Don’t Breathe a Word audiobook

4.5 STARSI really, really enjoyed this book! I ate it all up in one evening and had a great timing doing so. I really enjoyed the two POVs in this story, and loved the way the author linked them together. The setting was very intriguing, and the secret society element wasn't overdone which made it much more enjoyable. Surprisingly for me, I also enjoyed the fact it wasn't romance-heavy. To be very picky, it was a little bit predictable, and could've been a teeny bit longer and more detailed?

A YA contemporary set in a boarding? Automatic preorder.Though I’m closer in age to narrator Connie, the part of the story set in 1962 than Eva, the narrator for the story set in 2021, I thoroughly enjoyed DON’T BREATHE A WORD from start to finish.In many ways, Eva and Connie are similar, both followers, eager to fit in and go along with the crowd even when the voice inside them tells them it’s wrong. Neither is a profile in courage, in the beginning. Jordyn Taylor brilliantly wrote 1962 accurately, from first names, to teenage slang. Born in 1964, I’m a few years too young to remember hiding under desks for nuclear war drills but that and McCarthyism was recent history. I constantly wanted Connie to make better choices.Eva’s in her first year of boarding school, sent away because her mother and stepfather never really wanted her and they didn’t tolerate her typical teenage behavior. I understood why Eva wanted to be part of the secret society, even when she knew it was a bad fit.DON’T BREATHE A WORD is fast paced, alternating between Connie’s and Eva’s points of view. I enjoyed every minute of the story, though not a typical mystery of thriller, I was very much invested in how the story played out.DON’T BREATHE A WORD is a must read for anyone who loves boarding schools and secret societies.

Set in two different time periods, Don't Breathe a Word tells two heart racing tales that collide in an incredible way. In the present day we have Eva, a new student at Hardwick Preparatory Academy who desperately wants to make friends. When she's invited to join an elite secret society, she jumps at the opportunity to be a part of something. But the Fives aren't what she expected, and secrets start bubbling up. In 1962 we have Connie, who is terrified by the threat of nuclear war. When presented with the opportunity of spending four days in the schools new fallout shelter, she's skeptical until she hears her crush will be going. But the bunker is not at all what she expected, and Connie quickly realizes that one wrong move could have dangerous consequences. Eva's and Connie’s stories become inextricably intertwined as Eva unravels the mystery of how six students went into the fallout shelter all those years ago . . . but only five came out. CW: mentions of homophobia, alcohol consumption, claustrophobia, death, cult like activity, hazing, bullying. Eva is our present day character and I really enjoyed reading from her. I found her very relatable and interesting. Her home life sucks, and all she wants is to find friends. When she's invited to join a secret society she latches onto that friendship. Alongside that she joins the cross-country team and meets Erik, who is a sweet bi boy whom we love. Erik introduces Eva to the fall-out shelter and that's when the mystery begins. It's fun to watch read along as they figure things out, and I really enjoyed Eva overall.Alongside Eva we have all of the shitty people from the Fives, Erik and the rest of the cross-country team which includes a few homophobic dudes who are dead to me, and a sweet group of Dungeons and Dragons playing baby geeks. Connie is an interesting character, and very much felt like an accurate representation of the time period that she's from. She's more of a follower than a leader, and relies on her friend Betty a lot. With the threat of nuclear war looming over her head, Connie is nervous and easily coerced into the bunker. Once in the bunker it was really intriguing to follow her and see what happened, and though she doesn't have a big personality I really loved seeing her gain her voice over the course of the novel.In the bunker with Connie we have her best friend Betty who low key sucks, Bobby who was kind of unmemorable, Craig who also sucked, Steve who was straight up the worst, and sweet Helen who did not want to be there. There's also her teacher, Andy Kraus, who set the whole thing up and is also literally the worst. Everyone was incredibly well written, with distinctive personalities and traits. The setting of this book is primarily at Hardwick Preparatory Academy, in the bunker for most of Connie's story, and around the school for Eva's. It's a very lovely academia setting, easily imaginable in my mind. There are two plots in this book: Connie's which details what happens in the bunker, and Eva in the future trying to figure out what happened in the bunker and being recruited into a cult. These stories are perfectly woven together in a way that makes it so you just can't put the book down. There's some incredible sleuthing from Eva and Erik, offset by the very unsettling events happening within the bunker. The ending of this book brings to the two storylines together in a very fun and well done way. I really enjoyed seeing Eva and Connie's stories cross over, and enjoyed the way that this novel ended. This story is expertly written, the two story lines are woven together so perfectly that you just keep flipping the page because everything ends on a giant cliffhanger. I think that this book had a really strong mystery, and very well done secondary plot lines as well. There is light romance done in a very gradual way, which I prefer over insta love. Overall I think that this book is incredible. It was impossible to put down, with realistic and interesting characters, and a wildly fun heart racing plot. If you love books like Truly Devious, One of Us is Lying or A Study in Charlotte, definitely check this one out! My reviews up after release date, but thank you to Harper Collins Canada for sending me an ARC!

