Ava Reid (born 1996) is an American author of young adult fiction and adult fiction, best known for her

New York Times bestselling ''The New York Times'' Best Seller list is widely considered the preeminent list of best-selling books in the United States. John Bear, ''The #1 New York Times Best Seller: intriguing facts about the 484 books that have been #1 New York Times ...

young adult debut '' A Study in Drowning''.

Early life

Reid was born in Manhattan, and grew up in

Hoboken Hoboken ( ; ) is a city in Hudson County in the U.S. state of New Jersey. Hoboken is part of the New York metropolitan area and is the site of Hoboken Terminal, a major transportation hub. As of the 2020 United States census, the city's popula ...

New Jersey New Jersey is a U.S. state, state located in both the Mid-Atlantic States, Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern United States, Northeastern regions of the United States. Located at the geographic hub of the urban area, heavily urbanized Northeas ...

. She attended

Barnard College Barnard College is a Private college, private Women's colleges in the United States, women's Liberal arts colleges in the United States, liberal arts college affiliated with Columbia University in New York City. It was founded in 1889 by a grou ...

and has a degree in

political science Political science is the scientific study of politics. It is a social science dealing with systems of governance and Power (social and political), power, and the analysis of political activities, political philosophy, political thought, polit ...

, in which she focused on religion and

ethnonationalism Ethnic nationalism, also known as ethnonationalism, is a form of nationalism wherein the nation and nationality are defined in terms of ethnicity, with emphasis on an ethnocentric (and in some cases an ethnostate/ethnocratic) approach to variou ...

Personal life

She has lived in

Palo Alto Palo Alto ( ; Spanish language, Spanish for ) is a charter city in northwestern Santa Clara County, California, United States, in the San Francisco Bay Area, named after a Sequoia sempervirens, coastal redwood tree known as El Palo Alto. Th ...

, at Columbia,

Cambridge Cambridge ( ) is a List of cities in the United Kingdom, city and non-metropolitan district in the county of Cambridgeshire, England. It is the county town of Cambridgeshire and is located on the River Cam, north of London. As of the 2021 Unit ...

, and as of 2023,

Stanford Leland Stanford Junior University, commonly referred to as Stanford University, is a private research university in Stanford, California, United States. It was founded in 1885 by railroad magnate Leland Stanford (the eighth governor of and th ...

, with her partner who is an academic. Her maternal family is composed of Ukrainian Jews. Reid uses she/they

pronoun In linguistics and grammar, a pronoun (Interlinear gloss, glossed ) is a word or a group of words that one may substitute for a noun or noun phrase. Pronouns have traditionally been regarded as one of the part of speech, parts of speech, but so ...

s. She is Jewish.

Career

After graduating from Barnard, Reid entered PitchWars, a pitch contest for unagented authors, eventually securing agent representation and selling her first novel, ''The Wolf and the Woodsman''.

Influences

Reid says her style is inspired by Gothic literature as well as works by

Kelly Link Kelly Link (born July 19, 1969) is an American editor and writer. Mainly known as an author of short stories, she published her first novel, ''The Book of Love'' in 2024. While some of her fiction falls more clearly within genre categories, many ...

Carmen Maria Machado Carmen Maria Machado (born July 3, 1986) is an American short story author, essayist, and critic best known for ''Her Body and Other Parties'', a 2017 short story collection, and her memoir '' In the Dream House'', which was published in 2019 and ...

, and

Helen Oyeyemi Helen Oyeyemi FRSL (born 10 December 1984) is a British novelist and writer of short stories. Life Oyeyemi was born in Nigeria and was raised in Lewisham, South London from when she was four. Oyeyemi wrote her first novel, '' The Icarus Girl' ...

. She feels naturally more drawn to adult fantasy but wanted to try her hand at young adult. Some of her favorite novels include

Shirley Jackson Shirley Hardie Jackson (December 14, 1916 – August 8, 1965) was an American writer known primarily for her works of horror and mystery. Her writing career spanned over two decades, during which she composed six novels, two memoirs, and mor ...

’s '' We Have Always Lived in the Castle,'' which she collects copies of, and the ''Gormenghast'' trilogy by

Mervyn Peake Mervyn Laurence Peake (9 July 1911 – 17 November 1968) was a British writer, artist, poet, and illustrator. He is best known for what are usually referred to as the '' Gormenghast'' books. The four works were part of what Peake conceived ...

, as well as '' Tender Morsels'' by

Margo Lanagan Margo Lanagan (born 1960 in Waratah, New South Wales) is an Australian writer of short stories and young adult fiction. Biography She grew up in Raymond Terrace and moved to Melbourne circa 1971/1972. After overseas travel, she moved to Sydney ...

and '' The Kingdom of Little Wounds'' by

Susann Cokal Susann Cokal is an American author. She is best known for having written the novels ''The Kingdom of Little Wounds'', ''Mirabilis'', ''Mermaid Moon'', and ''Breath and Bones'', along with short stories, literary and pop-culture criticism, and book ...

''The Wolf and the Woodsman''

Her debut novel, published by HarperVoyager, tells the story of a woman who is surrendered as blood sacrifice for their king, but survives the attack. She was inspired to write the novel after reading an anecdote about

Saint Stephen Stephen (; ) is traditionally venerated as the protomartyr or first martyr of Christianity."St ...

, the first Christian king of Hungary, who had his nephew and heir apparent’s eyes stabbed because he didn't want pagans to inherit the throne. Reid describes ''The Wolf and the Woodsman'' as a story about exclusion. For this book, she was particularly inspired by

Naomi Novik Naomi Novik (born 1973) is an American author of speculative fiction. She is known for the Temeraire (series), ''Temeraire'' series (2006–2016), an alternate history of the Napoleonic Wars involving dragons, and her The Scholomance Trilogy, ''S ...

