*Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for an early copy of this book in exchange for an honest review*

Oh my what a beautiful story. This was absolutely beautiful. Magical,eerie,romantic,atmospheric. I enjoyed every single page of this book.I have never read this author before but it certainly won't be my last time reading it. Can't wait for my special edition of this book.I just know it's going to be beautiful. thank you again for the opportunity to read this early.I thoroughly enjoyed it!

“There were a thousand ways to drown.”

A Study in Drowning is an excellent young adult novel, and one I'll happily recommend. It's not perfect, but I love it dearly—this story got under my skin, its characters and atmosphere both. Some favorites are instant, while others slowly creep past your defenses and win you over page after page. A Study in Drowning is part of the latter.

Part scholarly mystery, part dark fairytale, Ava Reid’s first young adult novel is, at its heart, a coming-of-age story about survival, about believing women—about giving them the place they rightfully deserve, against men who take and take and take. I’m not sure the dark academia label really fits, but I know these things are muddy, and my personal experience with dark academia makes it harder for me to recognize it when the story doesn’t involve queer characters and messed-up relationships’ dynamics, so this opinion may vary. Who cares, really, though, when the book is wonderful?

As always I loved Ava Reid's writing, and the way it perfectly set an atmosphere in relation to the settings—an old, crumbling mansion by the sea, where the boundaries between what’s real and what isn’t are blurry—was for sure one of the highlights of the story for me. Moreover, it happens rarely enough that I need to mention that the little “excerpts” at the beginning of every chapter were also very nice to read, whether they were poetry or academic papers. I love it when the world’s lore feels real and is genuinely interesting, because it enhances the immersive quality of the story and isn’t that the most important in Fantasy?

The characters, now. Let it be known first that Effie, the main character, moved me and I have such a soft spot for her. Parts of her character were very relatable to me and I love that Ava Reid allowed her to be unsure, to be afraid—her character development didn’t happen instantly and so felt realistic to me. I rooted for her so much, and above everything, I wanted her to be happy. Preston, her rival/companion, was sweet, kind, and I liked him very much. I’ll have to admit that it took me time to care for the romance however, and by that I mean that for most of the book, I was happy for them, but from a distance. It didn’t really bother me because that’s something I experience often when reading young adult novels—and that’s perfectly normal, given that I’m not the target audience—and I can't say I felt the tension that much but my god they were so sweet, so tender, so respectful of consent : I love, love, love to find this kind of relationships in YA novels.

My biggest complaint lies with the way the mystery was crafted : in my opinion it relied on happenstance too often and the clues could have been less obvious. I’m willing to be lenient though because even though I *ahem* guessed almost everything,
a) this is YA and as someone who has read many thrillers in her life, YA mysteries are predictable 9 times out of 10;
b) I still had a great time reading it : in the end, it didn’t truly matter if I guessed everything, because I enjoyed the journey anyway.

The ending got tears in my eyes and do you know? I’m so, so happy this book exists. It’s not devoid of flaws, but the way it made me feel? Perfect, and I already know I’ll reread it. Recommended.

This is my first Ava Reid read and I wasn't disappointed. Fairy-tale, obsession, magic, misogyny - it's got everything all wrapped up in a gothic overcoat - or should I say water-wings as the sea, water is as much a character in this book as Effy and Preston. Effy has spent all her young years haunted by nightmares of the Fairy King a mythical figure from the pages of her most loved book - Angharad - written by the country's much loved national author - Emyrs Myrddin who has recently died. A huge devotee to the works of Myrddin, Effy would have loved to enter university to study him but rules forbid any woman becoming a literature student so she enrols to be an architecture student instead. When, against all odds, Effy - a first year - wins a competition to redesign Myrddin's home - Hireath - she is invited by Myrddin's son to stay at the house which is in part of the country which is still heavily into superstition and myth while she works. She finds that the house is almost a ruin, the sea is eroding it piece by piece and everything is damp, waterlogged, rotting. She also finds that she is not alone - a literature student - Preston - has also been invited to stay at the house to work upon Myrddin's papers. Looking through letters and diaries Effy discovers that the story she has always held to her heart might not be as she believed and working with Preston, they find that it is more than the house that is in danger of ruination. I loved the imagery in this book - the slow creeping sea and how the deeper Effy goes into the murky waters, the more secrets are revealed the magic as Effy seems to see the Fairy King around every corner. Her relationship with Preston who is steeped in truth and has no time for fairy tales even when boundaries between fact and fiction seem to blur, is charming and at times their repartee is humourous. Reid also delves patriarchy and the fate of women trapped in its restraints. The character of Effy who has spent her childhood and youth trapped by her fears and by those who don't believe her, grows through the book, becoming a strong and fearless adult. My only criticism was the number of times when she was nearly in tears! However, for imagery, the character arcs, the Fairy King and the unpredictable sea - first class. 4.5*

Many thanks to NetGalley and HarperCollins Children’s Books — HarperTeen for the gifted ARC.

