A big thanks to Michele Campbell and St. Martin’s Press for sending my an advanced reader’s copy for me to read and review as well as a finished copy to giveaway to my Instagram followers.
Title: She Was the Quiet One
Author: Michele Campbell
Release: July 31, 2018
Publisher: St. Martin’s Press
Synopsis:
When twin sisters Rose and Bel Enright enroll in The Odell School, a prestigious New Hampshire boarding school, it seems like the opportunity of a lifetime. But the sisters could not be more different. The school brings out a rivalry between them that few ever knew existed. And the school itself has a dark underbelly: of privileged kids running unchecked and uninhibited; of rituals and traditions that are more sinister than they seem; of wealth and entitlement that can only lead to disaster.
For Sarah Donovan, wife of an ambitious teacher who is determined to rise through the ranks, Odell also seems like the best thing that could happen to their small family. But how well does she really know her husband? What lengths will he go to to achieve his goals? And when one dark night ends in murder, who is guilty, who knows the truth, and who has been in on it all along? SHE WAS THE QUIET ONE. Because murderers are almost never who you expect.
My Review:
I have been waiting months to get my hands on this book and it definitely did not disappoint. In this story we are introduced to twin teenage girls, Rose and Bel, shortly after their mother has passed away from cancer and they had lost their father when they were much younger. Now being orphans, they are taken under the wing of their grandmother on their father’s side who comes from money. She immediately enrolls the girls in the prestigious boarding school Odell and sets them on their way.
Unfortunately, Odell does not work out well for either girl. The twins find themselves being pulled apart by their own unique personalities that differ significantly as they try to find friends and make a place for themselves. Bel is severely depressed over the loss of their mother, while Rose is content with focusing on her studies and doing well.
Through this depression, Bel begins associating with what others consider “negative” influences and this begins her trajectory into collapse. As the rivalry between these two sisters gets more dangerous and more personal, everyone at Odell is faced with a tragedy.
I enjoyed the characters of Rose and Bel – I was actually driven to uncomfortable anger at the feud between them, because as an older sister myself, I found it very hard to watch two sisters despise one another so openly. But it is realistically characterized from the perspective of 16 year old girls.
Two things that I found difficult to swallow were the characterizations of both Mr. and Mrs. Donovan. Not wanting to give away any of the juicy details behind the meat of this story, I’ll just say that both of them are overly consumed by their own preconceptions of how they should behave rather than feeling their own emotions. It is almost sickening to watch them unravel and discover the dark that lies within their relationship, while the world is happening around them. Mr. Donovan is a narcissistic pig and Mrs. Donovan only wants to be the perfect wife, regardless of how things make her feel.
This is a great summer read and I am thankful I was able to share my review with you! It officially releases on July 31, 2018 but you can pre order on Amazon now (link above)!
About the Author:
Michele Campbell is a graduate of Harvard College and Stanford Law School and a former federal prosecutor in New York City who specialized in international narcotics and gang cases.
A while back, she said goodbye to her big-city legal career and moved with her husband and two children to an idyllic New England college town a lot like Belle River in IT’S ALWAYS THE HUSBAND. Since then, she has spent her time teaching criminal and constitutional law and writing novels.
She’s had many close female friends, a few frenemies, and only one husband, who – to the best of her knowledge – has never tried to kill her.
Adventures in Literature 
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