Katherine Arden Katherine Arden Burdine (born 1987), best known by her pen name Katherine Arden, is an American novelist. Known primarily for her ''Winternight'' trilogy of fantasy novels, which are set in medieval Russia and have garnered nominations for Hug ...

Leigh Bardugo Leigh Bardugo (; born April 6, 1975) is an American fantasy author. She is best known for her young adult Grishaverse novels, which include the '' Shadow and Bone'' trilogy and the ''Six of Crows'' and '' King of Scars'' duologies. She also rec ...

, and

Catherynne Valente Catherynne Morgan Valente (born May 5, 1979) is an American fiction writer, poet, and literary critic. For her speculative fiction novels she has won the annual Otherwise Award, James Tiptree, Jr. Award, Andre Norton Award, and Mythopoeic Award ...

. Reviews were mostly positive. It was a Summer/Fall 2021 Indies Introduce adult selection.

Kirkus Reviews ''Kirkus Reviews'' is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus. The magazine's publisher, Kirkus Media, is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fiction, no ...

called it "Compelling, complicated, and worthwhile," while also noting an overreliance on purple prose as well as muddled action scenes.

Publishers Weekly ''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of ...

called it a "notable debut."

''Juniper and Thorn''

Set in the world of her debut novel, ''Juniper and Thorn'' was inspired by the Grimm's

fairytale A fairy tale (alternative names include fairytale, fairy story, household tale, magic tale, or wonder tale) is a short story that belongs to the folklore genre. Such stories typically feature magic, enchantments, and mythical or fanciful being ...

'' The Juniper Tree''. Due to her family's ties to Ukraine, she specifically wanted to set the novel in a fictional analog to

Odesa Odesa, also spelled Odessa, is the third most populous List of cities in Ukraine, city and List of hromadas of Ukraine, municipality in Ukraine and a major seaport and transport hub located in the south-west of the country, on the northwestern ...

Ukraine Ukraine is a country in Eastern Europe. It is the List of European countries by area, second-largest country in Europe after Russia, which Russia–Ukraine border, borders it to the east and northeast. Ukraine also borders Belarus to the nor ...

, to "sweep away" cliches of Eastern Europe. It was published in June 2021. ''Juniper and Thorn'' received a starred review from Publishers Weekly.

''A Study in Drowning''

Her third book'', A Study in Drowning,'' was published by

HarperTeen HarperCollins Publishers LLC is a British–American publishing company that is considered to be one of the " Big Five" English-language publishers, along with Penguin Random House, Hachette, Macmillan, and Simon & Schuster. HarperCollins is ...

in 2023. It is a romantic dark academia young adult fantasy about two rivals who work together to uncover the mysterious legacy of an author. The novel has themes of abuse and trauma, as do all of Reid's novels, and she says it's a subject matter very important to her. In the main character Effy, she says she wrote about experiences that reflect her own. Reid says she considers being able to discuss one's own experiences in a narrative is powerful and considers that to be the central theme of the novel. It's inspired by Welsh mythology. It debuted on the New York Times bestseller list on October 8, 2023, at #1. It received mixed reviews.

Locus Magazine ''Locus: The Magazine of The Science Fiction & Fantasy Field'', founded in 1968, is an American magazine published monthly in Oakland, California. It is the news organ and trade journal for the English-language science fiction and fantasy fields. ...

called it "intriguing, intelligent, and suspenseful" and it received a starred review from Publishers Weekly and

School Library Journal ''School Library Journal'' (''SLJ'') is an American monthly magazine containing reviews and other articles for school librarians, media specialists, and public librarians who work with young people. Articles cover a wide variety of topics, wi ...

. It has also been criticized for capitalizing on "the dark academia trend" while not adding anything new to the conversation, and having no clear message, according to

Michigan Daily ''The Michigan Daily'', also known as "''The Daily''", is the independent student newspaper of the University of Michigan published in Ann Arbor, Michigan. Established on September 29, 1890, the newspaper is financially and editorially independe ...

. Kirkus Reviews called the Welsh-inspired setting "impressively atmospheric", while the mythology as "feeling extraneous."

''Lady MacBeth''

''Lady MacBeth'' is described as a "feminist retelling" of

Shakespeare's William Shakespeare ( 23 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's natio ...

character

Lady Macbeth Lady Macbeth is a leading character in William Shakespeare's tragedy ''Macbeth'' (). As the wife of the play's tragic hero, Macbeth (a Scottish nobleman), Lady Macbeth goads her husband into committing regicide, after which she becomes quee ...

, to be released by Del Rey in August 2024. Reid has said Lady Macbeth is her favorite character, due to her ambition and wiles, which inspired her to explore her character in a novel of her own. She calls the novel a work of "gothic, feminist fiction".

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Reid, Ava 1996 births Living people 21st-century American Jews 21st-century American LGBTQ people 21st-century American women writers 21st-century American novelists American LGBTQ novelists LGBTQ Jews American queer writers American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent American women children's writers American writers of young adult literature Barnard College alumni Jewish American children's writers Jewish American novelists LGBTQ people from New Jersey LGBTQ people from New York (state) Novelists from New Jersey Novelists from New York City Queer novelists Writers from Hoboken, New Jersey Writers from Manhattan American women writers of young adult literature Jewish LGBTQ women Jewish women writers Jews from New York City