Things I loved: narrator, the cover and wanted a good mystery/thriller

What didn’t work for me: the story. I think this book could have been told just from the past perspective and did not at all need the dual timelines. The “present” was so hard to get through and the idea that a private s hook happened to hire multiple swim coaches/athletics teachers who were abusing kids (and ignored it both times) is a stretch. I also hated all of the characters, no one was likable to me and you don’t connect with really any of them as the reader. Hard for me to get through and the ending didn’t save it.

What a heavy and emotional dark academia thriller.

Imagine a prestigious and elite school in Ireland. The amount of scandal is endless and unbelievable. Adults/teachers grooming students, secrets, lies, manipulation, eating disorders, bullying even murder and suicide. Insert Louise outcast from the working class. Desperately trying to discover the many secrets while keeping her cover. Some of the girls at the school befriend her, but the moment she raises concerns they turn their backs.

This story is read in dual timeline so there is some back and forth that could be confusing at times. The dual timeline was important however to emphasize the trauma from the past. There are so many characters most of which are unlikable, but Lu is a treat.

I received the Audiobook of this and felt the narrator did a fantastic job narrating such a deep and emotional thriller.

Thank you, Net Galley, MacMillan Audio and India Mullen, for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

The story on this one revolves around HS in the 80’s. Not just ANY HS, but a very prestigious, costly, Catholic HS in Dublin…

Our FMC, Lu (Louise) has just started school there. She believes she is there on scholarship…which puts her in the minority, as this is a very “snubby” school where the girls all come from families with money…so, Lu is having a bit of a hard time fitting in…

The main reason she has come to this school is to try to find out why her BFF committed suicide…so she decides to go in, headstrong, with a plan…but plans don’t always pan out the way you think they will…

There are many characters in this one, and most of them are not nice (or likable…) And the mindset back then was VERY DIFFERENT than it is now. The adults were always right, and the kids were always lying… So when you have a bad coach, and some mean nuns…well, it is what it is.

3 1/2 ⭐️⭐️⭐️💫 for me.

I found it hard to keep up with the time changes in this one as it bounced from present day to the 1980’s without warning. But, other than that it was a good read. (In my opinion though, this was more of a young adult read with a sprinkling of adult literature…)

I believe this was a debut novel, so looking forward to what’s in store from this author.

Thanks to #NetGalley and #MacmillanAudio for an ARC of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review. It releases on 5/21/24.

#WhenWeWereSilent by #FionaMcPhillips and narrated nicely by #IndiaMullen.

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The narrator of the audio book does a great job keeping you engaged in this book even when there’s a lull in the story. Set in Ireland at a private high school and told in two timelines, this book could be a trigger with grooming and sexual abuse being swept under the rug only to reappear many years later. While it is not related at all, reading this story made me think of the gymnastic Olympic scandals of recent years and the trauma experienced. The author, Fiona McPhillips does an amazing job getting the emotion expressed. Thank you to NetGalley and Flatiron books for an advanced copy of this audiobook. It comes out on May 21!

The stars were aligned for this book.
Fiona McPhillips has turned out a compelling, complex, devastating, and powerful story in When We Were Silent.
I found the plot of this book instantly intriguing and the solidity of McPhillips' writing builds on that to form a strong foundation for this story. The use of multiple timelines works so well, giving just enough information to keep the reader engaged, but withholding important pieces of the puzzle to be revealed when they will have the most impact. There's a balance that comes from the way the timelines are weaved throughout this story that elevates material.
The characterization of our protagonist is well developed in both timelines, exploring what drives the teenage version of our main character and also analyzing how the decisions she made as a teenager have had long lasting implications that affect her in adulthood. We are treated to several other intriguing characters throughout this book, many of which are described with wonderfully gray subtlety. They demonstrate the positives and negatives that equally exist in so many of us. There's judgement and compassion from our main character towards others in this story lending itself to the unfortunate believability of the subject matter.
The subject matter itself is difficult and incredibly challenging to read about. McPhillips' skill is what makes this a story that must be continued until its conclusion is reached. She makes the reader care so deeply while navigating through the complexity of the topic of sexual assault. Part of what makes this subject matter so difficult is its true prevalence in our society - Not just the heinous act, but the treatment of women who come forward after having experienced something truly horrific. McPhillips' does not sensationalize, she uses words to assist with understanding.
I highly recommend the audiobook for this story. The narration is absolutely fantastic and adds to the immersive quality of this book.

