his book was definitely a fun, page turner YA thriller. It had me hooked from the start and questioning everything everyone said. I really enjoyed the writing style and felt like it really added to the story. I loved being able to see everyone’s story and little differences here and there instantly. This book is just over 400 pages and with the short chapters and writing style it doesn’t feel like it. Some of the twists and turns I wasn’t expecting and others were easily guessed, but overall, it was fun finding them all out.

Overall, I really enjoyed this YA thriller and the unique writing style that it had!

This was a decent YA mystery. I liked the unique format, as I don’t always enjoy interview style books, but this one was done well. I also appreciated the fast-paced plot. I didn’t really like any of the characters. The missing character, Maylee, was a terrible person. Nolan’s rambling and obsessions got old pretty quickly. Petra was super annoying. John and Abigail were just okay. I felt like there wasn’t a lot of opportunity for guessing, as the book is very direct. I would have liked for there to be a bit more suspense so I could have had some theories as to what had happened as I was reading.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

🩸 TELL ME WHAT REALLY HAPPENED by Chelsea Sedoti 🩸

★★★★☆

📖 About: "Tell Me What Really Happened" by Chelsea Sedoti - where secrets, truths, and unexpected revelations take center stage. When their friend goes missing during a seemingly innocent camping trip, the remaining four friends find themselves under intense scrutiny, each with a unique version of the events that transpired that fateful night.

🍹 Drink Pairing: Tea!!! (Because literally this entire book is the characters spilling each others secrets…) But honestly, whatever your cozy camping beverage of choice would be! I grabbed my thermos and made some hot tea to sip on while reading…☕

🌟 Review: I really do love a good YA mystery, so I was so excited to receive a copy of Chelsea Sedoti’s "Tell Me What Really Happened." The best part of the whole story was the writing style - the use of first-person police interviews adds an incredible layer to the book, making the story feel so immersive and also making it go by so fast! I was on the edge of my seat the entire time, and literally read it in one sitting.

There was some crazy claims, and very intertwined versions of the night in question - so I found myself really trying to untangle the mess to figure out what really happened. It was a solid quick mystery read, if you like creepy camping stories and unreliable narrators then this one is for you🌲🔍📚

Thank you to Sourcebooks and Netgalley for my copy in exchange for an honest review!

This was a good mystery book. What I really enjoyed the most and thought was unique was the way the story was told - in police interview format. I think this helped with the pacing of the story. A group of five teens go camping for the weekend, but only four of them come out of the woods. We learn what really happened to Maylee through a series of police interviews of Petra, Nolan, Abigail, and John. The characters were mostly likeable although I didn't really care for Petra throughout the story. It was an entertaining YA mystery and one I've put on my list to purchase for my high school library.

This was a quick read!
I enjoyed it for the most part, but it took a bit for me to really get into it. It’s about a camping trip and then something goes wrong and they are in a police station. It was fun and quick. But nothing spectacular. Thank you

I really enjoyed the way the story was told completely through first person police interviews. It made for a quick, engaging read. The author did a great job keeping me sitting on the edge of my seat waiting to see where the story went. Sadly though, the ending completely fizzled out. So much tension and build up and I felt like the ending did not match that buildup of anticipation at all. The ending was so anticlimactic.

This book had so much potential. The setting was creepy and isolated. The characters were all unreliable and self centered. The pacing was perfect. For those reasons It would have been a four star, but that ending made it barely a three star.

✨Book Review - Tell Me What Really Happened✨

⭐️⭐️⭐️🌑🌑

*I was provided this book free of charge by NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

The first time I tried to read this book, I couldn’t. But then I felt bad and figured it’s short, let’s just give it another go. So I did. I powered through it. And yet I could still only get into it enough to rate it two stars and that’s only because the writing was well done and I enjoyed the style of partially audible (or readable) interview.

Overall, I felt the characters were insufferable. None of them were honest and they all acted like they were entitled, spoiled teenagers that had a “woe is me” mentality while also somehow acting like victims the whole time. The only character that had a single redeeming quality, in my opinion, was Petra. She knew what she wanted, was honest, and even though she was convinced she was always right, you have to admit most of the time she was.

I could not stand John for his constant self victimization, Nolan for his irritating Bigfoot rants, Abigail for her pining, or Maylee for just being so manipulative. I feel like maybe if we could have gotten a better picture of what Maylee’s life was like, I could have sympathized with her a little bit, but she just seemed like your average spoiled, popular kid who gets everything she wants but is never happy and, as Petra said, doesn’t want to put in the work to get anywhere.

