Anyone following my reviews my have noticed I had renewed my interest in Danielle Steel’s novels after not having picked them up for years and have been enjoying all the newer ones. Unfortunately, Moral Compass didn’t end up being a favorite of mine like so many other recent releases have been.

Moral Compass is set in an elite private school in Massachusetts that has for the first time expanded the student body to include females after being an all male school for years. Saint Ambrose Prep’s new school year will be welcoming in over a hundred new female students despite some having concerns with the change.

For a while things seem to be going well with the new changes at the school that is until Halloween comes around. One of the senior girls decided to sneak off with some of the boys to drink some alcohol one of the boys had. The night gets out of hand leading to rape and a cover up from those involved bringing in the police to investigate.

The thing I found with Moral Compass was the story was so large with trying to include students and teachers alike that it had the majority feel of the narrative telling the facts instead of showing us the story. It really felt as if getting close and personal to the characters and actual dialogue was really few and far between and with a story like this it made it hard to connect to those involved so in the end this one was just kind of meh to me.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

Thank you net galley for an advance copy of this book. I have been reading Danielle Steel books for close to 40 years and, though the tend to be formulaic, I generally enjoy them, some more than others. This one was really good, though I had problems with some of the legal concepts. This dealt with private schools, teen-age drinking and acquaintance rape, as well as how the legal system works for the very rich all concepts that are getting a lot of media attention these days. I thought the young characters were very good and well described. Only one came off as being stuck up and privileged. The adults were a mix. There was some of the 'not my kid' attitude and others attempts to just make the problem go away. I thought there should have been more follow-up with the boys.

Danielle Steel 's novel Moral Compass deals with lines of integrity and how different individuals define and integrate their moral compass. Set at an exclusive boarding school, the reader is introduced to the characters on the first day of school through the eyes of the faculty and staff of the school. The all boys boarding school is now co-ed! The staff are excited to see returning students and new students arrive. As the semester is underway, they slowly fall into a rhythm as the novelty of girls being at the school fades.

One night after their Halloween party, some of the kids start drinking and invite a girl to join them as she happens to walk by. Things go far, way too far and soon, all the students in this small group are way too drunk.

I like the way Danielle Steel handled the victim and why she would not talk. The victim's journey in Moral Compass is as important as the journey that the student who attacked this young lady and his accomplishes undertake on their way to exploring integrity. I also like how the accomplices are shown with honesty about their characters and why they are not speaking up about what happened.

Thank you to NetGalley, Danielle Steel, and Random House Publishing Group for an advanced digital review copy for me to read and enjoy. As always, my opinions are my own.


Spoiler Alert:
triggers: rape/assault

"At an elite private school in Massachusetts, a wide circle of lives will be forever changed by a devastating series of events in Danielle Steel’s riveting new novel.

Saint Ambrose Prep is a place where the wealthy send their children for the best possible education, with teachers and administrators from the Ivy League, and graduates who become future lawyers, politicians, filmmakers, and CEOs. Traditionally a boys-only school, Saint Ambrose has just enrolled one hundred and forty female students for the first time. Even though most of the kids on the campus have all the privilege in the world, some are struggling, wounded by their parents’ bitter divorces, dealing with insecurity and loneliness. In such a heightened environment, even the smallest spark can become a raging fire.

One day after the school’s annual Halloween event, a student lies in the hospital, her system poisoned by dangerous levels of alcohol. Everyone in this sheltered community - parents, teachers, students, police, and the media - are left trying to figure out what actually happened. Only the handful of students who were there when she was attacked truly know the answers and they have vowed to keep one another’s secrets. As details from the evening emerge, powerful families are forced to hire attorneys and less powerful families watch helplessly. Parents’ marriages are jeopardized, and students’ futures are impacted. No one at Saint Ambrose can escape the fallout of a life-altering event.

In this compelling novel, Danielle Steel illuminates the dark side of one drunken night, with its tragic consequences, from every possible point of view. As the drama unfolds, the characters will reach a crossroads where they must choose between truth and lies, between what is easy and what is right, and find the moral compass they will need for the rest of their lives."

It's like Gilmore Girls meets The Secret History with a bit of Gossip Girl. AKA, all things I love!

Danielle Steel delves into what seems to be becoming normal with teens, drinking and rape. Not something we want to continue happening, but this is an insightful look into how it affects everyone at the campus of Saint Ambrose Prep - victim, accused, students, faculty, parents. Once I had time to actually sit down and read, I didn't want to put it down and flew through it. Wonderful story, definitely recommend!

This review is based on an ARC from NetGalley, courtesy of the publisher. All opinions are my own.

This book is about a group of rite teens who drink too much and commit one horrible act that changes many lives. It reads like a magazine or newspaper column with no real interaction among the characters. There is too much bad language in the book that seems to be for shock value. The story is about the crime,
The detectives collect evidence. The court case that takes little time. The ending. One two three four...in the order. This is a book that young people might read. There is not much that is redeeming in the narrative and seems
to be written by someone else perhaps.

