I like the concept behind this teen mystery novel, but I didn't feel it was an overwhelming success. I was interested enough to keep reading for the most part, but by the last quarter it was losing me. I just felt like it was going round in circles and there were no great developments. A decent twist or two could have really boosted the suspense levels.

2 and a half bumped up to 3 stars.

I received this arc from netgalley in exchange for my honest review.

Tell Me What Really Happened was a perfect example of the “unreliable narrator” trope, with four specimens.

Four teenage witnesses are in separate interrogation rooms and are asked their version of events on the night that Maylee went missing. The pacing is a little slow at the beginning, as it was the same story regurgitated through four different characters. But you soon see the characters’ personalities develop and more of the story begins to unfold.

The mystery was interesting and I was definitely hooked. Maylee…was not an easy character to care about, so by the end I was more interested in the facts and less about her.

Petra was my favorite character. She was loyal, pragmatic, and the star of Tell Me What Really Happened.

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire for the review copy.

Definitely a five star read. I’d give it more if I could. I could not put this book down! A high school group camping trip goes bad. Maylee is missing. The story is told through each persons point of view, interview style with the police. It’s so interesting to see the story unfold through each ones eyes. To see how what is going on in one persons life or how they’ve grown up influences their outlook on what’s happening at any given time. Bigfoot, woods, a mysterious cabin. Friends and enemies. Family. You won’t see the ending coming!

The description of this book intrigued me as I enjoy mysteries and psychological thrillers. The novel is told from the perspective of four teenagers--Petra, her brother Nolan, John, and Abigail--and centers upon what happened to their friend Maylee during their weekend camping trip that has gone terribly wrong. Each chapter begins with a question that is posed by the police, who are interviewing each teen separately about what happened at Salvation Creek, their remote campsite in the woods that has a creepy reputation. Other than the introductory question at the beginning of each chapter, the reader does not "hear" what the police say during their interviews; however, the police's questions can often be inferred from the characters' responses. Little by little, the events of the weekend as well as the characters' motivations, personalities, and relationships are revealed and the suspense increases. I found this structure to be very similar to Daisy Jones and the Six (which I loved)--the story unfolding from various characters' perspectives in an interview format and revealing the different ways people can see the same events.
When I first started the book, I was not sure I would like it; it seemed too YA for my taste; however, since the characters are all in high school, their way of speaking soon seemed more natural than it did at first. I teach high school, and the characters in the book reminded me of some of the students I have encountered. Another reviewer commented that they did not feel the conflicts/issues the characters discussed were realistic--that they were more middle school-ish. However, while I know some high schoolers may be dealing with more traumatic issues, the problems and conversations of these characters seemed realistic for many of the students I've taught. I did find the way Petra spoke to the police to be a little over the top, but I can definitely see how a teenager who perceives herself to be an expert and to have some privilege because of her father's position may feel at liberty to speak in such a manner. The rest of the characters' dialogue seemed realistic, even if sometimes eye-roll-inducing.
For much of the book, the reader tries to figure out what happened to Maylee, and even when that is revealed, the questions of how it happened and who is responsible remain. The reading is fast-paced, and while I hesitate to call it a "page turner," I did want to continue until the end. The end, however, was somewhat disappointing. I felt like the last quarter or so was unnecessarily drawn out and repetitive, and then at the epilogue, it was rushed to bring things to a simple and somewhat unsatisfying resolution. Toward the end, one character says, "That's it? I can leave?" Those words capture my feelings about the end of the book: That's it? It's over?
So, I debated on 3 or 4 stars, but overall, I did enjoy the book; it was a quick read that kept me reading and had enough suspense and twists to round up to 4 stars.

Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.

First off...DISCLAIMER: I requested this title on NetGalley. Thanks to Sourcebooks Fire for providing an ecopy. This didn't influence my review in any way.

I'm usually intrigued by books that employ unusual narrative styles, but alas, this one didn't work for me, so I threw the towel early on. The story is told via a series of statements given in an interrogation room by four suspects, each of them answering a question (when not rambling LOL), or following a prompt from the authorities in charge. It got old fast, and I found it was distracting me from the plot/whodunnit, which I guess wasn't the intended effect - not to mention, it made it difficult for me to get emotionally attached to the characters. Also, I didn't buy that real teens would be that snarky and articulated when questioned by the police (Petra, I'm looking at you). I applaud the author for trying a different (and risky) format, but as I said, it ended up not being my thing.

It’s not often that I stay up late into the night to read the last 100+ pages of a book because I want to know what happens next. However, that’s exactly what I found myself doing with this book.

I really enjoyed the story progression through interview notes. It felt like the story moved quickly and I really got who each character was based off of their own recounting of events. I think it started rather slowly but picked up pretty quickly. I was confused as hell and definitely did not guess the ending, which was a bit disappointing.

