I might’ve gotten a bit carried away with my thoughts on this book—sorry for the essay—but I guess you can say I loved it. 🤭 Also, I buddy read this with Chris @ Biblio Nerd Reflections and it was an awesome pick as there’s plenty to discuss and rage about, lol!

TL;DR: A Study in Drowning was an interesting blend of dark academia, fae lore, and gothic romance. It was stunningly atmospheric and I felt every single drenched moment in Hiraeth down to my bones. Experiencing the story through Effy’s POV was also perfect because it added to the dreamlike and otherworldly quality of the story, where you’re unsure about what’s real and what’s not. This explores some dark themes, including how misogyny runs rampant in the academic world, and at times it was heavy to read. That said, I was loathe to put it down every time I had to adult, and overall, I thought this was a compelling and satisfying read!

The writing and pacing of this book is wonderful and I was sucked in from the moment I picked it up. This had a gothic dreamlike quality to it that created a very immersive atmosphere and it was so easy to imagine the cold, dreary, and almost haunted setting. The way Reid describes the violence of nature, particularly that of the roiling and hungry sea that slowly devours everything in its path, made it feel like a character of its own. There’s a dogged sense of wrongness that follows our characters as they try to uncover the truth about Myrddin and his most famous work, Angharad. When combined with the salt-soaked air, drenched and mouldering gothic manor, and the foreboding interactions and revelations, it made for such a compelling and unputdownable read.

If anything, I wished that certain parts of this world’s history had been explored in more depth. There’s talk of the first Drowning and the potential coming of a second one, and although we learn about what that means, it left me wanting—especially considering this historical event and phenomenon influenced the culture of half of this country’s population!

Fitting with this book’s rather bleak atmosphere though, the themes that Reid includes are also quite dark. There’s classism, misogyny and sexism in academia, the patriarchy and societal norms, and xenophobia, among others. I particularly loved how Reid explores what it means to reclaim your narrative and I thought that it was extremely powerful. This is a world where men are terrified of women and so of course, they do their best to oppress them and limit their role in society. Reid also used a lot of intriguing and repeating imagery related to water, drowning, and metamorphosis when it came to women and I loved how vivid these descriptions were.

I want to say more about the plot but I feel like this is the kind of story best enjoyed when you go in knowing as little as possible. That said, I thought there was a good balance between character development and plot. This did take a direction that I didn’t expect, but I loved how “reality” was mixed in with the fae lore.

Effy was an interesting main character and for a good chunk of the beginning, I wasn’t sure if she was a very reliable one. Connecting to the ‘water’ theme, she felt very unmoored, as if she was simply floating through her existence. There was a sense of apathy but at the same time, she was emotionally drowning in fear and anxiety. There’s a sense of helplessness to her that made me itch, but that quickly changes as we learn more about what she has been through. She carries this simmering rage deep down and while it takes her some time to access that anger, when she does, it was incredible! She’s full of contradictions but the core of her is strong, driven, and courageous. I was rooting so hard for her by the end!

Our secondary MC, Preston, was an interesting counterpart to Effy. There were times I wished that we also got his POV because I feel like there was a depth to him that we still don’t know, but I thought he was generally a good egg. He initially comes across as this stuffy, stuck-up academic, but the more we learn about him, we see he’s kind, thoughtful, firm and argumentative, but he’s also open to listening and learning, which is crucial in his relationship with Effy. There’s a delicate vulnerability to him that I found endearing. He’s written in a way that shows he’s not meant to overshadow Effy, but it also doesn’t make him seem weak or insecure either. He’s a very clear contrast to the other unfortunate men we’re treated to in this book—all of whom were despicably wicked, weak and absolutely pathetic (and if you can’t tell, they absolutely enraged me).

There was a romantic subplot that I found enjoyable. Effy and Preston had great chemistry and I loved seeing them let their guard down the more they got to know each other in a professional and personal setting. Their banter had me giggling like a goof, and though there was a part that felt way too “instalove” for me, it didn’t bother me over much because it’s not really brought up again. Plus, I felt they had a decent enough foundation, even if it was built through trauma. 😬

Several other characters have ‘central’ roles in the story, one who I won’t mention due to spoilers, but there’s also Ianto, Myrddin, and the Fairy King. The Fairy King was an interesting character but felt too one-note and I didn’t particularly understand his motivations. As I mentioned, practically all of the men in this book are pathetic—driven by greed, stirred by envy, and have no issue with abusing power for money and fame, and I loathed them! Reading about certain experiences that characters had stoked quite a bit of rage in me. It was infuriating and heartbreaking, but it did also make it all the more satisfying to see these characters regain control of their stories, and prepare to take revenge for all the harms inflicted upon them.

Overall, I thoroughly enjoyed my experience reading this book. It was so engrossing and with how it ended, I’m curious to see where the characters and story will go next. I would recommend this!

Have you read A Study in Drowning or is it on your TBR?

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