Review: Moral Compass

Moral Compass by Danielle Steel
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

This was a really difficult one for me to read emotionally, and as such it's difficult for me to rate.

Plot: An all-boys, elite boarding school has just agreed to take on the challenge of becoming co-ed, and has a handful of girls starting there for the first time. Things start out smoothly but then there's a Halloween party and next thing you know one of the new girls is waking up in hospital with a horrible hangover and signs of assault. Suddenly a lot of lives have changed.

The title of the story suggests the big theme: morality. Who is to blame, who isn't, what is the right thing to do? Who should be doing it? etc. A lot of questions are raised and I won't lie - this is gonna be pretty triggering if you've ever had something similar happen to you, or someone you're close to. Read with caution.

Things I felt reading this: Rage. Sorrow. Pity. Frustration. Understanding. Sick.

At the same time, it was blunted by how the story was written. It was very much told, meaning most of the feelings I had were less because of the writing and more because of my own feelings towards this kind of occurrence. I found it really strange that with all these people and conflicting POVs that there was very little feeling to the story. It was quite cold and direct, and no real attachment to the characters through the writing. Maybe that was intentional - the writer choosing not to take any kind of side - but it felt a lot like an opinion piece told through fictional characters. It's a relatively short book, coming in at just under 300 pages, and I wonder what sort of emotions could have been dragged out of me by taking the time to really explore the characters. There were a few expansions that I was desperate for - particularly in the case of Vivienne, Jamie and Chase - and then there were some that made little sense to me and seemed kind of inappropriate and cheap, considering the rest of the book.

The setup was also really abrupt for me. The incident occurred unbelievably fast, and I found it hard to swallow. It felt rushed and unrealistic. There was a lot of talk about alcohol poisoning which made me wonder what the hell they were really sharing around. (Remind me to have two sips of tequila next time I want to get blackout drunk.)

However I overlooked the sketchy setup because I knew this was a book about the consequences. The point was not how much alcohol had been consumed - the point was how much consumption of alcohol excuses one's actions. Along with a ton of other moral questions.

That's probably the big thing here: I felt like the story was written pretty bluntly, and was nothing special, but the questions it makes you ask yourself are quite intense. This is less about the way this story is told and more about the way this story makes you feel.

Personally, it made me feel terrible. Depressed, really.

If you're triggered easily I'd probably give it a miss, and if you're looking to connect with characters on a deeper level you'll probably be disappointed. But if you're interested in moral questions and right vs wrong in horrible situations, this will get the wheels turning upstairs. I can't say I enjoyed reading it, but it definitely made me think hard about what it was saying.

I'm definitely gonna need something fun after that emotional rollercoaster.

With thanks to Macmillan for my ARC.

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