I was drawn to this book by the title, cover and premise and I was so excited to receive an ARC of it in exchange for an honest review.

I tried so hard to like it, but I found it hard to get into and incredibly slow going.

It’s hard not to believe in fairytales when you’ve been haunted by visions of one all your life. Effy has sought solace in her copy of Angharad, an epic classic beloved by her country. Alas, women aren’t allowed to study literature, and she must make do with a place at the prestigious architecture college. She suffers the indignity that comes with being the only female student on the course, until she spots a contest to design a house for the estate of the author whose work she loves so much.

Myrddin’s manor is located in the Bottom Hundred, a part of the land that is on the edge of falling into the sea. Some of it already has. When Effy arrives she finds a decrepit estate and an impossible task to restore Hiraeth Manor. She also finds another student, a literature scholar. One intent on uncovering secrets of the late, great Myrddin.

The atmosphere oozes off every damp, drippy page of A Study in Drowning. I loved this tale of unearthing the truth behind a beloved book, forever unsure whether the magic is real or not.

In the land of Llyr, great authors are revered. The Sleeper Museum houses the Storytellers in glass coffins, where some believe they guard the country against harm and outside forces. Of course, the scholars of the literature school don’t believe any of that superstitious nonsense, but they pour over the texts nonetheless.

Effy knows Angharad off by heart, the story made her feel less alone when she saw visions of the Fairy King. Throughout the story, it keeps you guessing whether magic is real or not. Perhaps Ianto is just mad and the sea has eroded the land he lives on. Effy starts to doubt even her own memories.

The other student immediately rubs Effy the wrong way, not only is he allowed to study the one thing she loves most in the world, he’s a foreigner, an Argantian. In her opinion he should not be able to sully Llyrian literature with his theories, picking through the belongings of a dead man for juicy scandals.

I loved that this society had the deference for literature, that its existence made them what they were and authors were held up as saints. However that is against a backdrop of sexism that is explored as Effy learns the true story of Angharad. Great dark academia vibes, despite most the academia being done on location, this is one of my favourite books of the year!

A Study in Drowning is a love letter to stories, those we remember fondly, and those that haunt us, those we tell freely, and those that are ripped from us. It's a coming of age story filled with the dangers of blind devotion and belief, and how the exact stories that we are raised on might just be the things that end up saving us. Effy Sayre has always believed in fae and the tales surrounding them, especially around the Fairy King. Haunted by visions of him since childhood, the only reprieve she has found is in the pages of Angharad, written by Emrys Myrddin. When the chance comes to design the late authors house, Effy jumps at it, anything to be closer to the creator of her favourite book, but when she arrives as Hiraeth Manor Effy finds the house in disrepair and feels she has been set an impossible task. At the Manor Effy also finds Preston Heloury, a young literary scholar who is determined to prove that Myrddin, Effy's hero, is a fraud. At first, the pair find themselves at loggerheads, but the more time spent in the Manor, and around Myrddin's son, they realise something is wrong. As they piece together entries from Myrddin's journal, letter and books they discover he is not a man to be trusted. Forces, both magical and mundane conspire against the pair, but they will have to claim the truth of Angharad if they are to make it out alive.

Effy was a character I instantly bonded with. Someone who hasn't had an easy life. Raised by a mother who showed little affection, told she couldn't attend the school she wanted because she was a women, haunted by men both mythical and physical in her life. She is someone who knows trauma, lives with it daily, has it haunt her dreams, but she is also someone who holds hope. She is sure she is being haunted by the Fairy King, living in a state of dread and almost half living, sure he will come to collect her at some point. Her only solace in life is Angharad, a book and girl that she feels in her soul, knows they are similar. At the start she romanticises the Fairy King, as most girls do in tales where he takes them to be his bride, but as the story progresses the starts to see the true danger and depravity of him. What she once found romantic she now finds despicable, and through her investigation into Myrddin, she really starts to grow as a character.

Though told from Effy's POV we do spend a lot of time with Preston, the literary scholar sent to Hiraeth Manor to discredit Myrddin. Preston is someone whose feet are wholly planted in the mortal world. He doesn't believe in Fairy tales, let alone that the Fairy King is haunting Effy, but when things start happening, even he can't discredit the idea of something otherworldly being behind it. Alongside Preston, we see multiple other characters through Effy's lense, mainly men, and mainly men who have/are using her in some way shape or form. From teachers at her school to Ianto, the son of Myrddin who invites her to the Manor. I especially loved how Reid showed, not only the danger of stories, of being drawn in by the mythical Fairy King, but also the danger in the mortal world, of mortal men, men who you are supposed to trust, are in a place of power.

