El dark academy del que todo el mundo habla: una novela que atrapa desde la primera pagina, con una prosa lirica y una trama tan oscura como poderosa… Effy Sayre siempre ha creido en los cuentos de hadas. No le ha quedado mas remedio, ya que, desde nia, la persiguen visiones del rey de las hadas. Ha hallado consuelo en las paginas de Angharad, la apreciada novela de Emrys Myrddin, que trata sobre una chica mortal que se enamora del rey de las hadas y luego lo destruye. El ejemplar desgastado de Effy es lo unico que la mantiene aflote durante su primer trimestre en la prestigiosa Facultadde Arquitectura de Llyr. Cuando la familia de Myrddin anuncia un concurso para redisear la casa del fallecido autor, Effy esta segura de que el destino llama a su puerta. Pero es una tarea imposible: la mansion Hiraeth es una casa mohosa y decrepita a punto de derrumbarse en el hambriento mas. Y cuando Effy llega, ya hay otra persona alojandose temporalmente alli: Preston Heloury, un aburrido estudiante de literatura que esta decidido a demostrar que el escritor favorito de Effy es un fraude. Mientras los dos rivales investigan el legado del solitario autor y reunen todas las pistas a traves de sus cartas, libros y diarios, descubriran que hay mas cosas de las que no pueden fiarse, aparte de los cimientos de la casa. Existen fuerzas oscuras, tanto mortales como magicas, que conspiran contra ellos… y puede que la verdad los aruine a los dos.

I tried, I really tried to like the book. I was hoping the beautiful sprayed edges with bookshelves would lure me in.

It didn't so I am hoping to come back to this book later in the new year.

DNF 60%

LOVE, LOVE, LOVE!!! A book that has stuck with me months later! ( )

Soft DNF. Will likely come back to it when it's not 90 degrees outside.

When picking up my second novel by Ava Reid I knew to expect stunning prose, gothic world building, and a harsh look at how the world treats women. What I was not expecting was to have a story about the beauty and bravery of survival make me sob on my break at work.

A Study in Drowning is an ephemeral, gothic leaning, fantasy novel rooted in Welsh and Celtic mythology and the realities of being a young woman in a world that sees your only value as your desirability. Effy is a soft soul who has been hate, used, and treated badly by those in her life that should have protected and supported her, and it has left her scared and running from the world. However, she finds escape in her favorite authors novel t such a degree that when a chance to work on the house is provided to her, she runs for it. However, upon arriving at the house she discovers that much like her it is drowning slowly under its own past.

When reading this I expected a novel that would have an enticing story and instead received a commentary on so much about both how the world sees women, and how men in places of power abuse them. This book gave a head on look into sexism that women face daily, and showcased how fighting it often feels like drowning under the impossibility of escaping it. The prose and world building swept me away into a world of dark fantasy that felt real and slimy, and tinged with salt.

This novel touches on sexual abuse, parental abuse and neglect, and death, please make sure to at least glance at the trigger warnings if you have issues with any of these subjects prior to picking up this novel. ( )