The Night Swim is thought provoking, compelling and provides important and timely commentary on sexual assault and rape. It seems that a lot of authors lately have been inserting sexual assault and rape into their books and most of the time, it comes off as gimmicky and even disrespectful. Goldin thoughtfully and carefully examines the complexities of a rape trial and particularly, how often the victim is blamed, not believed, and forced to relive the trauma when testifying.

Goldin's character development was strong and I felt like I got to know each of the characters throughout the book. There was also an unexpected twist that I did not predict but was completely believable. Overall, a well-written and powerful book that contains two very compelling mysteries.

I don't quite know how to begin this review other than to say that The Night Swim by Megan Goldin is an amazing read! If you like murder-mysteries and are a fan of true crime podcasts, then this book will be right up your alley!

The story follows Rachel Krall, a podcaster who has made quite a name for herself in the true crime genre, much like the real-life Serial. The latest season of her hit podcast "Guilty or Not Guilty" centers around a violent rape case very reminiscent of the Brock Turner scandal that was in the news a few years ago. A rich, talented college kid is accused of brutally raping a high school girl. He claims that the sex was consensual and she's made up the rape story because she was angry when she found out he rated her sexual performance poorly to his friends. His family has money and pays everyone and anyone they can to portray their son as this angelic, kind-hearted young man on his way to earning a spot on the Olympic swim team.

Rachel attends the trial and records her podcast episodes in real time as a way of putting her listeners "in the jury box." The chapters in the book alternate between Rachel in real time, her podcast episodes, and letters from Hannah (more on her later). The rape trial itself is very interesting. Goldin does a great job making the trial experience seem authentic and suspenseful. She shows how rape accusations divide people. Defendants of the accused claim that women can be vengeful and falsely cry rape whenever they get their feelings hurt and want to destroy a man's life. Defendants of the accuser cry out against the unfair treatment victims often undergo after they've summoned the courage to come forward. Some would say that victims are violated all over again by the justice system when they go through the painstaking process of testifying in court only to see their rapists set free because of reasonable doubt.

I was very invested in the court case and loved how Goldin was able to tie it into a second mystery within the same novel. While she is attending the trial and recording her podcast episodes, Rachel is sent several messages asking for her help in finding out the truth behind a murder decades earlier. This subplot revolves around Jenny, a young girl who supposedly drowned while swimming in the sea at night. Her sister, Hannah, knows that her sister was murdered, but needs Rachel's help to figure out who was responsible. Rachel divides her time between the rape trial and this murder mystery from the past. It turns out the two cases are connected, but in a way that I wasn't expecting.

Overall, I couldn't put this book down. I loved every bit of it. Goldin did a wonderful job weaving the two storylines together seamlessly. The story was fast-paced and kept me reading late into the night. There are some scenes that were hard to get through because they were so heartbreaking and unsettling, but Goldin handled the sensitive material in a way that kept it from crossing a line for me. I will absolutely be checking out what this author comes up with next!

My Rating: ★★★★★
At the time of this post, this title is set to be released on August 4th, 2020.

*Thanks to St. Martin's Press and Netgalley for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!

*Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin Press for the ARC.*

Incredible! Captivating! Thrilling!

A haunting story that will stay with you days after you finish reading. There were times where I was shaken up, crying, laughing but I could not put this book down. This book that made me feel like I was living within the pages and pulled me into the story making me feel like I was a character involved.

This truly is a great book.

Rachel Krall hosts a successful true crime podcast, and her career is dedicated to sharing criminal trials in real time with her devoted listeners. When the latest crime brings her to the oceanside community of Neapolis, NC, Rachel becomes embroiled in developing a podcast covering a rape trial. The town is polarized over the allegations. A handsome golden boy headed for Olympic fame has been accuses of raping a teenage girl. Emotions are running rampant as Rachel covers the trial, aiming to present an unbiased view of what is happening in the courtroom. While in Neapolis, Rachel is contacted about the death of another teenage girl from twenty five years ago, Jenny Stills. While Jenny's death was never classified as a homicide at the time, her sister has always believed that Jenny was actually murdered. Rachel finds herself caught between trying to create her podcast on the current rape, as well as investigate the mysterious death from years ago. As Rachel becomes more enmeshed in the community, it appears more and more that Jenny's death may in fact have been the result of foul play.....and that it could be potentially connected to the current rape case.
Rachel begins a race against time to help reveal the truth about what happened to Jenny. However, it becomes clear that someone does not want her looking too carefully into the past.....and will go to whatever lengths necessary to protect their reputations, as well as their lives.

