Reviews tagging 'Violence'

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

69 reviews

___'s review

challenging emotional informative mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

Meh, predictable. There's a multitude of very cliche elements here - a small town where everyone knows everyone, the scary homeless man covered in scars, the son of a prestigious man, parallel and seemingly unrelated stories/events that can't possibly be connected, et cetera. Also, this is not a thriller. It's just a mystery. 

There's nothing really wrong with the book (though, poor editing got quite distracting at one point). There just wasn't anything new, thrilling, or exciting being offered.

(...Is the protagonist being a true crime podcaster a trigger warning yet?)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Violence, Bullying, Death, Murder, Kidnapping, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Alcohol, Rape, Sexual assault, Emotional abuse, Grief, and Physical abuse

Minor: Domestic abuse, Body shaming, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Blood, Car accident, Death of parent, Drug use, Fire/Fire injury, Cancer, and Drug abuse

cbranche's review

challenging dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Toxic friendship, Violence, Alcohol, Blood, Bullying, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Child abuse, Death, Murder, and Panic attacks/disorders

hannah_83's review

dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape and Violence

brookebomber's review

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Rape, Violence, and Murder

Moderate: Panic attacks/disorders

Minor: Pedophilia

judassilver's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Chronic illness, Alcohol, Classism, Death, Death of parent, Fire/Fire injury, Grief, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Violence, Stalking, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual assault, Sexism, Rape, Murder, and Misogyny

Moderate: Child abuse, Car accident, Medical trauma, Suicide, and Panic attacks/disorders

alex_mabel's review

dark mysterious sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

While this book was very hard to read due to the topics at hand, I thought it was done very well. The story of the trial was told in a brutally honest way.

The dual perspectives were both very engaging and the ending came together well. I definitely wanted to keep reading to see how it all wrapped up.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Death, Violence, Bullying, Sexual assault, Fire/Fire injury, and Rape

Moderate: Child abuse, Death of parent, Suicidal thoughts, and Cancer

erinkins's review

challenging dark emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

5.0

This book was really intense. The subject matter was hard to read about and I really wanted to give the girls hugs. I enjoyed the dual storyline and how she intertwined them. For me, the plot twists weren’t jarring but they were still good. Overall, great read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Sexual assault, and Rape

Moderate: Child abuse and Panic attacks/disorders

nicksalex's review

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Car accident, Bullying, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Cancer, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Violence, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Alcohol, Suicide, Pedophilia, and Death of parent

vj_thompson's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A thought provoking story that depicts why sexual assault cases next see the light of a court room. The process is time consuming, lawyers can brutal, and it may do more harm than good. 

Megan Goldin is an auto-buy author. The first book I read by her was Stay Awake. She does an amazing job at character building and touching on subjects matters like sexual assaults or mental health conditions. These topics are normalized in Megan’s stories. I found myself both times rooting for the main characters, and the side characters, wishing them all a happy and successful outcome.

I am looking forward to reading the sequel, and I hope our main character Rachel continues to fight the good fight.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Child abuse, Grief, Bullying, Violence, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Death, Alcohol, and Murder

Moderate: Car accident, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Pedophilia, Animal cruelty, Stalking, and Gun violence

dawndola's review

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

This is more of a crime procedural with some mystery than a thriller. It had simple writing, editorial errors galore, ridiculously short podcast episode chapters, and didn't have any 'edge of your seat' aspects that I would expect from a thriller. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, and Violence