A tiny community, an unexplained death, money, sex, power, manipulation and coercive control all lie at the heart of this dark and compelling mystery and I was gripped!

10 years after one of The Crowley Girls was found dead after a party, a pair of journalists arrive on the island to film footage for a documentary on the Misty Hill murder. The story is told largely from the perspective of Keelin Kinsella, the co-host of the fateful gathering and the wife of the original prime suspect, Henry. From the off it seems as though the couple have plenty of secrets and that they haven’t been entirely truthful with the authorities. This makes for intriguing reading and I was immediately hooked.

What I enjoyed most about the book were the complexities of the relationships between the characters, particularly within the Kinsella family. Their teenage daughter, Evie, is at school on the mainland and refuses to return for the summer when she discovers her parents are talking to the journalists. She clearly favours her father over Keelin, though we’re not quite sure why. Keelin’s grown-up son from her first marriage, Alex, is living with them but doesn’t seem very communicative. He’s often sneaking out of the house but nobody is quite sure where he goes.

But it is the scenes involving Keelin and Henry that made for the most uncomfortable reading. Henry is constantly gaslighting, manipulating and using sex as a medium for control (events which may be triggering for some readers). As the plot unravels towards the end I was in awe at how all of the cleverly interwoven strands came into play. It was the kind of ending that made me sit there afterwards and reflect on the whole book, asking myself whether I could have seen it coming, which I love!

If you like your mysteries on the darker side, and don’t mind a cast of unlikeable characters, then this could be a book for you – I really enjoyed it!

A good read with some interesting characters. I have only given it 3 stars as I thought it was a bit slow in places.

Thank you to Netgalley for my copy.

What makes this book different from others is how it is written and the content. It is a murder mystery and is mostly written from an interview format and it really added something to the story. People should care about this book which is it so well written and a relationship can be established between the reader and the characters and about their journeys. Louise did an excellent job of placing certain things into a particular part of the story only to be addressed at a later stage. Thank you to Netgalley for the early copy.

This book is absolutely brutal! But I flipping loved it! I devoured it so quickly because I was so desperate to find out what happened to Nessa.
This is the first book I’ve read by Louise O'Neill & it definitely won’t be the last. Her writing is fabulous and it just flows throughout. The way she writes about the Island gives it such a spooky feel and it pulled the whole story together. The characters are so well drawn.
Fans of Louise O’Neill will not be disappointed. & if you haven’t read anything by her then read this, it’s outstanding!! Thank you to NetGalley & Quercus for the opportunity to read & review this gorgeous book!

Well written, good characterisation and intriguing. Loose ends are tied up along the storyline and i enjoyed it!

I liked this book but it lacked something for me, maybe it was too slow, not enough punch to it- dont know but it didnt leave me wanting more- sorry!

Really enjoyed this book, full of character and intrigue. The pace was just right, and the plot kept me guessing to the end. One word of warning, do not read if you have anything else planned, I couldn’t put it down!

After the Silence was a change for Louise O’Neill, this time in the form of a murder mystery on the island of Inis Rùn. At the heart of this book are a closed off island community, family issues and devestating secrets. All the characters left behind on Inis Rùn after the event are troubled in their own way. A documentary film crew come to the island, determined to unravel the mystery behind Nessa’s murder.

The book is told through interview segments for the true crime documentary, which worked really well for this type of story. It allowed us to not only see from the main character Keelin’s viewpoint, but also the other islanders. There is a strange dynamic between one of the young filmmakers Jake and Keelin. Keelin allows herself to open up to the outsider, but are her intentions true or manipulative?

It is apparent early in the story that there is something off about Henry Kinsella. Henry and his family are blow-ins to the island, not local, like wife Keelin. Both Henry and Keelin are isolated from the community in the aftermath of Nessa’s death.

Henry had been arrested and released without charges for the murder of young and beautiful Nessa Crowley. In present times, we see Keelin living at the mercy of her husband control and whims. Their relationship is troubling and it worsens throughout the story.

The topic of domestic abuse is handled with a light touch in After the Silence. One particular scene between one of the interviewers and a counsellor at the women’s centre, really hit home as to why people don’t leave the situation they feel trapped in.

The island cut off from the mainland and the big, cold Kinsella house add to the sense of isolation for Keelin. This adds to the atmosphere and tone of the story. The island is another character and is as wild and unforgiving as the locals.

To summarise, After the Silence exceeded my expectations. It is excellent – beautifully written, dark, devestating and completely gripping.

I just want to know when is Louise releasing her next book?!

Thank you to Netgalley, Quercus books, and Louise O'Neill for this advanced reader's copy in return for my honest review. I'm a huge fan having loved Asking for It and Almost Love so I was delighted to have the chance to read this book. A deadly and disturbing book that discusses the impacts that keeping secrets can have. Strong well-written characters and a killer storyline. Gripping and compelling, absolutely loved it!