This is another one that is difficult to review. I loved the themes - gothic romance, enemies to lovers, novel within a novel, institutional sexism. I loved the writing, especially the way the gothic setting came to life. It was truly wonderful to read the description of Hiraeth Manor and I almost got Edgar Allan Poe vibes in these sections. The last few chapters were fabulous and increased the rating.

Something just didn't click for me in the rest of the story. I struggled to get through this and at first I put it down to it being a YA but I have enjoyed plenty of YA novels. Reid writes beautifully but at times, it felt as though the book was trying so hard to have captivating similes and metaphors that it pulled the reader out of the story. Honestly, I just found it hard to read and a tad slow, it felt as though very little actually happened. The atmospheric writing will probably get eaten up on Booktok and Bookstagram but unfortunately it wasn't my cup of tea.

Ever since I read Juniper and Thorn by the same author a year ago, I have had extremely high expectations for Ava Reid's books, and this certainly did not disappoint. Although completely different to Juniper and Thorn plot-wise, Reid's writing style enthralled and enchanted me in exactly the same way. The writing is so beautiful, and this book felt like it was written specifically for me. Something about the vivid, lyrical prose resonated so deeply with me, and I have been putting off writing this review for some time because I simply don't know how to put into words how much I loved this.

A Study in Drowning is what I would describe as a gothic academia, as the story follows two rival students who are invited to visit the crumbling manor of a deceased world-famous author, both in search of their own truths.

I adored Effy as our main character; she is sensitive and feels achingly alone, dealing with the effects of trauma and sexism within the academic system. Her journey and growth feels authentic and important. Preston was similarly a breath of fresh air as her academic rival, and the intertwining of their stories was a joy to read.

I went into this book not quite knowing what to expect - it defies genre classification, containing elements of several: academia, mystery, fantasy, magical realism, gothic, with thriller elements at times.

Definitely one of my top reads this year, and it has solidified Ava Reid as being one of my favourite authors of all time.

'A Study in Drowning' is a nice and atmospheric YA mystery with the tiniest hint of dark academia.
The characters are fine, the romance is cute. The world building was rather weak and I had a hard time picturing the world and figuring out which time period the book resembled. The plot is also just okay. I actually skimmed parts of the story, because there was just so little happening.
The atmosphere is where the novel excels. By introducing the folklore and describing the lonely and sunken place, where the story taks place, the author kept me reading despite the flaws mentioned above.
I liked the ending, though not surprising, and its message, though not very subtle.

This book is Ava's BEST BOOK YET!!!
Her books keep getting darker and I am totally here for it. My favorite genre blend is eerie fantasy, gothic fantasy, horror fantasy and dark academia. Basically give me all the eerie spooky vibes with a fantasy setting. And this describes A Study in Drowning perfectly!!
In short this book is about:

👩🏼‍🏫 A girl at a prestigious academy
🌊 A crumbling manor at a cliff on the brink of falling into the sea
🧝🏼‍♂️ The myth of an evil Faerie King
🖋 Academic rivalry between a Literature and an Architecture student
📖 The legacy of a nationally treasured writer
🔍 An investigation that connects it all

The vibes of this book are off the charts!! On top of the above there is the overarching theme of Drowning: a flood that drowned a part of their country and is cause of the rotting manor, but also drowning in your own thoughts and mental state caused by abuse.
"Anything can be taken from you, at any moment. Even the past isn't guaranteed. You can lose that too, slowly, like water eating away at stone."

I am honestly not sure what to read next as I want to savor every moment and relive some of my favorite moments. I cannot wait to get all the pretty editions when this book comes out in September. Please preorder and check out the author's pre-order incentives it has some amazing character art!!🙌

This story has unbelievably beautiful prose and imagery throughout. The dark fairy themes woven into the story are perfect. I am also astounded by the story, Angharad, which this book revolves around. Itself and the poetry cited are magnificent. The way Ava has weaved all of this together is enchanting and keeps you completely enraptured. This book is for the girls like Effy and Angharad, girls who are not bold and courageous in an obvious way, but survivors nonetheless.

