Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for granting me free access to the advanced digital copy of this book.

Unfortunately this was a rare DNF for me. I couldn’t get into it and struggled to relate to the characters.

Swimming with Ghosts's greatest strength is its moodiness. You can feel the oppressive heat and humidity and the swampiness of the pool.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARCf for an honest review.

Well.
Not what I expected. I *thought* I was getting a juicy swim club mom drama - more in line with petty little differences and nitpicking - what I got was a much heavier version of that. I absolutely hated the character of Kristy. She pretty much sucked the entire book. My heart broke for Gillian because of all of her losses (her husband really isn't a loss because he was a jerk) and for how she came to craft a fakebook perfect persona :( Much more complex than what I expected, but overall would recommend. I was provided a digital copy of Swimming with Ghosts by Netgalley, Michelle Brafman and Keylight Books in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you to Netgalley, Turner Publishing and the author for this ARC in exchange for my honest review!

Michelle Brafman’s Swimming With Ghosts follows two families as they navigate a secret that both connects and destroys them. Told from the multi-POVs of Gillian, Charlie, Kristy, and Justin, chaos ensues as secrets are uncovered, dirty laundry is aired, and irreversible choices break a family apart. You can expect this to be FULL of drama.

However, as exciting as it sounds, I found that it dragged for the first 2/3’s of the book.. I kept putting it down and it took me far too long to finish. Still, I pushed through (mostly because it was an ARC and I was determined to review it), and found the last 1/3 to be much quicker in pace. If it weren’t for that ending and the multi-POV, it probably could’ve put me in a slump.

Overall, I’d say this one was okay. I thought it would be more suspenseful but found it lacking. Not memorable for me but not bad.

The premise of this sounded so interesting, but sadly it’s not written in a way that makes the best of such an intriguing plot.
Gillian Norton Cloud is the Queen of the River Run Club and Pool. Not only did she grow up there, but her father is famous for the swan dive he dove, the one Gillian captured on film and the one that made the Norton family so famous at River Run. In the summer of 2012 things start going awry when Gillian’s meek husband, Charlie, decides to take a more prominent position at the swim club as head coach. Then her best friend, Kristy, starts acting crazy and Shannon, a new Swim Mom, steps in and changes up the big Luau. Gillian‘s life is like an iceberg- she posts multiple times a day to Facebook and anyone who just knows her family from that is only seeing the pristine tip. They don’t see all of the cracks and broken off chunks that are happening beneath the surface and as long as Gillian has her way, that’s how it will stay- even when Kristy’s unraveling soon leads to the unraveling of Gillian’s not so perfect life.
If I didn’t know any better, I’d say Michelle Brafman had some pretty serious daddy issues going on while writing this. The underlying theme appears to be dysfunctional people and daddy issues and it got pretty old very quick.
This book is written in third person from the viewpoints of Gillian, Charlie, Kristy, and Justin, Gillian and Charlie’s youngest son. While it’s nice because we get a comprehensive telling of the story, we are also drawn in to the dysfunction these people are and it’s really a little much. I think Ms. Brafman had a good idea for the subject matter, but the execution falls severely flat.
The amount of formatting issues this copy contained is truly appalling. It was very hard to read because several words were missing letters and I had to really think about what was written. I sincerely hope when this went public those issues were fixed.
Thank you to NetGalley and Turner Publishing Company for an advanced copy of this book. This hit shelves on June 13th.

Swimming with Ghosts is a really interesting novel about how early trauma has affected the two main characters, and the difficult relationships that can exist within families. A really enjoyable read set in the world of swimming.

I simultaneously didn’t like this book and also needed to see how it ended?

It dragged in places but picked up towards the end.

Some of the details were messy which annoyed me and the POVs were hard to keep track of.

Some parts were so out there but also predictable at the same time.

I was hooked with having to see how it ended. Overall I felt that the idea was there but the execution was not.

