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.

What a unique format for a mystery! Four teens being questioned by the police. Each chapter starts with the interrogation question as a header, and then the responses of the characters to whom the question relates are provided in first-person accounts. Each character’s unique qualities, perceptions of each other and their missing friend, and perspective on their camping trip that went awry shines through the writing. I really enjoyed the process of trying to get to the truth with the investigators and the teens in this story.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire, Netgalley, and the author for early access to this unique mystery.

Five friends leave for an overnight camping trip but only four return..

The story is told in police interviews as the four are questioned separately to explain the events leading up to and after Maylee’s disappearance. This was such an interesting format to tell this story and it did work, however it just fell flat for me, particularly the ending. I was expecting something more sinister but it really was anticlimactic and a let down.

My other main issue with the story was Nolan’s obsession with Bigfoot, I know it had a role to play but it just became tiresome pretty quickly.

It was a quick easy read though, I read it from start to finish in less than three hours.


Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an eARC in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 3.5

This book had aspects I really enjoyed and others that I was very confused about. Five "friends" go on a camping trip in the secluded woods with no cell service and the one who invited them all ends up dead... Who did it?

One of the major positives was the multiple POVs. I liked hearing what happened that night from Abigail, Petra, John, and Nolan. It gave so much context and the reader is able to ty and piece things together as they read. I also enjoyed the interrogation format of the book, it made it a faster read. Both of these things helped keep me as a reader engaged in the story and reading in anticipation of finding who/what killed Maylee.

The ending is what annoyed me the most. I was filled with anticipation and then when I read what happened, it just fell flat. It felt like taking the easy way out plot wise. The slight twist regarding two characters also felt OOC for one of them. It was an extreme solution to Maylee's perceived issue. While I didn't love the ending, the last few things said by Petra were a great ending.

Five teenagers go camping at Salvation Creek but one goes missing. What really happened that night?

A fast paced young adult mystery told through first-person police interviews. I enjoyed the multiple POVs and how the story was formatted. Each chapter would start with a question asked by the detectives and then each character will answer below. I was kept at the edge of my seat trying to figure out what happened.

I would recommend to any reader who likes young adult mystery told through multiple POV who is okay with police transcript formatting.

I received an advanced readers copy from NetGalley and the publisher Sourcebooks Fire for an honest review.

Five friends go into the woods, but only four make it out ….

Salvation Creek, known for its creepy folktales and missing person stories, specially young women is not the ideal camping spot. But Maylee thinks otherwise and convinces her four friends to accompany her to the creek.

What they planned to be a fun night camping adventure, with fire, marshmallows, drinking, fooling around turned into a disaster by midnight. Maylee is missing, and someone brought a gun to the camp.

Now the four teens are being interrogated in separate rooms. They all are suspects, all have something to hide and something to share. As the interrogation proceeds, every flashback brings a new twist and a possible motive against each to harm Marley.

Entirely told in first person police interviews of four teens over the course of a few hours. With each chapter as a new question for them to answer. The unique writing style is fast-paced, gripping and makes you feel part of the interrogation room.

Devoured it in one sitting but still left wondering where everything went wrong. Could have been a five star read but the end definitely did disappoint a little.

If you’re into YA mysteries and looking a unique writing style you can go for this one.

This book definitely had a lot of potential, but it really just did not work for me. It felt very predictable, and yet the ending was somehow worse than the predictable ending I expected

This is a story about five teenagers who go on a camping trip and one of those teens disappears. The story is told through the narrative of the four remaining teenagers responses during police interviews.. It is a pretty original approach to telling the story. The reader learns the events leading up to the teen’s disappearance from the perspective of four very different teens in small increments. The author has a great sense of humor which comes across in her writing. I really couldn’t guess what really happened until the very end of the book. It is definitely worth a read. I am voluntarily submitting this review after reading an advanced complementary copy of this book.

eARC Review: Tell Me What Really Happened by Chelsea Sedoti

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for an early copy of this book to review!

My Rating: 4/5 stars

My Thoughts: I thought this book was good! I liked the writing and the way the story was told. It was told in a series of police interviews which was unique! I liked hearing each character’s perspectives of the events that occurred in this story. I also liked the sprinkling in of cryptid’s! It was unexpected and as a PNW girl myself, I loved to see it! I think fans of survival fiction/mysteries would love this book!

Get you a copy when it’s released tomorrow!

This thriller was a fun read. I loved the writing style. It's so different from what I'm used to, but I did love that! Written in an interrogation/interview style with each character and very little outside involvement. I enjoyed getting to know each character, and I liked how each one was different in so many ways yet came together for a traumatic camping trip at Salvation Creek. Each of the characters hold secrets that must be unraveled to find their missing friend. Parts of this book, I felt I needed more, but overall, I enjoyed reading this one. It was worth the read.

A fun night camping in the woods turned into the scariest adventures for them all. Salvation Creek, secluded and known for many disappearances. What possibly could this group of teenagers endure in one night?

5 teens go into the woods one night and only 4 come out alive... what happened out there?

The story is told from the point of view of the 4 teens while being questioned by the police about what happened leading up to that fateful night in the woods. It switches between characters quickly and keeps your heart racing as you try to figure out who is telling the truth, who is remembering what happened correctly, and what they are trying to cover up.

The characters are diverse... the want to be influencer, her boyfriend, her ex-girlfriend, her best friend and her best friend's step brother... it is a fun YA book that I can't wait to have my daughter read.

I loved the different points of view... it was a great way to hear all of the different sides of the same story quickly and in a unique way.

I love multiple POVs in mystery/thrillers.

Five friends go camping …four return home.

Everyone now is left questioning, doubting, learning things about their friends and selves. The past is brought into a new light.

I loved this quick thriller and couldn’t put it down. I was definitely kept guessing the entire book.

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read and review.

I love YA thrillers, and this is one of the most unique storytelling plots I’ve read. It was fast-paced and gripping, a very quick and engaging read.

Five friends. One disappearance. Four different stories.

Petra, Maylee, Abigail, Nolan, and John are all teens who go one a camping trip into the woods, at a campsite in an infamous section of woods known as Salvation Creek. Over the years, many people have disappeared while in the woods under suspicious circumstances. There’s lots of tension between the friends, leading to lots of little squabbles amongst the group. When one of them disappears into the woods, it’s up to the remaining four to search for her the woods in the middle of the night. As tensions mount and each start to suspect one another, not to mention the paranoia that there’s something else out there, it becomes a race to find their friend before it’s too late. Told after the fact through alternating first-person recounting of events during police interviews, this is the epitome of unreliable narrators and shifting truths and half-truths, which makes for a pretty thrilling ride for the reader until the very end when the truth is finally revealed.