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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
DNF. Boring she kept repeating the same shit. Badly written
The characters were not very likable and the police work is pedestrian and detracts from the story. Setting was very interesting.
As is the case with most thriller/suspense novels that I read, my review will be relatively short, since I believe it’s always best to go into these types of books knowing as little as possible. I will admit that I was a little put off at first from reading this book, as I read in the summary that the story revolves around a murder mystery at a boarding school and quite honestly, this past year, I had already read more than 1 book with this same setup. However, I decided to give it a go and am glad I did, as this one turned out to be a pleasant surprise. Most books with this type of theme usually have a narrative that focuses primarily on the students at the school and the various trouble they get into, with the teachers and/or faculty usually only briefly mentioned as side characters -- this one was different in that two of the central characters the narrative revolved around were actually teachers at the school and their roles in advancing the plot were equally as important as the students. With that said though, I didn’t particularly like any of the characters and actually found myself getting increasingly frustrated with some of them as the story moved along, but that didn’t prevent me from enjoying the overall story, which was quite compellingly written. The narrative format, alternating between the viewpoints of various characters interspersed with witness testimony from the police interrogation, actually worked really well in this instance – I liked that the testimony was worked cleverly into the plot in a way that helped build up suspense but without giving anything away.
Overall, I enjoyed this one, as the story was engaging and kept me turning the pages, despite the fact that I had already figured out most of the “mystery” early on. Perhaps I am getting better at figuring these things out now, but I felt that, while it definitely had its suspenseful moments, this was not the type of story that was filled with so many twists and turns that it ended up feeling like a roller coaster ride. The only real twist was in the Epilogue, which I thought was cleverly done in that it was unexpected, though not necessarily shocking. My only real complaint is the ending, which felt a bit rushed to me and was also a little too predictable, to the point of feeling anti-climactic, but luckily it didn’t detract too much from the rest of the story, at least not for me.
She Was the Quiet One is the second suspense / thriller attempt by new author Michele Campbell. I haven’t yet read her first book It’s Always the Husband, which came out last year, but I have that one on my TBR and do intend to read it one of these days. While I can’t comment on how Campbell’s sophomore effort measures up to her first, I will say that this one was encouraging enough to get me interested in reading more from this author.
Received ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley
Overall, I enjoyed this one, as the story was engaging and kept me turning the pages, despite the fact that I had already figured out most of the “mystery” early on. Perhaps I am getting better at figuring these things out now, but I felt that, while it definitely had its suspenseful moments, this was not the type of story that was filled with so many twists and turns that it ended up feeling like a roller coaster ride. The only real twist was in the Epilogue, which I thought was cleverly done in that it was unexpected, though not necessarily shocking. My only real complaint is the ending, which felt a bit rushed to me and was also a little too predictable, to the point of feeling anti-climactic, but luckily it didn’t detract too much from the rest of the story, at least not for me.
She Was the Quiet One is the second suspense / thriller attempt by new author Michele Campbell. I haven’t yet read her first book It’s Always the Husband, which came out last year, but I have that one on my TBR and do intend to read it one of these days. While I can’t comment on how Campbell’s sophomore effort measures up to her first, I will say that this one was encouraging enough to get me interested in reading more from this author.
Received ARC from St. Martin’s Press via NetGalley
Michele Campbell rocked this book out. This book definitely covered a variety of issues of each of the characters. While at one point, I thought it was a little too much drama for one book, she was able to tidy everything up in the end. I only gave this book 4 stars because there were times throughout the book that it dragged and I had to force myself to stay with it. Otherwise it was a great read!
I received this book free in exchange for a fair and honest review. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the egalley!
I received this book free in exchange for a fair and honest review. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martins Press for the egalley!
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
pretty good. not the best thriller, but i still liked it. plot twists were a bit easy to guess, but not terribly obvious. worth it for the $2 i paid for it
I’m a sucker for anything based in a boarding school and of course thrillers are my favourite genre at the moment so those two factors combined sold it for me!
Twins Rose and Bel Enright are enrolled at the prestigious Odell Academy following the death of their parents. Rose, the more grounded and ambitious of the two is excited to hear she’ll be starting Odell and sees it as an amazing opportunity to reach her academic goals. Bel, the wilder of the two is more of a loose canon and falls in with the wrong crowd almost immediately.
The story also follows Sarah and Heath a married couple who both work at Odell, although they appear happy and seem the perfect couple from the outside, there are troubles boiling just below the surface.
The interactions between the students could fit well into the YA genre, however it’s when the adults and kids mix that things get complicated. This would be perfect for anyone wanting to take the step from YA into adult fiction
There are plenty of twists and turns that are steadily paced throughout the book right up until the last few pages
Twins Rose and Bel Enright are enrolled at the prestigious Odell Academy following the death of their parents. Rose, the more grounded and ambitious of the two is excited to hear she’ll be starting Odell and sees it as an amazing opportunity to reach her academic goals. Bel, the wilder of the two is more of a loose canon and falls in with the wrong crowd almost immediately.
The story also follows Sarah and Heath a married couple who both work at Odell, although they appear happy and seem the perfect couple from the outside, there are troubles boiling just below the surface.
The interactions between the students could fit well into the YA genre, however it’s when the adults and kids mix that things get complicated. This would be perfect for anyone wanting to take the step from YA into adult fiction
There are plenty of twists and turns that are steadily paced throughout the book right up until the last few pages
Omg! This is a must read book. Michele Campbell is an amazing author. This story about twin sisters that soon are Orphaned and taken in by their grandmother. Is so dark and twisted, that you won’t believe the scandals, lies, and distrust that is brought about in this story.
She Was the Quiet One is the second book I have read by Michele Campbell. At first I was not sure who was the "Quiet One" as this could have been said about two of the characters in the book. The story is told by the viewpoints of the orphaned twin sisters, the head of the dorm, and his wife. The girls face the hardships of attending private school, boyfriends, cliques, drama, family relationships and murder. The one thing I dislike about the book is the wife of the dorm head ignored what was going on in front of her for most of the book. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book and this is my honest review.
dark