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Reviewed by: Taylor Coonelly, Elementary School Librarian Title: A Study in Drowning
Author: Ava Reid
Publisher: Harper Teen
Year: 2023 Good for Grades: 10-Adult Genre/Type of Book: Dark academia/fantasy
Content Warnings, or things that other School Librarians should be aware of: Mentions of death, alluding to sex
Recommended for a school library: Yes
Reason(s) for choosing the book: I love a dark academia book with a Fae element for this time of year!
If you were tasked by the publisher with writing a short quote for the back cover of this book, what would it be: A dark and twisted fantasy that will have you wanting more
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Review:
Effie Sayre has always believed in fairytales, and during her first term in college filled with disappointment and cruelty, she continually has trouble distinguishing life's fact and fiction. Her anchor has always been Angharad, an epic fantasy romance written by deceased national hero Emrys Myrddin. In a stroke of good luck, Effie is invited to the Myrddin estate by his son to help restore his crumbling home by the sea. But Hiraeth, crumbling into the sea, holds dark secrets for Effie at every turn, and while uncovering these secrets, she meets literature student Preston Heloury. Preston has come to Hiraeth from the university, but he is determined to coin Myrddin as a fraudulent author with Effie's help. The two begin working together in secret, uncovering the dark and gothic story of a girl, the sea, and monsters lurking beneath crumbling walls.
This book has major themes of academia, dark fantasy with faeries, power dynamics, family relationships/issues, and a small subplot of romance (it is such a good subplot though). The cover and illustrations in the book are incredibly well done and intriguing, and I think would have readers wanting to pick it up just by looking at them. I couldn't see an activity that could be connected with this read, just a wonderful book for pleasure!
This is second book I have read by Ava Reid, and I enjoyed this one MUCH more than her previous, Lady Macbeth. Effie is a dynamic main character whose journey throughout the story is incredible, and the enemies-to-lovers arch between her and Preston was sweet and tender and everything I could have hoped for. This book mixed dark academia themes with gothic fantasy/fae elements in a way that was gripping to read. One major thing to note however is that nowhere is it mentioned the sexual advances made towards Effie by several older men of power in the book (not Preston, who is so fierce and protective of Effie and treats her like she matters), and this was something that threw me off a little and I wish I had known going into the story. I love how the author connects Effie's growth with that of the story of Angharad, and the overarching theme of resilience and the power of women's voices. An incredible YA dark academia fantasy - with a second book coming soon!
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For more information about this book, see the Publisher's Website