Chilling. A complex, delicious, utterly readable. Really enjoyed the plot and the narrator. Masterfully done!

If you like dark academia and a mystery then you'll love this one. Blending modern day with flashes of the past we explore the crumbling of one girl in an all-girls school, with fingers pointing on who to blame.

A little slower paced than expected but still a fascinating tale.

This was a much heavier hitting story than I expected, but one I enjoyed nonetheless. With dark academia, a hidden past, and in the vein of the #metoo movement, it was definitely a darker story.

I listened to the audiobook format and enjoyed, once again discovering a new narrator to add more audiobooks by, in India Mullen.

*many thanks to Flatiron Books, Macmillan Audio, and Netgalley for the gifted copy for review.

I received a free ARC from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

I thought the author did a good job of telling the past story and intertwining it with present day. It was easy to follow. The story was very realistic and the characters were well developed. Sad to say this seems to be something many people can relate to.

I thought the narrator was good at providing different voices for the characters and really emoted well.

3.5

This is a story about the power and resilience of women and how amazing they can be when they join forces against a common predator. This broke my heart several times throughout the book, but the ending made it all worth it. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for this advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

A thriller told in two timelines, this tale is made better on audio due to the narrator's lilting Irish accent. While thrillers are hit or miss for me, this one leans toward Irish noir and crime procedurals, which I enjoy just a bit more. While I unabashedly love Nordic noir, as someone that grew up in the strict confines of Catholicism, there is something about books set in modern day Ireland that hit different than other Catholic majority countries, e.g. France, Portugal, or even Spain.

In the past, Lou attends Highfield Manor, a very exclusive private school. The swim team, along with the entire school, has many secrets to keep. Keep these secrets in mind. They still play out in the modern day storyline.

Decades later, the crime that occurred at Highfield still has yet to see the light of day. Although accusations were made, and fingers pointed, no one was ever convicted. Lou deigns to change this. As she sifts through her waning memories of that night, she begins to reach out to former classmates and enemies in order to get their testimonies straight.

While I wasn't shocked, and that's fine, as I hate the genre "twists" that occur out of nowhere nowadays, I will say I am pleased with the outcome. Exploitation and privilege occur everywhere, but there is just something more sinister when it deals with underage schoolgirls and the ever looming backdrop of Catholicism.

🎧 Thank you to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio

Thank you Netgalley for this ARC of When We Were Silent by Fiona McPhillips.

I don't know why, but it took me a several tries to finally get into this book. I alternated between listening/reading in order to really cement who was who.

This is a dark book about a woman who is forced to confront her past, a school with a dark secret, and a body found at the bottom of the pool. Louise has hoped all of these years that her secrets can stay buried, but with one phone call, she's forced to revisit them, and perhaps even pay for them.

I can only recommend this at tremendous caution. There are very overt scenes of abuse that made it difficult to get through this book. I completely understand why stories like this are written, but they also run the risk of retraumatizing victims. Approach with care.

This was a heartfelt tale was what happens when female voices are silenced and justice doesn't occur until years and years later. I liked it alright

Thank you to Netgalley for the advance listening copy of this novel which was wonderfully performed by Indian Mulan.

This was an excellent story of the intersection of the patriarcchal order of the Irisih Cathoc Chirch and the repercussions when abuse is levied against younf women and then denied and shamed.

I felt for these young women as they struglled for autono,y and to have their pain exposed against tremendous odds.

India Mulan was an excellent gude throughout. Her character portrayals were sharp and a sense of empathy pervaded her performance.

Exposing Private School Abuse

When We Were Silent is a dual-timeline mystery novel that delves into the dark secrets of an elite private school in 1980s Dublin. The story is centred around Louise Manson, a working-class girl who infiltrates Highfield Manor to expose the heinous acts of sexual abuse occurring within its walls. The narrative alternates between the past, where Louise experiences and witnesses the abuse, and the present, where she is called upon to testify in a new lawsuit that mirrors the charges she brought against the school 30 years earlier.

When We Were Silent stands out for its well-crafted plot and complex characters. The dual timeline structure adds layers to the narrative, allowing readers to fully grasp the long-term impact of the events described. McPhillips's writing is both beautiful and harrowing, making the book difficult to put down. While the subject matter is heavy, it is handled with the care and respect it deserves. Overall, this novel is a significant contribution to contemporary literature, offering a poignant exploration of abuse, power, and the quest for justice.

In conclusion, When We Were Silent is a must-read for those interested in psychological thrillers and stories of social justice. Its compelling narrative and powerful themes ensure it leaves a lasting impression on its readers.

Unfortunately this is a topic that continues in the world we live in. A private school with abuse. It was well written but a hard topic and a little to graffic for me.
Thanks for the advanced copy.

Emotional, courageous, and fighting for justice… this book had it all! A very realistic ending as well!

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.

This is a book I listened to this 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 did really enjoy it. Thank you to @netgalley and @macmillan.audio for this audio arc.

When We Were Silent definitely puts the dark in dark academia - this one doesn’t shy away from pain or trauma. I was surprised to find this was a debut, as the story was incredibly well written. There were a few side plots that distracted a bit from the story, but overall I thought this book was very well done and look forward to reading what the author writes next.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for the ALC to review.

I thought the narrator did a wonderful job with this one, and overall I liked it. It started off strong but went a little long for me and the dual timelines were a bit hard to follow solely via audio, so I do recommend having a physical copy when reading this one. I thought the tough subjects in here were covered well, and for that alone it is worth the read, I just think this gets lost a bit in trying to wrap it all up and could have been a bit more crisp. It is a debut novel and I'm looking forward to seeing what McPhillips writes next.

The plot of this book is what intrigued me to request it on NetGalley. I enjoy anything set in academic settings, and if they are thrillers, even better!

I appreciate the publisher and NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to listen to this book in exchange for a review.

This one was DARK and I ended up having a hard time following a lot of it in the audiobook for some reason. I'm going to get the physical copy from the library and try again that way, though!! Maybe I'll like it better reading instead of listening.

Engaging, immersive, and expertly narrated. A recommended purchase for collections where crime and thrillers are popular.

This was an excellent novel, especially for a debut. In this book, Louise Manson is a student at a private school in Dublin, Highfield Manor. This is a very exclusive school and Louise is from a poor working class family with a mother who is a drunk. Louise is a fish out of water but is befriended by Shauna who is beautiful and wealthy. There is a web of sexual deceit at Highfield, with the female students being abused. It is covered up.
Thirty years later, Shauna's brother is a lawyer who is suing the school over what happened and wants Louise to testify. Louise has rebuilt her life and has a young daughter of her own and has trepidations but finally decides to testify for closure.
The author goes back and forth between the present and the past. I must admit that this can create a bit of confusion at times.
The author does a wonderful job of creating a mood and a sense of place. Her characters, particularly Louise, are well developed. I would have liked to see a little more development of Shauna along the way, especially since she becomes so instrumental in the story.
The narrator, with an Irish brogue, suited the story and did a good job of conveying the mood.
Thanks to NetGalley and to MacMillan Audio for providing me with the opportunity to experience this wonderful text.