Overall, I enjoyed the twists and turns and don’t regret losing sleep over this book.

I was a little hesitant about this one at first because of the format- I was worried that it may get confusing with the police interviews but it ended up being my favorite part of the whole book! I thought the way it was organized with everyone's answers to the same questions in one chapter made it really easy and it was a really great way to build the suspense and the story. I loved that there were so many different theories as well- it kept me guessing and I genuinely didn't know how it was going to end. I probably could've done with a little less of the Big Foot theory- I liked it at first but it got a little annoying by the end. I also felt like the ending overall was just a little disappointing, but I still had a lot of fun with the whole story and really enjoyed it.

A group of friends decide to go on a camping trip when one goes missing. The story of what happened leading up to the disappearance is told through police interviews. Does anyone really know what happened to Maylee?

I know I’m not the target demographic for YA but I still like to read them every so often. This book is the first YA in awhile to grab my attention and not make me eye roll too much (I mean, I am in my 30’s soo) at the characters. This was a really surprisingly good thriller for the younger crowd. I also really enjoyed the misdirection for everyone. I mean, was it Bigfoot who took Maylee? Her boyfriend? Is there a killer lurking around the woods? Are the police being honest? Who knows! Keep reading and figure out the twists!

Tell Me What Really Happened is an interesting "who done it," told in the first person POV of four teenagers who were on a camping trip, when one of their friends went missing.

I flew through this book in just a few days. I loved how the chapters were set up, and to see how each character answered the same question for the police. This style of writing was so different from what I normally read, and it really kept me hooked.

The ending fell a bit flat after the excitement of the previous chapters, but I would still recommend to others.

This book was okay. I liked the layout of the police question as the title of the chapter and the answers as the chapter. I was surprised as to what happened to the missing girl. But it wasn't something I just couldn't put down.

This book was so confusing and I did not like the format. It wasn’t for me. It also felt very juvenile.

3.5 stars
I received an ARC from the publisher via NetGalley and am voluntarily posting a review. All opinions are my own.
Tell Me What Really Happened takes a unique approach as a thriller, focusing on police interrogation of key witnesses and/or suspects involved in the recent tragic death of a teenage girl named Maylee. The transcript style makes for a snappy, fast-paced read, along with the choice to have the characters’ dialogue in response to each of the interrogator’s questions take up a chapter each. While not perfectly replicating a transcript of these proceedings, with the characters being very verbose, and their dialogue being immersive in its flashbacks to their ill-fated camping trip, that just makes it a much more engaging read.
I really enjoyed getting a sense of the dynamics between the characters straight from their mouths. They are unreliable narrators, presented in a believable and engaging way. And in the wake of such a tragedy, I enjoyed unraveling all the tangled web that existed between these characters and their somewhat contradictory stories, even if none of them are particularly endearing.
The narrative does a great job of presenting each of the members of the group with varying amounts of potential culpability, while also providing contradictory evidence to suggest that’s not the entire story. And while the resolution felt a bit abrupt and anticlimactic, I appreciate that the goal wasn’t to cast things into black-and-white terms for the most part, at least where each of the survivors is concerned.
This is an engaging read, and I’d recommend it to anyone who enjoys YA thrillers.

Wow. This is intense. Four students being interrogated in separate rooms. All seem suspicious. Each chapter is a separate question but with each students answer, often not aligned at all. Basically, who killed Maylee?

One night camping in the woods, this odd group often finds themselves in disagreement over everything. Really, it was a bit funny at times. Each short chapter added information that created a whole picture at the end. But, I have to admit, I was completely shocked by how everything turned out.

This book is dark, mysterious and full of tension. I wound up really enjoying this!

A big thank you to Sourcebooks Fire over on NetGalley for approving my request for an eARC! I'm trying to branch out more this year in genres, and Tell Me What Really Happened is perfect for that goal! I was so excited when I got approved, and I consumed this quickly and as soon as I could.

I went into this book, like most of my books, without reading the summary. Unlike most of the other books I read, I went into it knowing genre and the cover art - and nothing else. Well, besides people saying it was good online. [But no spoilers were read!]

And, I have to say, I don't disagree.

But, as always, before getting into my recommendation and some non-spoilery thoughts, you can find the summary for this book at the Goodreads link here!

Recommendation: If you're looking for a good YA mystery, that also happens to be under 400 pages and feels like a quick read, definitely give this one a go! If you're not looking for that, but you'd like to read a book with some good twists and small details that all add up at the end, you might like this one! If this helps you make your decision, it's written entirely through first-person police interviews, which adds a really fun and unique twist. All in all, I definitely recommend it, and can't wait for it to come out!

