This novel was gripping from the start! I love the way it captivated the reader without giving away one of the major plot points until 3/4 of the way in. The characters were realistic and believable, made all the more impressive because most are teenagers. The situations they find themselves in and issues they encounter were relatable in the sense that it was entirely probable that would be the way they think, act, speak and behave. The only downside is that, at times, the dialogue was a bit repetitive. All in all, a real page-turner.

This was a DNF for me. It had more teen angst and mean girl shenanigans than I care to read about. It's a hot button topic for me, and while many readers love the rich boarding school mean girl vibe, I am not one of them.

This is definitely a case of it's me, not the book. There are many 4 and 5 star reviews from readers who are a better fit for this type of story.

Thank you for the opportunity to read this book. I will not be reviewing this title since I did not finish it.

"She Was the Quiet One: A Novel" by Michele Campbell was an enjoyable read. The novel follows two sisters that are twins, but look nothing alike: Bel and Rose. At the first glance Bel is a rebel and Rose is a good girl, though of course it is not that simple. After their mother’s death the sisters move to another state to live with their wealthy grandmother and to attend a posh, private school. The new environment have an immediate bad impact on them. They both want too much to start anew, to make friends, to belong and to feel special, whatever the price. Soon the sisters are full of bitter resentment and start playing hateful games with each other. There is also a handsome married teacher, a quiet admirer and a bunch of mean girls. It all ends with a murder.

It was easy to feel for the characters. Bel and Rose are wonderful heroines with complexity of emotions. I don’t want to reveal anything about the plot, but it made me guessing until the very end – literally the last page. I recommend this book for all fans of well-plotted thrillers, especially psychological thrillers. I enjoyed this book so much, that I am looking forward to reading more books by this author.

I received "She Was the Quiet One: A Novel" from the publisher via NetGalley. I would like to thank the author and the publisher for providing me with the advance reader copy of the book.

A quick, easy thriller with some solid “good twin/bad twin” antics. The book starts with a flash forward: one of the sisters is dead. But which one? And who is the killer? The mystery is fun and the cast of characters is generally terrible, so you could say most characters would have motive. It definitely kept me turning pages because I so badly wanted to find out “whodunnit” (I read it in a day), but it was a little predictable. It would have benefitted from a big twist, but instead, I saw it all coming pretty early on. Despite being a tad predictable and a bit repetitive, it was a fun journey through the lives of terrible, rich boarding school baddies :)

<I>She Was the Quiet One</I> is a traumatic story of twins becoming orphans and sent to their grandmother who was already too set in her ways to welcome the girls with open arms. Instead, they were sent to a boarding school and, of course, admitted into the dorm with the bad reputation.

This book is filled with poor decisions, criminal acts of hazing, serious miscommunication, manipulation and distrust, acts of power and harassment, and most of all, extremely frustrating situations. It got a bit ridiculous with the addition of a flu virus that brought on severe symptoms for a main character. The fever was used too many times as an excuse for annoying decision making.

She Was the Quiet One is the second book I have read by Michele Campbell. At first I was not sure who was the "Quiet One" as this could have been said about two of the characters in the book. The story is told by the viewpoints of the orphaned twin sisters, the head of the dorm, and his wife. The girls face the hardships of attending private school, boyfriends, cliques, drama, family relationships and murder. The one thing I dislike about the book is the wife of the dorm head ignored what was going on in front of her for most of the book. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for a copy of the book and this is my honest review.

Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for allowing me to leave an honest review of this book. I was expecting more in the way of suspense but this was not a bad read overall. I did feel like there was a very weird family dynamic between the twins and with their grandmother. I growled in frustration at least 3 or 4 times while reading this because the wife of the dorm head was so willing to look blindly the other way from what was obviously happening right in front of her. This book is basically focused on bullies of all different types and how their actions ruin others.

