The Only Enemy Is The Sea

I recently finished reading A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid. This was OwlCrate's September book.

*POSSIBLE SPOILER ALERT* Rating: 3.5/5 stars "Effy Sayre 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 - author Emrys Myrddin’s beloved epic about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King, and then destroys him.

Effy’s tattered, dog-eared copy is all that’s keeping her afloat through her stifling first term at Llyr’s prestigious architecture college. So when Myrddin’s family announces a contest to design the late author’s 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 Héloury, a stodgy young literature scholar, is studying Myrddin’s papers and is determined to prove her favorite 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." A Study in Drowning is a haunting gothic tale of strength and perseverance that blurs the lines between fairytale and reality. I enjoyed many aspects of this book and I respect what it contributes to the genre, but, unfortunately, I was left wanting more from the story.

The gothic atmosphere is easily the strongest element of the book. Hiraeth Manor is a fascinating setting and I was obsessed with the idea of a house that is, quite literally, falling into the sea.

The crumbling estate and its many dark mysteries create a pervasive sense of wrongness and unease. This feeling is heightened by Effy’s self-reported status as an unreliable narrator. Ava Reid’s writing and repeated references to the metaphor of drowning further enhanced the gothic atmosphere making A Study in Drowning a quick and intriguing read.

Ava Reid specializes in crafting powerful stories of female trauma and rage. A Study in Drowning captures the many conflicting ways that women are treated by society and the tendency for their voices to be lost. Effy proves that there is strength in softness and perseverance. Her experience was so raw and emotional and I know that it will resonate with many readers. I was really impressed by how Ava Reid presented these complex topics for a YA audience.

The gothic atmosphere and Effy’s trauma are both the book's main focus and its strengths. However, many other parts of the story felt underdeveloped in comparison. The untapped potential of the world-building and character development left me wanting more.

Outside of Hiraeth Manor, the world-building is incredibly sparse. As this is a character-focused, gothic story I normally wouldn't have cared about the minimal world-building. However, Ava Reid presents so many intriguing concepts that go completely unexplained. The war only serves as a justification for Effy’s horrible behavior towards Preston when they first meet (side note: I was quite disappointed that Effy never had to confront her prejudice). I never understood the two countries’ history and relationship. There was some discussion of religious differences but I would have loved a bit more context. The Sleepers were criminally under explored. The concept of authors who are believed to provide magical protection for an entire country is absolutely fascinating. Given the focus on the late author Emrys Myrddin and the importance of stories to both main characters, I expected this concept to be more fleshed out. But other than the occasional discussion of how Effy and Preston’s investigation would be viewed by the Sleeper Museum, the concept is never developed. Between the gothic atmosphere, Preston and Effy, and the mysteries of Hiraeth Manor, A Study in Drowning had plenty of interesting concepts. But these false starts in the world-building left the story feeling incomplete and drew my attention away from the main focus.

Effy is a really interesting main character and her soft strength makes her stand out from other characters in the genre. But I wanted a bit more from her character development and from the other characters. I did not expect Effy to overcome all of her trauma in such a short book. The way she slowly built trust with Preston was really beautiful. But then she had a very sudden character shift at the very, very end of the story that felt really random. Preston is a cardboard cutout of a character whose only personality trait was being the one not shitty man in this entire story. I love his type of character so the fact that I thought he was boring says a lot.

The dedication to this book reads: “This is a love story” and, respectfully, no it's not. I am not one to complain about a fantasy book having too little romance, but this dedication really sets the wrong expectations for the book. Effy and Preston’s romance is incredibly underdeveloped and is certainly not “rivals to lovers.” The entire conflict between them is Effy’s one-sided anger over something kind of stupid. Then she gets over it, they have a few scenes that were probably supposed to have romantic tension, and suddenly they're together.

My final critique is that the ending felt a bit awkward. The issue of the Faerie King is resolved way too easily, especially given everything he represents and what a significant figure he was in Effy’s life. The mystery was glaringly obvious from the second it was introduced. Which is fine. This is a YA novel and I can accept some level of in-world explanation for Effy and Preston’s ignorance. But it was really strange how the story walked the reader through each individual element of the reveal in one sit-down conversation. That amount of hand-holding for the reader was completely unnecessary as the mystery was extremely simple and it made the ending feel stilted and unnatural.

Amidst an excellent gothic atmosphere, A Study in Drowning gave me glimpses of untapped potential that left me feeling a bit unsatisfied.

Check out A Study in Drowning, and take on the wildness of the Faerie King and all they have to offer.

Happy Reading :)