This is undoubtedly a story about clawing back the stories that have been taken from us, and getting revenge on those who have laid claim, both to the stories and the individuals. It's filled with feminine rage. Rage against how easy it was, and is, to write women out of their own stories, to claim them as your own. Rage against those in a position of power abusing it. Rage against the men who stake claim on a woman and do not like when the woman refuses. It's not a pretty story in any way, and she shows the reality of what it takes to claim those stories and lives back. It's in no way sugar-coated, rather the realness seeps off the pages, and she shows the fights that the characters have to go through to even start on the path to claim their stories back. Reid's writing style draws you in like waves lapping on a beach, slowly but surely pulling you in, until you realise you're too far out to swim back. It's got this pull and heaviness to it that lends itself to the type of story that she tells, it pulls no punches and is filled with a deep rage that is evident in every line.

This story does deal with some pretty heavy topics and, despite the fantasy lens that Reid includes, it still feels incredibly real and heavy. The incidents aren't talked about in vivid detail, but we are given enough of a description to get the idea, so I would definitely check out any trigger warnings before going in. It's a story that's both happy and sad, one that ends on a positive note, but with the undertone that this is something that has happened before and will again. It's set in a fantasy world and, if I had one little issue it's that I didn't think it was properly expanded on and built. We get plenty of lore, but I never felt it was enough to properly get a grasp on the world, but the world isn't at all the focus of the story and it's probably more me being picky because I like learning about new worlds.

Overall, I enjoyed this one. It's by no means a 'happy ending.' Instead it sits more on the realistic ending scale of things. If you're looking for a book that perfectly blends the magical and the mundane, is filled with feminine rage & has a sweet romance, you should definitely pick this one up.

4/5

Thank you Netgalley and Del Rey for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I enjoyed this book immensely, this is my first Ava Reid book and I cannot wait to read their adult works as well. The writing in this book was astoundingly beautiful. Every word bleeds with emotion, I kept stopping so that I could admire the words I was reading in depth.

It's an incredibly atmospheric book, every moment feels alive, as if the wind will wrench you from this world and place you anew upon the cliffs. Every creak of the dilapidated house, every lash of rain on the characters' cheeks, it was all so vivid. The writing was truly phenomenal.

I adored the themes throughout the story. I could tell where the story was heading and was correct in my theories, and I loved how these darker themes were explored both delicately and deeply. The exploration of misogyny of all kinds—of the commodification of women, of women's roles within stories and the roles women have played within mythologies and folklore—was fascinating. I loved how intrinsically this exploration was paired with the folklore of the world, I loved how connected they were to the various stories within stories.

Our main character, Effy, loves the book 'Angharad' more than anything, it connects with her on a level deeper than the male scholars could ever possibly understand. It's a story that sings to her truth, it provides her shelter and comfort from the storm of her reality, and it gives her courage to rewrite her own history. I think every book lover can relate to the feeling of having that one book that speaks to you, that one story that feels like it was written just for you.
This story will appeal to you if you like books about books, but it is also so much more than that. It's quite a difficult book to summarise as it explores so many different themes, with great nuance, that are interwoven with such complexity. It's also, on the surface, a mystery (or, at least, very mysterious) and so I fear saying too much in case I give something away. But at its heart this book is about the characters.

Effy is the perfect main character to follow, she's vibrant and brave and rears up against the forced narrative she is often shunted in, yet she is also scared and vulnerable, succumbing to the waves of the never-ending sea, swallowing down the salt water of her fears and drowning in the very place the world's narrative has left her. Her story is a constant battle; for sanity, for peace, for autonomy, for freedom, for greatness. It often appears that the entire world is against her, but she finds an undaunted strength within herself that she wields to face each struggle. I loved watching Effy grow throughout the story.

I did like how soft and sweet the romance in this book was and I did like the other character in the romance a lot, however I was never as gripped by this aspect I was by many of the others. But I did appreciate how caring and gentle and always kind it was, I thought it a brilliant contrast to the cruelty of the surrounding world and characters.

I'm incredibly excited to read Ava Reid's other works (I've been wanting to read Juniper and Thorn for so long)! I'm interested to see how much this book differs from their usual writing and storytelling as A Study in Drowning is YA whereas their other works are adult. I can see how a lot of the themes within this book could be taken and explored in darker and more gory ways. I absolutely cannot wait to read more!