I read The Escape Room by Megan Goldin and it was one of the best books that I had read in 2019. When I saw this book I thought it would by of a similar vein and was really looking forward to reading it. I didn’t expect it to be like this, totally heartbreaking. But it was totally brilliant too. Wow, what a great read and a really awesome up and coming author. I really look forward to what Goldin is going to throw at us next!

The part that drew me in was that podcasts and armchair detectives are so in right now. This was a who done it that will shock you!

I really liked the format of this novel. I also enjoyed learning about podcasts and I liked the characters a lot. I look forward to more from this author.

Wow. Just, wow. This was an unbelievably all-too-believable book that was so well-presented and emotionally charged that I couldn't put it down... I was on vacation when I started reading. I had read The Escape Room and liked it as a fairly easy thriller - interesting and well-paced and a quick, easy read - and figured Goldin's second would be more of the same. When I started reading, realized it was a book about rape and violence against women, I almost put it down. I didn't see how it could be another "easy thriller" given the topic. I tend to avoid these as topics, and they certainly aren't "vacation reads"... But from the opening paragraphs I was completely and utterly drawn into Goldin's world and simply couldn't stop reading until I knew what had happened - both to K and to Jenny (and Hannah, of course).

The choice of a true-crime podcaster as the protagonist gave the story an angle that I was less familiar with and I found Rachel to be a totally accessible, believable character who felt like a "regular" person thrust into an extraordinary series of events. It never felt forced, she never acted in ways that felt disingenuous or forced. She was a real person, uncovering unreal details about all too real events and worked beautifully as the source of those revelations. I have been raving about this one to everyone I know, and am exceptionally impressed at the way the author crafted a tight mysterious thriller out of the hot mess that is rape trials and rape investigations. Goldin was sensitive without being melodramatic, and her crisp prose was unflinching without feeling overdone or presented for shock value.

This was a difficult read but an exceptional one and I'm DEFINITELY a member of the Megan Goldin fan club as a result of it!

Thank you so much to Netgalley and Macmillan for this e-copy of The Night Swim!

Megan Goldin has done it again! I absolutely adored The Escape Room. The Night Swim definitely has some darker and more mature themes, but Goldin effortlessly blends real life events into her stories.

Goldin has become an auto-read author for me.

The Night Swim was a great read! I loved it. It was so engaging with curious and fearless Rachel with her podcast show going into its 3rd successful season covering a rape trial as it goes on in a backwater town. If the rape trial isn't interesting enough, which it is, then when a seemingly scary fan of her podcast, Hannah, starts leaving notes on her car, and every place Rachel seems to go, asking her to look into her sister's murder in the same town as the rape trial, 25 yrs earlier, then it really gets interesting!.

Oh the twists and turns of all the characters in this town from the current rape trial and how they tie in to Hannah's sisters murder 25 yrs before will dazzle you.

The author Meghan Goodwin is an expert weaver of words and I really, really enjoyed this book. I would recommend this book to a non reader it's so good.

Captivating, great job!

I received a free e-copy of The Night Swim by Megan Goldin from NetGalley for my honest review.

Wow, what a crazy and twisted read! A Podcaster, Rachel Krall, brings true crime to her listeners and the listeners are the jury. Covering a rape case for her next season, Rachel is dragged into another, very similar crime from twenty-five years ago. Two young girls, who were both raped and they were also shamed by their own town. Rachel is determined to uncover the truth and won't still until she discovers it.

Although it is a difficult subject to read, the writing was astounding and absolutely loved how the book shifted from victim to victim.

Loved this book, loved the resolution. Interesting story of two rapes several years apart. Small town background which helped to explain a connection between the two assaults. My only raised eyebrow involved a series of letters left anonymously for the main character. It took me five to ten minutes to read the content. My mind is thinking, this girl has lots of time and ink, and the flimsy envelope holding the contents had to hold twenty plus pages. Yikes!

Recommend for mystery lovers. Thanks to Netflix for the opportunity to read and review.

This book was incredible. Very well written with a real, compelling story that sucked you in and stayed with you long after it was done.

I love the way the writer masters both the first person and third person style. In this book I especially loved the podcasts. It was literally as if I was listening to one. The book is full of twists and turns and it will keep you guessing until the very end. Both characters, Rachel Krall and Hannah, will take you on a ride of a story within a story that will keep you wanting more but also afraid of what is to come. This book had me in tears to the point I couldn’t even relay the story to another person because it was that powerful.

