A Study in Drowning

“Achingly atmospheric and beautifully sharp."—Rory Power, New York Times bestselling author of Wilder Girls

Bestselling author Ava Reid makes her YA debut in this haunting stand-alone dark academic fantasy, perfect for fans of Melissa Albert and Erin A. Craig.

An instant Indie and #1 New York Times bestseller!

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 at Llyr’s prestigious architecture college. So when Myrddin’s family announces a contest to redesign the late author’s estate, Effy feels certain this is her destiny.

But Hiraeth Manor is an impossible task: a musty, decrepit house on the brink of crumbling into a hungry sea. And when Effy arrives, someone else has already 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 rivals piece together clues about the reclusive author’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 is also an unflinching indictment of institutions that sacrifice young girls on the altar of men’s “genius” and a gripping read that will stay with you long after its final page.