A Study in Drowning: Exclusive Edition
Hardback Published on: 19/09/2023
Price: £16.99
Bookseller Reviews
View all
Darkly Romantic and Unsettlingly Eerie
In short, this is a dark academia rivals-to-lovers narrative, set mostly within the confines of a crumbling hill-top manor estate where the boundaries betw... READ MORE
The Dark Academia/Gothic Romance you've been searching for!
A deeply poetic and inventive take on the gothic genre and on the representation of mental health. The landscapes are dreamy and terrifying all at the same... READ MORE
The epitome of darkness
My first book by Ava Reid and it won't be my last. A mesmerizing dark academia story with a rival to lovers that was beautifully written. The prose was stu... READ MORE
The authors best work yet!
Effy has always believed in fairy tales. With no choice but to find solace in such wondrous and mysterious stories, for you see since childhood, Effy has b... READ MORE
Gothic, romantic, fantastical, academic.. it has it ALL.
Ava Reid was already an autobuy author for me but this solidified it. I already want to reread and I bought every special edition. This is identified as yo... READ MORE
Wonderfully gothic storytelling
A Study in Drowning is a wonderfully atmospheric dark academia novel full of mystery, fairytales, romance, obsession and secrets.
The bleak descriptions ... READ MORE
This book will catch you in its eldritch spell
will try and explain why this book is just so unique and wonderful. But I’ll probably fail to express the layers, emotional levels , and feelings well enou... READ MORE
Intriguing!
This book is a great look at the fairfolk in an academic world. Myths and legends, real to some yet just make believe to others. This book not only enter... READ MORE
A whimsical, gothic, powerful and dark academic dream!
A whimsical, gothic, powerful and dark academic dream!
A Study in Drowning is a gothic dark academia fantasy set in a crumbling cliff-side manor, slowly gi... READ MORE
dark academia with an irresistible blend of romance and mystery
a study in drowning is a captivating journey into dark academia with an irresistible blend of romance and mystery. effy, an architecture student haunted by... READ MORE
Perfect dark academia, autumnal vibes!
I cannot exaggerate how much I loved this book. It is the perfect dark academia, autumnal, eerie read!
When Effy, a college student, gets the chance to... READ MORE
The perfect autumn read
Dark academia, enemies to lovers, a crumbling house by the water and a hefty dose of fantasy and folklore, what's not to love?
I devoured this and immed... READ MORE
Ava Reid is a MUST read author
I have read all three of Ava Reid's published works and have adored every single one. Every time she has managed to capture something haunting, dark and un... READ MORE
Deliciously dark and utterly enthralling
Ava Reid has done it again!
Full of twisted characters, dubious morals and beautifully sweet interactions, I adored this book. It questions what it is to ... READ MORE
Perfect for fans of Dark Academia, Fairytales and Academic Rivals
Ava Reid creates another novel that I’m again obsessed with. Full of lore and story building with great and developed characters. The way Reid writes is ju... READ MORE
Fantastic for fans of dark fantasy, I want more!
The small family of a renowned author moulders away in a waterlogged house, its foundations set to collapse with the cliff below. It’s here, in the rural a... READ MORE
Ideal read for autumn
I really enjoyed the slightly eerie feel throughout this book. It's perfect if you're a fan of dark academia, fairy stories and foklore
I came out of this book a changed person
this book was honestly the perfect read to get me in the mood for autumn (especially since the weather in it reminds me a lot of the wet seasons we like to... READ MORE
Beautifully ethereal
A story that keeps you guessing until the end! This book is a beautiful combination of gothic, academic, feminism, fey, and folklore wrapped up in fantasti... READ MORE
Dark, haunting and hopeful
4.5 stars. This is a slow burn, gothic romance between two academics. In a decaying house where fantasy and reality blur, haunted by the image of the Fairy... READ MORE
A masterpiece
My favorite author returns with her latest masterpiece (BUT JUST WAIT UNTIL YOU READ LADY MACBETH). Be prepared to be swept away on a journey you'll never ... READ MORE
Stunning.
^^
I was swept off my feet - I want to read it for the first time again already
Oh my goodness.
