At the end of A Study in Drowning, Effy's dreams seemed to all have come true--she vanquished the fairy king, co-wrote a paper on the truth about Angharad, her creepy professor was dismissed, became the first woman to be admitted into the literature college, and started a relationship with Preston. But can dreams last?

Effy's admittance into the literature college comes with a slew of problems. Her male peers resent her presence, and their ire draws what her former professor did back into focus. To make matters worse, there's pushback to her discovery about Angharad. Tensions between Llyr and Argant are increasing, and the people of Llyr may not be able to handle the truth about Myrddin. As pressures surmount, Effy begins to question what Preston sees in her and slides into a depressive state.

Meanwhile, Preston is trying to balance protecting Effy with his duties as a TA and legate. His professor pulls Preston into his research on a theory of dreaming, which leads Preston to follow the sound of the bells to an underwater palace where he's king. At first, the palace seems wondrous, but the line between reality and fantasy thins. To make matters more difficult, the war between Llyr and Argant causes trouble for Preston, the only Argantian student at the university. One of the xenophobic aristocratic students in his class keeps goading him. A rage unlike anything Preston's experienced builds inside of him, pushing him further into the dream world.

I loved getting to return to this lush world. A Theory of Dreaming was achingly beautiful. The writing was lyrical and gorgeous and the journeys that Effy and Preston went on broke my heart

but then healed it

. Whereas ASID was a mix of plot and character, ATOD is very much a character-driven story as both of these characters deal with the fallout from the events of ASID. I also loved that we got to see more of Effy and Preston's roommates. They're both such wonderful characters and added a lot to the story. I also liked that this story took place entirely at the university, and falls much more squarely into dark academia. Readers may also appreciate that the war between Llyr and Argant as well as the Sleeper Museum and the mythology around it are both explored more in this novel.

Overall, I enjoyed conclusion to this duology, and definitely teared up at the end. 

CW: As Effy slips further into her depression, she begins to have suicidal thoughts and then attempts it. I didn't find the depiction of her attempt to be graphic (

we're told she uses pills but we don't see the scene, only Preston breaking down a door to find her and a later fuzzier illusion to a bottle

). IMO, it was a thoughtful exploration of depression and how all-encompassing it can be, but I did want to add this flag.

Thank you to NetGalley and HarperCollins for giving me an eARC. All thoughts are my own.