Reviews with content warning for Gaslighting - The Night Swim

Reviews tagging 'Gaslighting'

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

11 reviews

hfayereads's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

TRIGGER WARNING

This is a fast pace high stakes thriller that takes the reader through two different cases.

One of the unique aspects of this book was the podcast element/chapters. I had checked out the audiobook out on Libby and strictly listened to the audiobook for the podcast chapters. For me, that enriched the book and made the book more unique.

This book does delve into heavy topics (assault, slut shaming etc) that if you aren’t prepared or you go into this book blind can surprise you about how graphic the book talked about these subjects.

Overall, this was an good thriller that showed two different cases and their parallels.

Content Warnings

bookshelf_al's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

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

4.0

Content Warnings

cassielaj's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional 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? It's complicated

I cannot give this book a star rating. While the writing was good and the mystery compelling, this was a really challenging book to read, and it deserves more nuance than a 1-5 rating. This story is heavy. It is graphically detailed at times. It is tragic and disheartening and just the tiniest bit hopeful. And I honestly think it’s important. This book treats rape and sexual assault victims and trials in a way I haven’t seen enough in popular media, especially in the thriller genre, which often sensationalizes tragedy. It explores the challenges and injustices of the justice system when it comes to trying a sexual assault case. It explores class differences and politics in a small town and shows how power can be abused. It explores the guilt that can come with doing nothing to help someone in a time of need, and it explores redemption from the horrors of the past. I want to recommend it because it’s a good book, but I don’t want to because it was heavy. If you choose to read this, go in with as much information as you can, and be kind to yourself while you read it.

From a thriller perspective, I did find it a bit predictable, but overall I thought the mystery was well paced.

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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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books_in_badgerland'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? 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⭐️)

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rachelsbookishlife's review against another edition

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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? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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aditi_801's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-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? No

4.25

I read this book like almost a full month ago. I haven't completely forgotten how much I loved it, but the plot is blurry now. Maybe that proves that it wasn't as great as I thought it was when I read it. All I can say is that a mystery sort of thriller true crime was just what I needed when I read it. I love these types of books perhaps just because the lives of so many characters are so fucked up and sometimes I need a reminder that my life isn't so bad. Either way, I loved the plot, Rachel was a gem, and the twist was definitely unexpected to me at least. I also love how it brought so much justice to rape victims and really went full detail into what it feels like for a traumatized rape victim to be on the stand and how the law doesn't support them nearly enough. I would never have known had bad it all was. It really put me in the shoes of every character that was struggling and was overall just an emotional rollercoaster. I loved this book.

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