Reviews tagging 'Sexual assault'

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

295 reviews

outsmartyourshelf's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A

4.0

Rachel Krall is headed to Neapolis, a small town on the coast where a headline-grabbing trial is about to take place. A local golden boy, a swimmer, stands accused of raping a young girl following a party. Rachel is the brains behind a true crime podcast which has been very popular in its first two seasons & she needs a new format for the third season: a live trial. Rachel will be at the court so her listeners can follow the case in real time & decide for themselves: guilty or not guilty. At a rest stop on the way there, Rachel returns to her car to find a note on the windscreen asking for her help. The note is from Hannah & she wants Rachel to help her find out what really happened to her sister twenty five years earlier.

This was a difficult book to read. Not because it's badly written but I found the subject matter harrowing. The narrative is told from Rachel's point of view but we also get Hannah's view of what happened all those years ago in the form of letters to Rachel. Both storylines look at the price that women & girls pay when it comes to sexual assault.  Rachel asks a pertinent question about why murder & rape are viewed so differently - people tend not to argue a murder victim "asked for it" but the same doesn't apply to sexual assault. Why? Does a victim have to be dead before they can get justice? With conviction rates at an all time low this is a well-written, timely read but a difficult one.

My thanks to NetGalley & publisher, Canelo, for the opportunity to read an ARC.  I am voluntarily giving an honest review.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault and Sexual violence

Moderate: Suicide

rpremo's review

dark sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.75

A good read but pretty straightforward. Not heart racing and only one small but obvious hint gives away the only surprise to the ending. Pretty much a bummer read but not graphic. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, and Sexual violence

Minor: Car accident and Physical abuse

nicksalex's review

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual harassment, Panic attacks/disorders, Murder, Car accident, Bullying, Alcohol, Fire/Fire injury, Death of parent, Cancer, Rape, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual content, Physical abuse, Violence, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Alcohol, Suicide, Pedophilia, and Death of parent

vj_thompson's review

challenging dark emotional hopeful mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A thought provoking story that depicts why sexual assault cases next see the light of a court room. The process is time consuming, lawyers can brutal, and it may do more harm than good. 

Megan Goldin is an auto-buy author. The first book I read by her was Stay Awake. She does an amazing job at character building and touching on subjects matters like sexual assaults or mental health conditions. These topics are normalized in Megan’s stories. I found myself both times rooting for the main characters, and the side characters, wishing them all a happy and successful outcome.

I am looking forward to reading the sequel, and I hope our main character Rachel continues to fight the good fight.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Child abuse, Grief, Bullying, Violence, Death of parent, Sexual harassment, Emotional abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Death, Alcohol, and Murder

Moderate: Car accident, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Fire/Fire injury, Alcoholism, Cancer, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicide, Terminal illness, and Domestic abuse

Minor: Pedophilia, Animal cruelty, Stalking, and Gun violence

nessy's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? N/A
• Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Rape

haleysversion's review

dark mysterious sad 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? Yes

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Child death, Blood, Mental illness, Sexual content, Alcohol, Bullying, Car accident, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Medical content, Murder, Rape, Suicide, Death of parent, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicidal thoughts

dawndola's review

slow-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

This is more of a crime procedural with some mystery than a thriller. It had simple writing, editorial errors galore, ridiculously short podcast episode chapters, and didn't have any 'edge of your seat' aspects that I would expect from a thriller. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, and Violence

pibblemama17's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Rape

reillya's review

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Rape, and Bullying

grettypop's review

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring mysterious tense fast-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? Yes

4.0

Rachel Krall is a famous true crime podcaster, known to uncover information better than the bureaucratic justice system allows. For this season of her podcast, she decided to cover the controversial rape case of K, by an up and coming rich swimmer. Murder is easy to judge - it's wrong. We all know that. But when it comes to rape, people love to victim blame. And there is someone leaving notes for Rachel on the windshield of her car.....

I will say this right now, do NOT read this if you can't stomach description of rape, sexual assault, and violation of minors. The book is very descriptive, and I found myself having to take breaks after certain parts.

The story runs of 3 lines:
#1 - Rachel's POV and what is happening to her right now - aka going to trial and getting creepy notes from a stranger
#2 - The actual podcast episodes covering the rape trial of K
#3 - The notes, written by someone named Hannah, covering the alleged murder of her sister from 25 years ago

I did NOT see a lot of twists coming. The book kept me engaged, excited to read on. I loved the audiobook version, because the podcast chapters are actually recorded like an episode. A very VERY good thriller for spooky season!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Rape, Child death, and Child abuse