Beautiful prose, gothic fairytale vibes and somehow also feels very current. It took me a bit to really get into but absolutely couldn't put it down from around the 25% mark. Absolutely a stunning book and I will be adding a physical copy to my collection.

I've read from Ava Reid before so I was pretty certain I would enjoy this new book by her.
I was not disappointed! So beautifully written like her other books.
Can't wait to have a physical copy of this for my collection!

All in all a great book.

I had a few problems getting into it when i first started reading, but as the story picked up my interest did too.
Ava Reids writing style is always such a pleasure, very poetic and captivating.

I look forward owning a printed copy of Ava Reids newest work.

Thanks to Netgalley and Penguin for a review copy of this marvellous book. Classed as fantasy, this novel has strong gothic undertones and definite classic dark fairytale elements. Banned as a female from attending the college of literature, something she ardently desires, Effie becomes a student of the architectural college where even there women are rare. The seemingly benign patronage of her professor turns less than benign and feeds the negative and undeserved reputation she acquires as the university’s slut. Her mother’s constant criticism and the trials at university increasingly send her to her favourite book, the epic fairytale, Angharad, that features a mortal girl falling in love with the Fairy King. When the opportunity arises to journey to the revered dead author’s home and design a new house for his family and his papers, Effie applies and is thrilled to be chosen. When she arrives at Hiraeth, the author’s home, Effie is dismayed to see that her arch rival is there sifting through the author’s papers. It’s not long before Effie realises that his presence isn’t the only thing wrong at Hiraeth.

Beautifully written and crafted to include nods to past myths and fairytales both Arthurian, Celtic as well as general the novel gives the reader a rich world that is much more than an academia type fantasy novel with two rivals who vie against each other and end up working together. The relationship between Effie and Preston Heloury shifts and grows well and adds depth to the story but isn’t the absolute centre of it. The creeping sense of unease, that shapes and directs the tension, is further extended by Myrddin’s son, whose tortuous emotions and struggles to manage what’s happening to the house and him keep the reader guessing. The idea undertones of the work Angharad is another wonderful addition with its pokes at the misogynistic literature of fairytale and myth. A really fun and wonderful read.

I thought this book had really incredible prose and a very vivd storyline. There were times where I felt the story dragged slightly, but it had me hooked from beginning to end.

Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK, DelRey the Fairy King and author Ava Reid for providing me with this eARC

I loved (almost) every minute of this book!
It’s the perfect eerily atmospheric, moody, mysterious dark academia read for autumn!

It’s haunting, beautifully written and uses elements from welsh mythology which I find awesome!

Effys’ character development and growth throughout the story was amazing and I think something a lot of women can relate to - needing to prove that you belong somewhere, letting things happen and the finally finding your voice and standing up for yourself and learning to trust yourself and your instincts!

The only thing I didn’t love and was not impressed by is the mystery. I basically had the mystery figured out at around 40% and it was a bit tedious to wait for the character to catch up and read how they kept missing so many clues/sings…

4.5 stars

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book, I absolutely loved this and the way the story was told. Effy could be any female who has felt belittled in life and how she copes with as we all do. I feel so seen reading this book and it feels a very personal message wrap up in the dark academia/ romance about the Fairy King, it’s author and a rotting house on a cliff by the sea.

This book has everything, great characters, great story and fabulous twist and just brilliantly written.

I give it 5 Stars and will be purchasing a physical copy as I will be reading this many times.

Thank you NetGalley for letting me have the opportunity to read this. All thoughts and words are my own.

From the dreary, crumbling setting to the intimate and tender romance between the leads, this book is everything!
Effy traumatized, vulnerable, and struggling to find her foothold in a society staunchly determined to ruin her, I truly believe she will speak to survivors everywhere. This is a book about the way that survivors are ignored, spoken over, and forgotten. It is both heartbreaking and hopeful. Broke my heart then mended it again.

Although an enjoyable read I found the story rather disjointed and there was a distinct lack of chemistry between Effy and Preston. The time period was confusing, both gothic and modern at the same time and therefore failing to give a truly atmospheric experience. Effy was irritatingly pathetic and only came to life in the last few pages. There were many beautiful passages especially those quoted from Angharad, in fact I enjoyed the 'story within a story' far more than the complete book.