Overall, three stars because I wouldn’t read this again, but I might be interested to read something else by this author.

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I loved reading the transcription format of this book. The mystery was really good and I never quite saw where it was going.

Really interesting and fun layout. Would be a great audiobook. Like listening to a podcast. Would definitely recommend.

Solid thriller. I liked the characters and the creepy aspect of the book, even though it was a YA.

I ended up listening to the audio, and that was done well.

Thanks to SOURCEBOOKS Fire for the digital review copy of this book!

Tell Me What Really Happened by Chelsea Sedoti is a YA mystery/thriller with an interesting twist. The story is laid out as a police interrogate a group of friends after a camping trip goes awry; five teenagers enter the woods and only 4 come out alive. This book is a twisty brain scratcher of a story in which no one can be trusted.

The central figure in Tell Me What Really Happened is Maylee, a high schooler who aches to make influencing her career. She's dating John, who has his own demons he's dealing with after the fallout from a car accident had him being racially profiled by the entire community. Siblings Petra and Nolan are in the mix, the former being Maylee's best friend (seemingly) and the latter a nerdy outsider with a bigfoot obsession. Lastly is Abigail who's presence is puzzling to most but she and Maylee's past quickly comes to light. Maylee practically forces the group on a weekend camping trip but her disappearance has her friends concerned and the police looking for answers.

Tell Me What Really Happened had me hooked right from the start. The way the narrative is structured makes the mystery of what happened to Maylee unfold in real time in a way that kept me guessing. Each friend has reason to be under suspicion and as chapters unfold, layers are continually revealed (as is the truth). I will say that the plot almost becomes too twisty for its own good at points, but Sedoti manages to unravel it all by the end and while things may wrap up a little too quickly for my taste, readers won't be left hanging in regards to the truth.

If you're looking for a quick read that'll keep you on your toes (and you can tolerate the presence of an entire cast made up of Gen Z-ers) I recommend Tell Me What Really Happened.

This fast-paced YA mystery takes readers on a thrilling ride through police interviews, unfolding the events surrounding a mysterious disappearance in the woods around Salvation Creek. The story begins with the idea of a weekend camping trip, filled with smores, stolen kisses, and shared secrets. However, as midnight approaches, one of them vanishes, setting off a chain of suspicions and secrets among the remaining friends.

The unique narrative style of first-person police interviews adds an intriguing layer to the storytelling, allowing each character to share their perspective and version of events. The suspense builds as the clock ticks, and the reader is left questioning what really happened that night.

The author skillfully explores the complexities of friendship, trust, and the dark truths that must be uncovered for their missing friend to be found. A riveting mystery that keeps you guessing until the very end.

While I loved the way the book was written from four different views while the interview was going on, I was left wanting so much more. There was too much Bigfoot talk to keep me interested during Nolan’s narrative. I also was a little confused at the end and left a little disappointed with the overall outcome of the mystery. To be fair though I went into thinking this was an adult mystery/thriller when it was much more along the lines of a young adult read.

Ohhhh I loved this book and not sure when I kept skipping it. Very interesting and keeps you guessing and intrigued. I haven’t read anything by this author so I wasn’t sure but it was great and I will be looking for other books by this author. Thank you NetGalley for this advanced copy of this book. I will definitely be recommending to my book loving friends and family.

4.5 stars out of 5!

Chelsea Sedoti takes a HUGE step with this excellent Young Adult thriller!

"What's even the point of doing anything if no one's watching?"

When Maylee wants something, she gets it. When Maylee invites her boyfriend and three friends on a camping trip, no one fully understands it. Maylee isn't exactly the type to camp in the woods with no cell service. Despite the multiple missing persons cases over the last hundred years that all took place in the woods, along with other mysterious speculations, her friends agree to spend the night with Maylee alone in the wilderness.
When Maylee ends up missing following a series of dramatic and dangerous events, the four friends are left with no option but to recount their nights separately to the police with hopes that they can find Maylee.

Told through multiple points of view in an innovate style of writing that will hook readers immediately, Sedoti tells a twisty and captivating story that will leave readers wanting MORE.

I was hooked in seconds. I have read Chelsea Sedoti in the past, and while I liked her previous books, Tell Me What Really Happened is definitely my favorite thus far! I adore Sedoti's writing style in this book. Told through an investigative process with multiple accounts in each chapter, I couldn't get enough. I found myself desperate to figure the story out, and while I had my theories, most of them ended up being incorrect. I did get one thing right, but I'm not here to spoil the book for you. I'm only here to encourage you to read it, because it's THAT good.

