Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

73 reviews

neville_lvr_reads's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious fast-paced

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

4.5

 I picked up The Night Swim after winning a @goodreads giveaway for the sequel, Dark Corners. It was definitely a solid read and I highly recommend the audiobook!

The Night Swim follows Rachel, a true crime reporter and podcaster covering an active trial for the rape and sexual assault of a teenage girl in a small town in North Carolina. While there, she learns about a similar rape and murder that happened 25 years prior and jumps right in to try to solve it.

I’ve been getting a little burnt out on thrillers lately, so I was pleasantly surprised to get fully sucked into this one. There’s mystery and intrigue, but also very real world topics and concerns. I liked how well the author handled those sensitive topics through Rachel and her podcast as she covered the trial. I also loved how all the pieces clicked into place in the end - I found the ending very satisfying to the story as a whole!

It also definitely gave me some Good Girl’s Guide to Murder vibes, but adult instead of YA. If you enjoyed GGGM, you should check this one out!

Overall would recommend The Night Swim to folks who like a good true crime-esque mystery, but take note of the trigger warnings. If you read this, I definitely recommend the audiobook version! In addition to the full cast narration, we also get to actually hear Rachel’s podcast episodes, with music and background noises at times that made it very immersive. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Rape

Minor: Child abuse and Domestic abuse

alliskarathe's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Loveable characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.25

first megan goldin book and pleasantly surprised but admittedly, there were some slow parts though not an excruciating drag ; worth a read if you like this genre or the idea of a podcaster and law/court proceedings (discusses in detail tw: rape and elements of contention/discussion include justice system and feminism)

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, and Car accident

Minor: Child abuse, Chronic illness, Domestic abuse, Misogyny, and Murder

courtneypaigea's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense

5.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Domestic abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicide, Murder, and Sexual harassment

Minor: Child abuse and Terminal illness

horizonous's review against another edition

dark emotional 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

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Misogyny, Rape, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Violence, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Alcohol

Minor: Alcoholism, Cancer, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicide, Blood, Death of parent, and Injury/Injury detail

◦ Alcohol = Underage drinking
◦ Death = Sibling
◦ Mental illness = Depression, PTSD

smdamm's review against another edition

dark mysterious slow-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

1.0

Too much mention and detail of rapes and other traumas. The author seemed to want to write a book of her own musings regarding the treatment of sexual assault cases by the criminal justice system. She didn’t seem to come to an explicit conclusion. I slogged through this book for a very disappointing and predictable “twist.” I should have DNFed this one. All trauma and a poorly formulated plot. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cancer, Child abuse, Chronic illness, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Grief, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, and Injury/Injury detail

caribeth's review against another edition

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? Yes

4.0

An entertaining and engaging story. I really enjoyed the podcast element of this book, however the narrator was a really weak character. We knew almost nothing about her. She felt very flat and dull. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment

maemiller_'s review against another edition

challenging emotional hopeful informative mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment

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

Minor: Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Fire/Fire injury

cmcryst's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicide, Violence, and Sexual harassment

Moderate: Bullying, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Death of parent, and Fire/Fire injury

ashleechmiel's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book has a lot of graphic descriptions of rape and sexual assault, you will be uncomfortable at times. But honestly I think it’s about time people got uncomfortable. This may be a fiction novel but so much of it really hits home with the realities of how sex crimes are seen and handled. There are two interwoven plot lines here and you will go back and forth on who is guilty in the Stills case, and you don’t find out until the very end. I didn’t know how that story line was going to flush out with so little left in the book but it did very smoothly. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Child death, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Death of parent, and Alcohol

magdalenebunce's review against another edition

dark mysterious fast-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Moderate: Child abuse