Week 38 Review: A Study in Drowning

From Goodreads:

Effy Sayre has always believed in fairy tales. She's had no choice. Since childhood, she's been haunted by visions of the Fairy King. She's found solace only in the pages of Angharad - author Emrys Myrddin's beloved epic about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King, and then destroys him.

Effy's tattered, dog-eared copy is all that's keeping her afloat through her stifling first term at Llyr's prestigious architecture college. So when Myrddin's family announces a contest to design the late author's house, Effy feels certain this is her destiny.

But Hiraeth Manor is an impossible task: a musty, decrepit estate on the brink of crumbling into a hungry sea. And when Effy arrives, she finds she isn't the only one who's made a temporary home there. Preston Héloury, a stodgy young literature scholar, is studying Myrddin's papers and is determined to prove her favorite author is a fraud.

As the two rival students investigate the reclusive author's legacy, piecing together clues through his letters, books, and diaries, they discover that the house’s foundation isn't the only thing that can't be trusted. There are dark forces, both mortal and magical, conspiring against them - and the truth may bring them both to ruin.

My Review:
I was so excited to read this! To have an opportunity to got to an author's house, to design it, yeah, it sounded really great! And man, the execution of it was fantastic! I loved the atmosphere, and the dynamics between Effy and Preston! 

This book felt really ephemeral. Like a good breeze would send it on its way. Part of it was the atmosphere, because it's set at a really creepy manor. And part of it was the writing, it danced around the story, and it was so enjoyable to read! 

I did have to look for the map of this book, because locations were important to this world, and to the magic, because there was the north and the south, and stuff about magic, because one side has the magic of these dead writers, which gets all complicated the most the story goes one, which I loved! 

Effy and Preston don't get along. He's trying to expose her favourite author as liar, that he didn't write all that was published under his name. But oh, I loved watching there interactions and the investigation-I didn't expect it to go there, but it was so satisfying, that the truth came out! 

Loved reading this book and I can't wait to read more by Ava Reid (and I was already planning on reading The Wolf and the Woodsman, I just didn't realize they were by the same author!) 

Author: Ava Reid
Read: September 16th, 2023
Source: Edelweiss

Reason Why: Sounded really good, and it's a SAC 2023 Book and a WoW Book!
Publisher: Harper Teen
Published: September 19th 2023

5/5 Hearts

5/5 Books

5/5 Stars