A Study in Drowning by Ava Reid
A01=Liselle Sambury
anchor
anger
Author_Liselle Sambury
Black girl magic
Blood Like Fate
Bloodmarked by Tracy Deonn
body image
brother sister relationship
Canada
Category=YFA
Category=YFCB
Category=YFD
Category=YFHT
Category=YFHW
class difference
clubbing
college life
community
contemporary urban fantasy
Cruel Illusions by Margie Fuston
cultural heritage
Curious Tides by Pascale Lacelle
danger
dark academia
Delicious Monsters
drinking
enemies to lovers
eq_bestseller
eq_childrens
eq_isMigrated=1
eq_isMigrated=2
eq_nobargain
eq_teenage-young-adult
fatphobia
first in a series
friends to lovers
grief
House of Marionne by J. Elle
initiation rituals
Legendborn
missing parent sibling
monsters
Ninth House
partner
partying
privilege
romance
secret society
self-destructive behavior
self-harm
self-sabotage
siblings
strong female character
Teen Wolf
Tender Beasts
The Order Netflix
Their Vicious Games by Joelle Wellington
thriller
university
weight loss
YA fantasy
ya teen young adult novel for fourteen fifteen sixteen seventeen eighteen year olds ninth tenth eleventh twelfth graders
young adult fantasy
Product details
- ISBN 9781665957366
- Weight: 755g
- Dimensions: 152 x 229mm
- Publication Date: 28 Aug 2025
- Publisher: Simon & Schuster
- Publication City/Country: US
- Product Form: Hardback
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Two starred reviews!
Ninth House meets Legendborn in this “bold and bloody” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) first book in a dark academia fantasy series about a teen who’s willing to do anything to find her brother—even infiltrate a secret society full of monsters.
When August’s brother disappears before his sophomore semester, everyone thinks the stress of college got to him. But August knows her brother would never have left her voluntarily, especially not after their mother so recently went missing.
The only clue he left behind was a note telling her to stay safe and protect their remaining family. And after August is attacked by a ten-foot-tall creature with fur and claws, she realizes that her brother might be in more danger than she could have imagined.
Unfortunately for her, the only person with a connection to the mysterious creature is the bookish Virgil Hawthorne…and he knows about them because he is one. If he doesn’t find a partner to help control his true nature, he’ll lose his humanity and become a mindless beast—exactly what the secret society he’s grown up in would love to put down.
Virgil makes a proposition: August will join his society and partner with him, and in return, he’ll help her find her brother. And so August is plunged into a deadly competition to win one of the few coveted candidate spots, all while trying to accept a frightening reality: that monsters are real, and she has to learn to master them if she’s to have any hope of saving her brother.
Ninth House meets Legendborn in this “bold and bloody” (Kirkus Reviews, starred review) first book in a dark academia fantasy series about a teen who’s willing to do anything to find her brother—even infiltrate a secret society full of monsters.
When August’s brother disappears before his sophomore semester, everyone thinks the stress of college got to him. But August knows her brother would never have left her voluntarily, especially not after their mother so recently went missing.
The only clue he left behind was a note telling her to stay safe and protect their remaining family. And after August is attacked by a ten-foot-tall creature with fur and claws, she realizes that her brother might be in more danger than she could have imagined.
Unfortunately for her, the only person with a connection to the mysterious creature is the bookish Virgil Hawthorne…and he knows about them because he is one. If he doesn’t find a partner to help control his true nature, he’ll lose his humanity and become a mindless beast—exactly what the secret society he’s grown up in would love to put down.
Virgil makes a proposition: August will join his society and partner with him, and in return, he’ll help her find her brother. And so August is plunged into a deadly competition to win one of the few coveted candidate spots, all while trying to accept a frightening reality: that monsters are real, and she has to learn to master them if she’s to have any hope of saving her brother.
Liselle Sambury is a Trinidadian Canadian author and Governor General’s Literary Awards Finalist. She has a love for stories with dark themes, complicated families, and edges of hope. In her free time, she shares helpful tips for upcoming writers and details of her publishing journey through a YouTube channel dedicated to demystifying the business of being an author.
