A Study in Drowning Book Review

One of my favorite things about reading is having no expectations for a book and it just completely blowing you away. I love when I wander into a bookstore, pick up a book that catches my eye that I've never heard anything about, and then being completely surprised by it. This is what happened to me with A Study in Drowning, and I just feel so giddy about this book.

I was in the book section at Target, judging books by their covers despite the saying, as most readers do, when I saw a special edition of this book that was absolutely stunning. It looked like such a moody read, which it absolutely was. I hadn't heard anything about this book, but I just realized that it was published in 2023, so maybe I missed the hype? Idk, but I've never heard anyone talking about this book, and after finishing it, I could not believe that it wasn't everywhere, since it changed my life so much. 

A Study in Drowning follows Effy, a super intelligent girl who is the first woman to be accepted into the architectural college at the most prestigious university in the country. The downfall, however, is that Effy dreams of attending the literature college to study her favorite author and favorite book, Angharad, but they do not allow women. Instead, she is forced to study in the architectural college, a topic she has no interest in and a place where she is sexualized and treated with extreme cruelty. In an effort to escape, Effy enters a competition to design and build a house on her recently deceased favorite author's estate. 

Idk about you, but whenever I read a book, a movie plays in my head. Sometimes it’s a clearer image. and with other books it's a bit blurry. With this book however, I often forgot I was reading. The imagery was sooo good and everything seemed to tie back to the setting. The book takes place mostly in a place called the Bottom Hundred, the southernmost part of the country where they believe in magic and fear the ocean after experiencing the Drowning, which submerged parts of the country and killed thousands. And the house Effy has been chosen to re-design sits right on the cliffside of the unforgiving sea. I also loved how a lot of the author's works, as there were some excerpts throughout the book, connected back to the sea and related it to the theme. The only enemy is the sea. The symbolism was on-point. On a less obsessive and complicated note, the vibes were very good lol. 

I connected with Effy on such a deep level, it isn't even funny. Being the only girl at her school, she is sexualized and taken advantage of. Multiple people throughout the book believe that she only got to where she was because of her looks or never took her and her thoughts seriously just because she was a pretty face. I've had plenty of people misjudge me or ridicule me because of my appearance as well, as we all have on some level, so I really resonated with Effy. Also, Effy being a reader herself, she struggles a lot throughout the book to distinguish fantasy from reality as the lines begin to blur between what she's being told and what “craziness” she believes. She draws a lot of strength from the female main characters she reads about, which of course is what I do too. I loved the message that you don't have to pick up a sword to be brave, and Effy definitely grew into herself and her self-confidence. 

Preston, Preston, Preston. Preston is the MMC, and I absolutely adore him. He has so much respect for Effy it makes me want to cry. Preston hated Effy at first, as it is an enemies-to-lovers, but he never made her feel small or tried to belittle her even then, despite that being what every other man, or person really, in Effy's life made her feel. Everyone treated Effy like her words didn't matter because she was a pretty blonde girl, but Preston always listened to her and considered everything she said. He just treated her sooo good ahhhh it was so cute. He wouldn't even touch her until he knew they had a solid relationship because he knew that she'd been taken advantage of in the past. Never settle for less lol. 

This book was such an unexpected and well deserved 5 star. My new favorite comfort read hands down. I cannot wait for the second book to come out this summer, plus a novella in the fall! I need more Effy and Preston asap. 

Lastly, here are some of my favorite quotes from the book!

• "But if fairies and monsters were real, so were the women who defeated them."

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

• "The ephemerality of things is what gives them meaning. That things are beautiful because they don't last."