Think twice if…
- Content warnings: Depression, Suicidal ideation, Suicide attempt, Sexual assault, Incest, Alcoholism, Misogyny, Xenophobia, Grief, Trauma, Mental illness
A Theory of Dreaming
by Ava Reid
Book 2 in A Study in Drowning
Lyrical dark academia finale where the dream realm is the only place Effy and Preston get to be honest. Heavy on mental health and the politics of which stories survive.
storykind_community 3.5/5 2 ratings
Quick fit
Is this story right for you?
A decision-first view of the reading experience.
Length416 pages
Series statusCompleted series · 2 books
Spice1/5 · Sweet / tender
PacingSlow
Story profile
What the story promises
The strongest reviewed signals about romance, fantasy, and the reading experience.
Romance promise
- Academic rivals
- Male/female pairing (M/F)
- Slow burn
- Low
- Sweet / tender
- Earned hope
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- Scholar/intellectual
- Emotional / vulnerable intimacy
- The angst delivered
- Secretly soft
- Intellectual connection
- Tension / anticipation
- Cathartic release
- Professor/mentor
- Hurt/comfort
- Slow seduction
- Perspective shift
- Cinnamon roll
- Mutual pining
- Tension
- Thought-provoking
- Only one who understands them
- Anticipation
- Closure
- Longing glances
- Touch starvation
- Dream sharing spice
- Telepathic intimacy (mind sex)
Fantasy promise
- Romantasy
- Academy / campus
- Low fantasy / secret magic
- Humans only
- Dark academia romance
- Library
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- Magic bond
- Forbidden love
Reading experience
- Dual POV
- Slow
- Dark
- Lyrical
- Heavy
- High
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- Bookworm/scholar
- Mental health rep
- Atmospheric
- Lush
- Damaged survivor
- Depression rep
- Haunting
- Artist/creative
- Anxiety rep
- Melancholic
- Literary
- Survivor
- Introspective
- Yearning
- Poetic
- Gothic
- Forbidden knowledge
- Haunted castle
- Morally complex
- Emotional devastation
- Slow descent into darkness
- Underground rebellion
Similar stories
Similar in ways that matter
Matched by the most important shared story signals, with the tradeoffs made explicit.
384 pages Completed
Tales of a Deadly Devotion
Jennifer Delaney
Similar because
Professor/mentor · Magic bond · Romantasy
Different because
Spice is higher (3/5 vs 1/5). Medium pacing rather than Slow.
400 pages Completed
Quiet Spells
Isa Agajanian
Similar because
Academic rivals · Romantasy · Scholar/intellectual
Different because
Medium pacing rather than Slow.
369 pages Standalone
A Lesson in Vengeance
Victoria Lee
Similar because
Academic rivals · Dark academia romance · Intellectual connection
Different because
It is standalone rather than completed.
Book details
- Length
- 416 pages
- Language
- English
- Format
- Book