Deliciously dark and utterly enthralling. Ava Reid has done it again!

Full of twisted characters, dubious morals and beautifully sweet interactions, I adored this book. It questions what it is to be a monster and challenges the villains from our bedtime stories. Effy is a character who you sympathise with from the first page, while Preston is a perfect partner to her development.

One I will be recommending time and time again!

☆☆☆☆

Effy Sayre is a first-year architecture student who would rather be in the literature program, except it doesn’t allow women. When a competition is announced by the family of Effys favourite author to redesign his house, Effy feels its destiny. Only when she arrives at Hiraeth Manor she is met by a remote house on a crumbling cliff, in a state beyond repair. Her only company is Preston Héloury, a literature student, who is adamant that Emrys Myrddin was a fraud and Myrddins mysterious son, Ianto, who is always wearing a different (metaphorical) face. With what appears to be an impossible task before her things only get worse when reality slips away more often and the Fairy King appears to visit her more and more. As the sea wears away at Hiraeths foundations Effy finds herself teaming up with Preston to uncover the truth of Emrys Myrddin and the mysteries of Hiraeth Manor before it is claimed by the sea.

What drew me to A Study in Drowning?
I was intrigued by the premise and title of A Study in Drowning, I also saw some of the authors reels promoting which piqued my interest, plus I have some of the authors other books on my TBR so I thought I’d give this one a go too!

What did I expect?
So going into A Study in Drowning I expected there to be a lot of mystery and uncovering of said mystery, I thought we’d really dive into Myrddin, his works and his past and see more of Hiraeth. After being introduced to Ianto I thought we’d see more of him (than we did). After getting a little into it too I also thought we’d see more fantasy in the book. I was excited to read it and couldn’t wait to get into it.
Did it meet my expectations?
No, but that wasn’t necessarily a bad thing all of the time. Where I expected a little more exploration of the fantasy and mystery instead there was more exploration of the main character and the sort of atmosphere of the book which worked well although it did leave me feeling a little disappointed, especially as part of the synopsis was ‘There are dark forces, both mortal and magical, conspiring against them - and the truth may bring them both to ruin.’ like I thought we’d see more of that than we did in the book. I think part of the reason it didn’t meet my expectations though was because they may have been a tad too different and high. But where I was disappointed with the lack of what I thought would be, the atmosphere / setting were a really good aspect which helped to make up for it.


