Trigger Warning: Rape

This was an intense read. Nearly too intense for me and I had to put it down and simply get away from it for awhile because it was a bit too familiar and it was a lot too triggering.

In the end it was too much for me and I was unable to finish and for that I’m sad but mentally I could not handle this subject manner and that’s okay. I did enjoy the author’s prose and the characters. I will check out the authors other works.

Thank you very much for this copy of my ARC.

Thank you for providing a digital copy of The Night Swim. I ended up buying a physical copy because I realized that I am able to focus better if I have a physical copy in my hands. Below is my review of The Night Swim:

I absolutely loved The Night Swim! This is a book that I can add to my #allnighterbookstack because I stayed up until 2:30 AM to finish it! I could not put it down.

The Night Swim deals with a very tough subject (i.e. rape) and some moments are graphic but I felt that @megangoldinauthor did a great job with the way she wrote about it.

I love that it was written with two different timelines and a podcast! It was full of suspense and I was left wanting more at the end of each chapter! I will definitely be thinking about this book for a long while!

It isn't too late to join the buddy read for this book! Let me know if you are interested!

Trigger Warning: Rape

I endup ending this audio book at 50% I lost interest in this one. I liked the podcast element though.

Trigger Warning for: Sexual assault, rape

THE NIGHT SWIM by Megan Goldin: a true crime podcast, a courtroom trial and a small town with buried secrets. See my full review here:
http://www.paulatreickdeboard.com/what-im-reading/the-night-swim-by-megan-goldin

Escape Room got me hooked on Goldin’s writing and The Night Swim just confirmed that she’s now one of my favorite thriller/mystery authors.

The Night Swim was fast paced and drew me in from the start. If I didn’t have to work or sleep, I would have finished it in a day.

This was one of my favorite books this year. Two rapes, 25 years apart , written with sensitivity and delivered beautifully. There are sometimes two stories within one and they go back-and-forth. But this book they're intwined with each other and done so masterfully by the brilliant Megan Goldin. This was one of those books that I looked forward to and was excited to have received an ARC. . Thanks to Netgalley, and as always, I am forever grateful to Saint Martin’s press for allowing me to receive this ARC. Thanks to Megan Golden for writing such a 5 star story.

So many dark secrets in this small town. Rachel showed up in this small town by herself to cover a trial for her podcast but gets so much more than she barganed for. The read kept me on my toes and I thought the author did a great job with both mysteries.

#NetGalley #The Night Swim #St. Martin's Press

Rachel Krall is known for her Podcast “Guilty or Not Guilty”. The current season of the Podcast Rachel goes to a small North Carolina town to cover a rape trial. The victim is a sixteen year old girl, the defendant is a college student with dreams of becoming a Olympic swimmer.

While she is in town covering the trial she begins receiving letters from someone named Hannah. Hannah claims that her sister was murdered 25 years earlier. Jenny's official cause death was listed as accidental drowning.

Rachel investigates both cases hoping for justice for both victims. This is a very well written story that grabs your attention from page one. It will keep you on the edge of your seat and has a few shocking surprises.

Megan Goldin's The Night Swim is a me-too mystery. Rachel Krall has gained celebrity status from her true crime podcast. A note on her car windshield, begging for her help, prompts her to head to Neapolis, where a controversial rape trial is underway.

The story moves back and forth in time, revealing the heartrending back story of the note writer, and of her older sister who died at the age of sixteen. Twenty-five years later, the same community is divided over a teen girl's charge that a potential Olympian swimmer raped her.

Eventually the truth does come out - for both the cold case and the modern one - as well as disturbing links between events a quarter of a century apart.

Night Swim is definitely one of my favourites psychologically thrillers I have read recently. I love podcast style books and I am into true crime and watch alot of YouTube videos and podcasts so couldn't pass up the opportunity to read a book based around this. I thoroughly enjoyed this book and cannot wait for more.

“I’m Rachel Krall and this is Guilty or Not Guilty, the podcast that puts you in the jury box.”

So this book seemed to be all the rage on Bookstagram. Of course I had to read it!

When I saw it on netgalley I immediately asked for it when I saw podcast mentioned.
I am obsessed with True Crime podcasts!

This novel tells the story of two rapes, 25 years apart. We get to follow the cases in a court, old letters and podcast form.
This is the first court room thriller I’ve read and I’m surprised by how much I enjoyed it.

I won’t lie, I did figure out the big secret about halfway through. But let’s not forget I’m True Crime obsessed so mysteries are my jam. I still enjoyed finding out everything because the author did such a good job keeping you wanting more.

I should also add that this is a hard book to read. It involves rape and murder, that is never and easy topic. It’s heartbreaking and emotional at times, it’s not for everyone.