Inisrún is a small island off the coast of Ireland, where 10 years ago a young woman was found murdered. No one was ever charged with the crime, even though there was a storm that night and no one could have come or gone from the island.

In the present day, an Australian film company has arrived on the island to make a documentary about what happened.

Most of the book is told from the perspective of a woman named Keelin Kinsella. The local community has always suspected her husband was responsible for the death of Nessa Crowley, who was at their party on the night she died. However, they've always insisted they had nothing to do with what happened.

This is the third book I've read by Louise O'Neill and I've become a big fan of her writing style. I especially like the subtle way she weaves a story together.

From the summary, I was expecting this to be a "murder mystery", and while there is that element to the story, the main theme of this book is domestic abuse and domestic violence, and I think it's important to know this before you pick it up.

The pace was very slow in the beginning but moved quickly towards the end. If you've enjoyed any of the author's previous books then I think you'll like this.

I really hate it when a premise to a book promises something so much more than the book itself actually offers. Such was the case with AFTER THE SILENCE by Louise O'Neill. What was meant to be about the ten year anniversary of the murder of Nessa Crowley ended up something far more discombobulated to the point of boring and uninteresting.

Ten years have passed since the brutal murder of Nessa Crowley during the Kinsellas party and no one has every been charged or convicted of her murder. Now a documentary team of two from Australia have arrived to hopefully shed some light on that fateful night in an attempt to uncover what really happened.

Keelin and Henry Kinsella are prime suspects, having been vilified by the local residents of the island of Inisrun, where they live. Their children have grown up and lived in the shadow of Nessa's murder, their daughter escaping to boarding school in Scotland at age 11 simply to escape the notoriety and be somewhere where no one knows her family or what happened. Alex has withdrawn and keeps to himself.

Keelin is a native of the island, having escaped an abusive marriage with her young son Alex. Apparently a fortune teller had predicted that her husband would only have daughters so therefore his birth proved that Keelin had been unfaithful to him. Upon returning to the island, Henry took an interest in her and provided her the comfort and security she longed for.

But the Kinsellas are not liked on Inisrun. The resentment of the locals towards them is palpable, made loud and clear. Keelin is now an outcast to the island she was born on, having sold herself out by marrying a Kinsella.

And then on the night of her 37th birthday party, young Nessa Crowley was found murdered in their garden with the suspicion placed firmly on Henry and on Keelin for somehow protecting him.

I thought I was reading a murder mystery thriller but it felt more like a noir version of Days of our Lives. I really didn't care for anyone. Not one character. Henry is coercive and attention-seeking. Keelin is submissive and weak. Alex is a shadow who'd rather not come out of his room. Evie is a stubborn teenager who knows it all. Noah and Jake, the film makers...didn't really form an opinion of them in as far as I read. Because to be honest, I couldn't finish it.

But one of my biggest gripes in AFTER THE SILENCE is the prolific use of the Irish tongue. While I understand that the story is set in a part of Ireland where Irish is the primary spoken language, many readers are not proficient in such a language so for them it is completely foreign. Either there was the constant use of the native tongue or Keelin drifting off into fairyland, as she so often did.

AFTER THE SILENCE is a difficult read in my opinion. If not for the mere fact that I struggled to reach 20% before chucking it in through sheer boredom and for want of something far more thrilling. While this book is not for everyone due to it's content matter, it wasn't for me for other reasons entirely.

Having been promised thrills and mystery, I felt cheated with only boredom and frustration.

I would like to thank #LouiseONeill, #NetGalley and #Quercus for an ARC of #AfterTheSilence in exchange for an honest review.

I am a huge fan of Louise’s writing, so was excited to see her next book was a murder mystery.

Louise’s way of creating fascinating, complex and very flawed characters works brilliantly in this genre. This means it’s difficult to know who to trust (including the narrator Keelin) as the documentary makers, the islanders and we the readers try to work out what really happened the night Nessa was murdered.

I am hopeful Louise will continue writing more books in this genre. Whatever is next, I can’t wait to read it!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for a copy of this book.

3.5/5

Louise O'Neill is someone who I would class as a hit-and-miss author. I've read two of her books before this: Only Ever Yours in 2016, which I really liked; Almost Love last year, which I DNF'd. After the Silence, weirdly enough, is a hit-and-miss book in itself. There were many aspects that I really liked alongside many that I thought could have been done better or didn't quite work in specific areas.

The first thing is the writing style. The opening prologue is what drew me in. It was so atmospheric and so well-written, captivating me instantly. However, that captivation was mainly because it was written in a way that made me think this book might have some element of magical realism to it. A word of warning: After the Silence is not a work of magical realism whatsoever! In general, I enjoyed the writing style. Tension was built at the right moments, it was fast-paced in all the right places. There were some repetitive moments but I appreciated that most of the time as a display of how repetitive and cyclical Keelin's relationships were. That being said, there were moments where the narrative became non-linear. There were constant time jumps which could have used a little more clarification as it was sometimes jarring moving between timelines and interviews.