Set in both present-day and 1980s Dublin, readers follow Lou, a stubbornly resilient woman who has worked hard for her current life. Present-day Lou is a professor and busy mother of a teenage daughter. Lou has put a lot of effort into shielding her family from her past by keeping secrets from her partner, her child, and everyone else. When past bursts into the present day, Lou will do anything to avoid dealing with what she’s buried for so long.
In the 1980s, Lou is a teenage girl herself in a world of strict moral codes that only apply to some. Lou attends Highfield, a pompous school full of wealthy girls, where her accent and class set her apart. She tries to make ends meet at home and cares for her mother, who struggles with alcoholism. Lou has just lost her best friend, Tina, to suicide. She embarks on an ill-conceived plan to take revenge on the man she believes drove Tina to her death. She and her friends soon realize how little power they really have over the events in their lives.

Weaving between two timelines, When We Were Silent tells the tale of abuse and its consequences at an elite Irish school.

I appreciated that the author was tackling a very difficult topic, but I felt that the story didn't really add much to stories that are unfortunately too familiar.

The narrator has a beautiful, clear voice, but there were points where I wasn't sure which character was meant to be speaking or if dialogue was internal.

Fans of The Lying Game by Ruth Ware should check this one out.

This book deeply affected me and I think it's impossible to read it and not feel an impact from it. It was so thought provoking!

The dual timeline perfectly showcases the difference in how people who suffer abuse are treated now and in the past. The way no one believed Lou, including her own mother, was so heartbreaking to me. She was constantly labelled as a liar and all she wanted was to protect others from being abused by a predator.

I think the way that the trauma affects the main character thirty years later is so true to life. Often in books it's skipped over and left in the past but that's not how it works in real life. Lou's personal and professional relationships were all under pressure from the past. I love the resilience of Lou's character throughout and how she finally got to heal in the end.

I can't believe this is a debut novel! It reads like something from a seasoned author! I can't wait to read more books from Fiona McPhillips in the future.

After Louise Manson begins attending a prominent school in Dublin, Highfield Manor, she quickly discovers a dark secret. Her efforts to bring it to light are thwarted by those in power. When Louise is connected to the scene of a violent crime, her life is sent into a spiral. Now 30 years later, Louise is forced to again face her past. In doing so, she seeks to find out what really happened on that fateful night.

The narrator was excellent and I am always drawn to an Irish accent. The story began slowly and then picked up in the last third of the book. While enjoyable, I would have liked to see a bit more character development as well as a faster-paced beginning.

Thank you to Netgalley and MacMillan Audio for an ALC of this title in exchange for my honest review.

When We Were Silent - Fiona McPhillips
🎧Audiobook review🎧

Louise Manson is a new student, a working-class outsider at Highfield, Dublin’s most exclusive private school.

When We Were Silent is a deep and powerful story of grooming, exploitation, their lasting impacts and Louise’s fight for retribution many years later.

The plot is involved and multilayered, trust the author, it all comes together extremely well.

The writing is powerful, often poetic, it’s fairly bleak and often uncomfortable. There is a truth and honesty, we know cases like this happen in real life, and often get covered up. The audiobook narration by India Mullen is perfect, capturing the spirit of Louise’s character and presenting a variety of other characters clearly and distinctly.

Very highly recommended, my congratulations to Fiona McPhillips and India Mullen.

Thanks to Netgalley and Macmillan Audio

I listened to the audiobook for this one and the narrator did an amazing job bringing the characters to life. I liked this book a lot, but I didn’t find it to be much of a mystery or thriller, I found it to be an emotional train wreck with some coming of age and a whole lot of trauma. I came close to or shed tears multiple times and I have to say it was hard to listen to at times because the realistic way it was told was so easy to believe and it was infuriating the systemic abuse. There should be huge trigger warnings for this one for sexual abuse (of minors by adults), alcoholism, and suicide. Lou lives on the wrong side of town, but after her best friend commits suicide she decides to go to the prep school her friend had attended. Some of the girls befriend her but when she tries to bring some of the dark secrets of the school to light they all turn on her. This book is told in two timelines which goes to show that the trauma you survive never totally leaves you as it’s still haunting Lou more than two decades later. This was a powerful book, a wonderful book, but go into expecting a punch to the emotions more than a thriller.

I loved this story. I was hooked from beginning to end. The writing is engaging, and I enjoyed the span of time covered in the novel.
The narration was a challenge for me. The accent was so thick at times I could not understand the words. I found myself replaying sections or making guesses.
I am going to read the book when it is released.

Thank you to @netgalley for the advanced audio of this book.

