Reviews with content warning for Murder - The Night Swim

I listened to the audiobook version of this story. I liked the different narrators for Rachel and Hannah, and it really made the podcast chapters come to life.

This was a heavy story, so check the trigger warnings before reading, but I really liked the discussion around rape and sexual assault, and the difficulties victims face in trying to find justice, as well as how this tied the two components of the story - the trial and Hannah’s story - together.

The story was paced well and the twist at the end was reasonable and wasn’t completely out of the blue, though it wasn’t completely shocking either as I did expect the stories to blend together somehow.

Overall, I really enjoyed this but it was more of a mystery than it was a thriller.

Content Warnings

peony_xo's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

5.0

Content Warnings

suzyh5317's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging 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

4.0

Content Warnings

elsebeok's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense 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

3.5

Content Warnings

megob's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious tense 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

3.75

Really great book, great plot and pacing and format. Really difficult to read due to the content.

Content Warnings

forthelove's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-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? It's complicated

4.5

Whew this was a book! The book has two stories running in tandem, one in the past and one present. Rachel is our main character and has created a popular podcast. She is covering a rape trial in a small coastal town and is mysteriously approached by another woman to help solve her sisters murder. The story has lots of twists and turns and there really aren’t that many plot gaps. The ending was well paced and didn’t leave you scratching your head. I will definitely read more by this author

Content Warnings

books_in_badgerland's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

This book follows two women: a podcaster, Rachel, who visits a beach town to report on a divisive rape trial and Hannah, a woman from the town who tragically lost her sister as a teen. As Rachel continues to dive into her current trial, she is intrigued as Hannah leaves her multiple letters describing her sister’s suspicious death. Does Rachel have the bandwidth to take on both cases at once? I really liked this book! It was indeed sad as both alleged crimes are heartbreaking. It was also a page turner as I really wanted to know how it all would come together. (4⭐️)

Content Warnings

thebookishfaerie's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark mysterious sad tense 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

4.5

Content Warnings

More...