Reviews with content warning for Suicide - The Night Swim

i really enjoyed this book. overall, i thought it was very well written, paced, and just the right length.
left very good breadcrumbs throughout the read that really all came together with the big reveal. ending felt very realistic. would recommend.

Content Warnings

___'s review against another edition

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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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megbarnt's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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smottman's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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judassilver's review against another edition

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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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kristenreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.0

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outsmartyourshelf's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? N/A
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

Rachel Krall is headed to Neapolis, a small town on the coast where a headline-grabbing trial is about to take place. A local golden boy, a swimmer, stands accused of raping a young girl following a party. Rachel is the brains behind a true crime podcast which has been very popular in its first two seasons & she needs a new format for the third season: a live trial. Rachel will be at the court so her listeners can follow the case in real time & decide for themselves: guilty or not guilty. At a rest stop on the way there, Rachel returns to her car to find a note on the windscreen asking for her help. The note is from Hannah & she wants Rachel to help her find out what really happened to her sister twenty five years earlier.

This was a difficult book to read. Not because it's badly written but I found the subject matter harrowing. The narrative is told from Rachel's point of view but we also get Hannah's view of what happened all those years ago in the form of letters to Rachel. Both storylines look at the price that women & girls pay when it comes to sexual assault. Rachel asks a pertinent question about why murder & rape are viewed so differently - people tend not to argue a murder victim "asked for it" but the same doesn't apply to sexual assault. Why? Does a victim have to be dead before they can get justice? With conviction rates at an all time low this is a well-written, timely read but a difficult one.

My thanks to NetGalley & publisher, Canelo, for the opportunity to read an ARC. I am voluntarily giving an honest review.

Content Warnings

nicksalex's review against another edition

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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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