Thank you to netgalley and sourcebooks fire for allowing me to read this arc in return for an honest review.

I’m a big fan of YA mystery/thrillers, which meant going into this I had pretty high expectations.

The format was a little jarring at first, I’ve never read a book written the way that this one is written, but after a few chapters you easily settle into the rhythm and start to piece together the story.

Friends on a camping trip, one of them goes missing…
Is it something or someone in the woods? Or is it one of them?

The whole premise is intriguing, and I HAD to know what had happened so I sped through this, the writing flows well and you don’t realise you’ve read 100+ pages until it’s dark outside and you’re questioning where the time went.

This story presents itself as a bit of a YA whodunnit but it is so much more than that! It has supernatural aspects, it discusses difficulties of friendships in your teens, online radicalisation and how desperate people are to be “relevant” in todays society and the lengths they will go to maintain popularity.

Overall, this was up there with some of the best YA thrillers I’ve read, the story was interesting and kept you buckled up for the ride the whole way through, the writing flowed brilliantly and was super easy to follow, and the format being a little unorthodox really worked to create a brilliant ya novel. If you liked a good girls guide to murder, one of us is lying or five total strangers you’ll love this one.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of Tell Me What Really Happened in exchange for an honest review!

The book follows five teens who decide on taking a weekend camping trip to Salvation Creek, resulting in one them not making the trip home. The story is told through police interviews with each of the remaining teens, to describe the events that took place leading up to Maylee’s death. Each of these chapters was told through alternating perspectives of these characters. I’ll admit, I felt intrigued by this concept and liked the idea going into the book of having the story told through different eyes. I really wish I had enjoyed it more. I felt as though I was being told the same information repeatedly by different characters, without providing anything new to support the story. I’m not opposed to reading a story told from different perspectives but I think over the course of this book, it became a bit much. The different narrators started blending together and it became confusing to follow.

I also felt that most of the characters were unlikeable. I wasn’t too big a fan of Maylee, and found her to be a bully and manipulative to those she was close to. Abigail was the only character I somewhat felt a connection to as she seemed like a genuinely nice person, apart from assisting Maylee in her plan to fake her own disappearance. Nolan’s obsession with Bigfoot was where I felt myself losing interest in the story as a whole, although it does play a key role towards the end of the book. I felt impartial about the other two characters in this story, as they provided a way for the story to play out, without me caring too much for them.

I will say that this was a very quick read and I did find myself flying through the pages to see what would happen next. Overall, I just wish there was more to love and I felt as though the story fell flat as everything was wrapping up.

Compelling, but ultimately not my cup of tea. I couldn’t connect with the characters and I didn’t like the present tense in the beginning so I found it hard to dive in.

Thank you to NetGalley and to the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I don’t usually like multiple points of view; I’ve read too many books by authors who confuse the readers, but in this case, once I actually got into the storyline, it became easier to follow.

Five highschoolers go into the woods to go camping, four come out. The book is written from four perspectives, the four students who didn’t go missing. They’re being interviewed by the police, so each chapter starts with a question by the police, then the answers from all four characters.

What I liked most about the book was the development of the characters through the interviews. Learning how each kid viewed the others was fascinating. I think the wrap-up left a little to be desired, I almost feel as though we needed a sentence that said, “So-and-so did it.” I feel as though it wasn’t fully resolved..

This book was good. I enjoyed the plot and characters as well as the storyline! A solid 4 star read.

This one was fast paced and had an interesting approach to story telling. I found it interesting and unique how the whole story was the interrogations of the friends. At the same time, I also felt this caused details to be missing that could have made the story more engaging. I also found the whole Bigfoot storyline and obsession to be odd and focused on too much.

The summary of this book hooked me right away, and I was so interested in the format - a story totally told through interview transcripts with teens after a member of their group was found murdered. The way the interviews were interwoven allows the readers to piece things together before information is revealed. I think the execution here is so brilliant. The characters, however, is where the story is lacking a bit. We don't really get a sense for motivations - but on the other hand, we're missing the perspective of the dead person and we're only getting the information they say out loud. It's definitely interesting!!

Im going to start by saying - I love the concept for this one, the idea of a story told completely through police interviews? Unique and quirky.

I enjoyed it. There were parts that were certainly a little bit out there, and I think you have to keep an open mind with them, well, unless you believe, then I guess it makes sense to you.

The twists and turns were fun, I didn't guess where it was going until they spelled it out - and that's always a delight.

Solid 3.5 stars and worth a read if you like a modern mystery with an original format!

What an absolute snack of a YA thriller. I freaking love the unreliable narrator trope in certain settings and this was one of them. I love a good interrogation and I’m willing to relax the accuracy in a YA novel.

I really liked everyone and was rooting for each for different reasons and I thought the characters were each well developed and easy to get on board with.

Just pure highschool drama with a dose of murder (maybe?) 🤫

This was fun for the most part. The plot was interesting, distinctive characters, I liked the mystery, and the format helped get through the book quicker.