You can find the full review and all the fancy and/or randomness that accompanies it at It Starts at Midnight 4.5*Much like the author's debut, Don't Breathe a Word is told in dual perspectives from two different time periods. In this novel, we first meet Eva, who is feeling pretty lost in her current situation. She feels like an outcast in her new school, but she felt like one before, too. In the past time period, we meet Connie, who attends the same boarding school, only sixty years earlier.I really loved both women's stories, frankly! They are connected by a mystery, one that unravels in Connie's time, but that Eva is trying to get to the bottom of. There are some things happening at the school that simply aren't sitting well with Eva, and I loved that she was willing to investigate, even if the cost could come to her personal happiness. Much of what Eva uncovers leads us to Connie's story, which took place during the Cold War, amidst some pretty serious paranoia.I'm going to keep this very vague because it is, after all, about uncovering a decades long mystery! But I love how both women had to make some very serious, often uncomfortable decisions, and then had to deal with the fallout from said decisions. It was incredibly thought provoking, and I loved seeing how the stories came to connect so perfectly! Bottom Line: An incredibly strong sophomore offering, Don't Breathe a Word pulled me in to both the mysterious circumstances and incredible characters from the start.

More people should be reading this book, it was such a mysterious, intriguing, immersive and entertaining book!!As it usually happens with YA thrillers, I wanted it to be a little bit more intense.But I loved the secret society and the whole psychological experiment aspect and thought the teenagers' reactions to the whole situation was very believable (the adults not so much, maybe, but it didn't bother me).

A mystery, set in two different time periods: today and 1962. Back in 1962, Hardwick Preparatory Academy builds a fallout shelter after all of the cold war scares. Six kids are selected to spend a few days in the shelter to "test it out" but something goes terribly wrong. The shelter isn't spoken of after that. Modern day Eva and the other students at the academy don't even know about the shelter when the story begins. But what happened down there? And why has it been such a secret for almost 60 years? It was fun to see how the modern day Eva works to solve a case that happened in 1962 at her elite boarding school. Fans of Truly Devious will appreciate this story.

I went into this knowing absolutely nothing about it and it was such a pleasant surprise!The past storyline was definitely the most interesting, and I thought the way it was interwoven with the present day was done so well. I was hooked almost immediately, and just really enjoyed the entire ride.Would absolutely recommend this one to just about any reader- but particularly anyone who enjoys mysteries that have multiple time lines

A YA mystery with history, a boarding school, the Cold War, a fall-out shelter, and a psychological experiment. This was a page-turner and I enjoyed every minute of this book! 

4.5 starsTaking place between two time periods at the same institution and told by two students who are questioning the authority, Don't Breathe A Word had my attention from the first chapter. I don't know much about the decade of my parents' childhoods; I have heard bits and pieces about the Cold War paranoia and, of course, have seen the signage for old bomb shelters that were built for this period in our history... yet, I hadn't given much thought to the corruption this fear would give way to. The allusion of a secret society's "Order, Unity, & Power" quickly lead to hazing and McCarthy-like spies among the students at Hardwick Prep Academy-- something that began in the 1960s (Connie's story) and continues today (Eva's story).The secrets, mystery, and rebellion kept me turning the pages. A recommended purchase for 7th grade and up.