This book touches on important societal topics, and I encourage everyone to go into this with an open mind. This is genuinely a book for anyone, and I think Chelsea Sedoti will stand out once others read this novel. It's impressive, really.

Much like real life, each character had both likable and unlikable traits. It's refreshing to read a YA Thriller with teenage characters that genuinely feel like teenagers. Each of them so different, but placed together on the pages. Each character has their own struggles that alters their account of the night in such a way that you just don't get in most stories. I loved it. It felt authentic.

I ate this book up in one day. I almost (almost) skipped dinner to keep reading, and I definitely stayed up too late to finish it. It's a read-straight-through kind of book. I would recommend this book to just about anybody, and I am excited to read what Chelsea Sedoti releases in the future.

Fans of Natalie D. Richards, Karen M. McManus, Eva V. Gibson, and Claire McFall will absolutely LOVE this stunning YA Thriller.

Thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for this advanced reader's copy.

This book has been on my TBR list for the longest getting to read this was amazing. This book has so many relatable themes in such as how far a person is willing to go to protect someone they care for, how loyal are you in a very serious situation, is their trust , and just how people think and move in an emotional state of mind. It gave me that 90's thriller suspense feeling it was almost like watching a movie it was good. some of the characters I feel could of had more of a spark, and edge to them but it was a cozy book and I can see myself actually rereading this again

Thank you so much for this amazing opportunity!


This was amazing. I am now convinced that ya thriller is superior. It is soo fast paced like it says. The shocking twists and turns keep you on the edge of your toes. It is also great if you are a scaredy cat like me sometimes.
I loved it!

This was a quick and enjoyable read that did right by the premise and format, which must have been tricky to pull off so points for doing that well. It really worked for me on a structural level (secrets parceled out on a reasonable timeline, etc.) and I found all the characters to be very well drawn. As an adult reading this the big reveal did feel a tiny bit like the author as a fellow adult was nudging me like, "kids these days, am I right???" but I also didn't find it to be completely unbelievable either, so. No real complaints here, if you're a fan of the YA thriller genre I'd absolutely recommend this.

My thanks to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for the ARC.

4.5/5

I devoured this book in two days!

I'll admit, the story itself was predictable (a group of teens goes camping and one of them goes missing) and I wasn't at all surprised by any of the reveals or with how the story ended but I loved the interview-style storytelling format, the contrast between all the characters, and the way the story unfolded through the eyes of four unreliable narrators who are trying to cope with the stress and trauma of being interrogated by the police about the disappearance of their friend, Maylee Hayes.

The story differs from most of the other interview-style books I've read in the sense that each chapter opens with a question from the police/interviewer and we get to see how each character responds (even though they're all being questioned separately) and how their responses either contradict each other or help clarify certain situations. This worked well in eliminating repetitive questions/answers and was a very effective way of highlighting the vastly different personalities and perspectives of each character.

I loved how different each character was because they all offered a very different perspective on what Maylee was like as a person and different theories about Maylee's disappearance. Their differing personalities and relationships with Maylee also add to the mystery of Maylee's disappearance. I felt like I had an immediate gauge of all their personalities right from the beginning. From the first chapter, we learn that:

1. Petra Whitfield - Maylee's best friend since kindergarten. Petra is kind of a know-it-all and rule follower who exaggerates and uses sarcasm a lot. She believes Maylee is still wandering the woods alone, lost, cold, and in danger.
2. Nolan Anderson - Petra's step-brother. He is a paranoid conspiracy nut who strongly believes in Bigfoot. He thinks he saw Bigfoot eat Maylee.
3. Abigail Buckley - Maylee's nervous 'sort of' friend who rambles a lot. She seems like a sweetheart but believes John murdered Maylee.
4. John Massey Jr. - Maylee's boyfriend. A popular Black boy with a very serious demeanor and a man of few words (or he just wasn't very forthcoming with the police). He believes there was someone else in the woods who may have taken or hurt Maylee.

"The problem isn't that witnesses lie to the police. It's that they lie to themselves."

The more you hear their sides of the story, the more you'll be able to piece together what really happened to Maylee and find out who's lying and who's telling the truth.

Overall, this was a really fun, fast-paced, and easy read. I love interview-style books, and this certainly delivered on that front! I wish I had requested the audiobook arc instead because these types of books are usually best enjoyed in audiobook format.

Really fast paced but could be quite predictable at times, the format is interesting but i just didnt connect with the characters as well as i had hoped.