A Study in Drowning

[alaterdate]

Ava Reid heard you like stories so she put a story in your story.

Again.

She loves doing this. I kind of think it's funny how much literary analysis her characters do in this book and for the silliest snippets of her imaginary story. The quotes so reminded me of the over-the-top writing in something like Rainbow Rowell's Simon Snow books. Anyway, A Study in Drowning is the third book I've read from Reid and sadly the blandest!

I've had a love-hate relationship with her books. She writes well and her perspective on prejudice and misogyny is at least interesting to read in the sphere she's published in in (YA, New Adult). This book includes those topics, but I wouldn't say it was done well here, especially the prejudice that never gets addressed.

This novel follows a young woman named Effy Sayre and her trials against institutional misogyny, sexual assault, and mental health. From a young age she's been convinced that the king of fairies is stalking her, this leads to her being diagnosed with something we're never told, but she has to take pills every day to keep reality in check for her. She's the smartest girl in the world, but she's still not allowed to follow her passion of studying literature because in this world literature is for boys only! "Girls are too stupid to write or understand stories and poems!" Despite this Effy loves the grand novel Angharad written by one of her country's eminent authors. So, to even be close to the literature college she goes to school for architecture instead (what a jump!) because it's the second most prestigious major in the country. She's the only woman in the architecture college and is sadly sexually assaulted by her advisor.

Then one day the estate of her favorite and recently deceased author has a competition to draw designs for a reconstruction of the family manor. Effy is chosen (even though she had been failing her architecture course) and goes out into the middle of nowhere to work on this mansion (even though everyone told her she was crazy and too stupid to do it). There she meets Preston Héloury, a literature student who is said to be writing the biography of the dead author. She immediately hates him because she's jealous that he gets to study literature, oh and also he's half that kind of people from that one country she dislikes because of the war~™️
But Preston turns out to "not be like other men" and especially not as creepy as the other guy in the house, the late author's son. So Effy becomes friends and eventually lovers with Preston. And they agree to look for the truth of the authorship of Angharad, as Preston doesn't think a backwater born, son of an illiterate fisherman could have written it. At first Effy agrees to help because she wants to prove Preston wrong, but it turns out her favorite author was a real creep! How could a creep of a man like him have written something so beautiful? That's the mystery!
And then in a shocking twist it turns out Effy was never crazy, the fairy king was real all along!
Then Effy goes girlboss in the last 3 pages and all is settled.

There's not even any point in talking about the world-building because it didn't really matter at all nor was it explained enough to be interesting.

I know this is an shallow summary, but the more I thought about what happened in the book the more insipid it revealed itself to be.

I did like that Effy wasn't as obsessed with her love interest as Reid's other protagonists, because it would get on my nerves. But Effy and Preston are quite milquetoast, maybe even too milquetoast, but it was refreshing for me personally.

Someone gave Reid a hammer to write this with. You will be thoroughly knocked over the head by her intended messages. And metaphors. And similes.

I usually like her writing style, but she went overboard with the "pretty lines" here and the constant repeating of imagery and simile, imagery-simile, imagery,simile, imagery;simile, imagery:simile. We got it the first time you described it.

I've said it before, Reid still can't write a concise plot to save her life. Things happen simply because they happen. There's no cause and effect and it's the laziest way to write a plot. Sure there were scenes she wanted to happen, but please have some thread from A to B. I wouldn't go so far as to say this story was "all vibes," but it was weak in terms of tension and the puzzle/mystery aspect. It's very clear early on what the answer to the mystery is, but the characters never really solve it on their own. The answers basically come and slap them in the face at the end and they are completely shocked (even though it's a major theme!). That's boring, if I solve a question explicitly asked in the story and the characters trying to find the answer don't even think in the right direction what do I care for their efforts. Especially when the main quest/ion in the story isn't even urgent or the solution to their troubles. The middle to end of the book were ripe for just zoning out because of this.

And, hey, I hated the last line so much. She spent so much time building Preston up as "not being like other men" you know, all the other men who have something perverted and evil and greedy inside them no matter what. And then she's like ~woo spooky he has it too!~ Like what. Actually extremely annoyed by this. And kind of taken aback that I was doubting that's what she meant by that line, but that's what she meant by that line. 👎👎👎

I have to say this is my least favorite of her novels, though I haven't read Lady Macbeth yet (and I hear it's not good!). I want to say that this novel had the bones for something good, but I think I liked my own idea of what might've happened in this book before I got a quarter through and it fell apart. The cover is nice though. It wasn't the worst thing I've ever read, but I think my issue with whether or not I actually enjoy her books is now skewing towards "no." I'd rather be torn and mad, than bored and disappointed.

I listened to the audiobook of this so it didn't have the acknowledgements at the back, but apparently she gives an acknowledgment to Zelda Fitzgerald which is insane, 'cause girl this book is not good. But now I see where the MC's name came from 💀.

Comments

[pauraque]

Your opening made me laugh because I was just talking with someone else about how funny it is when authors write about stories and the power of stories and the magic of stories and the analysis of stories, and make that a major theme of their work. Because yeah, of course YOU think there's nothing more interesting than stories! You tell stories for a living! But it can definitely go to a place of self-indulgent pretentiousness.

[alaterdate]

of course YOU think there's nothing more interesting than stories!

That was my thought throughout this whole book, lol.

I saw a few reviews that were questioning why literature was the most coveted thing in this world, but I immediately knew her M.O. of doing this. It's literally magic in this book! Somehow.

But it can definitely go to a place of self-indulgent pretentiousness.

Yeah, at least in the other books she was relating folklore, but here she was basically analyzing... her own writing.