It’s been a while since I’ve picked up a mystery, even longer for a YA one. Told in police interview style from multiple points of view, this is a twisted tale that leaves readers pointing in multiple directions.

This felt a bit slow to get into to for me and it was probably largely due to getting used to the style and familiarizing myself with the characters. While I had an idea at how the book would end, there were several twists that I didn’t see coming. Overall it’s a quick and fun change of pace read and would be great for those YA readers just breaking into the mystery and thriller genre.

Tell Me What Really Happened by Chelsea Sedoti is a clever, well-crafted story told through a collection of police interviews all of which happen on the same day. A teenager has gone missing while on a camping trip with four of her friends in the woods around Salvation Creek. The four friends' accounts of the camping trip and their friend's disappearance differ. I can't write much more than this without spoiling the story's ending. Despite the unconventional format, I quickly became engrossed in this story and found myself quite glued to it, eager to know more.  The writing is good and the story is well-paced. The characterization is interesting and the relationships are complex. I recommend this book and not just to YA readers.

A story of 5 kids deciding to go camping in the woods and something goes wrong. The events unfold through first person interrogation of the group. Each chapter starts with a question asked by the detectives/police. It is then answered by the camping trip friends. It was a very interesting and fun way to write this book. The characters were interesting and even funny at times. The writing made me feel like I was in the woods with them. It was a fun read and I would definitely recommend it to anyone that loves YA fiction

Five teenagers go camping at Salvation Creek despite knowing several people have gone missing there in the past. It was Maylee’s idea, but her friends find her missing from the camp around midnight. By morning, the teens are at the police station giving their accounts of what happened. Each provides different details about what happened that night. Who is telling the truth? What really happened to Maylee?

Sedoti writes this book in a distinctive way. The story is all told through a police interview format, except the reader does not see the interviewer’s questions, just their responses. You get to know each teen through their recollections of what happened, thoughts about each other, and suspicions. While I was able to predict some of the twists, I still enjoyed the book. I especially enjoyed the unique format it was written in. If you enjoy fast-paced YA mysteries this book is for you! I give it 3.5/5 stars.

This was a fun, fast-paced YA read. I enjoyed how it was set up. Each chapter began with a question asked by the police, then was answered by each different character. This was a great way to get everyone’s POV in an organized way, and the author did an excellent job at not including too much repetition. It was also fun to see how varied the characters’ interpretations and perspectives were about different events. This was probably the strongest part of the book and was surprisingly engaging.

I also quite liked the characters. They were all unique and had strong voices. I liked the wide range of their personalities, and how none of them felt like caricatures. The inclusion of one character’s obsession with cryptozoology increased my enjoyment of this work and added a whole new level of interest. While the plot wasn’t the most realistic, it was wonderfully entertaining.

If you enjoy fast-paced YA books, then this is a must read!

When five teenagers go on a camping trip only four will return but only one will know the real reason they went in the first place. Maylee her boyfriend John best friend Petra Petra‘s brother Logan and Abigail Buckley all went on a camping trip during a hike they find a humongous footprint hear strange noises and feel like they’re being watched but there’s no mistaken the abandon looking cabin they come up on John is convinced a Serial Killer lives there but Logan is positive a Bigfoot is stalking them Petra and Maily blow them off but Abigail seems interested in Logan‘s theories throughout the hike Petra keeps noticing Abby in mailing telling each other secrets and when she ask what they’re talking about they say nothing and she basically pretends to blow it off but it really bothers her because she is supposed to be Mally‘s best friend. When they make it back to camp Mally starts drinking and tries to influence everyone else to do the same but only Logan seems to take her up on it before the night is over tensions will rise and one of them will go missing but what happened to her was it Bigfoot a serial killer or some other dastardly deed? I love a good yeah mystery and this one was so much fun I love Logan‘s theories and I love that Abigails Danny was perceived to be a Republican but the more we learn about him the more we see you shouldn’t judge a book by its cover the formatting of this book was fun the plot was executed expertly I just love this book it’s totally deserves five stars this is the reason I read YA mysteries in the first place. I highly recommend this book if you love yeah mysteries then you definitely love Tell Me What Really Happened by Chelsea Sadodi I received this book from NetGalley and a publisher but I am leaving this review voluntarily please forgive any mistakes as I am blind and dictate my review.