This was a much stronger book than Juniper and Thorn, I have to say. I wouldn't say I enjoyed it as much as The Wolf and the Woodsman but it was an enjoyable story.

This is the third time Reid has written a strong female main character that is simultaneously very irritating but also you're cheering for to come out on top. The sentence 'She was the only female student at the architecture college' had my 'Not like other girls' alarm bells ringing. I'm glad to say those quieted down fairly soon after.

Effy does have a disconnect with her thoughts early on. 'She didn't want to be like that boy, didn't do be like those Llyrians, small-minded and bigoted, believing all the absurd superstitions and stereotypes about their enemies.' At least three times before and around that point though, that is 100% what Effy does. She literally calls Preston a heathen and twat in a very short period.

The romance is unsurprising if you've come to know Reid's other works, or follow tropes generally. What I did think was a little rushed was the sudden declaration of love. Otherwise, I think it was a fairly standard romance that maybe was a little rushed.

One of the things I really liked about it all was we're told that Effy is mad. Effy is told she's mad, take these pills, take these to sleep, stop believing in fairy tales. As a result, we also don't know whether what she's seeing is real or not. Plus she's in a very superstitious part of the world, recovering from her trauma at the college. There's a lot stacked against her interpretation of events. How can the reader trust what Effy is seeing and experiencing? That made the story really compelling and does have you guessing quite a lot what might end up happening.

There were some twists and turns with that I did kind of expect as the details were laid out but it was a fun ride to get to end, which I also have to say was very abrupt. Like a non-ending ending.

Definitely an improvement on Juniper and Thorn and definitely another easy but enjoyable read from Reid.

This young adult Welsh inspired fantasy was an ode to fairytales, the love of literature and finding solace in the pages of your favourite book; dark academia elements blended with paranormal fantasy/horror revolving around a mystery told by, at times, an unreliable narrator. Rich in folklore and a fully fleshed out world, I couldn’t put A Study In Drowning down.

The story starts with our main character, Effy, the only female student enrolled on the architecture course at Llyr’s college, however she dreams of being on the literature course. Effy has been haunted by visions of the Fairy King since she was a child which meant she has had no choice but to believe in fairytales. The only thing that has kept her going in life is Angharad, a book by her favourite author, Emrys Myrddin, about a girl who falls in love with the Fairy King and then destroys him.

When Myrddin’s family are looking for someone to redesign the late author’s house, Hiraeth Manor, it feels perfect that Effy should apply. However when she arrives, she finds that the house is completely beyond repair; falling apart on top of a crumbling cliff and quickly losing a battle to the sea below threatening to claim it. She also finds that another student is already there, a literature student named Preston who is working on his thesis: trying to prove that Myrddin was actually a fraud. With Effy’s devotion to her favourite author and knowledge of all his works, and Preston’s dedication to proving his theory, they work together to investigate Myrddin’s life. They scour the house, finding clues such as letters, diaries and photographs that provoke more questions than answers and the truth seems to become something that magical forces are preventing them from finding.

Having previously disliked a book by this author, I was dubious going in to this one but I was completely blown away by how much I adored this. It was so much more than the synopsis promised; it was a profound story that spoke volumes about survival, female empowerment, various types of trauma and feeling as though you don’t belong. I didn’t expect to relate to the main character as much as I did - it was fantastic.

Dark academia book that doesn’t take place in a school, rivals to lovers who aren’t actually competing for anything.....

Fantasy with a world I needed to know more about.

Not as creepy as I’d hoped. Beautiful writing. Not a fan of the romance (I never am with Reid’s books). I think it’s time I stopped expecting to be wowed by Reid’s books.

I had an ok/good time reading this. Loved the themes and how Effy had to navigate a world where she wasn’t always welcome. We get elusions to Effy’s abuse from a teacher but didn’t go into details which I appreciated. Even changelings were handled with care in this one.

But nothing really stood out for me. Dark academia doesn’t feel right for this. Effy starts her journey at the school but soon goes off to the sinking house. Yes Preston and Effy are solving a mystery about a book but does it count as academia? And rivals to lovers.... they aren’t competing at school (they’re not even in the same field) and they’re not competing for anything in the house. They very quickly decide to work together with some mild bickering along the way.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House UK, Cornerstone for the advance reader copy.

