Reviews with content warning for Rape - The Night Swim

Reviews tagging 'Rape'

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

439 reviews

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.25

Honesty, there's not much to say about this book. I flew through it. I think this book, despite its themes, was very bingeable. And weirdly enough, I found myself highly immersed in the story. Whenever I'd put it down I'd get a mini wave of whiplash because I was so into the story that it felt so weird to be out of it. I cannot comment on the accuracy of criminal law practices (the lawyers and their arguments) or the validity of the autopsies. However, for a thriller, I was very surprised at how good the insight was on the issues of rape and sexual assault.

Especially that scene where Kelly had to testify and she was succumbed to the pressure at the beginning of cross. I'd never seen that in a book before and I applaud the author for thinking about the victim first. It would've ruined Kelly to be put on cross and would've traumatized her all over again.

Although, I'm inclined to side with the "alleged" victim first unless there's evidence to the contrary, I think the book (and the podcast) did a great job demonstrating both sides and just how ambiguous rape cases can be. Also when reading this book, I highly HIGHLY recommend you put yourself in the victim's shoes; imagine you're feeling the things she's feeling. When I did that oh my gosh it just made things so real for me. It really takes courage to say something let alone pursue a criminal case so I genuinely admire ANYONE who has the courage to take action. I'd like to note that the audio for the podcast was phenomenal. I definitely recommend the audiobook!

The twist of Bobby seeing the whole thing and testifying was fine, I guess. The ending did confuse me though. I thought the whole gun scene with Dan and everything was cool. Not surprised it was him. What was the purpose of that nightingale>

Content Warnings

lost_poetx's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

Obviously this book has TW for SA, that isn’t a spoiler. I think that Megan Goldin handled the cases of two women that were violently assaulted and forever changed with a candid honesty that didn’t require overtly graphic descriptions—and that takes real talent. As a reader, I felt every emotion through this whole book that I expected to feel but I didn’t have to put it down and cope with unnecessary physical descriptions or accounts. I understand the privilege it is to read about this with a level of detachment when some people have this as their reality. If you can read about this without damaging your mental health, I would absolutely recommend this book.

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beccabrune's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-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

3.0

Content Warnings

mjm03200's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

Content Warnings

afrenette's review against another edition

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mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

hfayereads's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

TRIGGER WARNING

This is a fast pace high stakes thriller that takes the reader through two different cases.

One of the unique aspects of this book was the podcast element/chapters. I had checked out the audiobook out on Libby and strictly listened to the audiobook for the podcast chapters. For me, that enriched the book and made the book more unique.

This book does delve into heavy topics (assault, slut shaming etc) that if you aren’t prepared or you go into this book blind can surprise you about how graphic the book talked about these subjects.

Overall, this was an good thriller that showed two different cases and their parallels.

Content Warnings