Thanks to NetGalley, Author Chelsea Sedoti, and Sourcebooks for advanced copy for honest review.

A group of friends goes on a camping trip and one of them goes missing! Follow along with the investigation as the detectives try to figure out who is responsible. It will keep you guessing till the very end!

I really enjoyed how this book was written - it felt fresh and unique. The ending felt a bit rushed but overall I would recommend this book!

Read this book if you like: Multiple POVs & whodunit

A digital copy of this book was provided to me by NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire. The opinions are my own and freely given.

Cast of Characters:

Maylee - best friend of Petra
Petra - daughter of a cop
Nolan - Petra's stepbrother
John - Maylee's boyfriend
Abigail - friend of Maylee

This book takes place in the course of a day. A group of high school students are going camping for 1 night in the woods, a remote location, with no cell service, or internet. The trip was Maylee's idea, so that she could spend time with John, without her parents. She asked Petra, her best friend to join them, who in turned asked her stepbrother to go. Maylee invites Abigail whom Petra didn't even realize that Maylee knew. Petra is very much "stick to the schedule" and has the law ingrained in her because of her dad. Nolan is a conspiracy and foil hats kind of kid. John is the black kid who is always looked as the cause of trouble and Abigail the daughter of the man who is always seen sporting gun rights and hunts.
Maylee disappears and the rest of the book is spent interviewing all those that were camping with her, one by one by the cops to determine what happened to Maylee. I was very invested in this book. I thoroughly enjoyed the story. I didn't actually care for Maylee, and Petra seemed a little spoiled, but overall, I would recommend this book. Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire.

This book had so much potential! I loved the format and was very intrigued with the story however it fell really flat for me. I wish we had seen what ACTUALLY happened at the end.

I flew through this YA mystery but was quite disappointed by the ending. It seemed like the author didn't try to wrap much up at all, just a "here's what happened" abrupt finish and very anticlimactic.

It has a huge focus on bigfoots. I get why, but it was a lot and started to annoy me a bit.

A huge positive of this is that it is uniquely written - all told in police interviews. There are different first person POVs for different characters being questioned and I really enjoyed the style and it kept everything very interesting. However, I think the author could have done more to differentiate between the characters so we knew who we were reading without flipping back to the character name headings.

This has AGGGTM vibes at the start so if you also loved that, you may enjoy this (subject to above haha). I really did enjoy for something different and an easy YA read but the last 5-10% disappointed.

Thanks to Netgalley, the author and the publisher for my eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Publication date: 4 April 2023

Five teenagers go into the woods, and only four come out. A fast-paced “ who done it “ type novel told in first-person police interviews about the disappearance of their familiar friend. My favorite trope is an unreliable narrator; we get four of them in this book. Unfortunately, although the premise was new and exciting, the book fell flat. All the characters were unlikeable, and maybe that was on purpose. Aside from that, some parts of the book seemed to drag on and move in circles. The nail in the coffin for the two-star review was the ending, it was anticlimactic, and I was rooting for something more dark and twisty instead.

Thank you, Chelsea Sedoti, and Sourcebooks Fire, for sending me this ARC in return for an honest review.

Five teens go camping. Four return. The story of what happened to Maylee unfolds as it's told by four distinct voices as they're being interviewed by the police. Full of twists and suspense, this was a bingeable YA mystery that I devoured in one sitting.

The standout aspect of this book for me is definitely the way it's told, which is exclusively through one-sided police interviews. We see multiple responses to the same question, which was a really effective way to understand how the characters differed from each other. They were all interesting and distinct: Petra, the infuriatingly bossy, obsessive planner; Nolan, her cryptid-seeking stepbrother; John, Maylee's boyfriend who faced a scandal last year; and Abigail, the trailer-park loner that no one's quite sure why she's there. It's unclear who - if any - the reader can trust. It builds an excellent air of suspense as the puzzle pieces slowly fit into place.

