Book Review: A Study in Drowning

I received this book as a part of my September Owlcrate box. When I first read the summary of the book I was pretty intrigued by its premise. The story seemed genuinely good and in the end, it didn't disappoint. However, there are some things about this book that I struggled with as I read.

The Author

Ava Reid has quite a few publications under her belt, but this is the first book of hers that I have read. She is known for her books "The Wolf and the Woodsmen" and "Juniper & Thorn" that were published in Adult Fantasy. This current book, "A Study in Drowning" is her most recent release and debut book into the YA genre, which is maybe what drew Owlcrate to include it in the box.

The Story

The story itself is actually refreshing. Relatable as well. Effy (Euphemia) Sayre grows up in Lyre and has hallucinations which cause her anxiety and distress. Basically, to cope with her world she's devised methods to escape. She finds solace in a singular book, "Angharad" and knows it cover-to-cover. She sympathizes and finds a lot of similarities with the protagonist of that story, a young woman, trapped by the Fairy King but eventually escapes. The Author of the book, Emrys Myriddin has become Effy's favorite author. She knows all of his poems, stories, but especially Angharad.

Since Effy was a small girl, she has seen images and hallucinations of the Fairy King in the dark and while she slept. She's memorized the book and used its methods to deter the king. Sleeping with iron over her door, such as horse shoes, Ash wood and Rowan berries as well can deter the Fairy King. Her mother and doctor thought she was mad, so she had these little pink pills that were supposed to stop her from seeing these hallucinations.

Effy has had her series of bad luck, she's made some poor decisions that have caused her some issues. However, Effy is also very shy and quiet and finds she is taken advantage of by a professor. I'm not exactly sure, but the format of the book makes it seem as though Effy was "uncomfortably" touched by her professor, who she did think was cute. Effy seems to have this idea that she cannot say no, or that she shouldn't. She lets the professor, "have his way" and this decision is just one of many that haunt her.

She grew up in Lyre and in that country, women are very low on the totem pole. It mirrors a very 1920s-1930s America where women weren't in college or didn't have reason to be in college. The only thing she could really do was join the Architecture College, which she doesn't really enjoy. She loves literature, but no woman has ever been enrolled in the Literature College. When she sees a flyer for a contest asking for entries of floorplans for the Myriddin's estate, with the prize being actually going to the estate and working on the floorplans; Effy sees what might be the very thing to spark her enjoyment of architecture. It's her hero's home, and she finds herself excited to be designing a place especially for the vast book collection the family has inherited. The winner would travel to Saltney and Hiraeth Manor to produce floorplans for the house. Effy takes a chance and draws up some and enters the contest. By some miracle, she wins the contest.

The book is pretty slow-paced from the beginning until you get to her getting on the bus to Saltney. It's then we find how much her mother really detests having to "deal" with Effy and her issues. Upon arriving in Saltney, which is no more than a bar and some houses, Effy begins to worry that she's made the wrong choice and almost by instinct calls her mother. Its here we see for ourselves the little patience that Effy's mother has. She reminds Effy how much "time" she has put in to dealing with her as a child. She encourages Effy to go back to school, and reminds her that she has made bad decison after bad decision. I'll be honest, this mother made me so grateful for my own loving mother. You begin to understand how Effy can be the way she is with a mother like that. She almost quits but decides not to in the end.

She's won the contest to design the author's house by her own merit "she thinks" but she's also pretty sure it's a prank. She's picked up by the butler of the house and the overall vibe is pretty creepy. Hiraeth Manor is up on the hill, right on the cliff face and her first glance at it during the day has her wondering why they even want to remodel or rebuild on this treacherous landscape. The house is musty, decrepit, and literally rotting at the core. The bones of the house are barely bones at all, and Effy surrenders that this would be a total bulldoze and rebuild. The basement is completely flooded, and she hears from several different people that the house is ready to go to ruin when the cliff collapses. It's pretty easy to tell that this house wouldn't surivive a stiff wind.

There is a mention about the First Drowning and the coming of a Second Drowning. The First Drowning is a pretty important historical memory for the people of Lyre. Its the time in History when water flooded part of the Bottom Hundred and there has been talk of a second flooding coming to pass. Especially with cliffs falling off in Saltney and the waves becoming precarious. It is of course, the natural ebbing away of what is clearly unstable cliff land. Flooding happened in what seemed to be ground that was below sea level, and if nature can find a way, it does. This plays a pretty important role in the lore around Saltney and the surrounding area.

Effy knows Angharad back to front so when she notices iron horseshoes above the doors, Ash trees buried all around the house, and rowan berries growing she immediately thinks that Emrys Myriddin, the author of Angharad also believed in the faerie realm, as these were methods of protecting oneself against faerie kind. She finds comfort in the relatability of it all but also begins to feel rather sick from the sheer state of the manor. The son of Emrys Myriddin, Ianto, doesn't want to destroy the house to rebuild. He wants it to be remodeled which Effy knows is impossible.