Fast storyline. Good romance. Entertaining book. A bit different from what I read before by this author. You can enjoy all D. Steel books : past and present, Including this one too.

I really love her books and was drawn in to the story. I can't wait for another one of her books.
she is one of my favorite authors and was excited to have the opportunity to read her story.

Thank you Net Galley for providing me this copy of Moral Compass by Danielle Steel! I havent read much by her before so this was a nice change. In this book she centers around an elite prep school in their first year of co-ed teaching and boarding. An event happens and everything goes wrong and changes the lives of the students. It definitely was an emotional ride with this one and kept me reading.

I received an ARC copy of this book from Net Galley in exchange for my honest opinion of it. This book was absolutely amazing and I could not put it down. It is so different than all of her other books. I need to say that I almost quit reading it after the very first chapter. Every paragraph in the first chapter introduces a new character which is very confusing but you will be glad if you stick to it because it all comes together through the story. This book focuses on the subject of rape and how a night of careless drinking can effect the lives of six people.

So many books written over so many years by Steele but this one doesn't reach the bar. The plot has been done before and the dialogue often repetitive
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this arc

This book had a very slow start and it was just too much detail and too many names to keep straight. I can see why it was done that way but it was a drag. It didn’t get good until the final chapters. I skimmed through a few paragraphs because it was slow and dragged.
Not really up to standard of other Danielle Steele books.
I did like that the some of the boys grew and changed. What was done to the young woman was despicable. And the way some the fathers acted and what they said was disgusting. I guess that’s how rich, preppy people can be. They think they can buy their way out of anything. What I didn’t like was that we got to see what some of the kids mainly one of the boys and his parents life was after everything but there was one that one wasn’t much said about. The one that did it we didn’t get to know anything else about him after everything was said and done.
It was an ok read, not one of Ms. Steele’s best work.

This is not a typical Danielle Steel book. Moral Compass is a compelling look at a co-ed private school when several of the students participate in a party that goes way too far. The story begins with a student in the hospital and no one knows the circumstances that put her there, or they are unwilling to say what happened. The school rushes to protect their legacy while the parents rush to judgement and the students close ranks. While Danielle Steel is well known for her romance based books, this one shows her books have a far wider audience than just romance. A really great read.

This was a wonderful book! It was emotional and so very real.
When a girl is raped at a prestigious school, will the rich boys get away with it?
It was nice seeing that most of the the kids were better behaved than most of their parents. I can only hope that people today can find a moral compass to go by.
Many thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read and review this book.

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I don't know anything about prep schools but if they are anything like this one......WOW!

Review blurb from description:"In this compelling novel, Danielle Steel illuminates the dark side of one drunken night, with its tragic consequences, from every possible point of view. As the drama unfolds, the characters will reach a crossroads where they must choose between truth and lies, between what is easy and what is right, and find the moral compass they will need for the rest of their lives. "

I could not have said it better!!! Enjoy! 📚

The novel flowed well and I think it covered the topic at hand (underage drinking and sexual assault) appropriately and respectfully, as well as from multiple POVs. I don't think it brought anything "new" to the table, but it was well-done and thoughtful.

Steel fans will appreciate her take on the topical issues of teenage binge drinking, sexual assault, and hidden lives- and on how parents and teachers react when things go tragically wrong. This doesn't plow any new ground on any of the themes but it's worth a read. Some of the students are more sympathetic than others but so many bad decisions! Thanks to Netgalley for the Arc. A quick read that asks you to think more than one generally expects from Steel.

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House Publishing Group for the ARC provided.

As her longtime fans of her, this is a VERY different writing style of her, and it was fabuolous, modern, and as her trademarks...everyone move along to their new journey and live happily.

The story brings us about how people make small mistakes and leads them to the big one and changed their lives forever. A nowadays issue about “rape” and how the victim have to deal with it, denial, protecting the loved ones, honesty, and how you decide an important decision for the sake of your life and everyone’s...all is happening in this book.

All characters are related with each other, all handling important rules, even I noticed a soft or slightly suspense dialogues between some characters, which is very rare for her books. And I do like this sentece : “the world needs good, honest men with a strong moral compass, not weak, dishonest ones without integrity”, one of the important point of view not just for men but also for everyone.
All in all, it’s a good book, easy read, and touching.

I’ll post the review in my Instagram and Facebook account.

Thank you Danielle Steel for another great story from you.

I have never read a Danielle Steel book before, but had heard of the books she wrote.

This book was very different. It talked about a subject that seems to be a recurring topic in the news (sadly). Underage drinking and rape are the topic of this book and what happens when secrets are kept and parents who can afford lawyers vs. parents who can’t.

It was a good read, but not my favorite. A very long introduction at the beginning and explaining who was who and that was not easy to get through.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ebook copy in exchange for an honest review.

I always enjoy this author’s books and Moral Compass was no exception. The plot was spot on with events today. I received an arc from the publisher and Netgalley and this is my unbiased review.