This was an unexpected read. I was expecting a thriller. This was more of a mystery. It was character driven. I found myself emotionally invested yet unsettled at times. Although it’s not what I thought, it was still well done and approached difficult topics in a respectful way. I also really enjoyed the audio aspect. I never found my mind wandering and if anything, it kept me more engaged.

I was hooked from the very beginning. Although this wasn’t mind blowing I really enjoyed it. The main character. The plot, and the cover was so amazing!

This book was okay to me but I felt like it was more about the dude that they were trying to get to get convicted then it was about the girls sister that was murdered it reminded me too much if the news then it was about a thriller

I love when a book includes two stories in one or multiple POV. In this case, Night Swim is 2 in 1. It's about a lady name Rachel that runs a podcast. While all of this is happening she attends a a trial that is trying to figure out if the young boy is guilty of rape or if the victim is lying. All while this is going on, a mysterious letter appears on Rachel's car relating to an accidental drowning that happened 25 years earlier. The letter was lefted behind by the deceased sister, Hannah. She wants Rachel to help her find out what happened to her sister because she believes she was murdered. This was a really great read of 2020. I will be adding this to my top 10 of 2020. @megangoldinauthor did a great job on this!!

#megangoldin #thenightswim #netgalley #thriller #bookreview #bookshelf #booklife #bookworm #booklover #bookinhand #bookstagram #bookstagrammer #bookaholic

I absolutely loved this book. While the subject matter was not easy it managed to grip me from the very beginning and wouldn’t let go until long after the story was done. I actually found myself searching for podcasts afterwards, something I’ve never done before.

I highly recommend this book!

Overnight Rachel Krall's name, and voice, have become recognizable by millions of people. Her podcast, Guilty or Not Guilty, has become a pop-culture phenomenon ever since she helped to prove a convicted man was innocent. Her new season is going to focus on the rape trial of a future Olympic athlete. He is young, handsome, and quite privileged. Rachel isn't in town a day before she finds a plea for help in the form of a letter on her windshield. And just like that, Rachel is pulled into another woman's story and a woman who dies twenty-five years ago. Will Rachel be able to find out what happened to Hannah while keeping a partial eye on the trial that brought her to town?

It has only been in the last couple of years that I have started listening to podcasts. There is something about the tone of a lot of podcasts that make them seem calming. The steady cadence of the narrator is almost hypnotizing. I was able to listen to The Night Swim in audiobook and I loved hearing that "tone" in this book. Rachel Krall had a very calming tone to her. She wasn't really looking to be pulled into helping Hannah, but she couldn't resist. The rape case ended the way that it should have, but Hannah's story was a little more shocking. - CLICK HERE FOR SPOILERS.



Bottom Line - The Night Swim tackles a really relevant topic in a really relevant way through the use of the podcast. Be sure to check it out if you are looking for a good read.





Details:

The Night Swim by Megan Goldin
On Twitter
Pages: 352
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Publication Date: 8/4/2020
Buy it Here!
Thank you to NetGalley for the audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

If you're like me and enjoy true crime podcasts, this is the book for you! The story follows Rachel, a true crime podcaster, as she delves into a high profile rape trial case while also searching for answers to what happened to her sister Jenny 25 years ago. I listened to this and the narration was fantastic! The story alternates timelines which created so much suspense and Kept me guessing as to how the trial would turn out but also what happened to Jenny. This was a pageturner and I loved it!

With the snippets of the podcast, the audiobook is a great way to enjoy this novel! It's a pretty dark story, but the narrator keeps you invested in finding out what happened all those years ago.

I enjoyed this better than the author's previous book. For something marketed as a thriller, it didn't take me long (maybe 20%) to figure out how it was going to play out. I know the author was drawing on a lot of ideas from current events and pop culture, but I don't like the karmic retribution implied in the way that things wrapped up.

Narration: I was already a fan of two of the three narrators going in so I knew I would enjoy this audiobook. The narration is divided between the overall story, Hannah's letters, and the podcast. Compared to other books which use podcast storylines, I didn't like this one as much, but overall I'd suggest listening to this rather than reading a physical copy.

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and Netgalley for an ALC to review.

CW: rape, sexual assault, cancer, death of a parent

I loved the narrators, I liked the interlude of the podcast. The audio really set the mood and tone.
I really enjoyed this book. It is for fans or courtroom dramas and the aftermath of the main event- like CSI, SVU, etc. I wanted to know how they were going to make the clues and two very separate timelines fit together.
I do feel like there is a large amount of talk about sexual assualt, especially in Hannah's letters and the courtroom interview of K. This will cut out some of the readers for this book. Sometimes made me want to fast forward. However the story around those scenes were strong and kept me listening to the end.

