Title: A Study in Drowning
Author: Ava Reid
Length: 384 pages
Genre: Dark academia, fantasy, romance, YA
My Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Age Rating: 16+
Content Notes: Sex (open-door), mild language, innuendo and crude jokes, sexual abuse and harassment, grooming and manipulation, mental health, violence and gore, trauma, parental neglect, emotional themes, death, animal death, substance abuse, misogyny
My Review:
I don’t know how to feel about this book exactly. I mean, I liked it, and I enjoyed reading it. But also, it didn’t surpass my expectations. It kinda hovered right below the bar that I had set for it. There were things I really enjoyed about this book, and there were some things that I thought could be improved.
Let’s start with the writing, because that was my favorite part of this book. I love it when a book has a poetic, soft and whimsical writing style. And that was the exact writing style this book had. It’s beautiful to read, and I love how it uses personification to add that much more depth to the writing.
The first thing that I really struggled with was more of a personal preference. I’ve always really struggled to understand the world of the fae. Every fae book I’ve read, I either struggle to get through or just downright don’t like. And while I enjoyed reading this book, I still felt a bit confused at the world building and the mythical elements. I also struggled to understand the world, every time she brought up a name of a place, I didn’t really actually understand where that was. I kinda just pretended to know what she was talking about, which kinda brought me out of the story. But, as for the fae, this book was the most informative so far, and I felt like I did know a lot more coming out of it. Out of all the fae books I’ve read, this one was the best so far.
Next up, the romance. I really liked the romance in this book. It had an academic rivals vibe and I really loved the love interest. Now, I’ve found that a lot of the romance books I’ve been reading have a very lustful, almost shallow point of view to them. I was disappointed that this book also shared that trait. Whenever they were together it felt like she was focusing a lot on his body and not as much on the emotional journey they were on. I still liked it, but I just felt that it didn’t have the depth that I was really looking for in their relationship. Not to mention the fact that they could have gone without sleeping together. But I’ll talk more about that later.
It’s later, let’s talk about the content notes.
This book does have a lot more sexual content than I would have liked, along with some mild language. There is a sex scene in this book. It’s short, and I would consider it an open door scene. You’re there with them as they get undressed and have sex. It doesn’t skip straight to the morning after like I wish it would have. Also, the kissing scenes are pretty intense in this book, it felt like they belonged in an adult romance book, not one for teens.The main character is also sexually assaulted. It happens before you enter the story and you never get explicit details of what actually happened, but it is a focal point of the story, and the character is constantly having flashbacks and nightmares about it. It was handled in a way that was only suggestive, but still, it was constantly there throughout the story. She is also sexually assaulted on page. It’s just a kiss, and it’s short, but it’s there. Other than that, this book does have innuendo and crude jokes throughout, along with discussions of an affair and discovered nude photos that are described in some detail. There are also themes of violence, emotional themes, parental neglect, and severe misogyny. The main character struggles with PTSD, anxiety, panic attacks, hallucinations, delusions, and nightmares.
Overall I would suggest this book for ages 16+, just because of the sexual content and intense themes throughout. Personally, I feel like this book is almost better for an adult audience than the teen section.
If you are looking for a whimsical, beautifully written fantasy book, then this might be the one for you, as long as you are okay with the sexual content. But honestly, as much as I enjoyed it, I don’t think I’m going to read the rest of the duology, because I couldn’t follow the world building and the sex scene took away from the experience. And if you’re like me, and you prize finding clean books that you can feel good reading, then this might not be the book for you. So, while I did enjoy this book, I can’t recommend it to you because of the sex scene. I hope this helps you next time you’re in the YA section trying to find your next fantasy fix.
Happy Reading,
Ava
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