A Study in Drowning

3.5 stars, Metaphorosis reviews

Summary
Effy, refused entry to the faculty of literature because of her gender, is a reluctant and distracted architecture student instead. But when a chance comes to design a museum for her beloved, recently deceased, and nationally treasured author Emrys Myrddin, she jumps at it. If only her visions of the fairy world didn't keep getting in the way...

Review
Normally, the word ‘fairy' diminishes my interest in a book considerably. I like the concept well enough; I've just seen it applied poorly far too many times. But the title of this book caught my eye, and the description intrigued me. Plus, I'm always on the lookout for new authors.

The result was a somewhat mixed success. I liked Reid's prose well enough, but there was just too much about the story that felt familiar – too many tropes that we've seen before, reused without much innovation. This is a book whose path you know fairly well from the early pages, and the solution to its central mystery is evident from the halfway point, yet its protagonists somehow fail to see it. There are some new elements here – sexual abuse by an authority is a recurring theme, but to me a little too much seemed to be rote emulation of other stories. The romantic pairing of the story is so familiar that the author makes little real attempt to justify it, relying on familiarity to carry us through.

I don't mean to downplay the book's strengths – Reid is an able writer, if with a tendency (like, but with a very different tone from, K.J. Parker) to take her metaphor and let it wash over and over us like the tide – and I'm a fan of metaphor. The characters are engaging and interesting, if a little too stock to really take to heart. And the heart of the story is strong. I just wish Reid had taken a little more time to make familiar tropes her own.

I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review.