**Review posted on Goodreads and personal book review Instagram page

I absolutely loved this book!

The book alternates between the main character Rachel Krall, letters from a woman named Hannah, and episodes of Rachel’s true-crime podcast. The podcast really set the tone for the book and provided such a unique recap of facts and opinions that I found myself eagerly looking forward to those sections and wishing they were longer. I loved the idea of Hannah’s letters, which were retellings of past events, but I found that they weren’t as compelling as the current-day sections of the book. It also bugged me a little that no-one ever saw Hannah but she always showed up at exactly the right time to leave a letter for Rachel to find, which seemed impossible.

Overall, this book was hugely entertaining and I didn’t want to put it down. I ended up binging the entire thing in a weekend, and my husband got so sick of me talking about it that he decided to read it too. I will say it is more of an unfolding mystery (almost a procedural) more than a thriller. But like I said, I found it so compelling I couldn’t put it down and I’m already feeling jealous of people that still get to read it for the first time.

I listened to it via audiobook and if you have the opportunity to listen to it I highly recommend you do! It was narrated so expertly by Bailey Carr, January LaVoy, and Samantha Desz, and comes in at just under 10 hours in length. Really it felt like more of an experience or a performance than just a book!

Ever since her true-crime podcast became an overnight sensation and set an innocent man free, Rachel Krall has become a household name—and the last hope for people seeking justice. But she’s used to being recognized for her voice, not her face. Which makes it all the more unsettling when she finds a note on her car windshield, addressed to her, begging for help.

The new season of Rachel's podcast has brought her to a small town being torn apart by a devastating rape trial. A local golden boy, a swimmer destined for Olympic greatness, has been accused of raping the beloved granddaughter of the police chief. Under pressure to make Season 3 a success, Rachel throws herself into her investigation—but the mysterious letters keep coming.

This is generally not my type of book. I prefer a cozy mystery or fantasy novel, something to help me escape reality. I am so glad I got to read this book. The author did a fantastic job with such a difficult subject. I felt outrage, despair, and every other emotion in between. It was heart wrenching to hear the stories of these two young women. And, the way the two parts of the story come together was very well done.

The narrators of The Night Swim were brilliant at conveying what the characters were experiencing. Having multiple narrators worked well for this book as I am not sure the intricacies of the different characters would have come across as well with a single narrator.

DISCLAIMER: I received this audiobook free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

The night swim was an average read for me. I listened on audiobook and although I think that does great things for the podcast element of the story, for some reason I think I would have enjoyed this book more reading it physically. I stopped and restarted it twice and I can’t pinpoint if it’s the book itself I couldn’t get into or the writing style or pacing but for some reason it was just okay for me. I never felt invested in the characters. But I absolutely know I’m in the minority here on this opinion!

I loved this book! I am a big fan of thrillers and this book did not disappoint! I love the stories from Rachel and her true crime podcast. The trials and letters from Hannah are intertwined in a very intriguing way. It does have a slow burn but I liked it because the story really does keep building over time. Now that I am done reading it, I am a little sad because I want more!

I've never read something more raw and real in my life, I'm a huge supporter of advocacy and was so happy to see all the support for those who have experienced a sexual assault, it is represented with such respect I give Megan Goldin all the applause. The Night Swim will have you asking all of the hard questions such as 'What is the price of a reputation'.

Going into this one I was a little hesitant as I had heard mixed reviews of The Escape Room as well as The Night Swim, but this one was amazing! I had the chance to listen to this on audio, and suggest that you guys do the same! You truly get the podcast experience that way.

The story follows Rachel Krall who has risen to fame due to her true-crime podcast, each season she focuses on a crime and allows her listeners access into the courtrooms and to present all information so the viewers can make up their own mind. Her latest season brings her to the town of Neapolis where an ongoing rape trial is taking the town by storm - the town's golden boy has been accused of rape by the granddaughter of the police chief. Rachel throws herself into this case and while there she starts to receive mysterious letters begging her to look into the case of Jenny Stills who drowned, or so that's what everyone says but Jenny's sister claims she was murdered. It's interesting to see how the two cases start to entertwine as Rachel digs deeper to uncover the truth.
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I would like to thank NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review, all thoughts and opinions are my own.