Even the summary doesn't tell you any character names, so I can't speak to any character specifically before the spoiler line without being spoilery, but I can say that the characters didn't feel superficial or forced. There is, of course, a character I find "weaker" than the others, but even that character doesn't feel weak, exactly. It's an interesting combination of teenagers with varying degrees of relation [as in, having relationships with each other/how they know each other/how close they are to each other] and all with their unique personalities and quirks.

I didn't want to put this book down once I got into it [which didn't take long!], and I kept thinking back on it once I read it. It didn't plague my mind like Yellowface or Painted Devils has, but it's definitely one of the better reads I've had this year, and I've read some good books so far!

**SPOILER WARNING LINE! THERE WASN'T MUCH I COULD TALK ABOUT THIS BOOK WITHOUT BEING SPOILERY, SO GET READY FOR ALL THE SPOILERS AND DETAILS!***

As much as I read nearly exclusively fantasy now, I grew up reading mainly mysteries with some thrillers mixed in, as that was one of the bigger genres read by one of my parents. Reading this book was like a nice memory jog of my growing-up reading days!

That aside, back to the book. Maylee is such a complicated character. While I found myself mostly annoyed with her, I can understand where her logic and goals come from. She felt manipulative, selfish, and close-minded. Which sounds like a really good line-up of a lot of things I don't like a person to be. I also don't really understand Maylee and John as a couple, but some couples don't make sense on paper while still working in practice. You never know, I guess.

John's character wasn't the weakest of the bunch, but he did feel a bit like the obvious scapegoat. That said, he was then turned into a plausible character once more motives and details of the story came to light. As the book went, he felt less forced or weak and more completely plausible. In the end, he and Abigail ended up being my favorite characters. [Because I can rarely ever choose just one favorite character.]

Abigail felt like one of the strongest characters in the book, and I love that about her. She had a well-presented [in terms of how it was written and how it was told to us as the story went on] backstory and life. I actually found myself usually enjoying her parts the best. She felt like a character I could actually see myself being friends with, especially back in high school. Her being "trailer trash" wouldn't have bothered me, because why should it? While she does end up being a suspect, it felt natural and logical for her to have a motive. Being the feeling-used secret-ex will do that to a person, honestly.

Speaking of the secret-ex, Petra drove me crazy. [Get it? Because, even though she proclaimed to be Maylee's best friend, she didn't know about her dating Abigail.] I understand that she's likely supposed to, but oh my goodness, who could be best friends with her, seriously? No wonder Nolan blows up at her! Don't get me wrong, I'm all for bluntly-spoken people, but there's a different between being blunt and Petra. She's blunt, a control-freak, plans-everything-down-to-the-second-if-she-can, needs-to-be-the-center-of-someone's-attention teen girl, and maybe she helping me discover why I didn't really have a lot of female friends in high school. Guys are much better company, in my opinion. Especially in high school.

Speaking of boys, there's Nolan. Who, I think, is the weakest character of the bunch. Sure, he's got some unique aspects to him, but he felt a bit forced. While his backstory doesn't strike as unlikely or improbable, there's something about how deep his Big Foot obsession goes that feels a little . . . off to me. I don't know. And then his only contribution to the story for awhile is to be a slight pain to every one on the trip. He's only there because of Petra and Petra's dad, he barely knows anyone there, and, outside of his Big Foot obsession and relation to Petra [and having sort of grown up with Maylee?], he just becomes a plot device to throw suspicion onto, and to establish Abigail as a lesbian rather than bi, like Maylee is established as. While him and his drunken shooting of Maylee comes into play [but ultimately isn't her cause of death] and his Big Foot obsession sparks everyone's fear of not being alone in the woods, the story likely would have been more or less fine without him. That fear could have been drummed up with Maylee making John watch the scary movies she makes him watch, and Nolan's presence wouldn't have been missed.

But that's basically the harshest critique of this book I've got, to be honest. While it wasn't a five-star read for me, it was a solid four!

Between Yellowface and Tell Me What Really Happened, I'm really enjoying dipping my toes outside of fantasy this year. It's a nice reminder that, before fantasy essentially consumed my reading habits, I enjoyed other genres too. I'm hoping to mix it up more in the future, so fingers crossed I keep finding good books like these in non-fantasy genres!

I hope you enjoyed this review! I'm aiming to clear some of my review backlog [so many draft posts I never got around to polishing], and to get better about posting my reviews quickly after reading them. Send good vibes! As always: be kind, stay safe, and read on!

