A Study in Drowning
-
-
4.3 • 8 Ratings
-
-
- $11.99
Publisher Description
An instant Indie and #1 New York Times bestseller!
“Achingly atmospheric and beautifully sharp, A Study in Drowning will draw you in from the first page.” —Rory Power, New York Times bestselling author of Wilder Girls
Bestselling author Ava Reid makes her YA debut in this dark academic fantasy perfect for fans of Melissa Albert and Elana K. Arnold.
Effy Sayre has always believed in fairy tales. Haunted by visions of the Fairy King since childhood, she’s had no choice. Her tattered copy of Angharad—Emrys Myrddin’s epic about a mortal girl who falls in love with the Fairy King, then destroys him—is the only thing keeping her afloat. So when Myrddin’s family announces a contest to redesign the late author’s estate, Effy feels certain it’s her destiny.
But musty, decrepit Hiraeth Manor is an impossible task, and its residents are far from welcoming. Including Preston Héloury, a stodgy young literature scholar determined to expose Myrddin as a fraud. As the two rivals piece together clues about Myrddin’s legacy, dark forces, both mortal and magical, conspire against them—and the truth may bring them both to ruin.
Part historical fantasy, part rivals-to-lovers romance, part Gothic mystery, and all haunting, dreamlike atmosphere, Ava Reid's powerful YA debut will lure in readers who loved The Atlas Six, House of Salt and Sorrows, or Girl, Serpent, Thorn.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Reid (The Wolf and the Woodsman) blurs the lines between reality and fantasy in this stunning tale. Effy Sayre, the only female architecture student at the country of Llyr's most prestigious college, is an avid fan of late author Emrys Myrddin. She especially loves Angharad, Myrddin's epic about a cruel fairy king and the mortal woman that broke his heart. When Effy is selected to design a house in Myrddin's honor, she travels to his estate, Hiraeth Manor, in the seaside town of Saltney. Once there, she discovers that her academic rival, pedantic and handsome Preston, has arrived to prove that Angharad was not authored by Myrddin. Preston enlists Effy to help him; she agrees, believing it to be her chance to gain entry into the male-only literature program. But as the two delve deeper into Myrddin's history, strange happenings begin to occur around Hiraeth Manor. Reid wields lyricism, dark academia, and fairy-core elements to eloquently imbue the narrative with originality and depth. The rivals-to-lovers romance is swoonworthy, and the seaside crags and fetid gothic mansion render a deeply evocative setting that ferries themes surrounding grief, gender, and the value of folklore. Major characters cue as white. Ages 14–up.