I want to thank Chelsea Sedoti and Sourcefire books for an ARC of this book.

We enter a unique storytelling world in "Tell Me What Really Happened.' You have four high schoolers: Petra and Nolan (step-siblings), John, and Abigail. They are all speaking in first-person police interviews about the disappearance of their common friend (well, not really Nolan, but the other three for sure) Maylee.

I thought this was fast paced, the multi-povs happen within each chapter, which makes the dialogue snappy and quick. However, this also leaves some bits and pieces of the book to our imagination, which some readers can enjoy, but I personally like everything to be wrapped up explicitly in my standalone thriller/mystery books.

Each one of our four high schoolers has a unique perspective on Maylee and each bring a different history. You never know what they truly believe and what's a lie. I was kept on my toes the entire time and would highly recommend this book if you're looking to get out of a thriller slump. With the unique formatting, fast paced storytelling, and the four completely different personalities we me, it was an enjoyable read.

I hate when books are told in interviews format. It just a format that doesn’t work for me. I think it is because it is hard for me to keep up with what is happening. And unfortunately for me, this book was written like that. I would have liked this book so much better if it wasn’t written like that. But I had to stop reading because I just couldn’t stand it.

Four friends have stolen aboard the Titanic. They're after the Rubaiyat - a book inlaid with priceless jewels. Josefa is a charismatic thief, Hinnah a daring acrobat, Violet an outstanding actress and Emilie a talented artist.

It is Josefa's plan, but she needs all of their skills. Despite their very different backgrounds, in a world of first-class passengers and suspicious crew members, the girls must work together to pull off the heist of their lives.

When I opened this book I sighed, you get the interview question and then the reply to each character separately. I don"t really like to read like that, I want to read a story, not like a play or something.
BUT ... I stayed with it and once I got into it I loved it !
Writing the story like this was the right choice, when you get into the story you really get into the interview and you are really taking a step back.
There were enough twists not to make the story predictable. I definitely recommend.

I didn’t like it but I didn’t hate it. After all of the perceived drama the ending was anticlimactic. I know that was probably the point as it built Maylee up to this kind of mini villain who would do anything to build this fantastic life of influencing and it ending so must differently but in the end it gives her exactly what she wanted.

I received this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Five friends goes on a camping trip, one didn't make it back. What happened?

This book was fun, told in the style of police interview tape, the chapters are the kids responding to police interrogation, same question, very different answers.

I recommend this book for fans of Holly Jackson and Karen McManus.

5 teens go into the woods on a camping trip and 4 end up in interrogation rooms. Investigators just want to know what really happened to Maylee out in the woods....
This was a fast paced YA thriller. The police interview format was a cool way to see the story unravel.. Each chapter is the interview question followed by what each of the 4 friends respond. It might have been slightly easier to follow if the chapters were separated by character, as it went back and forth through them frequently. But, I was still able to follow and keep track. Each character has a unique personality and perspective about what happened that night.
There were lots of twists and turns that i did not see coming. The pace kept me turning the page and saying, "one more chapter".
Recommend for fans of YA thrillers.
Thanks to Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire for an early copy for review.

This is an intense book told through the voices of the teens who went camping; five left and only four returned. We see their relationships begin and flourish, and during their interrogations we see many emotions: fear, disbelief, anxiety, and terror. Although they all "appear" to be friends, there is also tension in the ways they react as they are never sure who or what came between them. There's a gun, a Bigfoot sighting, and social media references. What's not to like?
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

I really loved this one. Five teens go into the woods and only four teens come back. The book takes place in an interrogation room with each teen taking their turn to describe what happened.

I usually hate multi pov books because the voices never sound different. However, this is the first book I've read where I haven't had to keep looking back to see which character was talking. Each voice is very unique. I also love that the stereotypical "heroes" ended up kind of sucking in this book. Usually the nerd or the offbeat girl would be the heroes. In this one, Nolan is pretty insufferable and Abigail is keeping a pretty big secret. My favorite character was Petra, who yes, was pretty neurotic and anal but that kind of person would actually be good in an emergency so it felt true to life.

I really love the mystery and the pace in which the story was told. It also covers a wide range of perspectives that I really appreciated.

I actually quite liked this book, it's always fun to read a good mystery book especially the way this one was described through a police interview. In the beginning I felt quite bored of the big foot and the conspiracy theories from Nolan but in the end it was all worth it. The chapters went by so fast that I read the book in one day! I was not expecting that ending not until a few pages before the reveal of the mystery. Maylee was such a complex character and I was quite surprised about the little plotwists about her. What's interesting is that the four characters except Nolan and Petra(practically siblings) don't know each other well except they all have a connection to Maylee. I'm definitely listening to this book as an audiobook, it will be amazing! Thanks you SOURCEBOOKS fire and netgally for this e-ARC.