Thank you to Netgalley and Turner Publishing Company for providing an ARC of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

"Swimming With Ghosts" is a family drama that is centered around a neighborhood swim club. I belonged to a swim club growing up, so I enjoyed reading about the nuances and funny tropes that often occur at them. I loved the cover art, and the title.

I didn't really connect with any of the characters, nor did I really like any of them. The pacing felt a little slow at times, but I was genuinely interested to see how things wrapped up.

This novel definitely veers into some darker subject matter despite it's lighter feel initially. Some of the characters' decisions seemed a stretch.

Overall, this was a novel I enjoyed but didn't love.. 3.5 stars

I had never heard of summer neighborhood swim league until I moved to Georgia with my family two years ago. and was repeatedly asked if my teenage competitive swimmer was going to swim summer league. So, I was intrigued when I read the description of Swimming with Ghosts. Set in Northern Virginia at the River Run neighborhood swim team, the Manta Ray, this story is part satire, part domestic suspense, and ultimately deals with some heavy subjects such as addiction and generational trauma, in a way that doesn't feel to heavy to the reader. I appreciated the social commentary on social media, cliques, and parental over involvement in kids sports. While reading this book, I felt like I had a front row seat to the biggest train wreck, in the best possible way. I took a little bit to figure out where the story was going, back once I did, I was there for the ride.

I really enjoyed this book and hope to read more from this author in the future.

Thank you to NetGalley and Turner Publishing Group/Keylight Books for the free eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Swimming with Ghost makes you feel like you're taking a deep dive into the secrets of River Run Club, plunging with the characters Gillan, Kristy, Justin, and Charlie as they each unravel bit by bit as the secrets start coming out.

River Run Club is a community pool and home to the Manta Rays, the kid's swimming club. It is run by Gillian, who pours her heart and soul into this pool community. But it can soon be seen that it no longer will be just about the kids. It is about the adults too, who are slowly tearing at the seams letting hurtful addictions take place.

It was like you were sitting at the pool in the summer sun while watching all this drama come over you. This book was so enjoyable because the chapters were short, and the characters could clearly be distinguished. If you are looking for a quick read, this is the book for you!

Thank you, Turner Publishing Company and Keylight Books, for this wonderful and suspenseful ARC!

This book felt so poignant to me, almost nostalgic. As as former summer swimmer on a team just like the Manta Rays, and with a very active mother in terms of making sure the team is well-fed and taken care of during swim meets, I felt like I was dropped right into the heart of my past.

"Swimming With Ghosts" is a suspenseful family drama surrounding two families plagued with jealousy and betrayal and a neighborhood swim club in Virginia. One family, the Cloud's, is run by swim team organizer Gillian, who's been a part of the River Run swim club since she was a child, when her father, Sebastian Norton, was the superstar of the club. But while everyone found Sebastian charistmatic and larger-than-life, his wife and children knew the truth - that he was a drunk. In present day, her husband Charlie has volunteered to be the new team coach, and he goes from a lazy, uninspired corporate employee to a head-shaven, fit, popular swim coach. Gillian's best friend Kristy Weinstein notices, and as a love addict, se becomes obsessed with him. She also has a major secret to tell, and she's behaving so erratically that the reader knows that something is about to blow up everything during the final party of the swim season.

It's such an interesting contrast, these characters trying to fake their way through endless summer days, trying to convince their children that everything is a-OK, when in reality you're seeing these characters unraveling at the seams and their children DEFINITELY noticing. Dysfunctional family histories, alcoholism, suppresssing emotions, addiction to presenting life as "perfect" on social media, obsessions...they're all slowly revealed until an unexpected yet fulfilling storm of activity at the end. Such a uniquely structured novel - who would have thunk a book stationed at a pool, revolving around a diving motif, could be so enjoyable. I wouldn't call this a light beach read, but I'd call it a sophisticated page-turner!

Thank you to NetGalley and Keylight Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review. Find this book July 4, 2023!

It's got good characters and interesting plot surrounding the world of competitive swimming. I appreciated the humor but I found it a bit dragging.

