This month’s FYA Book Club selection is A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid. This delightfully gothic dark academia novel will whet (and wet) your appetite for faerie stories that seep into the “real” world.
Check out the discussion questions below! (Slight spoilers ahead.)
P.S. If you’ve already read the book, feel free to add any other discussion questions of your own in the comments!
Content Warning
A Study in Drowning features memories of and the trauma from a sexual assault, a bunch of lecherous men being gross, and a mother who treats her daughter like an unwanted burden.
Icebreaker
Effy idolizes Emrys Myrrdin to an almost unhealthy level. Is there anyone in your life—or that you wish was in your life—that you would do pretty much anything for?
Questions
1. What are your thoughts on Effy? How did they change as the book progressed?
2. Because we “meet” him through Effy’s POV, Preston Héloury starts out as a self-absorbed nuisance. Did you feel the same? How did you feel about him by the end of the book? Do you think he and Effy make a good match?
3. What did you think about Effy’s mom?
4. Reid’s world-building is gothic and fantastical, with a real-world twist. What did you think about it?
5. If you found yourself in Effy’s shoes, would you have stayed at Hiraeth Manor as long as she did? Why or why not?
6. Did you foresee the truth of the story before Effy figured it out?
7. There’s a take on feminism in A Study in Drowning that shows up in subversive and surprising ways. Do you agree with Reid’s treatment of the topic? Or do you feel like she could have done better?
8. What did you think about Myrddin and his wife’s story(s)?
9. Would you want to read Angharad?
10. There’s a sequel book—A Theory of Dreaming—that publishes in July. Will you pick it up?
