This was a powerful book. I felt nearly overwhelmed by the way the story unfolded and the themes McPhillips explored. This is a complex novel written with delicate prose and a surprisingly emotional plot. In the world of Dark Academia, When We Were Silent is a unique and profound entry into a genre filled with great works.

Set at Dublin’s most exclusive private school, Highfield Manor, the beautifully drawn setting with tall pillars, lilacs, intricate gates, well-manicured grounds, and a dimly lit library full of well-worn books hides a dark undercurrent. It’s hard to believe that somewhere so beautiful and historic could be riddled with secrets, but appearances are deceiving.

Lou Manson arrives at Highfield Manor as a scholarship student. Coming from a humble background, Lou is quite different from her wealthy and privileged peers. Lou struggles to find her place among the students, often snubbed and disregarded by those who look down their noses at her. The times they are kind to her are often part of their power struggle with the other top students in the class. Lou does find a friend in Shauna, whose sunny smile hides deep-seeded pain.

It's impossible to attend Highfield Manor and not know who Maurice McQueen is. A PE teacher and the head of the prestigious swimming club at Highfield Manor, he’s already produced to Olympic athletes and is hoping to coach a third. He also wants to recruit Lou to the swim club, though she does her best to get out of it. Lou has a different reason for attending Highfield Manor—she is seeking justice for her friend Tina, who tragically died.

Several decades after Lou’s time at Highfield Manor, she is working as a literature professor and raising a teenage daughter. When Shauna’s brother reaches out asking Lou to testify in an abuse case linked to Highfield Manor, Lou resists, fearing that everything she’s worked to bury in her past will resurface. Facing her past and the consequences it will bring may mean saving the students from an abuser, if she’s able to let herself go back there.

Dark, intense, and haunting. This is a thought-provoking and gripping story that draws the reader in and doesn’t let up until the final pages. Tina’s suicide looms over the story from the beginning. Lou is seeking justice for what happened to Tina, planning to expose the authority figure who abused her. In the present, Lou is struggling with her teenage daughter who wants to join the very same swim club that Lou tried to avoid. The stories mirror each other at times, and diverge at others.

An emotional, shocking, and suspenseful novel about privilege, justice, power, and class.

I’ve always loved reading books written by authors from a different country or culture and set in a different place. In particular as an American, books set in other countries come to life when narrated by someone with the local accent. It is a constant reminder and mental cue to transport myself to that place. When We Were Silent is set in Ireland at a preparatory school. Narrated by India Mullen, the story is told in the soft, lilting cadence that is uniquely Irish. Mullen’s voice also spans the younger timeline well, something that doesn’t always work when a single narrator does a then-and-now.

Thank you to Macmillan Audio for my copy. Opinions are my own.

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

When Louise Manson is a young woman, she changes high schools to a high powered exclusive school so she can try to uncover what made her best friend commit suicide. Present day Lou is required to testify against the school and finally uncovers what really happened in the past.

As this is a debut novel, this is my first experience with a book written by Fiona McPhillips. Although the topic was pretty heavy (sexual assault and rape), I found the book to be very well written. The characters were well defined and the storyline was intriguing. I liked how the author goes between the past and the present so you can fully understand the events that took place in the past.

I think the narrator, India Mullen, did a great job with the characters, they really came to life and were easy to define.

Thank you Netgalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to review this Audiobook.

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/6549347448

This book. Oh my days, what a debut.
The narrator, India Mullen, is absolutely superb. I do like Irish narrators, and this one was perfectly cast.
The writing is almost poetic and the trauma experienced by the characters is made all the more powerful by Mullen's performance.
The book is seriously impressive, and I cannot wait to read more from McPhillips and listen to more narrations by Mullen.
Highly recommended, and thanks to Macmillan Audio for the copy for review.

When We Were Silent is told from 2 timelines. In the past Louise is a new student at Highfield Manor. She’s trying to fit in while trying to expose a dark secret about the school. In the present Louise, Lou, is called upon to testify against the school that once hurt her and the people she loved.

The back and forth timelines was really interesting, it was like trying to piece together a puzzle. The only issue I had with the 2 timelines is that sometimes it was hard to follow along while listening to the audiobook. I’d really have to pay attention to know if it was the past or present.

When We Were Silent was an interesting mystery novel with a few twists and turns. The book kept me hooked from start to finish. While I can’t say that I liked the characters (you’re not necessarily meant to), I did find them intriguing. The book was well written and it’s certainly a heavy read.

