This group of friends(?) is pressured into camping in one of the local "haunted" spots by the friend each has the most in common with. When she is missing with no clues to her location, the four remaining friends are questioned by the police. The format of the book revolves around the interviews and the responses of each teenager. Through the very different responses, the reader begins to get a picture of this group's like or dislike for the missing teen. The clues are there, blink and you'll miss them. A really fun twist on the usual ghost story around the campfire book.

A group of friends takes a weekend camping trip. Little do they know that they will exit the woods with one less member of their party. Is one of them responsible or did an unknown person stalk and murder one of them?

This YA thriller is told interview style. Each of the survivors tells their version of the story to police. It was an interesting concept, but kind of fell flat for me overall.

Five teens entered the woods…only four came out. What the heck happened? Chelsea Sedoti’s Tell Me What Really Happened grabbed me right from the start. I absolutely loved the way the story unfolds via police interrogations. Who is telling the truth? It’s completely unique and I can’t recall ever reading anything quite like it, though in a way I suppose in reminds me a bit of the original Blair Witch Project and how the found footage story delivery method was so fresh and original at the time. Fast paced and uttering engaging, I read this one in only a day and a half. Thanks so much to SOURCEBOOKS Fire and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review an ARC of Tell Me What Really Happened.

https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/tell-me-what-really-happened-chelsea-sedoti/1141459543?ean=9781492673057&bvnotificationId=57aee2c6-d3d4-11ed-a0b0-0af1b1159667&bvmessageType=REVIEW_APPROVED&bvrecipientDomain=gmail.com#review/245017446

I really enjoyed this book! I loved the way it was written. It was written unlike anything I have previously read. The chapters were short, the timeline easy to follow and it kept me interested. I had a difficult time putting it down.

I received an Advanced Reader Copy from NetGalley for an honest review.

Many thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for providing me with an eARC of Tell Me What Really Happened in exchange for my honest review!

As a fan of books like A Good Girl's Guide to Murder and One of Us Is Lying, I had a fairly engaging experience with Tell Me What Really Happened. Is this the most layered and memorable YA mystery I've ever read? Nah, but I got some nice entertainment out of its quickly paced plotting and its ensemble of teenage characters, most of whom belong to varying levels of unlikability. I appreciate how the book tries to weave in racism and the major aspect it can play in police investigations, but it does come off as superficial. Once the plot enters its third act, though, that's where it really gets enthralling. I can understand why the ending was too abrupt for some readers, but it was satisfying enough for me.

All in all, I'm giving Tell Me What Really Happened a final rating of 3.25 out of 5 stars.

I'm a big lover or True Crime and one thing I really like is getting to see police interviews. And that's exactly what this book gave me, which I thought was very interesting. The book did a brilliant job putting readers into the story and it had me feeling like I was personally invested in the crime and the outcome.

After five kids go into the woods on a camping trip and only four return the book opens up with police interviewing Petra, Nolan, Abigail, and John about the disappearance of Maylee. I thought it was a unique format of story telling and it had me so invested from interview to interview. It was interesting to see the same question answered by four very different individuals and how their accounts of the night all differed. It had me guessing who was telling the truth, who was lying, and who was just too confused to be accurate.

Overall, I definitely recommend this book for mystery lovers. It's a captivating story told in a new (to me at least) way and did a great job feeling very realistic.

Wow! This book was so intense! I loved how it was written interview style and you went through the whole process with them. I was kept on the edge of my seat just waiting to see what was gonna happen next. All of the characters were so interesting. They each had their only personality and I loved how they interacted with each other. Super fast paced and action packed. Fantastic read! Highly recommend!

This book is written by a new-to-me author, so I wasn’t sure if I would like it. But that’s never stopped me before. And with such an intriguing premise and POV format, I was convinced I should immediately dive in. I love romantic suspense, so I decided to try it even though it’s not my typical read. I have to say the format was pretty genius as it had me hooked from the outset, and it kept me intrigued and curious enough to continue to turn the pages as more of the characters’ personalities were revealed and the unreliability became more and more evident, which led to the question of what really happened. There were some twists and turns I didn’t see coming (a big plus), but as much as the author mentioned other missing people throughout the story, I felt the ending fell a bit flat. Going into the last few pages, I honestly anticipated the end being more mysterious and twisted than it turned out to be. That little bit of emotional letdown took it from a 5-star read to a four for me.