Truth be told, I read this earlier this and really enjoyed it, but sadly my crazy single mom life (and summer adventures) delayed my reviews (but fortunately not my reading!). So now that there is a chill in the air, I am slowly but surely catching up on my reviews! This was my first Michele Campbell (although I am currently reading It’s Always the Husband– review coming soon!) and I have to say, I loved it!

And the story goes…

Rose and Bel Enright are twins who couldn’t be more different, but after losing their parents and forced to move from California to New Hampshire by their grandmother, who quickly enrolls them at the Odell School, a prestigious New Hampshire boarding school, at least they have each other. Or do they? While both girls are smart, Rose, the “academic” twin, sees this as an opportunity of a life time, but for Bel, the “cooler” twin, who was closer to their mother, boarding school is way for their grandmother to get them out of her hair. Immediately, Bel is swept up by the rich, wild, and privileged Darcy Madden, the self-proclaimed queen of the campus, who takes her under her wing, while Rose is left to herself, creating a strain between the sisters. Rose, unsure how to navigate these new tensions, turns to Sarah Donovan, the new co-house mistress(somewhat naive) and Odell alum, while Bel is drawn to Sarah’s husband, Heath Donovan, the house master, who is charismatic, handsome, and seemingly devoted to his family and school. However, when Darcy and her friends decide to prank Rose, and drag Bel along with them, the ordeal tears the twins apart, creating a rivalry so strong, one or both might not survive.

Campbell expertly lets on early that someone has died at the Odell School, but leaves the reader with the question of who??? One of the twins (or both), Heath or Sarah Donovan? Or someone else. In true Gothic style, she masterfully sets the tone, depicting the setting as a dark and mysterious, shrouded in fog, isolated, and riddled with secrets, where not everyone will survive the school year and the killer (and the victim!) isn’t who you think.

My thoughts…

Like I said, I really enjoyed this book! It caught me by surprise, as I wasn’t really sure what to expect (new to me author and all), but the twists and turns drew me in and I had to know who died (AND who did it!!). This book was published July 31 and should be on every TBR list, especially thriller junkies like me!

Special thanks to @StMartinsPress and @NetGalley for the advance reader’s copy for my honest review! #shewasthequietone

This was a decent thriller I enjoyed it enough that I wasn’t bored I just didn’t think it was quite as twisty as I thought it would be. I was able to guess the outcome before it happened. Michele Campbell is a great writer though and she always writes characters I enjoy reading about. I’m still a fan and enjoyed this enough it just won’t be on my top thriller list.

While I found this an enjoyable read, it didn't blow me away. We have twin sisters who are complete opposites. Put them into a similar environment, in this case college, and the stage is set for the beginnings of a twisted decent into sister rivalry; pitting the "good" twin against the "unstable". Through a series of events and misunderstandings we are led down a path bound for disaster. It's just a matter of what form that will take. Generally I enjoy these types of stories. It keeps me on edge wondering what the "train wreck" will look like. For me the extreme over the top angst was a bit much but could definitely appeal to others.

Please keep in mind that I read a lot of these tropes so my expectations could be a tad high. I'd recommend this for those looking for a well written psychological-thriller. Without a doubt I'll be following this author and eagerly await her next book.

I had heard good reviews about this book but it wasn’t really for me.
It felt more like a book for young adults rather than adults
What a disappointment

I received a copy of this book through NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. I found it to be a pretty quick read, but it was pretty predictable and towards the end, the dialogue left a lot to be desired. It's hard to explain but it was like the author had run out of things for the characters to say and was struggling to find dialogue to get them to the end of the novel (probably around the last 20% of the novel).
I do think the character development needed more work and depth as they came across as transparent and, as I said before, predictable. I like it when books throw me through plot twists and I did not find that with this book, unfortunately. It played out exactly like I thought it would.

One of the best domestic thrillers I have read, and I read many! Tight writing, well-drawn characters, and a killer plot.

