Reviews with content warning for Physical abuse - The Night Swim

Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

63 reviews

aditi_801's review against another edition

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.

Content Warnings

onceandfuturereads's review against another edition

Go to review page

mysterious tense fast-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

I picked this book up at little free library because I was intrigued by the true crime angle. In a word, this book is predictable. It's also just not well written. If I had to read "her shoulder length auburn hair" one more time I was going to start yelling. It wasn't so much the plot as the dialogue that was unbelievable to me (though the plot was...laughable). The cryptic letters that Hannah writes to Rachel, her podcast hero, are written in a way that nobody actually writes. Same with the dialogue. I wouldn't have cared so much because I know it's supposed to be a fun mystery, but it really took me out of the story.

Furthermore, there are ethical problems with this story. The author clearly drew inspiration from the rape trial that made headlines when Chanel Miller made her victim impact statement as Emily Doe. Scott Blair, Gildon's antagonist, is a reproduction of Brock Turner, even in the final few pages. I was hoping to see an acknowledgement of Chanel Miller, or other survivors, but...nothing!

I am being generous in giving this book 2 stars, and that is because the true crime podcast was a cool idea and I haven't seen it done before.

Content Warnings

julienicole1106's review against another edition

Go to review page

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

Content Warnings

jennylovesbooks14's review

Go to review page

dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

Content Warnings

collinsd's review against another edition

Go to review page

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? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

Content Warnings

bookreadingelf's review

Go to review page

dark 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? Yes

3.5

Night swim follows a true crime postcaster who follows a rape case. While she is in the town, she receives letters which ask her to help with an old case. I found it a little bit predictable, but else it was fine.

I would recommend listening to this book as that goes really well with the podcast parts.

Content Warnings