A Study in Drowning
#8033.66 in the official ranking · full ranking
Books 2 books Status Complete 2023–2025 Reading commitment Low Ava Reid Last reviewed 2026-08-25
Overview
Effy, a student at a university that only grudgingly admits women, wins a contest to redesign the crumbling estate, Hiraeth Manor, of a beloved, and possibly plagiarist, dead poet, and finds herself investigating both his legacy and the legendary myth of the Fairy King from his epic poem, which may be dangerously real, in a story steeped in Welsh mythology and academic gothic atmosphere. Set in the fictional country of Llyr, Ava Reid's 2023 novel blends neo-Victorian feminist gothic sensibility with dark academia, pairing Effy's investigation with that of a literature student probing the poem's disputed true authorship. The novel is the first of a two-book sequence, continued by A Theory of Dreaming (2025).
Dark fantasy, Fairy-tale retelling · For YA
Core Canon: Reading Order (2 works) counts toward ranking
A Study in Drowning Ava Reid
| Work | Year | Internal chron. | Canon | Rating | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 | A Study in Drowning | 2023 | 1 | core | 3.68 (111,775 ratings) |
 | A Theory of Dreaming | 2025 | 2 | core | 3.52 (15,845 ratings) |
Complete duology, 2023-2025.
Quick answers
- How many books are in A Study in Drowning? A Study in Drowning's Core Canon is 2 books.
- What is the reading order for A Study in Drowning? Publication order, starting with A Study in Drowning. Full list and years in the Core Canon table above.
- Is A Study in Drowning finished? Complete (2023–2025).
- How much reading does A Study in Drowning take? Low reading commitment (estimated from 2 Core Canon books).
- How is A Study in Drowning ranked? #803 in this site's official ranking, based on 127,620 reader ratings across 2 Core Canon books. See the full ranking for how this is calculated.
Why is it ranked #803?
Ranked #803 in the official ranking.
- Average reader rating of 3.66 across 2 core books.
- Backed by 128k reader ratings.
- Less than 0.01 behind #802, The Rages Trilogy (a finer tie-break level decides the order).
- Below the top-10 average of 4.45.
Why explore this universe?
Modestly rated · 2 books · Complete · 128k ratings · Ranks #803 overall
Good choice if you want a quick, low-commitment dark fantasy universe that's already finished, so there's no wait for the next book.
Reading order
Publication order (2 Core Canon books)
- A Study in Drowning (2023)
- A Theory of Dreaming (2025)
Documented internal/story chronology is recorded for every Core Canon book here, and matches publication order exactly, with no divergence to show separately.
Awards (verified)
- No awards found for this universe.
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Suggestions computed from what A Study in Drowning and each of these worlds have in common on record (subgenre, audience, shape, reading commitment and score), not a documented narrative connection.
- The Grey Land Dark fantasy / Mythic fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 3.80
- Six Crimson Cranes Fairy-tale retelling / Mythic fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.07
- The Scholomance Dark fantasy · Complete · Low commitment · 4.05
- The Wrath and the Dawn Fairy-tale retelling · Complete · Low commitment · 4.04
Official resources
Research details
Ranking metrics: weighted average 3.66 across 127,620 ratings on 2 Core Canon books. See Why is it ranked here? above for the full breakdown, or the full ranking.
How do we know this?
Admission: Admit A Study in Drowning (Ava Reid) accepted 2026-08-25
Sources: (see source tier definitions)
- A Study in Drowning bibliography (specialised series-tracking site) Tier 2
- A Theory of Dreaming bibliography (specialised series-tracking site) Tier 2
- https://bsfa.co.uk/BSFA-Review-A-Study-in-Drowning-by-Ava-Reid/
Last reviewed: 2026-08-26
Rule: Core Canon covers both novels of this complete duology, A Study in Drowning (2023) and A Theory of Dreaming (2025).