What could possibly go wrong when five teenagers go on a camping trip near a lake, where people have previously gone missing? They are just there to get away from their parents, steal kisses, share secrets and have some fun.

When one of them goes missing, the remaining four are under suspicion. What really happened that night in the woods? What are they hiding and who is lying?

Told in first person through police interviews, I could not put down this book down. I loved the unique writing style of the book and I think it would make a fun movie.

This was fast paced and kept me on the edge of my seat. I had to know what happened out there in the woods.

I loved this novel and would recommend it to anyone who likes YA mysteries.

A recent rainy Sunday activated my 'sloth mode'. Which is comprised of lazy day, a comfy couch, sweat pants and a YA novel.

I've been looking forward to Chelsea Sedoti's new book - Tell Me What Really Happened. One of my favorite styles of storytelling is epistolary. In this case it's a series of police interviews with each member of a group of teens.

Five teens who went camping:
- on a rainy night
- in an area where young women have died or gone missing
- one of the group does go missing
- and every police interview with the remaining four points the finger of blame on someone else

Who is telling the truth? Can you ferret out the whodunit before the last chapters? I have to say that I didn't see Sedoti's ending coming - it's nice to be surprised.

The cast of campers are well defined, giving us six very different personalities. Sedoti captures the joys of high school angst. She also throw in a number of horror movie tropes that add to the overall feel of the book. Seriously- what's the first rule? Uh huh, don't go into the woods

Tell Me What Really Happened is just plain fun to read.

Tell Me What Really Happened is a captivating and suspenseful thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat. With unexpected twists and turns, this page-turner will leave you guessing until the very end.

This book was a lot of fun to read and due to the format allowed for the book to be easily devoured. The characters were dynamic, for teenagers, and as the reader you learn a lot about each of the individual characters. Maylee has gone missing on a weekend camping trip with her boyfriend, John, her best friend, Petra, and Maylee’s secret friend, Abagail. Petra also brings along her Cryptozoology obsessed brother with her.

The format of this book allows for an interesting perspective since it starts with the group of four being interrogated on what happened as the police search for Maylee, who is missing in the woods. Throughout the story bits and pieces are disclosed to show that this camping trip was not just a group of friends enjoying the woods together. Secrets that were hidden are beginning to come out about hidden motivates, a gun being brought, and strange footprints and noises around the campsite. Where is Maylee? Is she alive or did something happen to her?

I personally love when authors are not afraid to create characters that are not necessarily going to be loved and I think that was the purpose of Maylee. Her character was not someone that I would have wanted to be friends with as a teenager, but I see it as being realistic for her being a popular, self-absorbed teenager.

This book also had an important message about the use of social media and technology for youth. In our society a lot of people’s self-worth is based off how they are seen on social media and by people that they might not even know. This story tackles that idea about how social media should not be the world to someone especially teenagers, who are finding themselves and learning how to be functioning people in the world.

I love love loved the concept and writing style of this book. I love the interrogation style writing, I feel it builded suspense and the eeriness of the storyline, It gave us different perspectives and personalities while building the story. I didn't care for the characters themselves or for the monster aspect. I thought it was kind of cheesy. But maybe that was the point. I would love to read another book in this style!

This book was completely different from anything I have ever read. By writing the book in an interview/interrogation format, Chelsea Sedoti made reading this an unique and exciting experience. As soon as I started I could not put this down. I did however find the ending a little anticlimactic, but all in all I had a fun time reading and would totally recommend it.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and Sourcebook Fire Team for my early access copy of Tell Me What Really Happened! Such a neat writing style. Was a fun read and kept me guessing! Definitely more YA than my usual taste but will definitely recommend it for people just getting into thrillers!!

ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

Wow! I had no idea what I was getting into with this book but I completely loved the wild ride! I enjoyed how it was written, almost like a play or script, to get all the characters talking about what happened in the past! It was the perfect way to set this book up and had me glued to the pages until the very end! I will definitely be recommending to friends and family and purchasing a copy for my 16 year old daughter, who I know will absolutely love all the twists and turns!

