Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

69 reviews

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

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

sophiesometimesreads's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Rape, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

megob's review against another edition

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Violence, Sexual violence, and Murder

Moderate: Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, and Grief

Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Stalking, and Suicide attempt

lmshearer'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? It's complicated

3.0

A generous 3 stars for this forgettable 'thriller'. The rating would have been lower had I not listened to this on audio at 3x speed (the narration was painfully slow and disjointed). 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Rape

Moderate: Murder, Suicide, Car accident, Death, Death of parent, Suicide attempt, and Physical abuse

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

drraytay's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Child death, Death of parent, Terminal illness, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Physical abuse

Moderate: Car accident and Alcohol

katyannreads's review against another edition

dark mysterious medium-paced

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

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

Moderate: Cancer and Death of parent

julienicole1106's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcoholism, Cancer, Physical abuse, Violence, Alcohol, Car accident, Child abuse, Gun violence, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Kidnapping, Panic attacks/disorders, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Stalking, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Death, Emotional abuse, Murder, Rape, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt, Suicide, and Torture

poonam's review against another edition

dark emotional inspiring mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A

5.0

I could not put this book down. 

This book centers around a rape trial. That's a very sensitive topic and I really liked the way it was handled in the book. 
There's another story that we follow which took place twenty five years ago. Jenny stills had died. Something terrible had happened that night but no one knew the truth except for Jenny's murderer. This book kept me on the edge of my seat from the very beginning. We follow Rachel who's in the town to cover the trial for her podcast as she receives letters from Jenny's sister, Hannah, in irregular intervals where she tells her the truth of her sister's death or life. 
It wasn't an easy book to get through as the topic is heavy but it's handled so nicely that i wasn't able to stop until I finished the book. 
I had guessed the murderer correctly but that didn't change my feelings towards the book which usually doesn't happen. 

I recommend this book to everyone. Go for the audiobook if you can. It's amazing. I'll also suggest you to go through the trigger warning before starting it. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death and Death of parent

amanda_reads13's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious 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? Yes

4.0

I really enjoyed reading this book! I did figure out a few things early on in the book, hence the 4 stars. I found it really interesting how the 2 seemingly unrelated storylines tied together and I enjoyed the jumping between Hannah, Rachel, and the podcast. I didn't want to put this book down! 

***Please make sure to check the trigger warnings before reading! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Cancer, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Car accident, Death, Murder, Rape, Death of parent, and Grief

Moderate: Fire/Fire injury, Suicide, and Blood