She's joined by Preston Heloury who is a literature student sent to study the letters and documents left behind by the late Emrys Myriddin. He's pretty stubborn, stuck up, and overall a pain to deal with. Effy is a huge fan of Angharad, so when he challenges the validity of the author her defenses go up. Turns out he's there to prove that Myriddin NEVER wrote Angharad. He's been digging for evidence to support that theory for his thesis, and when he offers Effy his support into the Literature College, her name on the thesis, she agrees to help. Especially since he attests that he is only after the truth, no matter what it may be.

Ianto oddly shows some jealous behavior which doesn't make much sense until you get to the end of the book. He's far too posessive of Effy when he doesn't even know her. Wink, wink.

I'm not gonna lie, at first I thought that Ianto was her Dad and this was a whole devised plot to get her to the house. Then he grabbed her hand at the bar and it went very "date" and that threw that theory right out the window. We get some truth from Effy when she confides in Preston. I won't say more on that.

There is also Ianto's mother that we never see. It's almost like she doesn't exist. Effy and Preston even question whether or not she is real.

Overall the story was really enjoyable and I look forward to reading more from this author.

SPOILERS

Turn back now if you don't want to ruin the story for yourself because I'm about to write about exactly why this book is so curious.

Unlike a lot of other books where the man rescues the woman and it kind of gets old having the girl boss, this story empowered Effy so much without hating on men. I loved that we had this young woman who was so quiet, so shy, and had felt like she couldn't refuse only to find her strength because of the love of a kind young man. The romance in this book is so sweet, and Preston is such a gentle young man unlike some of the other men Effy has come into contact with. It was a refreshing change of pace.

The story takes a huge turn when we find out that Effy hasn't been having hallucinations after all, but has, in fact, been seeing the Faerie King. He is real! I thought for sure this whole book was going to be about her healing from childhood trauma or something, but no; the book delivered.

The scandal that they uncover will make your blood boil, and it's a testament to how some men can be vile while others can be sweethearts. So you have Emrys, Blackmar, and Ianto who are by any other word, "into young women" and Myriddin and Blackmar were "pervy" even in old age. Then you have Preston who is just a total gentleman, and sweetheart, and loves Effy for exactly who she is. At first when Ianto is introduced into the book you assume he's the love interest. He's what I would be into for a man, shoulder length dark hair, misty eyes; but there's something off about him from the get go. He's too... friendly, too familiar with Effy. It doesn't make sense until the end, but the pieces come falling together.

The ending might have ended a little too quickly, but if you pay attention during the story you notice all the mirrors are covered up and Effy knows Angharad like the back of her hand, you'll see why she put the solution together so quickly.

I won't spoil the actual ending of the book, I'll leave that for you to discover.

I will say the only thing I found frustrating about the book was the amount of men who actually look down on women. I was hoping for a few more male allies in the book other than just Preston. I mean her professors are against her, the Dean of the school is against her, the Literary College Dean is against her. The only two people to show any ally mentality towards Effy at all are Preston and his Professor who likes Effy's spirit. (newfound by the end of the book).

This book follows the Hero's Journey pretty well, you don't have a mentor or a comic relief, but you do have a antagonist, romance interest and a third character that in a small way does become sort of a mentor character but not really until the end. Effy sees this character as a mentor, but he/she doesn't embody the mentor role fully until the end.

Extra Bits

There is a sex scene in this book but it's not explanatory and it is actually really sweet between the two. There's no swearing, so it's a clean book as far as language. There are some disgusting descriptions of bodies after death and the like. For the parents, this is a safe book for your 16 and older to read. I wouldn't put this book in the hands of anyone younger.

There is a mention of an LGBT couple at the beginning of the book, but it's innocent and there's nothing untoward between the two girls.

There is superstition present in the book, mentions of Hag Stones, fae-kind, and general warnings about being snatched up in the night by the Faerie King and a small snippet about women being like one goddess or another. Either a Seductress or Submissive. This is from Ianto's point of view specifically. You find later that he reads books specifically about these types of women. He spends half the book trying to figure out which one Effy is.

There is a specific religion in the book, and the details of the influence over the different countries are a really nice touch to add to the depth of the book. It gives the place a real feeling. It also gives you a look into why the "Changeling Children" are so unwanted and treated as they are. This little bit of backstory really helped flesh out Effy's background and history.

If you can get through the beginning you'll find a really great story, with lovable characters, detestable villians, spooky and wonderful details and a mystery you'll want to solve.

Happy Reading! May you walk the road less traveled!

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