Happy book birthday to Tell Me What Really Happened by @chelseasedoti !
This was a great read for me—it was fast paced, and I could not put it down! I liked the interview/interrogation style format, and even though I haven’t been a teenager in decades, the teen characters were relatable as well as were their flaws & issues. They easily could have been adults making the same mistakes and taking the same questionable actions. Took me a bit to figure out how this one was going to end, but it was GOOD!
If you like suspense and fast paced books, give this one a go!! Check out the book trailer in my stories! 5/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

**Thank you to NetGalley & Sourcebooks Fire for the advanced copy! **

From the publisher: “There are stories about the woods around Salvation Creek, about the people who have gone missing. Now their friend is one of them. A riveting, fast-paced YA mystery told entirely through first person police interviews of four teens over the course of a few hours.

It was all her idea. They would get away from their parents and spend the weekend camping. Down by Salvation Creek, the five of them would make smores, steal kisses, share secrets.
But sometime around midnight, she vanished.
Now the four friends who came back are under suspicion—and they each have a very different story to tell about what happened in the woods.
The clock is ticking. What are they hiding? Who is lying? Dark truths must come to light if their friend is to be found…
Told entirely through first-person police interviews, this riveting mystery asks: what really happened that night?”

In this easily bingable YA thriller, a group of friends head into the woods for a night of camping. With an unsurprising turn of events, one of them does not come home. Told from the point of view of a police interrogation, this book was a quick read that was hard to put down.

I never know how I feel about YA thrillers, so many books in the genre rely on unlikable characters to move the plot along. It was exciting for me to find this not the case in this book. I actually liked almost all of the characters and found it interesting to watch them develop, even though we are only seeing them from the eyes of a police transcript. From their first introductions, each character was able to showcase not only their personalities, but also small glimpses into what aspects of their lives helped nurture those personalities. It is one thing to be told about a character; that tends to be uninteresting and pointless. It is another thing to have a character tell us about themselves. The unique storytelling of this book really allowed for the characters to share their voices.

I have very mixed feelings when it comes to the mystery itself. Coming back once again to the storytelling, it was a great deal of fun to try and guess what direction the case was going to go. There were many times when I found myself trying to catch one of the characters in a lie or second guessing the actual order of the chain of events, which really made the case fun. However, the storytelling device also prevented me from feeling fully satisfied by the conclusion of the mystery because all I saw were the characters' reactions, not the first hand experience. This also led to a disappointing solution and me closing the book with an undercurrent of disappointment.

Please check trigger warnings

3.5 stars

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the opportunity to read this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Tell Me What Really Happened by Chelsea Sedoti is a textbook case of tight plot, brilliant setting, and just the right dash of characterization creating an absolute “can’t put it down” story. The premise of the story unfolding over the course of police interrogations is a brilliant use of setting that builds the tension and doubt that the reader feels- sure in one moment they know the answer, but then doubting themselves the next. Each chapter is set in motion by one question from the police and then unfolds with the players in the mystery, Petra, Nolan, John, and Abigail, giving their answers. What really happened out in the woods that night? As the readers find out, the 4 teens involved in the incident also slowly find out what REALLY happened. Maylee, a beautiful, popular girl, brings her best friend, Petra; Petra’s stepbrother, Nolan; John, Maylee’s boyfriend; and Abigail, her ex, all together on a random camping trip. As the interrogations continue, we find out that this is an unlikely group on an unlikely trip, and the dynamics between the characters gets fleshed out- the control, the jealousy, the pain, the vindictiveness. Sedoti does a really good job of painting Maylee as a complex person- one who is hated and loved to equal degree. The format of the story helps to keep the plot moving; at times, there are some loose strings that kind of don’t make total sense or don’t really seem to have anything to do with anything, but that can be forgiven as the story moves at a nice pace. The development of the story, and what the purpose of the trip ends of being, are plausible; the end reveal is plausible. The wrap-up is quite quick, which is one area of YA mysteries that could be done better. Overall, though, I couldn’t put it down and I needed to find out what happened.

I really wanted to love this book. I really did.

I hated the format of the book. I get that the author wanted to write from all the POVs but it was annoying. I pushed myself to finish the book and while it was well written and the story was really interesting... I felt the format ruined it for me.

I'm sure I am in the minority here so I don't take my word for whether it was good or not.