I think this is, by far, one of the best books that's I've read this year (2020)!

I thoroughly enjoyed the different perspectives of the book, from that of the Podcaster Rachel, to those actually involved in the story! I actually really enjoyed most of the characters as well!

I am impressed that the story line was pretty unique compared to your standard ole mystery! I was super surprised by ending! I was able to get right through the book so it was a quick, easy, but most importantly enjoyable book!

I really enjoy books that have multiple narrators, especially when there are several prominent characters and these narrators did not disappoint!

The Night Swim was narrated by a stellar cast consisting of Bailey Carr, January LaVoy, and Samantha Desz. The narrators of a book can make or break it, and this cast definitely made this book, for sure!

Overall, excellent read! I can't wait to share it with everyone else!

Due to St. Martins Press refusal to address the remarks made by their employee regarding Palestine, I will not be reviewing this book on social media.

This in no way has anything to do with the author. But I refuse to support anything from SMP because of their refusal to address a major issue at hand.


I was gripped from the very beginning. If you are like me and many other people that love hearing about true crime in a podcast then you get it. This brought a whole new light to podcasts and how things work.

The research that is done for them along with what the host goes through when researching each new case. I will forever be amazed at how much this book accomplished within its pages.

Doubt was sewed into every interaction between Rachel and Hannah. Not to mention trying to figure out who was who and who did what. What could you truly believe. Did what was being pursued in court really happen.

So many hot topics were brought up in this book and it's something that more people need to be talking about. We can unanimously agree murder is punishable. But rape is so gray when it comes to convictions from people. The courtroom isnt about the law. Or facts that are presented. It's about the show that attorneys can put on with the grains of truth sprinkled in.

Privilege played such a large part in this book. It's something that runs rampant in our society and it shouldn't. There is nothing fair when it comes to who has the best lawyer or who has the most sway. Justice is never truly served when the crime is squandered in the court of law when it comes to personal opinions not based on cold hard facts.

The Night Swim was a great read, but its messages will haunt me. I was sucked in from the beginning when Hannah Stills started with a story about finding out about her sister Jenny's death. The Night Swim was told in varying ways with letters to Rachel from Hannah and Rachel's Guilty or Not Guilty podcast snippets interspersed as chapters throughout the main plot. Rachel Krall goes to a small town to cover a rape case for her true crime podcast, but while Rachel is there she starts looking into an older rape/accidental drowning case (Jenny). I didn't see the ending coming, the story kept me guessing at who was really guilty. As you read The Night Swim you won't be able to help but to think about what constitutes consent, rape, or assault. Even after you think you know the technical definitions it may be not what the actual law states in whatever state you are in. The narrators are also stellar the voices are melodic and bring the story to life.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my copy of The Night Swim by Megan Goldin Narrated by Bailey Carr; January LaVoy; Samantha Desz in exchange for an honest review. It published August 4, 2020.
First off, the production of this audiobook was incredible! I would listen to anything by anyone in this cast!
Second off, what a ride. This book had me feeling so many things, questioning so many preconceived notions, and provided me with a lot of hard to swallow food for thought. I am going to be ruminating on this one for a long time.

I missed the book club meeting, but I’m glad it gave me the needed push to pick up The Night Swim! This is a great read for fans of true crime podcasts, as the character of Rachel Krall is a reporter and podcast host and her podcast series is incorporated within the novel. I definitely enjoyed it enough to look forward to reading Dark Corners (Rachel Krall, #2), although I can’t help but wish that the books were set in Megan Goldin’s home country of Australia. I would have loved to hear the audiobook in an Australian accent, which obviously would not make sense for the North Carolina setting. However, overall the audiobook production was strong. The incorporation of podcast episodes (complete with theme music intro) made the listening experience unique and immersive!

I have no idea how I missed this review, but I'm truly sorry.

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin was an absolute phenomenal audio read.
Goldin will always be an auto buy for me. Her writing is captivating, her characters are always intriguing and her stories always hook me.
I truly enjoyed listening to this book.
The narrator did such a great job at setting scene and bringing Rachel to life.

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for my ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin

DNF @ 42%

The main narrator of this audiobook (the one who reads Rachel’s chapters) seems to be trying to soften her consonants, which sounds very weird and is done inconsistently. The story itself is dark and depressing and upsetting in places. When it’s none of those things, it’s just boring. I have no other words to describe it. I’m just not interested in continuing.

Genius audiobook production, following a true crime podcaster. I believe this is the beginning of a series. The production value on the audio is really superb. Thrilling and hard to stop listening to!

Rachel Krall is a success. Her true crime podcast has had two successful seasons and set a falsely convicted man free from the murder charge he was serving time for. Now she is about to start season three and feels a great deal of pressure to make this season even more successful. Success breeds imitators and since her success, several other true crime podcasts have sprung up.

Rachel's location for this season is a small North Carolina town. There hasn't been a murder but rather a rape. The trial that is about to occur has torn the town apart. The victim is a sixteen year old girl, the granddaughter of the former police chief. The defendant is the town's golden boy, a guy from a wealthy family who is also a record-setting swimmer, bound for the Olympics before he was accused of rape.