I had to take a bit to think about what I was going to write in this review and what I felt about the book.

There are quite a few trigger warnings which should have been included in the books opening including; SA, child abandonment/abuse, misogyny, racial prejudice.

The book is very slow to start, and I had considered DNF’ing but then it picked up.
The general vibe of the story is good and there’s a nice imagery to it all.
Unfortunately the main character ‘whimpers’ a lot as a fear response and it can be annoying to continually read this.

The book felt like a draft, which needed some more fleshing out in certain areas of the story. The ending felt rushed, and like only a small part of the issues were resolved and dealt with.

Overall a middle ground book for me, as it was short but still needed more. This is a 2.5 review rounded up.

"But didn't all drownings begin with a harmless dribble of water?"

i went into this book not knowing anything about it, and i think that's the way it's meant to be experienced. i really enjoyed gradually unraveling the story.

ava reid’s writing is absolutely gorgeous and atmospheric, making this book a very immersive and captivating experience. with the setting being based on mid 20th century wales/england, she has wonderfully crafted a hauntingly beautiful and dark atmosphere with gothic vibes. though i feel like a lot of the world-building was sacrificed, as the different aspects of the two countries were really interesting but remained unexplored, vague, and thus a mystery for the most part. the world itself didn’t play a big role in the story but just served as a backdrop for the setting, so while this was slightly disappointing, it ultimately wasn't a huge deal.

"But stories were devious things, things with agendas. They could cheat and steal and lie to your face. They could crumble away under your feet."

while the mystery of the plot was intriguing, it was also rather predictable, though i don't think it's intended to be this crazy big plot twist. that is not the point of this book. the story itself is layered and has more depth than i was expecting. it deals with difficult subjects such as mental health, trauma, misogyny, sexism and explores them with hints of magical realism, as the boundaries between reality and fiction are blurred.

"I was a woman when it was convenient to blame me, and a girl when they wanted to use me."

effy is an extremely relatable character. she is struggling with her mental health, she is anxious and hides in her favorite stories to escape her trauma. her growth throughout the story is beautiful and showcases her journey of self-discovery and healing. preston was honestly just a precious little bean and the way he treated effy was so sweet.

"You don’t have to take up a sword. Survival is bravery too."

the romance was incredibly cute, though i wouldn't necessarily describe it as rivals-to-lovers since they're not even actual rivals and the initial dislike is heavily one-sided on effy's part. but i found myself caring about them as i loved their banter and interactions, especially when they both shared moments of vulnerability and intimacy with each other. they both just deserve the world.

this book is perfect to read during fall. i'd recommend it to anyone that is looking for an atmospheric and immersive read that touches on some heavier subjects while also having loveable characters and an engaging plot.

thank you to netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley for sending me an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading A Study in Drowning with its creepy, gothic atmosphere, enveloped with faerie folklore and a sprinkle of enemies-to-lovers romance. The mystery that is unravelled in the book is thrilling and the themes of institutional sexism within academia and struggles with mental illness are thoughtfully explored. I also particularly loved Effy and Preston and particularly how their romance develops.

A Study in Drowning is a perfect atmospheric fall read and you will swiftly be teleported to Hiraeth thanks to Ava Reid's depictions of the striking imagery and creepy setting.

A Study in Drowning sounded like everything I was longing for in a book: dark academia vibes and a story within a story. Unfortunately, reading A Study in Drowning felt to me as if my mind was drowning.

The author has tried so hard to create a fantasy setting for this book, but the world she has created is so conflicting and felt empty, as if she gave up trying to create it and had lost all inspiration behind it. While reading this book, I never once felt like I was thrust into a fantasy world, instead I felt like I was constantly being dragged back to the world we live in as if the world they named on the page was I myth. I feel like the setting for this book would have been more realistic if it had gone down an urban fantasy or even a magical realism route.

The characters were insufferable and bland. I've seen people complain about the pacing, which was incredibly slow, but if the characters had been more intriguing and likeable, I would not have felt like reading this book was so painfully slow.

The plot felt empty and full of holes. I had guessed the entire plot of the book from the end of the first chapter, and I should have taken that as my sign to DNF. The only thing that inspired me to actually finish the book was my own stubborn will of wanting to prove my plot predictions correct, but I dont feel satisfied by even managing that small feat.

You will wonder why I gave this book 2 stars if I clearly disliked it that much, but the writing was beautiful and easy to read. Despite the extraordinary length of the chapters, I still didn't notice the time pass when I was immersed within the words of the story. For the right reader, the writing will be enough to compel them to continue reading and enjoy what they are reading, but more me, it just fell flat.