What I Enjoyed:
Okay, so I’ll start with what was probably my favourite part of the book which was the Angharad of it all, I absolutely loved all the quotes from it, like they were beautiful! It also helped us to understand Effy’s love for it a little more, like obviously I know what it’s like to really love a book but to be able to see not just Effy’s love for the book but parts of the book itself was honestly wonderful. Which leads me to another part I really enjoyed and that was how at the beginning of every chapter there was a quote related to Myrddin or the story in some way, it was a great extra detail to the book and really helped immerse us in the world of Llyr. Another part of the story that I enjoyed (which is also about Angharad) was Angharad and Effy and how their stories paralleled each other and seeing Effy face similar foes and issues that Angharad did and seeing both her and Anghard overcome them. Another part of the book I thought was interesting was seeing Effy deal with her favourite author being revealed as a fraud and seeing how she dealt with it from denial to acceptance and overall facing the cold hard truth whether she wanted to or not.
What I Disliked:
Onto what I disliked / didn’t enjoy about the book. First, there was the pacing of the book which was one of my main issues, I felt as if the events were unfurling rather slowly and it could’ve been paced a lot better like when I was 55% into the book I felt as if I were only 30-40% in instead which caused me to feel sort of disappointed as so far the book was proving to be uneventful like I was expecting mystery and revealing the truth when I was stuck with what felt like the story only just truly starting. Second was the widow, even at the start of the book we hear about Myrddins mysterious reclusive widow yet we hardly see her and by the time we see her in the story it’s a little too late, like we’ve got our coats on and we’re getting ready to leave but wait! Here the widow finally is yet we don’t care too much because we’re ready to go home by this point though I did enjoy what we got of the widow she definitely could’ve been introduced much earlier in the story than she actually was. Part of the mystery surrounding her also wasn’t much of a mystery at all so paired with her being introduced too late it definitely made me enjoy the book less. My third point is sort of related to my fourth point but I have to be vague because of spoilers, so around 80% into the book we get this reveal / revelation, we find out a vital piece of information and it left me feeling like ‘oh, that’s it?’ but then don’t worry its not actually it so my hopes are raised again! Which takes me to my fourth point, the climax of the book, the thing we’ve had all this build-up for, we were shown the foundations for something great but unfortunately, when we got the final result it was underwhelming, it was done in a chapter, 15 pages max and everything you think we might see and sort of hoped for, we don’t get and it ultimately left me feeling just as disappointed as I had been after that 80%ish mark reveal had, the rest of the book was devoted to concluding everything (which wasn’t a bad thing but it wasn’t the best either). My fifth (and I think final) point is more a load of sub-points about our main character, Euphemere ‘Effy’ Sayre, at first I liked her character and was interested in where her story was going, only not too far into the book I found myself starting to dislike her and how she treated Preston, her ‘rival’. At first, she treats him distantly and sort of negatively, like he took out the books she wanted so she had a petty and one-sided sort of rivalry with him (which was understandable from her point of view) so when she meets him obviously she’s cold towards him but then was sort of confused when he acted in a similar manner to her and acted like he was so extremely rude for acting the same like? She also sort of put herself into a competition with him like at one point she literally says she “can’t let Preston win” like win what? From her point of view, all he knows about her is her name and why she’s at Hiraeth like I get having petty grudges but this was just confusing (especially as they’re in the middle of nowhere and he’s some of her only company). Another thing that annoyed me about Effy was how a few times when she’d argue with Preston (and she was losing) she’d bring up his Argantian heritage in a negative manner (which we would see physically impact Preston) as like a trump card and then after would be all regretful about it, saying how she didn’t want to be closed-minded like others, only to go and do it again. Then sort of unrelated to Effy but on the same point we never really saw the overall impact it had on Preston and his character and how it affected him, Effy just apologised at some point and Preston was like it’s all good and that was that like I would have liked to see that explored a bit more. Okay so I lied, that wasn’t my final point, this is, I found the setting of the book to be a little confusing time period wise like I get it was set in another Universe but it clearly was inspired by ours but I just couldn’t figure out when which sort of made it harder to imagine certain things within the book.

My thoughts on the Characters:
As I mentioned before I wasn’t the biggest fan of Effy for a lot of the book though by the end I found somewhere along the line I started to like her once more. Overall she was an interesting main character who went through a lot in both the events of the book and before and I found myself very interested by her journey and her actions. Onto Preston, I wanted to like him more than I did, he seemed like he could’ve been interesting but ultimately I found him to be a little flat / boring, like I cared for him as much as I cared for Ianto and the widow but no more which isn’t great when he’s the secondary main character, he definitely could’ve done with some more attention, specifically exploration of his character, for example, he is half Argantian and his actions will have a very large effect on both Llyr and Argant yet we don’t really see his thoughts on that and like whether he feels like a traitor for it or anything like that. The next character I’ll talk about is Ianto, I felt like with Preston we could’ve seen a little more of him, every scene we got with him in had certain points emphasised (his eyes, his hair, his attitude) which would’ve been a lot more interesting if it wasn’t just dumped on and then not overly focused on until we next saw him. Lastly, we have the widow, she was a very interesting character (despite the criticisms about poor pacing regarding her and the obviousness surrounding her) and I enjoyed what we did see of her.
My thoughts on the Relationships:
One thing I thought the book did well was the many relationships throughout the book, each relationship was unique and worked well in favour of the book. I’ll start by talking about one of the bigger and most obvious relationships of the book: Effy and Preston. Funnily enough, they were probably my least favourite relationship in the book, in part due to how Effy treated him but also because I felt they were very rushed, the book only takes place over a short amount of time yet Preston was almost instantly into Effy (as evident from his margins) and Effy fell for him rather fast too, their development felt almost little to none and before you knew it they were in love! Which isn't to say I didn’t enjoy them at all because I did, they had some interesting scenes and whatnot but they didn’t really grab me the way I wanted them to or the way I thought they would. Next up is Angharad and the Fairy King from Angharad, I found their relationship within the book to be very intriguing, especially with the debate as to whether the Fairy King actually loved Angharad or whether the book was a romance or not. Moving on from the romantic relationships I thought the relationship between Effy and her mother was a very interesting one, despite we don’t see a lot of them interacting in the story (or even of Effy’s mum in the story) what we did see and hear about was very interesting and well done. The last relationship I’m going to talk about (but definitely not the only last of all the relationships in the book) is Effy and her relationship with Emrys Myrddin and his book Angharad, I really enjoyed seeing how much Effy loved his book and how much it meant to her but I also thought it was interesting to see how Effy viewed Myrddin and how that changed throughout the book from something akin to a personal hero of hers to fraud and deceiver, it was very interesting to read about (wow I use this phrase a lot!) and was something that worked well within the book.