In terms of the narrative itself, it's O'Neill's speciality. There's an evident feminist narrative, one which strips away the typical plot devices of victim shaming within toxic relationships. There are numerous points within the story where O'Neill discusses the ease in which abuse within a relationship can be disguised as love. Keelin is complex in character, simultaneously likeable and insufferable. Henry's role as the classic thriller villain was perfect, in my opinion, for highlighting Keelin's complexity, as infuriating as his character was to read. I thought the remote island setting was perfect for this to really emphasise the tension of the situation. It reminded me a lot of Mary Kubica's The Other Mrs and Stephen King's Dolores Claiborne.

A few notes on the general story: O'Neill habitually sprinkles Irish words and phrases throughout the story in a way that feels somewhat... unnatural. As a multi-lingual speaker, I rarely see second languages interspersed in that specific way within a narrative which makes me feel as though these words were researched just to 'Irish-ify' the story a little more. I also didn't really understand Jake's character. He goes through a period of victim shaming and gaslighting which felt really uncharacteristic, and it seems this was completely looked over as he and Keelin are friends again in the next scene as if nothing happened. I do wish Jake and Noah had more of a prominent role.

Overall, the story was predictable, but not in a bad way. I enjoyed the mystery, although I wouldn't specifically say it was anything new and spectacular. It felt like a mixture of recycled thriller plotlines, which isn't necessarily a bad thing for this book. It actually worked quite well, keeping you interested enough to keep turning the page. This was definitely more of a character study than a mystery/thriller, so I'd recommend it if you enjoy books that are very much character-driven rather than intensely plot-driven.

Trigger Warnings: domestic violence, physical abuse, cheating, body dysmorphia, sexual abuse, recreational drug use, alcoholism, graphic sex scenes, murder, gaslighting, post-partum depression.

Thank you to Netgalley, Louise O'Neill and Riverrun/Quercus for providing me with an e-copy in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions expressed are my own.

This is a story of love, betrayal, control and MURDER! It's got everything, but the best part for me was the way that the female characters are written. The author writes brilliantly complex characters full of their own unique quirks and flaws, and that's what makes this book so good. I really enjoyed the storytelling and found the entire thing completely unputdownable! Would definitely recommend if you enjoy a good murder mystery thriller. It's a five star read for me.

10 years ago, Nessa Crowley was discovered dead in the Kinsella's back garden following a huge party, and a storm. No-one was every charged, though all suspicion pointed heavily at Henry Kinsella. Now a documentary crew has arrived to the Irish island of Inisrún to interview all those involved - including Henry and Keelin Kinsella - and possibly discover who is keeping the most secrets from the night the three Crowley girls became two.

This book is full of intrigue and intensity, with a really great past and present storyline interspersed with interview dialogue between the documentary crew and the locals on the island. The main character of the book is 47-year-old Keelin Kinsella who appears to be a complete stranger compared to the woman who celebrated 37 years on the night Nessa was murdered. Now, Keelin's every move appears to be controlled by her husband - but it's Keelin who asked him to do this in the first place. Her son hides in the bedroom, and her daughter doesn't want to spend any time with her. Yet Keelin is a woman full of kindness and gentleness, with an urge to help others but secrets she must keep hidden away. So she hides herself.

I loved following an older character as I think in the past Louise O'Neill has excelled in writing teenagers and women tackling their mid-twenties. Now, she's proven she can also write an older woman struggling with a myriad of issues that generally younger women don't deal with - family problems, death of parents, narcissistic husbands as well as the failing of the body as it becomes older and creakier, and a propensity to be more round than slender.

I think people who love true crime documentaries and podcasts will really love this book. I believe it was inspired by the West Cork podcast and I can see some of the similarities. This book isn't a 'thriller' in the basic sense of the word but that's not Louise O'Neill's style and this book feels more along the lines of Liz Nugent's crime-writing. It's slower and steadier and builds up the relationships and the complexities of each character in the novel before revealing everything to the reader. I was really impressed in how Louise O'Neill managed the crime aspects of this novel as it's something that I haven't seen her write before and I think she did it perfectly and in a way that wasn't all blood, guts, gore but asks bigger questions like what makes people act the way they do, and react the way they do? How far will people go for the people they love?

I also adored the Irishness in this book. The story is set on an insular Irish island meaning Irish culture -both traditions and language - is hugely important to the population. They don't like blow-in's like the Kinsella's and treat those who fall in with them (like Keelin) with similar suspicion. But the tender moments in this book that showed Keelin and Alex talking Irish to one another was just lovely, and added an extra element to the book for me that I loved a lot.

