I flip-flop on where I stand with this one. I really liked the past perspective, but the present timeline felt like it dragged. I feel like if we were given more connective tissue between the two timelines, it maybe would have elevated the plot. The characters were good, and the atmosphere was great.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me the opportunity to be able to read and review this book!

5/5

When Lou was in high school, she was accepted on scholarship to an all-girls school in Ireland. However, things take a dark turn when she is entrenched in the tragedy of her best friend, Shauna, who committed suicide. Now, years later, Lou is contacted by Shauna's brother. There is a new investigation brewing around another teacher at the school, and Lou is asked to assist by providing a testimony. This sends Lou into a tailspin as she grapples with the trauma of losing her best friends, and uncovering the secrets of what really happened all those years ago.

This dark academia is a great fall read-- but be warned: McPhillips covers some very tough topics. Trigger warnings for trauma and SA/abuse.
Overall, this was a fast read for me. Intriguing plot and the story was told through two timelines, which has been trending my most recent reads. I have really grown to like alternating timelines to tell a story, and this was no exception.

very cool old boarding sfchool vibes, feels very unique with a fun little twist and a worth while little plotline. tysm for the arc

Wow! I loved the suspense in When We Were Silent. I loved the dark academia setting and couldn't wait to figure out the ending!

"When We Were Silent" by Fiona McPhillips: 📖💭 "Just finished 'When We Were Silent' and my emotions are all over the place! 😢💔 This powerful novel resonated with me on so many levels. A must-read for anyone who loves historical fiction with a heart-wrenching twist. 📚❤️ #BookReview #HistoricalFiction #EmotionalReads"

A heavy read with a somewhat slow pace. When We Were Silent covers the checkered past of an elite private school in Dublin. While the idea of the book was fantastic the execution was less than ideal. I found it difficult to follow the timelines and the book seemed to move very slow.

This book is, if nothing else, very hard to read, and I feel compelled to mention that here because the emotional difficulty of the material isn’t evident in the publishers summary.

I suppose the question becomes, do we “need” more books like this? They’re hard to read, they’re not telling us anything we (unfortunately) don’t already know, they’re triggering for assault and abuse victims, and I don’t think they’ll even be picked up at all by those who need to be convinced that our world doesn’t just deny justice to most female assault victims, but also blames them and treats them reprehensibly.

Given that, there’s no enjoying a story like this, only bearing witness. I’ll let each reader decide whether they think they personally need to do so. McPhillips writes very thoughtfully and she weaves a complex and well-paced story, though I hope the big reveal at the end wasn’t meant to be a surprise (did anyone not see this coming from the second we knew there was a murder?)

In all, I’d call this well conceived but I can’t say I liked it. And while Lou and Joe are lovely and easy to root for, Shauna is only sympathetic as a victim, but ultimately difficult to see as anything but a coward willing to destroy another innocent person to protect her own privacy (that she comes around in the end MUCH later doesn’t really matter), and Lou’s mother is…truly something else.

I absolutely adore dark academia, so it should come as no surprise that I loved this one!

When We Were Silent is perfect for fans of dark books! I think the comparisons to My Dark Vanessa and Dare Me are pretty accurate for the tone and subject matter.

Immediately from the start of this book I was intrigued by Louise Manson. The story launches in the present day and we see Louise scrambling at the possibility that something from her past might come to light. What is this secret she doesn’t want out in the world? Well buckle up because McPhillips is taking readers back to the past for a front row look into Louise’s life. I really enjoyed that instead of alternating timelines chapter by chapter, McPhillips gave us chunks of past and present, which really allowed me to be absorbed in each timeline.

There were some parts of Louise’s past that were easy enough to see coming as you watch her life spiral, but McPhillips also managed to surprise me in the way that these events unfolded. The cast of secondary characters was vital to this process as their unreliable attitudes and actions had me guessing what they would do next and how it would impact Louise.

Bravo to Fiona McPhillips! This debut was eloquent, heartbreaking, and captivating to read.

There are a lot of triggers inside these pages and I definitely recommend checking on Storygraph before picking up a copy.

This is a book I listened to on audio a couple of months ago. I was intrigued by the premise of what was being marketed as a dark academia thriller.


The audio of this was really well done and that is what got me through. This is not a thriller, rather it is an exploration of trauma and abuse and how the effects of it never truly leave us and can reverberate for decades. It made for an emotional and devastating read. I didn’t dislike it but it was not what I expected and that threw me off a bit. This was a tough read just because the subject matter was so heavy but I do think it was well done. Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for this audio arc.

WHEN WE WERE SILENT is a tense, emotional, and suspenseful read. McPhillips expertly constructed a story filled with twists, turns, and secrets bubbling to the surface. Each element of the plot and all the characters met within these pages worked hand in hand to deliver an addictively thrilling and dynamic book.