This is a book I will think about for a long, long time. It was incredible: fascinating, powerful, moving, and mysterious. I was completel... READ MORE
A seamless blending of reality and folklore
The most beautifully written tale about believing and being believed. Hauntingly reminiscent of the real world whilst simultaneously having a firm foothold... READ MORE
Atmosphere, mythology, and meta-stories
An incredibly atmospheric and gothic tale set in an alternate world of drowned lands and elusive mythology. Reid creates an incredibly compelling world and... READ MORE
Haunting atmosphere and wonderful characters
This was the first of Ava Reid's books that I've read but I will definitely be reading more! She has a wonderful writing style - beautiful world building, ... READ MORE
Stunning !
One of the easiest 5 stars I have ever given! Absolutely beautiful writing and such an engaging and imaginative plot.
“Every story is a lie, isn’t it?”
Reading A Study in Drowing felt like the first time I read The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath. It was as if Ava Reid shed a light into the dark corners of my he... READ MORE
This is a book which resists rush.
I took my time reading it and I found I really enjoyed it.
Effy feels like a girl who has been left behind. She has been forced to study something in whic... READ MORE
The only enemy is the sea
4.25⭐️
When Effy, a young university student surrounded by scandal and plagued by visions of the Fairy King from her childhood, hears that the estate of h... READ MORE
Perfect read for an autumn day
A Study in Drowning is a gothic dark academia fantasy that follows Effy, a first-year architect student with a hunger for literature, as she wins a compet... READ MORE
A house full of secrets and mystery falling to pieces.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The atmosphere. The mystery. Secrets and lies. It took me a while to get through it but I believe that is because I’m not u... READ MORE
Quick read. Easy to get through.
I thought this was really cute and devastatingly sad. It a tale as old as time of women being manipulated and taken advantage of. While the tangible antago... READ MORE
Synopsis
Effy 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 - a beloved epic about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King, and then destroys him.
Effy's tattered copy is all that's keeping her afloat through her stifling first term at her prestigious architecture college. So when the late author's family announces a contest to design his 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 Heloury, a stodgy young literature scholar, is studying Myrddin's papers and is determined to prove her favourite 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.
Publisher information
- Publisher: Cornerstone
- ISBN: 2928377218614
- Number of pages: 384
- Dimensions: 222 x 144 x 35 mm
- Weight: 498g
- Languages: English
Customer Reviews
View allThis book is now my whole personality
This is my first book by Ava and I was NOT disappointed! Her writing style is incredibly captivating and in this book she manages to weave together a beaut... READ MORE
This book is now my whole personality
This is my first book by Ava and I was NOT disappointed! Her writing style is incredibly captivating and in this book she manages to weave together a beaut... READ MORE
A beautiful, haunting story that I didn't want to end.
Effy has been haunted by visions of the Fairy King since she was a child, with only the fairy story Angharad and sleeping pills to get her through the nigh... READ MORE
Haunting and romantic dark academia that sticks with you
Ava Reid’s A Study in Drowning is a mesmerising book that weaves together several genres to deliver a haunting, feminist, and thought-provoking story. At i... READ MORE
atmospheric / gothic / mysterious
Favorite character: Preston
Three words: atmospheric / gothic / mysterious
Favorite quote: You don’t have to take up a sword. Survival is bravery, too.
Th... READ MORE
Atmospheric, Haunting, Beautifully Descriptive
(3.5 rounded up to 4.0)
Euphemia (Effy) Sayre is an average architectural student, and is not happy in her studies. Her first love has always been literat... READ MORE
The perfect read for autumn
Thank you Netgalley and Random House UK for sending me a free e-ARC in exchange for an honest and unbiased review.
3,75 stars
Effy Sayre is a first-yea... READ MORE
Darkly atmospheric
A Study in Drowning was a fantastic read from cover to cover and it was especially atmospheric for the autumnal season of dark, rainy and windy nights. Thi... READ MORE
Magical
“But stories were devious things, things with agendas. They could cheat and steal and lie to your face.”
I love stories about stories. A Study in Drowning... READ MORE
academic rivals-to-lovers, fae folklore, and dark academia vibes
What is a mermaid but a woman half-drowned,
What is a selkie but an unwilling wife,
What a tale but a sea-net, snatching up both
From the gentle tumult of ... READ MORE
Beautifully written and eerily atmospheric
Thank you, NetGalley, for the Advanced Reading Copy in exchange for an honest review.
☑ Beautifully written and eerily atmospheric, this is a coming-of-ag... READ MORE
Ava Reid’s best book yet
I’ve read three books by Ava Reid now and this one is by far the best, it’s excellent.
This is a wonderful, dark book about two students trying to uncover... READ MORE
The perfect moody & dark fall read
I loved (almost) every minute of this book!