This probably makes Top 3 of my favorites this year so far. I enjoyed it that much!

Thanks to netgalley and St Martins Press for the copy of this book.

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

348 Pages
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Release Date: August 4, 2020

Mystery & Suspense, Rape, Sexual Assault, Legal Protocol

Hannah was a child when her sister Jenny died from an apparently drowning. Within weeks of Jenny’s death, their mother, Hope, also died leaving Hannah alone. She was adopted and moved away from the town of Neapolis.

Rachel has a podcast where she revisits criminal cases to see if justice was really served. For the current season of her show, she decides to follow along a live court case of the rape of a sixteen-year-old girl by a college champion swimmer. When Rachel starts to receive strange notes on her car, she starts to get jumpy. She has her producer look into the case that is referenced in the notes. What is bizarre is the fact that the case referenced in the notes took place twenty-five years ago in Neapolis. Is it a coincidence?

The story is face paced and the characters are well developed. It is written in first person from Rachel’s point of view. This was my first book written by this author, but it certainly will not be my last. I must note that there is sexual violence referenced in the book and it is discussed within the court trial. If you enjoy mysteries with a strong woman character, you will enjoy this book.

Although the story line in this book was good it didn't have the end of your seat excitement that I crave for in a thriller. There was a bit of mystery to it but it was almost entirely predictable. It's not a total waste of time though. It had enough substance to get me through to the end.

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin is an intriguing story within a story. Rachel Krall is starting the third season of her true crime podcast and she will be investigating and reporting on a rape trial in Neopolis. The granddaughter of the former police chief has accused one of the town’s golden boys of rape. Rachel soon starts receiving letters from an unknown sender, asking her to investigate the death of another teenager, Jenny Stills, who had drowned twenty-five years ago. Her death had been judged to be accidental but it might have been murder. Rachel, as a journalist and investigator, now has two cases on her plate and she will need to find out what really happened to these two young women. Everyone in town seems tight-lipped and uncooperative and details are obscure. The Night Swim deals with a taboo crime where the victim is often held responsible for her attack, instead of her attacker. This thriller addresses a subject that often does not see the light of day. Highly recommended. Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the e-ARC in exchange for an honest opinion.

Rachel heads to Neapolis to record the next season of her hit podcast, Guilty or Not Guilty. There, she plans to cover the trial of an alleged rape that has the town completely divided. What she doesn't expect to find there is another captivating story of a possible murder that happened twenty five years before. It seems that no one in town wants to talk about the cold case; instead, they are all too happy to let sleeping (dead) bodies lie. Can Rachel stay focused on what she went to Neapolis for, or will she find herself getting more pulled into the possible murder and realizing there's more to it than meets the eye?

"Until recently, if you'd asked me, I would have told you that I've never been a victim of a sexual assault. In my mind, that involved being dragged into an alley and forcibly raped by a stranger. Things are changing. We're starting to admit that rape and sexual assault can happen in a multitude of ways. We're starting to acknowledge that it permeates our lives as women. I guess you could say that society was in denial for, well, really, forever."

Okay, so this took me awhile to get into and get through. Unpopular opinion, I know. As I was reading it, I kept telling myself this is normally a book I would really be into, but it just wasn't happening. I think it was a case of wrong book at the wrong time for me. I started this right when I went back to work, and there's no tired like beginning-of-the-year teacher tired. I had a hard time keeping the story lines straight as the two (the story told at the beginning of the podcast and the unveiling of the main plotline) were so similar. I think if I read this book at a different time, I'd be raving about it. That being said, I can absolutely see why people are raving about this book. It covers such a heavy topic in a way that invites conversation. And it's such an important conversation to have. I can see book clubs devouring this book and champing at the bit to discuss it at their meeting.

This book was absolutely fantastic. I loved the podcast mixed in with the different points of view. I really enjoyed this book!

The Night Swim is a decent thriller but unfortunately it did fall a little flat for me. I really wanted to love this book. This isn’t to say the book is uninteresting or poorly written, it just didn’t capture that “wow” factor for me.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for this ARC.

This book put me in a reading slump. I was waiting for it to pick up speed and get more interesting but it never did. I ended up DNFing the book at page 151. Maybe I will be able to find an audiobook of this and finish it in the future. However, I have to put it aside. The characters are not interesting and the plot jumps back and forth between past and present. It also follows several storylines that also jump back and forth.

Megan Goldin became an instant purchase for me after I read Escape Room last year. The Night Swim did not disappoint! It was so interesting to figure out the mystery from the past, read about the ongoing trial, and read the podcast. Every element kept me intrigued!

This was an awesome thriller that you won’t want to put down until the very end!!
The chapters were short and told from different persons point of view.
I highly recommend picking this one up.