A truly wonderful gothic story that examines abuse, agency, and the power of folk stories in a way that feels both very old and very new. I loved the setting especially- it seemed like a blend of Welsh sensibility/history and fantasy elements that combined to make something that felt very believable. If I have one complaint, it’s that a vital character isn’t seen until the third act for reasons I understand but did leave me feeling a bit cheated, especially as they form a very strong connection to the main characters quite quickly.

A highly recommended research trip, but remember to bring your wellies.

My thanks to Netgalley, Penguin Random House, and Ava Reid for the advanced reader copy in exchange for my honest review.

What can I say except wow. This book was one of my most anticipated reads of the year, and it did not disappoint. Not only was it a mystery waiting to be solved, but the character development and growth throughout the book was just so well done.

The nods to Welsh Mythology were just beautifully included, and I loved the name of the Manor - the meaning of the word Hireath adding another layer to the story entirely.

This is certainly one of my favourite books of the season. It is dark ,gothic and brooding. The story of Effy who has hidden herself in her beliefs of myth and magic, mainly to escape from real life and all of the people who have abused or have let her down in her life (and that's pretty much everyone). It's about a girl who starts to believe in herself and find love, wrapped around a mystery story. It's pretty much everything you could want in a book. Loved it !

*Actual rating is 4.75 stars*

A Study in Drowning is a rivals to lovers inspired by Welsh mythology. It’s a dark fantasy filled with stories and relationships, and how both of these both shape and impact people.

The book is set in a world where women aren’t allowed in the highest academic environment. They can study music, but not literature and very rarely architecture. Why? Because some men from ages ago decided that women were too emotional to be able to think rationally. Effy Syre isn’t going to let this stop her though. She might not have gotten into the literature programme of her dreams, but she’s gonna make the best of being the only female architect student at the university. So when an opportunity to not only prove her worth, but also get to work at the home of her favourite author, it’s an offer too good to turn down. But she’s not the only student there, as literature student Preston is there to work on his thesis. What then ensures is 384 pages of slow burn romance, the dark threat of the Fairy King, dealing with the reality of heroes and going to lengths to find the truth. Honestly, once this book gets it’s grip on you, it won’t let you go.

Effy has become one of my new favourite book characters. I adore soft female characters, and Effy embodies everything about it so well. I saw someone online referring to her as a cancer (the star sign) girly, and honestly that’s a great description. She’s soft, sensitive, kind and a dreamer. Showing everyone that she can be all of this, and still kick ass in her own way. And I love to see it! Especially wíth her having to deal with an inner critic taking down to herself.

I’ve never been one for dark academia, and thus I wasn’t sure I was going to like this book. But it was just so much better than I thought at the start. It would have been a 5 star, if not for some minor details which kept me from getting completely sucked into this story. Everyone should read this book. It’s perfect for autumn.

»A Study In Drowning by Ava Reid is not only beautifully written but it also tackles issues of how women are treated by men in academia, publishing, and society in general. Beautiful and smart you could say and well, that’s my favorite kind of book.

Ava Reid’s writing style is fantastic, a bit lyrical and poetic here and there without it being too much, making for a truly enjoyable reading experience. One of my favorite things about this book is the atmosphere, the vibes - dark academia, mythical faeries, and the crumbling buildings in the countryside all come together to create a hauntingly beautiful, slightly disturbing setting.

The plot may have been somewhat predictable, but it is still engaging enough to make me want to keep reading all the time. But the book was in my opinion more character driven anyway and oh boy did I love Effy and Preston. Effy more so than Preston but that is mostly because we only read from her POV, so we just get to know Effy a bit better. While Preston is precious, he’s so good to Effy, and we get a bit backstory for his character, he just didn’t felt as fleshed out as Effy. I also do wish the whole world would have been explained a bit more, it remained a bit of a mystery for me for the most part. Like, we know where the characters are geographically and that there is an (impending?) war with a neighboring country and that there’s maybe a bit of magic or maybe not? I also would have loved to know how technically advanced the world is because they have phones and I think TVs and also cars but the university seemed pretty non-technological, very old school bookish vibes if that makes sense? I know that it wouldn’t have added a lot to the story but for the sake of my curiosity and because I did enjoy this book so freaking much I wish I would have learned a bit more about the world Effy and Preston live in.