Wow! Wow! As a listen, it was very difficult. At first it was difficult to keep the events and characters straight. Then, the content was very difficult and very hard to listen to. It is an important listen/read. Be aware of the trigger warners. I was well aware of them but they still affected it. This book would be recommended for high school seniors and above.

Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC of this story
SPOILERS TO FOLLOW

This story could have really benefitted from a Trigger Warning page because I was not prepared for it's. contents. (though in retrospect maybe I should have given the title). The book was honestly a bit slow for me (despite all the things that were happening to the girls). I felt myself zoning in and out of this audiobook (even though I really liked the narrator's voice). The narrator was the only reason I stuck with it to finish the novel. Their voice was very soothing and that helped with all the serious topics that were being discussed. In the end though the plot twist didn't really feel like a plot twist. It was almost boring how Shauna revealed that she had actually killed McQueen and not Louise. It kind of pissed me off actually, especially when everyone kept saying that "Shauna had more to loose that Louise" LIKE WHAT DOES THAT EVEN MEAN. Both girls lost EVERYTHING but Louise was the only one who had to endure prison and be slandered by the media as a murderer. I wholeheartedly agreed with Joe (who ended up being my favorite character) when he said that Lou didn't owe Shauna anything for what she did with her original testimony. I don't think I could ever forgive anyone for that so I just didn't find it believable that Lou did despite how much she loved her when they were younger.

I enjoyed the book overall! It was well written, so much so that sometimes I physically recoiled when certain things were being described. It's not an easy thing to read about, but it gives good insight into many tough subjects. The portrayal of how one person can ravage the lives of so many, and that having money or power on your own side does not save you from the same fate was good. I didn't think there was much particularly unique about the overall story. There was good representation.

This was an audiobook ALC, and the narrator India Mullen was excellent!

Thank you NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the Advance Listening Copy.

I listened to the audio version of When We Were Silent and enjoyed the narrator's Irish lilt. The story told in two timelines was interesting enough but was slow in places. It could have been shortened and been just as good. Some tough subject matters are covered, disturbing in some instances and possibly triggering for some. Just an okay book for me so I probably wouldn't recommend it. My thanks to the publisher for providing an audio version for review via NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Review for When We Were Silent Audiobook Edition

This thriller takes place in Dublin private school where shocking abuse occurs to students. It follows Louise (Lou) who joins the school to, we later learn, avenge her friend's death.

The story timeframe goes back and forth between her year at the school and the current day. In the current day an accusation of sexual abuse is made against the school by a student. Louise needs to decide whether she publicly supports this effort as this abuse was going on during her years at the school as well.

This book was very engaging though the topic and multiple scenes were disturbing and hard to read. It was well written and the twist at the end did surprise me. While there were some uplifting moments, it is still a story about terrible things happening to innocent people. Still, stories like this need to be told and this author does a good job in both timelines. It ends with some hope and justice.

One random thing I noticed in this book is the number of times she mentions a song that the character is listening to. It was hard to track how many times but it was enough that I got a bit tired of it.

Otherwise I will give this book 4 stars as it did hold my interest and had realistic characters and a realistic plot. I also thought the audiobook narrator was very good.

Thank you, Netgalley for the advanced copy!

There are two timelines for this story, an Irish boarding school in the 80s and present day Ireland. Louise enters this exclusive high school with hopes of avenging a high school swimming coach who was responsible for abusing and impregnating her deceased friend Tina. Present day Louise is now a mom of a teen and is forced to revisit her choices from the past. This book started strong but about halfway through I started losing interest.

This was a good read. It deals a lot with SA issues that you see in the real world from the pov of a teenager, now adult. The situations made me feel so uncomfortable, I think this is a nod to the character development and little details like the internal thoughts along with the emotion that followed. As the reader these SA situations are entirely too common and I was frustrated (in a yelling at the book characters not listening way… because that helps) with characters that wouldn’t listen. You have to ask what you would do to keep yourself and others safe when no one will listen.

I had to really focus to stay involved in the story for the first 1/2, the narrator accent is thick Irish so it’s entirely possible it was my issue. The last quarter was exciting and hard to put down.

For some reason I thought this would be a thriller but it’s more coming of age with a hint of mystery. It does center around a specific event but it’s the rest of the story, even with a reveal that the story was about for me.

I’d recommend but there are some SA and grooming situations that felt emotional as someone who hasn’t experienced it, if you heave here is your trigger warning.

This has been posted to Goodreads.

High school student Louise infiltrates an elite private school in order to expose the terrible secrets their hiding. Alternating time periods reveal both Louise’s past and present situations and what she is doing to seek justice. The characters are strong and the story is good. At times I had trouble focusing on the narrator’s voice.