Spooky and fast-paced, this YA whodunnit will have you flipping pages quickly to find out what happens next.

Thanks to NetGalley, Author Chelsea Sedoti, and Sourcebooks for advanced copy for honest review.

I really liked this way this book played out. Especially the way I felt with the detectives and trying to figure out whodunnit.

Five friends set off for a camping trip to Salvation Creek. Maylee- wannabe influencer. Petra- control freak. Nolan- step brother of Petra and believer of Big Foot. John- girlfriend of Maylee. And Abigail- invited to tag along. A lot has gone into getting the ball rolling for the camping trip and cracks are beginning to show, making things be just a little off. With no spoilers, only four of the five come back. They finally get to speak with the police and this is how the book goes. The four are separated into different interrogation rooms. We go through the investigation process with the detectives. We hear each of the stories in their own words and each being slightly different. Throughout you keep thinking, ‘well that doesn’t add up’ and ‘he or she did it’. Well I’m here to tell you, you’ll be wrong. Not until the end, with all the twists, will you be able to figure this out.

5 STARS, HIGHLY RECOMMEND!

Thank you to NetGalley, the author, and Sourcebooks Fire for the gifted e-book ❤️

Read this book if you like: Multiple POVs, police interview style, whodunit, secluded campground

I mostly enjoyed this book. It has quite a bit of cliches and predictable parts. A few of the characters, especially one, were very unlikable. That was clearly on purpose. I liked how incredibly different each character was, even though I wanted to strangle them all. They were very well written. I do feel like they resd as younger than they were supposed to be. I liked the concept of the entire book being the 4 teens talking to police. It's all interrogation. You don't read the questions, only the responses. That's very different and interesting. This reminds me of Holly Jackson's books. I wish that it had moved faster. A lot of people said they found it to be very fast-paced. I thought it was on the slower side and longer than it needed to be. The ending was not good. I do recommend it, but it just didn't live up to my expectations.

I really enjoyed this one. I was intrigued from the beginning from the way this sorry is told. A group of friends go on a camping trip and one of them goes missing. The entire story is told through the statements of the other 4 friends as they recount the events to the police. It was a very unique way of writing and one I really ended up enjoying. Even in this way of writing, we still were able to distinguish each personality of the characters speaking and made the story move quickly. My only gripe with this one is that the ending was a little underwhelming. Overall it was a very enjoyable read.

Thank you to Chelsea Sedoti, Sourcebooks Fire, and NetGalley for this ARC in exchange for my honest opinion.

The cover alone made me want to read this one. This is an interesting and different premise. Four teens are in interrogation rooms due to a missing girl and a camping trip.

I loved all the different point of views. I also loved how every chapter was a different question. This is one that I will recommend.

The book was great. A lot of twists and turns from various points of view. I didn’t see that ending coming. Wow!

I really liked the format of this book. I thought it was very original. I wish that the language was not quite as colorful; I didn't see a need for most of it. I will read another book by this author.

This book was a unique take on a whodunnit. I loved the style and the way the characters conducted themselves in the police interviews. I definitely did not see that coming!

Thank you SOURCEBOOKS Fire and Chelsea Sedoti for giving me an ARC!

A disappearance. A murder case. 6 possible leads. No explanation; Netflix’s Elité meets the thriller and the outdoors. Told from the POVs of a police investigator talking to Maylee Hayes’ friends after the night she went missing after camping in the woods at Salvation Creek, we slowly discover the real and horrifying truth behind her disappearance as each of the witnesses unfold their version of the story.

This book started out strongly, but I didn’t understand much of what this book wanted to convey towards the end. The author did an amazing job in painting a thrilling atmosphere, and the characters but the ending just felt empty. This was a quick read, but wasn’t enjoyable for me. I thought it’d be more better, but it just didn’t live up to my expectations.