And to come back to Effy and Preston: this book is marketed as academic rivals to lovers so that was what I was expecting just to realize they weren’t really rivals. They go to the same university but Effy is an architecture student and Preston studies literature so both are at different colleges and the only reason Effy dislikes Preston in the beginning is because he checked out books from the library for his thesis that Effy wanted to check out only because she’d interested in the topic, so… not really a reason to dislike someone strongly? Don’t get me wrong, I adored Effy and Preston and their relationship. They were challenging each other, they were cute and soft and ugh, I love them. But they weren’t academic rivals to lovers.

I know I complained a bit about this and that in this review but »A Study in Drowning« was a truly captivating read, perfect for fall and I can’t recommend it enough. It was my first book by Ava Reid but I fell in love with her writing style and I heard so many good things about Juniper & Thorn that I already look forward to picking that up soon!

Thank you to netgalley and the publishers for granting me an arc in exchange for an honest review.

I found A Study in Drowning a little slow-going at times, but it kept my interest. I loved Effy and Preston and their banter as they navigated working together and unraveling the truth about Hiraeth Manor and the truth of Emrys Myrddin.

Amongst all of this, Effy fights her own demons, or, in this case, the Fairy King. A being shrouded in myth and legend who folk say claims young women. All her life Effy has seen glimpses of the Fairy King but could never be sure if it was her wild imagination, or something more... something real.

While reading the book and following Effy and Preston's quest for the truth, the book gave me gothic vibes. A house shrouded in mystery and crumbling into the very sea itself. The house is practically falling apart, but where Preston searches for the truth, Effy searches for a truth that will protect her memory of Myrddin, author of her favorite book Angharad.

I loved how everything tied together at the end and all of Effy and Preston's questions are answered.

I will read anything Ava Reid writes for the rest of my life. You can definitely see how far she’s come as a writer since her first book to now. Truly excellent.

Actual Rating - 3.5 Stars

I was so excited for this book. Dark Academia is my jam, and I’m always up for reading new releases. Unfortunately, A Study in Drowning didn’t hit the mark for me.

I enjoyed the writing, and I think Ava Reid has really grown as an author. I hated the writing in The Wolf & The Woodsman, but it’s completely different in this book. It still has that fairytale feel, Reid does a masterful job at creating a dark but whimsical atmosphere. But it’s less flowery than her adult writing, and I liked that.

As for what made this book a miss for me, I don’t really know. I never felt connected to the characters, and the ending had a lot of exposition and unnecessary info dumps. Somehow, I feel like if this was an adult book, the world and the characters could have been better expanded on.

I want Reid’s YA writing, but her adult stories. A Study in Drowning isn’t bad, and there are some really good scenes, it just wasn’t for me.

I had heard that this was a dark story, and while I can understand why they describe it that way, it felt much more magical to me.
A study in drowning has one of the best atmospheres I've ever read. Set for the most part in a dilapidated gothic mansion near the sea, you could almost smell the salt water as you read or the dampness in the dilapidated structure of the house. The author did a wonderful job describing each scene, making you part of the story.
This book is very similar to Divine Rivals in many ways. I don't like to compare books, but in this case I wanted to make an exception because I recommend both equally. Both have the trope of academic rivals forced to work together by circumstance. They both have a beautiful and flowery writing style, almost poetic, which, in a quite visual and cinematic way, makes it very easy for the reader to imagine that world. Both have a very strong fantasy component; Divine Rivals more focused on the mythological, and this one is much more focused on folklore and superstition.
I loved precisely that last detail. It is an old-fashioned fairy tale, showing the dark side of those stories as they originally were, unsweetened, with vengeful, obsessive, and merciless magical beings.
The characters are fascinating, from Effy, our sweet yet endlessly strong main character, to Preston, so honest and kind-hearted. Again, they reminded me a lot of Iris and Roman. But without a doubt, the most fascinating character is not even a real one. For me, the sea was a constant and ominous presence in the book, the most dangerous enemy, and one that at times felt more real than anything else.
It is not a perfect book. It is somewhat slow at the beginning, and it becomes quite predictable at times, like a good old fairy tale. Also, the plot tends to rush towards the end. But all that is overshadowed by the magnificent tone of the book, something that makes the reading experience unforgettable and makes anyone who reads it feel seen in a very intimate and comforting way.

Rating: 4.5/5 (rounded up)

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK, Cornerstone, Del Rey and the author for the chance to read an eARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.