Reviews

Swimming at Night by Lucy Clarke

indoorg1rl's review against another edition

adventurous emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Another superb destination thriller from Lucy Clarke.

Katie’s world shattered when she heard the news that her headstrong younger sister, Mia, had been found dead of suicide in Bali. Armed with Mia’s travel journal, she was determined to follow her journey from UK to US, Australia, and finally Indonesia in the last 12 months to figure out what had happened to her. 

I (again) loved the strong bond between the sisters in this one. The story was easy to follow, perfect to be consumed as an audiobook. I flew through the chapters as I didn’t want to stop listening. My only complaint was that we didn’t get to Bali sooner! That, and the name of the fictional Balinese area where Mia was found didn’t exactly sound Indonesian to my ear.

While the ending of this one didn’t exactly sit well with me, the overall reading experience was a great one. And given this was Lucy Clarke’s debut, I was delighted to see that her writing quality was strong from the very start. Since then, she kept churning more amazing destination thrillers, one after another. In case it’s not clear enough from this review, yes I’m a fan!

delilahmay's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide

fictionalhima's review against another edition

4.0

I really enjoyed this book.
i love how the author wrote the complexities of a sibling relationship.
“Then maybe you’ll know a bit about love and a bit about hate too”
this line right here really puts things into perspective doesn’t it. reading about their travels had me consumed by wanderlust!

“She envied him that—the ability for his world to continue, when hers had stopped.” this line broke my heart because it’s true. this feeling is pure agony. 


mia was a wild spirit. something about her just drags me in. when reading her pov i was both enthralled and envious of her. She’s a mess yes but she was free. she didn’t have anything holding her back, holding her down. she lived life to the fullest. she was also troubled and i felt for her. i wish the two sisters were able to reconcile before she died but alas.   

i definitely saw all the twists coming but it didn’t turn me away from it. reading mia’s journey and her self revelation was illuminating. 

i’m so glad katie didn’t end up with finn. she deserves better than being second best. Noah’s and mia’s love story was beautiful but damaging. i know she was in love w him but i didn’t like how he treated her. she was lost but she was finding her way back whereas he was in so much pain that i didn’t see how he could ever love her the way she needed. breaks my heart how she went up there to stop him from dying but ended up dying herself.

this was a heartbreaking book and i loved every second of it. 
i’m definitely going to be checking out all her other books! 

kath61's review against another edition

4.0

A good holiday read.

bmichie31's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

4.25

reabailey's review against another edition

5.0

Just finished and I absolutely loved it! Loved all the characters (especially Finn) and the amount of heartbreaking plot twists in this are unbelievable!!!

chrissireads's review against another edition

4.0

I thoroughly enjoyed this book by Lucy Clarke. A lot of drama happens within it, but it's still a gripping, fast-paced read. It didn't take me long to read at all, and I'm still thinking about it.

For a more in depth review please check my blog: here

mkm01's review against another edition

4.0

I received this novel through Goodreads First Reads. This book pleasantly surprised me. Most of the books I have read involving the main character traveling use the setting to make up for a weak story line. “Swimming at Night” focuses on the relationship between two sisters and the traveling aspect is barely mentioned. The relationships and the characters are well developed and very believable. This is a great read and I’m looking forward to Lucy Clarke’s next book!

jaci_derosso's review against another edition

2.0

None of the characters are particularly endearing and the ending too predictable.

courtthebookgirl's review against another edition

4.0

This was a really enjoyable mystery. I genuinely liked both narrators, which almost never seems to happen to me when there are multiple narrators. I didn't have the ending figured out- not that it was a shocking ending or a huge surprise, but at least it wasn't exactly what I thought it was.

I will definitely read another by Clarke in the future. If you like a good mystery, check it out.