In a story like this, there has to be reverence for the subject matter. The author should develop the characters and move the narrative forward through honesty while honoring all emotions that can be experienced. And, McPhillips did this perfectly. She created a thriller centering around abuse and murder in a way that did not exploit the topic. It didn’t shy away from any aspect. The author brought the reader into Louise’s past and present with eloquence and candor. It was quite a touching and compelling read.

WHEN WE WERE SILENT is one of those books that stays with you. Reading Louise’s experience brought to mind all those accounts we don’t hear about. The ones that were silent or silenced. There is power in telling this type of story and I am certainly glad I was able to read it.

Audiobook Note: India Mullen narrated this book brilliantly. I did need a moment to adjust to her accent, but after the first few chapters, I was right in the thick of it with our characters. Mullen brought to life Louise and enhanced the story through her diction and pace. Having spent about half of the time with this book in audio format, it was a great way to continue reading it.

When We Were Silent is the debut novel of Irish journalist Fiona McPhillips, and it seems perfectly timed for the #MeToo era.

Louise Manson, a young woman from the wrong side of Dublin, gets accepted into a posh private school. But Lou has an agenda: She believes a coach at the school is a predator and targeted one of her friends. Eager to expose him, Lou finds herself drawn into his web.

The book toggles back and forth between Lou-the-student in the 1980s and adult Lou, a professor. She thinks she's (mostly) left the scarring events of the past behind her when new allegations prompt her to revisit the 1980s.

That sort of time-switching can sometimes make a book hard to follow, but McPhillips keeps the back-and-forth to a minimum. The sections of the book are also well sign-posted. Thank you, author, for not making us spend the first few paragraphs of each section figuring out where we are on the timeline!

The plot is intricate and well-executed, and Lou is a compelling heroine. Although the setting is Ireland in the 1980s, the issues the book addresses are – alas – timeless.


I received an early review copy from NetGalley.

Unfortunately, this just wasn't for me. I find it difficult to get into books that heavily rely on the reader's knowledge of a place or time. The flashback sequences didn't really feel like they were set in a different time, but they were at least more interesting than the present day chapters. I found myself bored reading about Lou's life and wished we could just skip back to figuring out what happened. It wasn't poorly written, but it was just too tedious for me.

This audio was on of my faves of the last few weeks! A solid 5⭐️ read and listen! Dark and Surreal Academia with dual timelines decades apart! Also I loved the Irish narrator’s accent and inflections while reading. It really kept me fully in the story at all times and added an extra layer that I couldn’t fully get reading it physically.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the review ALC and Flat Iron Books for the review eARC!

<b>TW/CW: Language, drinking, smoking, cutting, teenage pregnancy, abortion (mention), sexual assault, cheating, loss of sibling, bullying, family drama, toxic family relationships, alcoholism, poverty, classism, eating disorder</b>

<b><big>*****SPOILERS*****</b></big>
<b>About the book:</b>
Louise Manson is the newest student at Highfield Manor, Dublin’s most exclusive private school. Behind its granite walls are high-arched alcoves, an oak-lined library...and the dark secret Lou has come to expose.

Lou’s working-class status makes her the consummate outsider, until she is befriended by some of her beautiful and wealthy classmates. But after Lou attempts to bring the school’s secret to light, her time at Highfield ends with a lifeless body sprawled at her feet.

Thirty years later, Lou gets a shocking phone call. A high-profile lawyer is bringing a lawsuit against the school—and he needs Lou to testify.
<b>Release Date:</b> May 2nd, 2024
<b>Genre:</b> Thriller
<b>Pages:</b> 320
<b>Rating:</b> ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

<b>What I Liked:</b>
1. Writing style
2. Healthy queer relationship
3. The actions of the school are believable
4. The characters
5. 80s setting

<b>What I Didn't Like:</b>
1. Some parts dragged on
2. Story lost its motivation in the middle of the book

<b>Overall Thoughts:</b>
<b><i><small>{{Disclaimer: I write my review as I read}}</small></i></b>

I just finished Being Lolita with mentions Lolita so many times and then this book mentions it.

I just didn't understand all she would go to the headmistress and tell her what happened with the teacher but she never mentioned it to her own mother? I just found that really weird. Just because you would have to be super Brave to approach the headmistress by yourself so wouldn't it be easier to already talk to your mother? And I would have told my mother at that point when she was going on a date with him. I do know it's super hard to tell someone you love that you're being abused but like I said she already went to the Head Mistress of

Okay so she finally decides to tell her mother that he was raping women, but then her mother ends up siding with him because her daughter just doesn't want her to be happy. Seriously her mother is garbage.

There are some heavy stuff happening. Not only is Sasha being sexually abused but she is also dealing with an eating disorder. It makes sense because it's the only thing she feels she has control of in her life.

Lou is a better person than me to forgive Melissa. Melissa is the one that really set in motion all this crossed lines stuff. I kept thinking she must be in love with Sasha do bé this jealous of Lou.

When Lou finally has the change to meet up with Sasha she is dying from long term effects of her eating disorder. It's kind of this sad moment but gives Lou the closure she needs.