TW: rape of minors, sexual abuse of minors, alcoholism, suicide

When Louise Manson joins the student body of Highfield Manor School in Ireland in 1986, she is there for two things: to swim, and to get revenge on the school's predatory swim coach. Almost 40 years later in the present day, she is still reckoning with what happened and trying to stop it from continuing.

This thriller is dark and tautly woven, with all the characters you would expect from such a tale...the rebellious students and the popular ones, the sanctimonious nuns, the unstable mom, and more. It's full of 1980s nostalgia, teen angst, regret. I thought the main character, Lou, was so brave and ballsy. I loved that this book kept me guessing right up until the last page. And the narrator of the audiobook has a beautiful accent to match the equally beautiful and brutal writing.

This book contains graphic descriptions of SA, so I would skip this one if that kind of content is triggering for you.

"When We Were Silent " by Fiona McPhillips is a very good book about an important topic. I couldn't put it down. I got invested, and I had to listen to it straight through.

This book is told in two time periods, the present (approx. 2016) and the past, about 30 years earlier, in 1986. In the past, Louise was in high school in Dublin, Ireland, and got into Highfield Manor, a prestigious private school for her final year. Her best friend, Tina, had died suspiciously the year before, and Louise knew it had to do with the swim coach, McQueen.

This book is about sexual predators and tells it from the POV of young women going through it. Some of it is hard to read. Then, when one of them tries to get help.. well, you just have to read it. In the present, have things gotten any better? In the book, not so much.. but the "Me, too" movement has helped.

Characters - 5/5
Writing - 5/5
Plot - 4/5
Pacing - 4/5
Unputdownability - 5/5
Enjoyment - 4/5
Narration - 5/5 by India Mullen
Cover - 3/5
Overall - 35/8= 4 3/8, rounded to 4 stars

Thank you to Netgalley, Macmillan Audio, and Fiona McPhillips for providing this audiobook in exchange for my honest review.

<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.

Story – 4.5 stars
Audio – 4.5 stars
I really enjoyed this story. The story follows Louise Manson, whose best friend has passed away, she decides to attend the school where her friend was a member of the swim club to see if she can find out what happened to her friend. She is accepted and transfers schools to the prestigious Highfield Manor. However, in attempts to confront her best friend’s attacker, and the swim coach, she stumbles upon more trouble.

This was really well written, and such a good/sad story that depicts the abuse some endure. I was so engrossed in the story line and how it was all going to end for Louise and her new friends and if she could ever escape the trauma she endured.

Thank you, Flatiron Books, for the gifted copy of When We Were Silent {partner}

Genre: Fiction
Format: 🎧📖
Audiobook Narration: ☆☆☆☆.5
Pub Date: 5.21.2024
Star Rating: ☆☆☆

"We all have them, our secrets and half-truths, the memories that rage in the delirium of night. Some of us will take them to our graves. Some of us already have."

I can't say I didn't know what I was getting into when I picked up When We Were Silent, but I must remember that these stories are not for me. I understand the importance of sharing them with the world, but they aren't for me. 

There was so much about this book that made it difficult to pick up—from the unsettling storyline to the overall pacing. I'm so thankful I received When We Were Silent in audio as well as the physical book because the narrator, India Mullen, made the story easier to read. 

If you do decide to read When We Were Silent, please know that the premise of the story is about a school covering up their coach's grooming, sexually assaulting, and raping their athletes.  

👏🏼 Debut novel
✌🏼 Dual timelines
🐌 Pacing was off
👌🏼 Audiobook narration

I recommend reading  When We Were Silent if you enjoyed reading  My Dark Vanessa.

If you told me this was Fiona McPhillips' first novel, I wouldn't believe you. It being narrated by India Mullen added to the overall magic of this title.

I love a story that beautifully transitions from the present and past revealing just enough to keep you hooked to see if what you predict comes to fruition. McPhillips' story is a beautiful mix of real-life family dynamics, coming-of-age friendships and relationships, and justice.


Thank you to NetGalley, Macmillan Audio, and Fiona McPhillips for an advanced copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

When We Were Silent is Fiona McPhillips debut novel and it is a winner!

I love Dark Academia, and I am always looking for the newest book in the genre to hit the shelf, so finding When We Were Silent was a thrill.

The story is told in two time periods, the past, which takes place at an elite high school in Ireland, and then also in present day. Louise, the main character, is from a normal working class type of family, she is a scholarship student at a high school that is full of privileged and rich students, both the school and the students are full of secrets, for instance, Louise's best friend Tina, who commits suicide after an incident with a teacher.

When you are reading the present timeline, Louise has a family, she is happily married, and struggles with her troubled teenage daughter. Soon Louise is called to testify in an abuse case that happened at the school and she has some hard choses to make.

