Moral Compass
by Danielle Steel
NEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • At an elite private school in Massachusetts, a wide circle of lives will be forever changed by a devastating series of events in Danielle Steel’s riveting new novel.
Saint Ambrose Prep is a place where the wealthy send their children for the best possible education, with teachers and administrators from the Ivy League, and graduates who become future lawyers, politicians, filmmakers, and CEOs. Traditionally a boys-only school, Saint Ambrose has just enrolled one hundred and forty female students for the first time. Even though most of the kids on the campus have all the privilege in the world, some are struggling, wounded by their parents’ bitter divorces, dealing with insecurity and loneliness. In such a heightened environment, even the smallest spark can become a raging fire.
One day after the school’s annual Halloween event, a student lies in the hospital, her system poisoned by dangerous levels of alcohol. Everyone in this sheltered community—parents, teachers, students, police, and the media—are left trying to figure out what actually happened. Only the handful of students who were there when she was attacked truly know the answers and they have vowed to keep one another’s secrets. As details from the evening emerge, powerful families are forced to hire attorneys and less powerful families watch helplessly. Parents’ marriages are jeopardized, and students’ futures are impacted. No one at Saint Ambrose can escape the fallout of a life-altering event.
In this compelling novel, Danielle Steel illuminates the dark side of one drunken night, with its tragic consequences, from every possible point of view. As the drama unfolds, the characters will reach a crossroads where they must choose between truth and lies, between what is easy and what is right, and find the moral compass they will need for the rest of their lives.
Momma Says: 3 stars⭐⭐⭐
Moral Compass takes a hard look at how one bad decision can lead to another in an almost snowball effect. Of course, there's a bit more to it than that, and that one bad decision is compounded by someone who acts without a care for who he hurts. The premise for this book drew me in, and I did find the many different viewpoints intriguing. Yes, I completely believe that the victim should be the first and foremost consideration in a situation like this, but realistically, that isn't always the case, and Danielle Steel gives us the situation from every avenue, including those with varying degrees of guilt and their parents. To be honest, I'd like to think that people who would react as deplorably as a couple of these characters are few and far between, but the fact remains that we see similar actions all too often.
As for this particular story, I will say that I had a fair bit of trouble getting into it. The beginning was rather slow, and the introductions to a considerable number of characters are all crammed into the first several pages. The problem with that is it amounts to information dumps rather than giving us the various details more organically throughout the story. The latter method works much better for me, and I'm more likely to remember the details later on when it's not all thrown at me at once while I'm waiting for the story to get moving.
The writing style for Moral Compass was a bit on the dry side, and at times it felt more like a documentary than a story playing out before us. There wasn't nearly as much dialogue as I would've expected, and it all amounted to more telling than showing. We also get several little side stories about the various parents, teachers, and even a touch of romance for one character, and to be honest, some of that felt a little like filler to me. Not all of it, by any means. Basically, some of the situations with the parents and others were important to the story and others - well, not so much. Nevertheless, the subject matter did hold my interest, and I did feel compelled to keep reading. I wanted to know how everything would play out for the characters, and what decisions they would ultimately make.
In the end, Moral Compass has a bit of a lesson in its story. A lesson about choosing the right path, and when we don't make the right choice, accepting the consequences for our actions. It's a lesson some of the characters had to learn the hard way, and it was an interesting road they traveled to get there.
❃❃ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine
Moral Compass takes a hard look at how one bad decision can lead to another in an almost snowball effect. Of course, there's a bit more to it than that, and that one bad decision is compounded by someone who acts without a care for who he hurts. The premise for this book drew me in, and I did find the many different viewpoints intriguing. Yes, I completely believe that the victim should be the first and foremost consideration in a situation like this, but realistically, that isn't always the case, and Danielle Steel gives us the situation from every avenue, including those with varying degrees of guilt and their parents. To be honest, I'd like to think that people who would react as deplorably as a couple of these characters are few and far between, but the fact remains that we see similar actions all too often.
As for this particular story, I will say that I had a fair bit of trouble getting into it. The beginning was rather slow, and the introductions to a considerable number of characters are all crammed into the first several pages. The problem with that is it amounts to information dumps rather than giving us the various details more organically throughout the story. The latter method works much better for me, and I'm more likely to remember the details later on when it's not all thrown at me at once while I'm waiting for the story to get moving.
The writing style for Moral Compass was a bit on the dry side, and at times it felt more like a documentary than a story playing out before us. There wasn't nearly as much dialogue as I would've expected, and it all amounted to more telling than showing. We also get several little side stories about the various parents, teachers, and even a touch of romance for one character, and to be honest, some of that felt a little like filler to me. Not all of it, by any means. Basically, some of the situations with the parents and others were important to the story and others - well, not so much. Nevertheless, the subject matter did hold my interest, and I did feel compelled to keep reading. I wanted to know how everything would play out for the characters, and what decisions they would ultimately make.
In the end, Moral Compass has a bit of a lesson in its story. A lesson about choosing the right path, and when we don't make the right choice, accepting the consequences for our actions. It's a lesson some of the characters had to learn the hard way, and it was an interesting road they traveled to get there.
❃❃ARC courtesy of NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine
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