Omg and then we find out that Lou wasn't the one that actually killed him it was really Sasha who did that. This whole time I 100% believed Lou did kill him. Imagine carrying that secret for 30 years.


<b>Final Thoughts:</b>
I thoroughly enjoyed the story. I feel like it was a great story that described perfectly how a school would deal with this subject matter. The fact that the whole school pretty much turned a blind eye to the teachers behavior all while telling the students that they where wrong is so believable. It happens every day.

I did find my attention kind of dropping off as we were in the middle of the book. There's a lot of repetitive things that happen that drew my attention away. It did make up for it at the ending.

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<b><small>Thanks to Netgalley and Flatiron Books for this advanced ebook. Thanks to Macmillan Audio for the advanced audiobook. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I thought this was going to be Dark Academia, but it was a gripping and atmospheric story of a woman coming to terms with something that happened to her back in boarding school. It felt like Dark Vanessa crossed with I Have Some Questions for You, but set in Ireland.


I thought this was Dark Academia and was going to add it to my Dark Academia Book List but When We Were Silent was a completely different kind of book that requires some content warnings, listed below.

Set around Dublin in both the 1980s and the present, the book follows Louise, a university lecturer who is once again drawn into a terrible time from her past. She's contacted by a lawyer who tells her that a student at Highfield Manor, Louise's former boarding school, is trying to sue the school for the terrible abuse he experienced there, part of a culture of abuse that has been going on since the 80s.

The story has a past-present narrative that follows Louise in the present as she navigates her feelings about being drawn back into a traumatic time and also follows her in the past, slowly uncovering what happened to her has a teen scholarship student at Highfield Manor.

Just a heads up that most of the plot deals with grooming, sexual abuse, and sexual assault.

A dark and intricately woven tale of abuse, secrets, and retribution

When We Were Silent, the debut offering from new author Fiona McPhillips, explores what happens when winning is prioritized over protecting the innocent.

On its surface, Highfield Manor is a perfectly picturesque private school in Dublin; it is the premier school to send talented athletes and gifted students. At its core, it is full of dark secrets being kept hidden to protect its reputation and standing. However, Louise Manson is determined to change that, as she isn’t simply a new student; she is an outsider with knowledge of all the inside information.

Told in two timelines, the audience is taken back and forth from the present-day Lou, who is married with a daughter and a successful career, to the rebellious teenager she was when she attended Highfield Manor. Lou has been able to move on from her past, but learning there are students again experiencing what happened during her time as a student is forcing her to explore personal trauma, along with the pieces she thought would never be part of her future.

The book’s structure is essential to character development, especially for Lou. To understand both the guilt and the apprehension she struggles with as an adult, her actions and experiences at Highfield must be explored and understood. Some pieces of the book are challenging to read, as they involve sexual assault and mentions of suicide, but these are handled well by McPhillips. She captures the fear victims often feel, particularly when there is an uneven power dynamic, and how differently they can react. This handling feels authentic and the way the characters respond is believable. Some characters opt for denial while others search for truth. Some victims blame themselves and others become angry; many do both simultaneously. The dynamic between Lou and her mother is particularly heartbreaking.

Ultimately, this is an emotionally powerful and atmospheric book comprised of challenging subjects. Some chapters are overlong and descriptive, particularly the ones taking place today. However, the story is so complex these parts do not read as superfluous.

McPhillips has created a well-written and impressive debut book, and it will be exciting to see what she comes up with next. In the meantime, this would make a fantastic pick for a book group, as the content will lead to interesting conversation.

Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron Books for my ARC of When We Were Silent by Fiona McPhillips. I really enjoyed this one! What I enjoyed most about this book was the complexity and layers to the characters, as well as the attention to detail within the plot and development of relationships.

While I would definitely give a content warning before jumping into this read, it was extremely well-written and had great depth. I found myself in suspense of where the plot was heading while also feeling the emotional pull of what was taking place.

I’m rating 5 stars and would recommend with a caution of a trigger warning.

I tried really hard to get into this one, but I just wasn't able to. I am still really thankful to the publisher, author, and netgalley for granting me advanced access to this digital collection before publication day.

Fiona McPhillips writes a compelling and dark tale of secrets and the toll it takes on our bodies and lives. When We Were Silent bounces back and forth between today and the 1980s where Lou, a working class kid, makes her way into the elite school, Highfield Manor. Lou is on a mission to expose the secrets the beautiful walls hide. But she soon finds herself drawn to Shauna, who herself is caught in the web of secrets that hide behind Olympic dreams. When Shauna’s brother finds present-day Lou with the audacious request to revisit their Highland days for a lawsuit, Lou must decide between doing what she knows is right and continuing to move on from a traumatic time of life and focus on her current family trauma. When We Were Silent has some pacing issues and the ending left me wanting more, but it was a compelling read. Also, as an American, it is a good reminder that shitty schools exist everywhere, as this story draws from a 1980s scandal in Ireland.