🔎 song: devil town by cavetown
🔎 recommend to:
- fans of a good girls guide to murder
- anyone looking for a YA mystery to dive into
- anyone looking for a book written in a new format
🔎 summary: 5 enter the forest and only 4 come out. After an impromptu camping trip goes awry, 4 friends are being interviewed by police about the disappearance of Maylee. Through a twist of messy timelines and stories, the truth about what happened is revealed.
🔎 thoughts; I really enjoyed this. I thought the pacing was perfect. It’s a really quick read and I like the use of an interview transcript to tell the story. I was able to guess where the story was going, but overall a good and fun read!

5 teens "friends" go on camping trip and one doesn't come back.

I liked the writing style of this book. It read like a transcript in an interrogation which I felt made it a quick read. The characters were all very unique but did feel a little overly dramatic at times but it's teenagers so I get it lol.

I won't spoil anything but it's a good read, just wanted a little more.

Thanks to Netgalley for sending the book in exchange for a honest review!

Tell Me What Really Happened
Written by Chelsea Sedoti
416 pages
Release Date: April 4, 2023 by Sourcebooks Fire
4/5 Stars
*An ARC of this title was provided by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. Receiving a copy in no way influenced my review*
This novel will be much like what Maylee wanted to be, hated or loved, nothing in between. With a distinctive style and voice, you are going to love the constant back and forth interrogation of the four remaining teenagers from the camping trip, or you are going to find it annoying and confusing. I happened to be on the love side of it.
The set-up for this books sounds like the traditional cheese horror movie (think Evil Dead 2) where five friends...wait, to clarify it is more like two friends, a girlfriend (who is one of the two friends) and boyfriend, a brother and one who is friends with one of the two friends...go on a camping trip together to a fairly remote area. Yes, it is as weird of a group as it sounds, which makes this unique and sets up the plot further in the book to leave you questioning why anyone even bothered to go on this trip. But, that is the point. If it was not for one character, none of this book would have happened. Your five characters are:
Maylee - the center of the group, the wannabe influencer, the attention seeker (is friends with both girls and has the boyfriend)
Petra - the control freak, "best friends" with Mia, knows everything,
Nolan - Petra's brother, Bigfoot obsessed, nerdy
Abigail - the surprise that Mia brings on the trip, lives in a trailer park, seen as a burden by some
John - Mia's boyfriend, driven, has some history with the cops and the community
Now that you have the cast, the book is written after the events in the woods, as the cops have sent out a search and rescue team for Maylee and are questioning the four remaining on exactly what happened on this trip. Through the sometimes rambling, sometimes snarky, sometimes "my lawyer advises me not to say anything" responses from the four teenagers, we have to question all of the information we are given to lead us, like the police, to the correct conclusion on what happened to Maylee.
I have to say that if this book was written any other way, I would be giving it a two star. The concept is absolutely nothing new, the characters are ones we have seen over and over a hundred times (well, Nolan might be the exception - gotta love him), and the events are even somewhat predictable towards the end. But the style of switching between teens with interrogation brought an interesting freshness to the trope and gave a good reason to not trust any character, including the one with a policeman for a dad!
If you like mysteries and are looking for something fresh (and can keep track of the story very well) then this book is the latest one you have been fiending for. Enjoy!

Chelsea Sedoti does a great job of creating five distinct voices for her different characters in this book; despite jumping from one person to the next, you can definitely which one belongs to which character. I found the book fascinating, wondering along with the participants what really happened but Petra annoyed me so it’s difficult to get into the story when she’s the main storyteller. Still the reality of what happened was not at all what I expected and I enjoyed the way it was all laid out.

Tell Me What Really Happened by Chelsea Sedoti is a young adult mystery thriller about five teenagers that go on an overnight camping trip, but one of them turns up dead.

What I Liked: The story is told solely from the first person POV of each of the teenagers while they are being questioned by the police. This makes the book read rather quickly, so I was invested from the very beginning. I loved the contradicting storytelling between the characters as they were recalling the incidents of the night before. It really kept me guessing since I couldn't tell who was actually telling the truth.

What I Did Not Like: The ending of this story fell flat for me. There weren't any unpredictable twists or turns and it felt like the story was wrapped up very quickly.

I would recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Holly Jackson or Karen McManus books and younger young adults as it may miss the mark with the adult audience.

I love how this book just jumps into action right away, it was written in an interview style which is pretty cool, I enjoyed that a lot. The author did a really good job at keeping the reader guessing till the end. This book was addicting because you just need to know what happens next in the story. I also like how there's a lot of backstory and it gives you a chance to learn more about the characters and how they connect. I also have to put it out there, that even if I enjoyed the story I got to say that I thought all the characters were annoying in there own little ways. It was a really good book and easy/fun read.

Thank you @netgalley and @Sourcebooks Fire for giving a chance to read and review this book.