Miscellaneous:
Now onto the part of my review which holds the parts that didn’t fit in the other categories or fit too loosely; my miscellaneous / random thoughts about the book!
One of my favourite parts of the book was the Angharad of it all, I loved all the quotes from it and the premise of it, I would absolutely love it if the author decided to write it in real life!
Quite early in the book (around 17%) I was interested in where the story was going to go and what we were going to find out.
In the Climax of the book I found myself reminded of both The Phantom of the Opera (2004) and Titanic so take from that what you will.
At one point in the book we find out Effy isn’t Effys real name but rather a nickname which I thought would lead to something interesting with the Fairy King as he was Fae and there is a thing with Fae that you shouldn’t reveal to them your true names as true names have power but obviously, it lead to nothing which left me disappointed (which isn’t really a fault of the book but more of my expectations (though it did feel there was emphasis on her real name being Euphemere but I might have just imagined that)).
Another point of me getting my expectations too far would be with Preston, I honestly thought we’d get some big reveal to do with him, that he wasn’t as innocent as we thought him to be, like I felt that the book was amping up a little to reveal Preston had been in league with the Fairy King the whole time or something, only it didn’t and I found myself once again disappointed. One of the things that had made me think it would happen was a quote from another character about how Preston was always watching Effy so he could catch her if she fell and I read it in a sort of more sinister way than it was meant to be read clearly (considering a lot of the men in the books were viewed and acted in such a manner). I also thought it sounded very Fairy King-esque which only led to me thinking of there would be a big reveal with him.
Quite a few things in the book confused me (that I can’t talk about because of spoilers) but this thing did especially, some way into the book we find out Effy wrote a letter to a high-ranking member of staff at her college but they didn’t write back (which obviously caused her to feel upset), yet when we see that character later in the book they are rather enthusiastic about Effy and we don’t see Effy talk about their enthusiasm compared to them ignoring her letter which I felt was a little of a missed opportunity and something we could’ve had a little closure on.
I noticed that there was a lot of emphasis on certain points (such as specific traits about Ianto) but also on Effy dry swallowing her pills which I didn’t really get the point of, almost every pill she took at Hiraeth she swallowed dry like maybe it was to emphasise how desperate she was that she wasn’t taking them with water but her circumstances also didn’t really have her in a place where she had unlimited fresh water so it was kind of a given that she would swallow them dry (unless she went down to the sea and took her pills with ocean water) like I just found that specific point unnecessarily repetitive (and moot).

Conclusion:
Overall I found A Study in Drowning to be an enjoyable and relatively short book, although it was not what I was expecting and a little underwhelming in my experience it was still a decent book. I think overall the execution of the book could’ve been done better and I wanted to have seen a little more fantasy as I found that side of it to be a little underwhelming although still intriguing. I enjoyed the characters and premise of the book and found the setting to be very atmospheric and well-written. I found the ending to be good and enjoyed how the story concluded.

Reason for rating:
I debated rating Study 3.75 stars but ultimately decided on a 4-star rating as I felt the book ultimately deserved it.

Wow, that was a long review!

Thank you to Netgalley & Random House UK / Del Rey for the ARC.

This was a pretty spectacular read! It’s a very macabre tale, exploring the fairy king from a less romanticised and more sinister angle through the narrative of Effy, who is haunted by him. I liked how the book shone the light on women being silenced and forgotten and also how it showed the women taking their power back. Effy is constantly underestimated and despite being wickedly smart, she’s frequently objectified by the men she encounters and it’s impossible not to share in her anger and distress. I admired her strength and bravery, not only in the face of the constant leering and jeering of men but also as she explores the mysterious house and faces her fears constantly. She’s sometimes a little confused and it left me wondering what the truth was behind her unrest and as the truth was revealed, with hints given along the way, I was drawn into her story which traversed reality and magic. It’s certainly a dark read but one that’s really well written and full of intrigue.

I received a free copy of this book. All views are my own.