In a way, I think this is a book that should be read by everyone in order to be able to get in the shoes of someone like Hannah and her sister.

Another amazing book by Megan Goldin and one I will always remember. I definitely hope we have a chance to experience what Rachel Krall has in store for the next season of her show.

I received an advanced reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review

I had some trouble getting into this one but once it took off, I couldn’t put it down. Sympathetic and engaging.

4.5 stars
This was a tough read because it deals with the subject of rape. The book explores in depth how society tends to view rape and quite frankly it's depressing. But that's also why I think it is a worthwhile read. This book is going to get labeled as a mystery or a thriller and while it certainly has those elements, there's substance here so it might be best to just want to read a story that addresses an important topic rather than just expect a page turning novel full of twists and turns to keep you entertained.

Rachel Krall hosts a successful true crime podcast and for the current season she will be covering a rape trial in the small town of Neapolis. A college swimmer from a prominent family has been accused of raping a female high school student. Rachel will spend each day in court and reporting back to her listeners everything going on in the trial. After receiving some mysterious letters from a woman wanting justice for the death of her sister in Neapolis twenty five years ago, Rachel starts digging into that case as well. This town is full of secrets.

One of the things the author explores is how accused rapists are viewed by society when they fit the so-called "golden boy" criteria. And I liked how it was addressed in the story that everyone can agree murder is wrong but yet when it comes to rape it is such a controversial topic. My blood was boiling as I read this book and that's a compliment to the writer. In my opinion it was a spot on depiction of what happens when a person accuses someone of rape. Because much of the story was told through courtroom testimony and interviews Rachel was conducting with key people in the case, you got a lot of different opinions. And while you might not agree with everyone's viewpoint, it felt realistic. That's why this is an uncomfortable read, it hits too close to home.

So there's basically two things going on in the story. There's the rape trial, but also you have Rachel slowly learning the details about the death of the sister so many years ago. Both cases added value to the story and I found at times getting emotional while reading. By the time I got to the end, I found the story to have some elements of predictability but also some stuff that was a bit surprising. But again, don't go into this one wanting some type of popcorn read as this is a story dealing with a heavy subject.

This is the second book I have read by the author and I'm once again I am impressed that she is able to incorporate relevant issues into her stories. I'm anxious to read more from her in the future. Highly recommending reading this one if you think you can handle the subject matter.

I received a free advance copy of this book from Netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

Thank you Netgalley and St. Martins Press for this Advanced Readers Copy of The Night Swim. A + thriller! It's a solid story that is very topical in this day and age. A true crime podcast host (I'm a huge fan of true crime podcasts!) takes on an "in the moment" trial where a hometown hero is accused of raping and sexually assaulting a teenager. I had read Chanel Miller's "Know My Name" memoir, and I felt that this story paralleled what happened to her.

While Rachel, our podcast host, is preparing for the trial, she comes across a note written to her asking for help in solving a 25 year old mystery surrounding another teenager who was found dead in the sea. The writer for the note tells Rachel it was a murder, and she needs Rachel's help to bring the killer to justice.

The story really gives you a fair look at both sides of the case, as well as including some creepy moments that leave you guessing. I couldn't put this one down!

Rachel is a podcaster covering a trial of a young rape victim. While in town covering the trial, she gets sucked into another incident that happened twenty-five years earlier. These 2 stories converged in a shocking twist that left me flabbergasted! This is a heavy book centered on rape and I was emotionally drained when I set this book down. Words such as heartbreaking, distressing, disturbing, and all the other synonyms for heart wrenching went through my mind as I read this! Well-written and definitely a fan of this author!

This is the second book I have read by Megan Goldin, the first one, the Escape Room was very good.
This one is about Rachel a podcaster covering a rape trial in a small town. While there Hannah asks her to investigate the death of her sister who died in the same town. This story is about one in the past and one in the present.

The book is suspenseful, and we follow along with both cases unfolding with clues that make the reader think they know what is going on. The writing is very well done and works very well.

The ending surprised me which is a good sign. Thank you, Net Galley, for the advanced copy for an honest review.

The Night Swim, was EXCELLENT! Megan Goldin really impressed me with her writing, this was a well-crafted, smart novel. Many authors would have gone into graphic details to catch the readers attention but not Goldin, she kept it at a minimal. I cannot wait to go back and read, The Escape Room, and I look forward to whatever she puts out next. A true author to lookout for.

Thank you NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an eARC of The Night Swim.

I see I’m in the minority on this one but this book did nothing for me. I could not connect to the characters and the podcast bored me. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this early release in exchange for my honest review. Not for me.