I read this in 2 sittings. Totally compelling and scary! What is going on? You won’t be able to put this down!
I’ve given it 4/5 on goodreads because I didn’t like one of the main characters and I think was meant. But I thought it would’ve been better if the reader had some empathy.

This book was actually really good. It started of reminding of some young adult fiction, but slowly unraveled into a dark tale. I knew by the middle of the book who did it, but it was terrific to read the twists and turns along with the lead up to the motive. The twins were a bit extra sometimes, but I chalked that up to their youth. Good book, great story and fascinating characters. Highly recommend.

Bel and Rose Enright are twins sent to Odell Academy after the death of their parents. Odell Academy is a prestigious New England boarding school that their Grandmother sends them to.

Out of the two of them, Rose is the grounded one. Both studious and academically smart, Rose looks forward to what Odell can offer them. However, Bel, the more free spirited of the two is shaken after the death of their mother and begins to act out, falling into the group of bad girls of the school.

While the story follows Bel and Rose, it also follows Heath and Sarah Donovan, a married couple who both work at the school. Both Heath and Sarah are teachers, but Heath's dream is to someday be the headmaster of Odell Academy and Sarah is left on the sidelines at most times. Their marriage is explored in depth through the book and it shows that while they seem to portray the couple of perfection to the outside world, that they both hold resentment and there are secrets buried there.

I enjoyed the suspenseful pace of the book, the way that we know that one sister is dead but we don't know which one and the twists that the book offers.

Rose and Bel may be twins, but they couldn't be more different. Rose focuses on her studies and advancing in life, while Bel is fun loving and just wants to be part of the crowd. Their life forever changes after the death of their mother. Sending them to live with their wealthy grandmother, who promptly enrolls both girls in the a fancy boarding school.

Life isn't all sunshine and rainbows at the school though. Rose finds it hard to fit in. Bel on the other hand is embraced almost as soon as she passes the gates. The crowd she falls in with however, is one she should have stayed away from.

Rose tries desperately to get her sister to see reason, but it's no use. She just pulls away until they are basically strangers. Everything changes though when one dies and the other is blamed.

An intriguing and thrilling story of what someone will do to keep their secrets hidden.

She Was the Quiet One was the first book I have read by Michele Campbell, and I look forward to reading more from her. It tells the story of twins Rose and Bel Enright, who are sent to the prestigious Odell Academy, a boarding school, by their grandmother after the girls' mother dies. Rose and Bel could not be more different, and quickly fall into different crowds at school. Rose, is the quiet, studious one, always serious about her schoolwork, and excited about the academic prospects that going to Odell will bring. Rose is the more troubled of the two, and she quickly falls in with a group of older girls in their dorm who are known to cause trouble. Bel, and her group, quickly engage in hazing an bullying Rose, and engaging in a bet to see who can seduce their new houseparent first. She Was the Quiet One also explores the relationships of the houseparents of Rose and Bel's dorm- Sarah and Heath Donovan. Sarah is the quiet, math teacher who is constantly worrying about her troubled husband, Heath, an English professor at the school, especially as Heath has his sights set on moving up the ranks at Odell. When one of the sisters is found dead on the school grounds, the book explores the relationships between the twins, the Donovan's, and the motives of the other students who might want to cause harm to one of the girls. It was a suspenseful book, full of twists and turns, and one that will keep you guessing until the end. Thank you to Net Galley and St Martins Press for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Two teenage girls, orphaned fraternal twins, attend an elite boarding school. Circumstances work to emphasize their differences, setting the scene for murder. You'll feel the suspense building as the well defined characters try to live their daily lives. In the end, you can picture the nightly news anchor saying, her friends all say "she was the quiet one" but are they talking about the victim? An original story set in a not so original setting, this book is well worth reading.

There were lots of twists and turns in this book that kept my guessing until the end. The writing and plot got stronger the more that I got into the book. An easy book to get engrossed into that you’ll finish quickly.