But there are other stories in this town. Rachel starts to get letters left on her car or at restaurants where she is eating. The letter writer says her name is Hannah Stills and that her sister, Jenny, was raped and killed in the town twenty-five years ago. Jenny's death was identified as an accidental drowning but Hannah knows that isn't the truth. But Jenny wasn't from a wealthy family and her death was swept under the rug. Hannah is sure that the only chance of justice Jenny has is for Rachel to investigate the death and discover who killed Jenny.

Rachel gets caught up in both cases. The rape trial brings up repressed memories for her of the times that she was groped or worse in her own life. The death of Jenny is a mystery and as she looks into it, many of the town's most influential citizens seem to play a part in the long ago scandal. Can Rachel's podcast help to solve the cases?

Megan Goldin was a journalist for many years before she wrote this mystery. Part of her inspiration was the true crime podcast, Serial, which investigated the murder for which Adnan Syned has been imprisoned. That podcast was immensely successful and has resulted in the case being looked at again and further appeals of the sentence brought to court. Goldin's journalist experience is seen in the pacing of the novel with the two stories balanced and just enough told of each at a time to keep the tension going. I listened to this novel and there were multiple narrators each of whom told their part of the story successfully. This book is recommended for mystery readers.

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin is one of my favorite books ever read. It was shocking and sad and suspenseful and twisty. Both well-written with well-developed characters, Goldin keeps you guessing until the very end.

I received a review copy of this book from the publisher through NetGalley for my honest review. The opinions expressed in this review are entirely my own.

Goldin's narrative kept me interested, but there was something about this book that reminded me of Ruth Ware, an author that is hit or miss for me.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

This was a decent book. It had a pretty good storyline that flowed well and didn’t drag. Some of it tied up a little too neatly to be too believable, but I still enjoyed the book. I also liked the narrators. A quick read.

thank you so much to net galley for sending me a copy of this book, it was hard to read at some points but I really enjoyed the book and the way it was written, I want to read more by this author

I really don’t know why I didn’t listen to this book sooner especially since I only heard good things about it. The Night Swim was so good and had something happening in every chapter. Once I started it, I couldn’t stop listening so I could figure out the answers to my questions. I loved how the chapters switched from Rachel, our main character’s view, to Hannah, our other main character, and then to Rachel’s podcast. This book made me very angry, which is good, because it talked about how victims in rape cases are treated compared to their attacker. They are victim blamed, forced to relive their nightmare multiple times, AND testify in front of their attacker as they sit directly across the room from them. These are only the few reasons why many rape crimes are never reported and it shows how cruel society can be to victims. I highly recommend this book to everyone!

I loved this book, the chapters alternating between past, present, and podcast kept me thoroughly engaged. The storyline was great with the similar cases and I was pleasantly surprised that I didn't guess what was coming. The audio version had a great narrator who did a wonderful job keeping the characters individualized. I recommend this to thriller/podcast lovers.

Rachel Krall is a successful true-crime podcaster. Her podcast "Guilty or Not Guilty" features people believed to be wrongly accused of a crime. For her upcoming season she is covering a high profile, small town rape trial where an Olympic hopeful and has been accused of raping the granddaughter of the town's police chief.

In the midst of the trial Rachel finds a disturbing note on her windshield from a young woman named Hannah who claims her sister Jenny was murdered 25 years earlier and that the case was covered up, it was ruled as an accidental drowning. Hannah is begging Rachel to look into her sister's case which has haunted her for so many years. It appears that there are many similarities in the two cases both in this small beach town.

The subject matter of rape is a tough topic so readers should be aware of this before deciding if this is a book that they want to read. It's also a story about memory, secrets, cover ups and the justice system. It's all rolled up into a page turning mystery and courtroom drama. Told through Rachel and Hannah's third person POV, where Hannah slowly reveals her late sister's story and Rachel's coverage of the current courtroom rape trial plays out.

The characters were well explored, I felt Hannah's pain and the emotional trauma for what she witnessed and for what had happened to her only sibling Jenny. The author does a very good job tying the two similar stories together; well done overall.

TW: Rape
The dual storylines in this one will both keep you guessing. Rachel does a true crime podcast and her latest story is about a rape of a teen by the son of a prominent business man, will he get away with it? Or will justice be served? While she is engrossed in this case she is receiving letters from a woman who says her sister was murdered many years ago and would she please look into her case too? Does Rachel want to get involved in an old case that the police say was an accident not murder?
These two storylines were interesting so different yet similar and melded together well. I kind of hope the author turns Rachel and her podcast into a series.
I don’t want to give anything away this is a really hard review to write, this was a good thriller I will be buying for the library.
Bailey Carr , January LaVoy & Samantha Desz all did a great job at the narration.

4 stars

This was my first book by this author, It was pretty enjoyable. I would give this book a 3.5 star rating! It was a pretty Quick and easy read!

This book is a prime example of why I love this genre. Great read from beginning to end! A must read!

The Night Swim is beautifully written, with interesting, believable characters Jenny Stills died and her sister Hannah cannot come to terms with the death 25 years later. Memories flood back and the events of that night are described as we hear her innermost thoughts and fears till this day.