A review by sparetimereader
The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

dark mysterious sad tense fast-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? No

4.75

Rachel Krall hosts a true crime podcast. Her newest season features the trial of a possible rape of a young teenage girl by a Olympic swimming hopeful. As Rachel goes to the small town of Neapolis to sit in on the trial, and provide up to date information for her podcast, she finds a somewhat disturbing letter stuck under her windshield wiper. The letter is signed from someone named Hannah, and is begging Rachel to investigate further into the murder of her sister Jenny.

Rachel quickly realizes that “Hannah” won’t leave her alone until she agrees to look into the case. The people of town insist Jenny drowned, but Hannah believes otherwise. As Rachel is digging into the past she soon starts to question if there is a connection between the two girls, 25 years apart. 

I’ve seen such high praise for this book, and went in completely blind. I thought the author did a great job at keeping the book suspenseful and kept me flipping pages. I really enjoyed the multiple time lines and different point of views. I also thought it was a fun idea to include the podcast episodes in the book to help tell the story. Highly recommend this one if you’re a fan of true crime (even though this is fictional). 

⚠️ Trigger Warnings ⚠️
This book does discuss a case of rape (but does not go into detail), murder, and death. 
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