This was such a great read! I really liked how the dual timelines worked together to present a mystery and then to see it be resolved. I also liked how the characters from the past timeline came into the present and were still major characters. In the present timeline we follow Eva who has been sent to Hardwick by her parents. Eva is struggling to make friends, so when she gets recruited by secret society the Fives, she’s desperate for their approval. Eva’s willingness to go along with things in return for being wanted and liked is kind of chilling at times. I liked when she realized that things weren’t as rosy as they seemed. I really liked her relationship with Erik and how they were searching for the fallout shelter. In the past timeline we follow Connie who is quite anxious and nervous about potential nuclear war. Connie’s anxieties came across really well, and I felt for her character. When a teacher at Hardwick presents an experiment for 6 students to spend 4 days in the fallout shelter, Connie signs up with her best friend Betty. Only things in the shelter aren’t what Connie expected, and the experiment is pretty chilling. The way the author wrote the characters was really well down, and the way that they were buying into the ideas was kind of terrifying. I thought the writing style was super easy to follow. Both Eva and Connie were relatable and realistic characters, and I wanted to see them uncover the truth and get justice. The plot moved along at a good pace, and while it might have been a bit slow at times I felt like it worked really well to show the manipulations being felt by the characters.

Thank you so much to Harper360 for sending me a copy of this!Don’t Breathe a Word follows two girls, Eva and Connie, separated by 60 years as they navigate their way through a secret society- one of which joins and the other a founding member. I really enjoyed this and despite some of it being predictable, I was still thoroughly invested and intrigued to see how the events would pan out. It took a little while for the main characters to become likable to me, they started off as being naïve and following others- definitely ‘sheep’. I understand that was the intention so I enjoyed the development they had even more. The dual perspective worked very well and I like that their stories eventually merged! I appreciate the ending but I didn’t necessarily find it entirely fair.I also really like how despite the plot of Eva’s story is her finding the shelter and what happened, she also made some good friends and had a realistic teenage development with the boy she liked! I definitely recommend this! Main points to hook you in: dark academia vibes, boarding school, dark secret covered up for 60 years, intertwining perspectives, one perspective set during the cold war!

Secret society. Buried history. Dark Academia setting. Needless to say, I'm sold.And I love this book! The setting is immersive I can see myself walking in Hardwick as student, wearing blazers and hang out with friends while withholding terrible secrets.The dual POV is nice and we can feel different atmosphere from different time settings. We can also see a lot of teenage problem : peer pressure, the need to impress, unsupportive parents, not so healthy crush, etc etc.Overall, I like this book. Nice characters and settings and it gave me chills at times. Yes, it is a bit predictable but enjoyable read nevertheless. Not focused on sappy romance is also a nice point!

This was a pretty entertaining read - a solid 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. This is a dual timeline storyline but is pretty easy to keep straight regarding the characters and actions which isn't always true when a story time jumps. The stories parallel each other in a lot of ways and, of course, they come together in the end. The characters and relationships change and grow as the mystery unfolds and it kept me interested throughout but what I found most interesting was the concept of "groupthink." The author uses both modern day school setting and cold war era red scare mentality to expand upon the concept. It shows how close we always are to giving up ourselves to authority and I think that's an important commentary for today's society and gave it the bump up to 4 stars.

I really enjoyed this book! The pace was fine at the beginning, but when Erik entered Eva's story, I couldn't put it down. It reads like a grown-up Trixie Belden -- sneaking around a private school, having teen morals tested in two generations, secret societies, politics and bomb shelters...what's not to like? I like Eva's back story trying to find some confidence and finds The Fives, the cross-country team, Erik and the quest for justice. I would highly recommend this to any high school student.

I was pleasantly surprised when I read this book. It exceeded my expectation and is an amazing read. The plot is a unique one and the way the story brings the 2 characters together is smooth and makes sense. This book also gives me dark academia vibes and is surprisingly similar to 'The Secret History'. A secret society in a boarding school in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by rich and talented students? I would want to be in the Fives just for the aesthetic. And a nuclear fallout shelter is a very unique plot. The build up to the climax is stunningly written. 'Don't Breathe a Word' is definitely worth a read.