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Reviews tagging 'Murder'

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

151 reviews

zianna_reads's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective 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


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gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective 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? It's complicated

3.0

The Details:
Narrated by Bailey Carr, January LaVoy, Samantha Desz
Unabridged
 

One of my late netgalley arcs, I decided to listen to via my library app.

This was riveting and harrowing read following a dual sexual assault case, one in the present day and one set in the mystery of a cover up that happened some years before. 

We follow a podcast presenter investigating both cases and it was interesting to see the perspective of varying characters of what, to me, is an obviously awful crime.

The acts done to the body was so graphic and really hard to read, so please bear that in mind.

Overall, I'm glad to have finally read this, but it was a heavy, difficult read.



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chelseyas's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional 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

2.0

It wasn't a bad book, per se, but there were a couple things I found unsettling/bothersome. The first was the heralding of Rachel as some sort of investigative genius. Not to say that the cops can't mess up, but in light of the Idaho murders (specifically the mob mentality towards the living roommates and the boyfriend) the idea that cold cases can be solved by a random person on the internet is iffy. Secondly, the book threw me off from the start by describing Rachel's podcast as "sultry" and stating that it "makes murder sexy." I'm paraphrasing here, but I couldn't get past this exploitive, romanticizing view of true crime. This is also problematic as the story is basically a fictionalized version of the Brock Turner/Chanel Miller case. Lastly, the writing itself is very meh. I predicted the reveal about halfway through the book. The author also has a large vocabulary that shows up throughout the book. This is justified when characters like Rachel and the lawyers are speaking, but sounds disingenuous on the rest of the cast. The characters are very underdeveloped, and all have similar voices. 

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kxc319's review against another edition

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dark mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? Yes
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5


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lpdx's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? No

4.0


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cursed_sapphire's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? No
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

What I have learned by reading this book: I really hate reading about trials. I already knew that, unless this book was going to have either a seriously questionable or very pessimistic ending, the defendant would get charged. But I had hoped the mystery would still pull me in. It didn't. 

In better news, I did like the murder mystery half. The twists were interesting, and the flashbacks were by far the best written segments of the story. 

But sadly, overall my enjoyment of this book was hampered by a trial plot I did not feel invested in. If you like watching lawyer shows or otherwise just don't mind court stories, this would probably be a pretty good book for you. But I guess I just came for the murder mystery thriller and left disappointed by the legal case.

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leebeeloves's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious 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? It's complicated

4.0


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aleigh1390's review against another edition

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mysterious 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


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xread_write_repeatx's review against another edition

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5.0

Really strong writing which kept me reading as much as I could but eventually had to take a break on because the content was too heartbreaking and difficult to get through. After sitting in my to-read shelf for over a year, I have decided I will not be reading until the ending, and I just do not have the heart, stomach, or mind to make it to the ending.

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karajreads's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? No
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0


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