, Gothic, Romance, Fairies, Enemies-to-lovers,

Pages: 376 pages

If the fairy king is real, then he is haunting Effy Sayre for a dark purpose. If he isn’t, then Effy is as mad as her mother and doctor say. The truth may bring her to ruin. A Study in Drowning is written by Ava Reid and published by Harper Collins Publishers at September 2023. This gothic tale is about a young woman making a place for herself in a world filled with dangerous men and magical forces working against her. The sequel, A Theory of Dreaming, has just been published. Let’s see what's more dangerous: the fairy king…or misogynistic men.

The Summary

Content Warning: Sexual content. Sexual assault. Misogyny

Effy Sayre has been haunted by visions of the Fairy King since she was a child. Her only solace from her visions and the threatening world around her is in the pages of her favorite book, Angharad by Emrys Myrddin. During her first term at the prestigious Llyrian architecture college, the Myrddin’s family holds a contest to redesign the late author’s estate. Effy discovers the house is decrepit and crumbling into the sea. She meets Preston Heloury, a young literature scholar, who is determined to prove that Effy’s favorite author is a fraud. As the two students stay with the Myriddin family, they piece together clues that reveal the house’s foundation isn’t the only thing that can’t be trusted. Dark forces, both mortal and magical, are conspiring against them.

Warning! Slight Spoilers Below

The Evaluation

A Study in Drowning took me out of my room and to the seashore to watch the threatening waves. The book stays true to gothic tales by having Effy haunted by a spirit and by real people. Reid uses stormy weather, a vengeful sea, and the crumbling Myriddin’s property to impress the reader how gloomy the world is in the book, especially for a woman living in a world controlled by men. This novel has a strong feminist voice. The book explores ways women were suppressed in the 1950s, the time period of the book. The audience can empathize with Effy’s struggle. Effy has to face the misogynistic system if she is to do more than survive, to live.

Effy doesn’t have to struggle alone. By her side is Preston Heloury. As many of you can guess, he is her romantic interest. Their friendship starts off rocky as he is trying to prove Effy’s favorite author is a fraud. Their romantic relationship can best be described as enemies to lovers.

The theme of this book is bravery. Effy needs to learn to stop escaping into other stories and take control of her own. Effy struggles with the reality around her occasionally and escapes into her mind. “He clasped his fingers around her wrist and wrote out seven digits on the back of her hand. That same rainwater rush of white noise drowned out everything again, even the scything of the fans,” (10 pg). Effy relies on her mind and on her copy of Angharad when she feels trapped. As the story progresses, she must face the fact that her escape methods don’t stop anything from happening to her.

What I like

The aesthetic of the book is gothic.

A gothic book has an aesthetic of haunting and fear. Effy is afraid and haunted by the Fairy King and men. Reid also uses great descriptions of settings to impress the drearyness of the gothic aesthetic. “Overhead the sky had turned the color of iron, clouds swollen with ominous fury,” (15 pg). Reid’s choice of words really paints a dark and gloomy picture.

The fae lore in the book is accurate.

I was surprised at how accurate fae lore was in this book. The methods to fight off the Fairy King are actually items used in myths to ward off fairies. “In the book, the protagonist had her tricks to evade and ensorcell the Fairy King: bread and salt, silver bells, mountain ash, a girdle of iron,” (19 pg). Salt, silver bells, mountain ash, and iron are all items said to ward off fairies. The book has its own take on fairies with the Fairy King character, but Reid uses actual fairy lore in the novel.

The book shows ways women have been and, in some cases, still are treated unfairly.

Women couldn’t attend certain classes because “they were inferior to men”.

Effy couldn’t attend the literature course, despite her good grades. “As such, the literature college will be the most exclusive of the university’s undergraduate programs…Pursuant to that, it would be inappropriate to admit women, who have not, as a sex, demonstrated great strength in the faculties of literary analysis or understanding,” (20 pg). The system praises men while bashing women as inferior and gatekeeping education from them.

Women were punished for sex.

Especially in the past, women received more blame for premarital sex the men they slept with.

“He, my father, and ***** had all done their leering calculations and figured out the worth of my book and the worth of my life. And what did I get in return? I was not turned out of my father’s house, disinherited for being a loose woman (348 pg). While the men spoke about her life and made decisions for her, the only thing this woman received was not being exiled and shamed.

Women were told they were at fault for men’s actions

Similarly to how women were punished more for premarital sex, they were also seen as the instigators, even when it was not consensual. “All women are either an Acrasia or an Amoret. Patroness of seduction or patroness of submission….I believed you’re an Acrasia. A siren, a temptress. Men can’t help what they do when they’re around you,” (271 pg). I'ts frustrating that this is something that still happens today. A victim is told it’s their fault because they were tempting the man, and he couldn’t control himself.

What didn’t work for me

There is no closure for the war between Llyr and Argant.

There was a lot of setup on the conflict between the two countries. In the beginning, Effy describes why the two countries are at war so often. “Argant was always claiming that Llyrian treasures and traditions were really their own. Llyr was forever accusing Argant of stealing their heroes and histories,” (14 pg). In Act 2, the conflict is brought up to create tension between Effy and Preston Heloury. It is one of the reasons why she didn’t like him at first. By Act 3, the conflict has all but disappeared. I was expecting the war to either get worse or get worse, but it is put a side as the book wraps up. Hopefully, in the sequel, A Theory of Dreaming, the audience will get closure on war.

The Rating

The Bookworm’s Snack rates A Study on Drowning four out of five stars.

A Theory of Dreaming is a gothic novel with feminism, fairies, and a dash of romance. The gothic aesthetic of this book is amazing. Even the setting, from the weather to the buildings, impresses how gloomy the world is in the story. The book has a strong feminist voice, as one of the obstacles Effy faces is misogynistic men and an oppressive system. The conflict of the war between Llyr and Argant was not addressed in the end, despite seeming important in the beginning. Hopefully, the sequel, A Theory of Dreaming, will give the audience closure. The Bookworm’s Snack rates A Study on Drowning four out of five stars. A Study of Drowning is a wonderful gothic book for feminists, fantasy lovers, fairy lovers, and fans of the enemies-to-lovers trope.