It’s the perfect eerily atmospheric, moody, mysterious dark academia read for autumn!
It’s haunting, beautiful... READ MORE
Dark Academia Delight
Ava Reid tells amazing stories! This was a beautifully woven tale of myth, mystery and magic. I loved the world created. The story was captivating despite ... READ MORE
“Anything can be taken from you, at any moment. Even the past isn't guaranteed. You can lose that too, slowly, like water eating away at stone.”
“Anything can be taken from you, at any moment. Even the past isn't guaranteed. You can lose that too, slowly, like water eating away at stone.”
Today we... READ MORE
A fantastic read
Thank you for the opportunity to read this book, I absolutely loved this and the way the story was told. Effy could be any female who has felt belittled in... READ MORE
Fairy, myth & fantasy
A good story that incorporates two people’s reality with fairy myth and fantasy. At times the story is quite dark and a little scary as all fae stories usu... READ MORE
A mesmerizing blend of fairy tale allure and gothic suspense
Rating: ★★★★☆
"A Study in Drowning" by Ava Reid is a mesmerizing blend of fairy tale allure and gothic suspense that captures the reader's imagination f... READ MORE
atmospheric / gothic / mysterious
Favorite character: Preston
Three words: atmospheric / gothic / mysterious
Favorite quote: You don’t have to take up a sword. Survival is bravery, too.
Th... READ MORE
Gothic, dark and magical atmosphere
A Study in Drowning is Ava Reid’s debut into the world of YA and she truly delivers a dark academia fantasy that brims with magic, faerie, dark power, love... READ MORE
Gothic folklore, dark fae
I found A Study in Drowning a little slow-going at times, but it kept my interest. I loved Effy and Preston and their banter as they navigated working toge... READ MORE
A Beautiful & Haunting Tale That Works On Numerous Levels
’She would have to trust, as she always had, the words written in Angharad, the happy ending it promised. So what about the million drowned men? So what ab... READ MORE
Stunning
First of all, the physical book is beautiful. The naked hardback has a lovely design, and the sprayed edges are very nice. Quality is a 10/10.
I absolut... READ MORE
A Captivating Journey into Gothic Depths
Ava Reid, you’ve gained a new fan with this book.
I had my copy sitting on the shelf for months, and I can't believe I waited so long to read it. I had be... READ MORE
Haunting atmosphere
Enjoyed this thoroughly. True to its Gothic roots, it stays with you due to the emotional charge of each sentence and thought the main character has. Inter... READ MORE
A Tapestry of Magic and Obsession
A hauntingly beautiful and intricately woven tale that captivates readers from the very first page. With lyrical prose that dances between the mythic and t... READ MORE
Trully beautiful and relatable
“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 differe... READ MORE
A masterclass in pacing, characterisation and tension
A Study in Drowning is a stunning book in every way.
From one phenomenal book to another, Ava Reid is an author I am obsessed with. Their work has this... READ MORE
Gothic and eerie- perfect for any season!
ABSOLUTELY STUNNING!! One of my new favourite books of ALL TIME!
Effy and Preston made me feel all the emotions in this thrilling novel with a mystery at... READ MORE
Stunning
I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of A Study in Drowning and it honestly, blew me away. The lore based world that Ava Reid has built is so captivating a... READ MORE
Great characters, great location, great book
Effy has read her copy of Emrys Myrddin’s Angharad so many times she can quote entire chunks of it verbatim. A student of architecture (because women aren’... READ MORE
One of my faves this year!
Thank you NetGalley and HarperAudio for approving my request for the A Study in Drowning audiobook! I have been a huge fan of Ava Reid since The Wolf and ... READ MORE
Good romance
Loved the romance in the story but it was hard to get into for the first ~75 pages and the writing had a few too many similes (enough to notice). A big plo... READ MORE
Beautiful, atmospheric, but missing that final spark
I really wanted to love A Study in Drowning. Dark academia, gothic mystery, a crumbling manor by the sea, literary secrets, and Fairy King folklore - this ... READ MORE
A captivating and inspirational fantasy with beautiful, transformative character journeys of healing and awakening
A Study in Drowning is a haunting, gothic-vibed dark academia full of folklore, mysteries, and poignant messages about the repression of women, misogynisti... READ MORE
Delightful
Effy believes in fairytales, after all she has been haunted by visions of the fairy king since childhood, the only solace she has found is being lost in th... READ MORE
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