A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid Published by HarperTeen on September 19, 2023
ISBN: 0063211505
Pages: 378
Genres: Fairy Tale, Fantasy, Folklore, Magical Realism
Format: Chapter Book Fiction
Source: MSL Book Review
Goodreads
Ava Reid’s YA debut is an atmospheric, dreamy fantasy that dances the line between what is real and what is believed to be real.
Effy Sayre is one of the highest scoring students ever to enter the Llyrian University, but, as a woman, she is not allowed to study literature, so she ends up in the Architecture college instead. Lonely and unhappy, she seeks solace in her well-worn pages of Angharad, Emrys Myrddin’s epic masterpiece about the love between a mortal girl and the bewitching – but malicious – fairy king. When Myrddin dies, a contest is announced to redesign his estate. A contest which Effy, a first-year architecture student, inexplicably wins. She travels far south, to the most distant reaches of the land, where she finds herself isolated by geography, superstition, and land-swallowing storms. Her host is the son of Myrddin, and it is clear he is harboring a dark secret. Effy’s only ally is a fellow student from the university, there with his own secret mission, of proving Myrddin a fraud. Together they peel back layer upon layer of the mystery behind Angharad, and, in turn, Effy herself, who it turns out had her own brush with the Fairy King as a child, and has been stalked by him ever since.
Drowning is in turns creepy, desolate, disturbing, deeply magical, and fascinating. Two threads to be aware of: there is an oft-referred to incident of abuse at the hands of a professor that happened just before the beginning of the story. Also, Effy’s mother believes she is mentally unstable and forces her to take meds to control her visions and anxieties – both of which she ultimately discovers to be real, and the result of her lifelong entanglement with the Fairy King.
Perfect for fans of fantasy that draws on dark magical themes while having one foot in a recognizable world, such as Melissa Albert’s Hazel Wood. A great addition to library shelves.
5 stars
Reviewed by: Jenny Martinez Nocito, Maine State Library, Augusta