Michele Campbell | She Was the Quiet One

she was the quiet one michele campbell

The Book: 

She Was The Quiet One by Michele Campbell, 2018

The Characters: 

Twins Rose and Bel

Rating: 3 out of 5.

The Plot (from Goodreads):

For Rose Enright, enrolling in a prestigious New England boarding school is the opportunity of a lifetime. But for Rose’s vulnerable twin sister Bel, Odell Academy is a place of temptation and danger. When Bel falls in with a crowd of wild rich kids who pressure her into hazing Rose, the sisters’ relationship is shattered. Rose turns to her dorm mother, Sarah Donovan, for advice. But Bel turns to Sarah’s husband Heath, a charismatic and ambitious teacher. Is Heath trying to help Bel or take advantage of her? In a world of privilege, seduction, and manipulation, only one sister will live to tell the truth.

Click here for book spoilers for She Was The Quiet One
Book spoilers ahead–if you haven’t yet read She Was The Quiet One, I suggest you turn back now.

The Ending:

Bel was stabbed 17 times in the woods. Rose had seen a man, but couldn’t remember much of what happened. She had showed up in the school security office covered in blood and therefore was charged. 

Sarah figures out that Heath was the murderer. Heath locks her up, but Rose and her friend Zach try to rescue her. The police arrive, and Heath kills himself rather than be arrested. 

Rose and her grandmother move to Florida to start fresh. 

In the epilogue, we find out that Darcy was also involved with Heath. She had demanded that he reverse her expulsion and come back to her or she’d out him for sleeping with teenagers. He killed Bel and himself instead.

The Review: 

She Was The Quiet One popped up as a suggestion since I’ve just read The Wife Who Knew Too Much and A Stranger on the Beach

The story begins with a girl being held in her school’s infirmary, under suspicion that she has killed her sister. So you know that one of the twins has died, but not which one or why. The other is being accused of murdering her sister. From there, the story unravels in a style that reminded me of Big Little Lies. Parts are told in real time by each of the twins as well as two of their teachers, interspersed with interviews and testimonies from other secondary characters that take place after the murder. 

I found Michele Campbell’s writing to be compelling, and was eager to figure out who died and who killed them. The characters were interesting, if not necessarily likable. Most of the book fell into the “mean girl and victim retaliation” trope.

Overall not my favorite book by this author, but still an entertaining read. Those who like books about boarding school brats will enjoy this one. 

she was the quiet one michele campbell

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