Listening to this story read aloud was a different kind of experience. The book carries suspense, tension, fear, rage, and a whole list of other emotions to an extreme. The narrators did an excellent job of conveying those emotions and giving the characters the "voices" to make a thriller even more suspenseful. They added another dimension to the book.

This story is a rough read. Rachel Krall is taking her podcast crew on the road to cover the trial of an Olympic hopeful who is accused of raping a 16yr old. The saying, in a small town everyone knows everything, could be applied to this trial. The trail has become a huge sensation, drawing media and a crowd of onlookers everyday. As her podcast continues their coverage, Rachel has been approached by a woman asking her to investigate her sister's death 25 years prior. This investigation will stir up buried facts, crimes committed long ago and bring in a new series of clues to the current trial. An absolutely great read by an author who is getting better with each book. Add in the experience of the narration and this is a "must read/ listen" for any fan of the genre.

“The Night Swim” is the another great thriller from the best-selling author, Megan Goldin.

The protagonist is Rachel Kroll, a journalist who ends up resurrecting her career by producing a very popular ‘true crime’ podcast. For her third season of “Guilty of not Guilty: The podcast that puts you in the jury box,” Rachel travels to a small town. Initially, she’s there to cover the Scott Blair rape case. Then unexpectedly, she’s asked to look into a 25-year-old mystery. It involves a 16-year-old girl, Jenny, who died in an accidental drowning incident. But, according to Jenny’s sister, Hannah, the death is a homicide and no one in the town wants to discuss it. That’s why Hannah needs Rachel’s help to find the killer.

After reading a lot of historical fiction this year, I found The Night Swim to be a nice reprieve. It covers some very contemporary topics, such as social media and popular “true crime” podcasts. And it also deals with sobering topics like the #metoo movement and rape.

I listened to the audiobook and thought it was so compelling from beginning to end. One of the reasons why is that it’s narrated by a trio of actresses. Macmillan Audio hired three narrators—Bailey Carr, January LaVoy and Samantha Desz—who all sound great together. Some of my most favorite audiobooks involve a cast as it keeps things interesting and really brings each character to life.

Each chapter alters between stories from the narrator, Rachel and Hannah, so the listening experience seems faster pace than other audiobooks. It is so much more entertaining to listen to a cast versus only one narrator throughout the book. (Now I’m spoiled!)

The storyline I liked best feature Rachel’s podcast recordings. Not only do we listen to Rachel’s narrative, but we are treated to special effect sounds just as if we were listening to a story being told on NPR radio. For example, we hear the musical intro and outro and sounds of waves in the background while she’s reporting from the beach. It makes for a more believable, engrossing listen.


Thank you to Macmillan Audio for providing an listening copy (via NetGalley) in exchange for my honest review.

WOW!
Thank you Netgalley for the opportunity to listen to this audiobook. The thriller was amazing from the plot to the characters, but the way the audiobook was recorded added to the story. Highly recommended. The audiobook was recorded using a different voice for each point of view plus sound effects and a podcast. It has an effect of an audio theater. Listen!

Megan Goldin hooked me with The Escape Room, so I was excited to read The Night Swim. And let me tell you, this author doesn't disappoint. This one is definitely a page-turner and hard to put down. When I wasn't reading it, I was thinking about it, anxious to get back to reading. Some of the subject matter was hard to read, but the story is so compelling, it's equally hard to put down. Goldin certainly knows her stuff when it comes to building tension and keeping a reader on the edge of her seat - at least that's where this reader spent a fair amount of time. Even when I figured something out ahead of a reveal, I still thoroughly enjoyed that reveal. In fact, I thoroughly enjoyed the whole book. It's wonderfully written, gripping, and impossible to put down.
That's what I had to say about The Night Swim when I read it. Then I listened to it and this 5-star read stepped it up a few notches. I shouldn't have been so surprised given how much I liked the book to begin with and a lot of the story is done in podcast, but we have 3 narrators here and one ill-fit could mess up the whole thing. Needless to say, that wasn't a problem here, and Bailey Carr, January LaVoy, and Samantha Desz gave excellent performances from start to finish. This is a great book either way, but I have to say that I'm partial to the audio version on this one.

Thank you for the opportunity to read and review this title.

I was captivated from page one and was so excited that I had both the audio and ebook versions available to me as I couldn’t put it down and was able to easily switch back and forth. Loved it!!!