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A review by bethasaurus13
The Night Swim by Megan Goldin
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? No
2.0
I’ll admit, I flew through this book but part of that was because I wanted it to end. The topic of SA is very sensitive and difficult to discuss in a respectful way. While this book talked about it well in certain aspects, I was left in shock at how it talked about SA in other ways. It seemed as though the author read a few articles about SA and got a basic understanding but not a complete understanding. The discussion of SA throughout the book felt shallow. I’d be very surprised if the author even talked to a survivor of sexual assault for this book. The author
portrays Kelly’s supporters as “man hating feminists” who are just as bad as the people supporting the rapist. The book seemed to sympathize with rapists on numerous occasions giving them past stories of trauma and abuse while not pushing back on how said abuse and trauma don’t excuse anything. It was incredibly disappointing. On top of the failed discussion of SA, the book is riddled with continuity errors (ex. the judge somehow had no reversals in his record but later he suddenly had one) and bad grammar.
portrays Kelly’s supporters as “man hating feminists” who are just as bad as the people supporting the rapist. The book seemed to sympathize with rapists on numerous occasions giving them past stories of trauma and abuse while not pushing back on how said abuse and trauma don’t excuse anything. It was incredibly disappointing. On top of the failed discussion of SA, the book is riddled with continuity errors (ex. the judge somehow had no reversals in his record but later he suddenly had one) and bad grammar.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, and Torture