I can't say I was left 100% satisfied with the answers I got at the end of the novel but Louise O'Neill always ends her books with a slight question mark and a challenge to the readers which I've come to love and expect. At this point it would be weird if she tied it up with a neat bow, and left us with nothing else.

I loved this, and I hope others love it too. I think it's her best yet and really shows the maturity and the strength of Louise O'Neill's writing.

After the Silence leaves you wanting more after each chapter, as it slowly drip feeds you snippets and clues of what really happened the night Nessa died.

As a documentary crew are there to film, similar to a netflix true crime doc, many of the chapters are laid out as an interview style which I really enjoyed. They were easy to read and really added to that documentary vibe.

Keelin was the character you will want to know more about and takes centre stage in the book. When you're not reading parts of the interview, other chapters are from her point of view as you learn more about her previous marriage, current marriage and the heartbreaking abuse she suffered and still continues to suffer.  I thought this was a really important topic to discuss, as not only does it deal with physical abuse but also emotional abuse and controlling behaviour that might sometimes be missed as abuse.

I honestly had no idea throughout the book who had killed Nessa so when it came to the big reveal I was shocked to learn who it was. It also helped to answer why some characters made the decisions that they did.

Overall a gripping thriller that will drip feed you enough clues to make you want to read on and reveal plenty of disturbing secrets!

I was excited and also intrigued to hear that Louise O’Neill was going in the direction of writing a crime/mystery novel. I chanced my arm requesting it through NetGalley, thinking I hadn’t a hope of being approved, and was thrilled when I got this ARC. I moved it up my reading priority list. And it did not disappoint. I basically read this in one sitting. I read about 30 pages the other night and the rest yesterday throughout the day because I was just unable to put it down.

This novel flicks back and forth between the documentary interviews, before Nessa’s murder and the aftermath throughout. The physical setting of a windswept island adds an eerie quality. I found I could visualise the storms and the sea vividly, particularly on that stormy night Nessa was murdered.

O’Neill definitely captures the recent phenomenon of true crime podcasts and documentaries, and the sheer obsession surrounding them lately. They can make us feel like detectives ourselves, often forgetting there’s real pain behind these stories. O’Neill highlights this through the unimaginable suffering of the Crowleys.

The Kinsellas are also a very rich family and Henry throws money at things, thinking it’ll solve all their problems. But money doesn’t fix everything. The facade fades overtime. O’Neill explores difficult themes through the complex characters of Keelin and Henry Kinsella such as coercive control (one among many others). This added another layer to the novel, allowing the reader to think about such themes on a wider feminist context, which is what O’Neill tends to do incredibly well. I also read O’Neill’s interview with The Irish Examiner after I finished the novel and I thought it was interesting to read about the inspiration behind this novel (definitely check that out if you’re interested).

This book is oozing with dark secrecy and captured my attention from start to finish.

Thank you to @quercusbooks and @netgalley for letting me read this ARC.

4.5
I was absolutely over the moon when I got approved for an ARC for After the Silence, as Louise O'Neill is one of my favourite authors, and from the description I could already tell this was going to be different from everything else I have read by her. And it was, kind of. After the Silence is a mystery, which is new for O'Neill, but it also an exploration of domestic abuse and violence against women, which is not new for O'Neill. She is not afraid to write about the dark, taboo topics that we need to be exposed to, and I think this book was an incredible exploration of abuse, and how abusive relationships manifest differently, and how anyone can become trapped in an abusive relationship.
As for the mystery itself, i thought it was solid. It was nothing extraordinary, but sometimes a simple mystery is better as authors can have a tendency to overdo it, really pushing my suspension of disbelief too far. This didn't do that. I'm sure some people, if they are going into this expecting an incredible mystery/thriller will be disappointed. However, I truly believe if you go into this with no expectations and let the story tell itself, you will be pleasantly surprised.

Ten years have passed since Nessa Crowley was brutally murdered at a birthday party. No one has ever been convicted of her murder. Now, a documentary is being made to try and uncover what had happened. Keelin and her husband Henry are the prime suspects and they've been vilified by the local residents where they live. Jake and Noah are the two film makers who have come to make the documentary.

Nessa was the oldest sister of the Crowley girls. Everyone is hopeful that the documentary team will uncover new evidence and the murder case will be solved. Most of the narrative comes from the interviews that were taken for the documentary. Most of the characters are unlikeable in this twisty and fast paced read. I enjoyed the authors writing style. This is an atmospheric thriller.

I would like to thank NetGalley, Quercus Books and the author Louise O'Neill for my ARC in exchange for an honest review.

A thoughtful and well written book, with a true crime documentary providing a good hook for the murder mystery.
I'm not sure it bought anything new to the genre, but reminders of the horrors of coercive control continue to help break the silence around it.
Thank you to netgalley and books for an advance copy of this book