Oh this is one you will not want to put down. The story is so well developed with the sports crazed parents being something parents can relate to. To watch the drama unfold throughout the course of this book is captivating.

Swimming with Ghosts is a domestic suspense/family drama that centers around the community pool, River Run, and the kids swim team, The Manta Rays. It reminded me a little of Beartown, where a sport league for kids turns into something taken over by adults who make it their whole personality. That is about the only similarity between the two books because after that, Swimming with Ghosts is about the drama that unfurls as swim moms become obsessed with social media, cliques, and more hurtful addictions. The ins and outs of the families and their complicated histories comes to a head on the night of a swim team party, and during a catastrophic storm. I was hooked reading this book and finished it really quickly. I loved the different perspectives and short chapters.

Thank you to netgalley, Michelle braufman, and Turner Publishing Company/Keylight Books for this ARC!

Northern Virginia is my home, and this area is so prevalent throughout the plot that at times it felt like it’s own character. So many novels I read are set in Anytown, USA and it was so refreshing to see an author so unashamedly embrace and weave in their home. I honestly don’t know if neighborhood or community based pools and swim teams are a uniquely NoVa phenomenon, but this book absolutely captures the fervor of what we have here well.

Reading this book felt like watching an impending car crash play out in front of me in slow motion, and knowing what was going to happen yet feeling powerless to stop it. Also, the car crash represents C-PTSD and the rot of generational trauma mushrooming through family trees, until hopefully at least one person can recognize it growing on their own branch and either cut it out or cut themselves off and stop the spread.

The adult characters are unlikeable while making you desperately want to root for them, hug them, and recommend a great therapist, while still being a story light enough to enjoy by the pool or beach this summer. This would make a perfect book club selection as well, I will absolutely be getting mine to read SWG this summer and am looking forward to all the conversations this will prompt!

“The pool’s a drug to her: the aroma of chlorine and sunscreen, the thick awning of trees that shades the water when the sun starts to retire, the swimmers answering the call of the ice cream truck. The pool holds a charge even on a quiet day like today.”

A pool and swimming addict myself, I picked up this novel thinking it would be a very different book. Although the northern Virginia community pool of the story is the glue that binds the entire story together, I was intrigued when the entire tale (to my mind) took off in an entirely different direction, and I thoroughly enjoyed this story.

Most of the story takes place over one (optimistic) summer in 2012, as the Manta Rays community swim team gets ready to kick off another season.

The story moves quickly through the alternating perspectives of four narrators. Uber-organized Team Mom Gillian is a doyenne of the Red River swim club, a fixture of the local swimming community, following in the footsteps of her own larger-than-life father. Gillian’s husband, Charlie, recently unemployed, has never taken much interest in Gillian’s pool obsession, but something changes when the team is left without a coach. Charlie throws himself into coaching and obsessing about catapulting the fledgling team to regional champion status. Gillian and Charlie’s son, Justin, is home from college over the summer to lifeguard and coach, and grows wrapped up in the new competitive vibes. And wealthy, sexy Kristy, another Team Mom, is Gillian’s closest friend and relies on her guidance and mentorship. Their friendship is so close that they are affectionately known as “Krillian”.

It quickly becomes apparent the careless summer days at the pool simply mask the complicated ghosts of the past, with all narrators struggling with complicated, dysfunctional family histories, addictions and obsessions that are slowly revealed throughout the story and come to a head during a freak summer storm. A highly enjoyable novel about the complexities of family, relationships and of simply being being human. Highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for my copy - all thoughts are my own.

Nothing like living that mom life and dealing with other moms, their trauma all while dealing with your own trauma--what a great book. The biting wit and the satirical writing makes for a perfect combination.

a novel about the parents of competitive swimmers. Things come to a head when there is a freak storm that knocks out power. This one just was not my favorite writing style-wise. That is totally a personal opinion - if you liked the author's other books, you probably will like this one.

Loved this drama filled book. Perfect for summer.
Thanks to author, publisher and Netgalley for the chance to read this book. While I got the book for free it had no bearing on the rating I gave it.