Cannonball Read 18

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time
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My Year of Dark Academia is Off to an Uneven Start

If We Were Villains by M.L. Rio

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

January 25, 2026 by Ellesfena 16 Comments

Lately I’ve been finding myself drawn to dark academia, so I thought this year I might embrace it and go whole hog. I started the year off with two very different dark academia novels–one that I mostly enjoyed, and one that I didn’t really enjoy at all. First up, I read A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid. Effy is an architecture student at a prestigious college, but she wants to be a literature student–only women aren’t allowed to study literature. Her favorite author is Emrys Myrddin, […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult Tagged With: A Study in Drowning, Ava Reid, dark academia, if we were villains, M.L. Rio, Shakespeare, the fairy king

Ellesfena's CBR18 Review No:3 · Genres: Fantasy, Fiction, Young Adult · Tags: A Study in Drowning, Ava Reid, dark academia, if we were villains, M.L. Rio, Shakespeare, the fairy king ·
· 16 Comments

“A romance is a belief in the impossible: that anything ends happily.”

A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid

December 22, 2023 by narfna Leave a Comment

This was really good but I can’t give it a full five stars for one reason. More on that reason below. But first! I enjoyed this so much! I said this in a status update while reading, but it was such a relief to have a YA book tackle what this book is trying to tackle* and have it SUCCEED instead of falling down on its face. Ava Reid, like her or not, is really talented. There are of course going to be people that […]

Filed Under: Fantasy, Romance, Speculative Fiction, Young Adult Tagged With: #fantasy, A Study in Drowning, Ava Reid, dark academia, fairies, gothic, narfna, YA, ya fantasy, Young Adult

narfna's CBR15 Review No:152 · Genres: Fantasy, Romance, Speculative Fiction, Young Adult · Tags: #fantasy, A Study in Drowning, Ava Reid, dark academia, fairies, gothic, narfna, YA, ya fantasy, Young Adult ·
Rating:
· 0 Comments


Recent Comments

  • MsWas
    on The best surprise I’ve had so far this year
    What a lovely review of what sounds like a loving and beautiful book!
  • Emmalita
    on 29 Minutes to Yummy
    I love Isa Chandra Moskowitz! I’ll have to see if my library has this one.
  • KimMiE"
    on They go into the woods and do what?
    Wow. . .I am horrified and also fascinated.
  • BlackRaven
    on They go into the woods and do what?
    I hadn't heard the phrase, but knew that it seemed to be a popular way to end a relationship (dude/dudettes...
  • carmelpie
    on They go into the woods and do what?
    I went for a beautiful hike recently. Every time I peered over the edge, the climax of this story flashed...
See More Recent Comments »

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