McPhillips has put the dark in Dark Academia with When We Were Silent. It is dark, it digs deep into the #metoo movement, along with other difficult subjects like class struggle and mental health, but she does it with dignity and compassion.

When We Were Silent is a dark academia debut thriller about an elite Irish private school with some troubling secrets. The story centers around a teacher who is grooming and assaulting young students, so this may be a book some readers want to skip due to the content.

This book is told through two timelines: part of the story is told in the present day where a lawsuit against Louise's private school is dragging up the past. The majority of the book looks back on Louise's time at the school as a child and what happened there. I can't say I remember much about the present-day scenes; I was much more interested in the events of Louise's childhood.

Despite the content, this was a compelling listen. While my heart ached for Louise as she had to put herself in harm's way to expose the truth, I can commend her bravery and determination.

Overall, a very strong debut from Fiona McPhillips. I'm looking forward to more from her.

I appreciate the comparison to My Dark Vanessa but I couldn’t stay engaged with this story the same way. I felt like it was drawn out in some places and rushed in others. I struggled to keep track of the timeline changes and found myself spacing out while listening.

Told in two timelines, Louise is forced to relive a traumatic experience from her time at Dublin’s most exclusive private school thirty years after the incident. Lou is an outsider at the school as she is the token under privileged student supposedly there on scholarship. As she begins to develop some tentative friendships, she becomes the target of some very sinister abuse and exploitation and discovers that her friends are victims as well. The incidents culminate in an unexpected death with Lou becoming the primary suspect. Now, thirty years later, Lou is asked to testify in a lawsuit against the school which brings her back in contact with friends and a past that she had hoped to leave behind, all while struggling with job and marital issues and a defiant adolescent daughter.
I have to say that I really enjoyed listening to this audiobook in spite of the disturbing subject matter. The author was very thorough in covering most aspects of abuse perpetrated by someone in authority. I wish that it was unbelievable that someone could be so victimized by so many people but the Me Too movement has shown us otherwise. The author did an excellent job of portraying all of this and in making this a book that is hard to put down and stays with you long after finishing it. The character development was good and the dilemmas heart wrenching - I felt every emotion but mostly outrage. The narrator was fantastic, the accents were well done and she made the story engaging.

I love a good suspense set on school campuses. This one hit hard for any parent, parent with kids in sports, athlete, former athlete or abuse survivor. I appreciated the author's willingness to approach a difficult event, with complex characters, and emotional triggers. This wasn't an easy read but it was necessary, eye opening, and important.

Complex, powerful, and thought provoking.

I truly enjoyed this debut novel about a woman confronting her past and the trauma that lived there. It was a heavy read, but more with the knowledge that these types of stories exist more than we even know. I think the author did a fantastic job keeping us anchored in the present while learning the history on how our characters got to where they were. I would certainly recommend.

Several triggers in this story. Grooming, molestation, rape, murder, and mental health issues. All this surrounds a prestigious girl's school.

This is a mystery set in two timelines. In the past, Louise is attending Highfield Manor, an exclusive boarding school in Dublin. She is a daughter of a working class family and immediately an outsider, until she meets Shauna, who takes her under her wing. But Lou's time there is full of tragedy as there is a murder that goes unsolved.

Thirty years later, Shauna's brother, a lawyer, is suing Highfield Manor over the events of the past, and needs Lou to testify. Lou has spent all those years trying to forget and move on, but has been forced to relive the past.

This was a really good thriller. I really liked the audio narration. Although the narrator was Irish the accent was still very understandable. Thank you Macmillan audio for giving me an advanced review copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

WHEN WE WERE SILENT by Fiona McPhillips is a darkly powerful story of privilege and power, read beautifully by India Mullen.

Lou is called back to her time at an elite Irish school by a request to testify for a lawsuit against the school. Remembering 30 years ago is made even more difficult with her now teenage daughter who is flexing her own wings. Lou is confronted with a past that refuses to be buried, along with her guilt over what she did.

I found this story to be very compelling. The class distinctions, power imbalance, and exploitation are themes woven through Lou's life in multiple ways, which I found well done. Often an issue is revealed in one dimension and explored, while this story took issues and showed multiple ways we hurt one another by looking the other way. (There were some pretty dark moments that were explicitly described, so be aware.) The complexity of friendships and relationships through trauma was shown with a grace I didn't expect.

The setting in Ireland made this a perfect choice for audio. I loved hearing this story told with the sounds it was meant to embody. I felt like I was taken right into the suspenseful and toxic setting, peeking around the corners to hear what was taking place.

Thank you @macmillan.audio for @flatiron_books and @netgalley for sharing this story with me.