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A review by sobertyger
She Was the Quiet One by Michele Campbell
2.0
She Was the Quiet One has an interesting premise: Bel and Rose are fraternal twin sisters who are shipped off to boarding school after their mother’s death. The twins are opposites in every way—one is studious, the other wild; one is beautiful, the other plain—yet both could be considered the “quiet one”—good girl Rose or insecure Bel. It’s revealed early on that one sister has been murdered, the other sister suspected of being the murderer, and the author intentionally leaves it unclear which is which until much later in the story.
The setting of a boarding school works well for a murder mystery, and the relationship between the sisters seemed believable (rivalries, jealousies, one sister acting parental towards the other, feeling embarrassed by the other’s behaviors, etc.).
But this book just didn’t work for me for the following reasons:
1. It manages to be both predictable AND unbelievable at the same time. Predictable because it checks off a lot of cliches— creepy teacher sleeping with students? CHECK. Popular mean girls? CHECK. And so on. Unbelievable because of the unbelievable (and stupid) actions of married teachers, Sarah and Heath.
2. The book takes place at a boarding school with most of the characters being teenagers, but the school seems totally unrealistic. For example, a teenager is sexually assaulted (shared on SnapChat), but everyone (including adults) downplays the incident—mandated reporters fail to report it, and the teenager and her roommate are both bullied after reporting the incident. Also, the school picks a new headmaster the morning after a student is found murdered. People are going around congratulating him and no one seems at all traumatized by the murder—completely bizarre.
3. The teenagers don’t sound like teenagers, and some of the dialogue is just strange. For example, Rose and others were constantly talking about Bel “running with a fast crowd” or being part of a “crew” or “gang.” I have NEVER in real life heard of people being part of a “fast crowd”—seems very Sweet Valley High (speaking of unrealistic teenagers 😂). Someone even said “YOLO” (granted it was a teacher, but his wife then replied that he sounded like the kids)—I have not heard a single teenager say YOLO in years! Plus no one seems to understand how SnapChat works.
4. The book normalizes teacher/student affairs. It’s just creepy and gross for a teacher to prey on a student, and just because teenagers on tv shows look like (and are played by) adults in their mid-twenties does not mean this is acceptable. The adult (authority figure) in these situations holds all the power and fifteen-year-olds in real life look like and act like (because they are) KIDS.
5. I absolutely did not understand the character of Heath. He behaved in ways that made absolutely no sense, and I had a hard time believing that a character would make the incredibly stupid and careless decisions that he made, given what he was risking (his marriage and career). His wife, Sarah, was a weak and disappointing character as well (her lack of integrity didn’t fit with the nice and caring teacher image we were supposed to buy).
The setting of a boarding school works well for a murder mystery, and the relationship between the sisters seemed believable (rivalries, jealousies, one sister acting parental towards the other, feeling embarrassed by the other’s behaviors, etc.).
But this book just didn’t work for me for the following reasons:
1. It manages to be both predictable AND unbelievable at the same time. Predictable because it checks off a lot of cliches— creepy teacher sleeping with students? CHECK. Popular mean girls? CHECK. And so on. Unbelievable because of the unbelievable (and stupid) actions of married teachers, Sarah and Heath.
2. The book takes place at a boarding school with most of the characters being teenagers, but the school seems totally unrealistic. For example, a teenager is sexually assaulted (shared on SnapChat), but everyone (including adults) downplays the incident—mandated reporters fail to report it, and the teenager and her roommate are both bullied after reporting the incident. Also, the school picks a new headmaster the morning after a student is found murdered. People are going around congratulating him and no one seems at all traumatized by the murder—completely bizarre.
3. The teenagers don’t sound like teenagers, and some of the dialogue is just strange. For example, Rose and others were constantly talking about Bel “running with a fast crowd” or being part of a “crew” or “gang.” I have NEVER in real life heard of people being part of a “fast crowd”—seems very Sweet Valley High (speaking of unrealistic teenagers 😂). Someone even said “YOLO” (granted it was a teacher, but his wife then replied that he sounded like the kids)—I have not heard a single teenager say YOLO in years! Plus no one seems to understand how SnapChat works.
4. The book normalizes teacher/student affairs. It’s just creepy and gross for a teacher to prey on a student, and just because teenagers on tv shows look like (and are played by) adults in their mid-twenties does not mean this is acceptable. The adult (authority figure) in these situations holds all the power and fifteen-year-olds in real life look like and act like (because they are) KIDS.
5. I absolutely did not understand the character of Heath. He behaved in ways that made absolutely no sense, and I had a hard time believing that a character would make the incredibly stupid and careless decisions that he made, given what he was risking (his marriage and career). His wife, Sarah, was a weak and disappointing character as well (her lack of integrity didn’t fit with the nice and caring teacher image we were supposed to buy).