Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

16 reviews

lou_o_donnell's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Blood, Body horror, Body shaming, Cancer, Car accident, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Gaslighting, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

rebeccahensley's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Animal cruelty, Blood, Bullying, Cancer, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Chronic illness, Death, Death of parent, Drug use, Drug abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gaslighting, Grief, Gore, Mental illness, Murder, Misogyny, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Terminal illness, Torture, and Violence

naomibender's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Sexual violence, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Rape, Physical abuse, Murder, and Mental illness

booksof_fern's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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? Yes

3.5

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child death, Death, Murder, and Sexual content

Moderate: Alcoholism, Bullying, Cancer, Car accident, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, and Physical abuse

Minor: Suicide

soobooksalot's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.5

The Night Swim is both a tough read and an unforgettable thriller. 
 It spent far too long on my TBR and once started, I couldn't put it down.
 Rachel Krall is a journalist, famous for her true crime podcast called Guilty Or Not Guilty. For her third season feature, she heads to the resort town of Neapolis to cover a rape trial. 
The victim is a 16-year-old high school student; the accused a 19-year-old swimming star - the case is divisive before the trial has even begun.
 While driving to Neapolis, Rachel happens upon a letter left for her on her windshield. In it, Hannah Stills chronicles the manner in which her sister, Jenny, died in the town 25 years earlier. She is seeking Rachel's help to investigate her case.
 Chapters alternate from Rachel's perspective, to Hannah's, intercut with transcripts from the podcast.
 It's a fascinating take on heart-wrenching subjects. The journeys through both events are intense and emotional, and questions abound if they are linked despite the quarter-century time difference and seemingly random nature. 
 We are taken through the nightmare of a sexual assault; from the event, to investigation, trial and lasting personal impacts.
 I definitely need to backtrack to author Megan Goldin's The Escape Room, and look forward to her future publications.
 Recommended, but do be aware of the content.

---

Content Warnings

Moderate: Bullying, Cancer, Car accident, Child death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, Panic attacks/disorders, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicidal thoughts

alylentz's review against another edition

adventurous dark sad medium-paced

• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.0

I don't really get the hype with this book. It's having important conversations and making good points, but I was really not turning the pages the way I would expect from a thriller or an author people seem to love so much. I felt no real connection with Rachel, the narrator, and as such found myself having a hard time getting emotionally connected to the other characters or even the story being told. There were also just a lot of little nitpicky issues I had--the podcast element wasn't really for me, and I didn't really buy into Rachel on a professional level. For example, she's constantly ducking out of court to investigate the other case or leaving early, but everyone is so into how thorough her podcast is and she's smashing the ratings? After about the 50% mark, I was just reading it to be done. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Chronic illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual violence, Sexism, and Terminal illness

Minor: Pedophilia