I enjoyed this one. I liked the different type of narrative structure and it was interesting at times to see the different responses to questions one after another, but all of them were so different. The characters each had super distinct personalities, which is sometimes hard to find. The ending was fine; I wish it was revealed all at once in one showstopping paragraph rather than gradually over the course of a couple pages. I would recommend this one for YA mystery fans for sure!

I appreciated the format of Tell Me What Really Happened; with the premise told through all main characters' police interviews, and the flashbacks of the night in question--and, the lead up to that night--this is a quick YA read that will appeal to not only classic YA readers, but also the general adult audience.

My thanks to SOURCEBOOKS Fire and NetGalley for the opportunity to preview this title.

A book told through the format of police interviews. Sign me up.

The way this was written is this book's biggest selling point. It is unique since, instead of experiencing the crime, the story is unfolded through the four teenagers being questioned by the police. However, at times, the dialogue did not read like an interview. It was more like how someone would recount a story, with a little bit of flare and drama. This was more toward the end of the book; the first 30% stuck true to the original formatting. I have not read a book that has a whole plot told this way, so while this is important to mention, it did not take away from the overall enjoyment of reading this style.

Each chapter starts with a question the police ask; then it switches between our four POVs. All of the characters were distinct and had their style of talking. Their personalities came through strongly, so I had no problem keeping them separate. It was interesting getting to see how everyone thought about each other, and the flaws that they were willing to overlook or excuse, and the things that they would blow out of proportion about another character's personality. Sometimes their stories would overlap and lies would be exposed. However, with the overlap, there was also a sense of repetitiveness that sometimes became quite tedious. All of the POVs were not necessarily needed.

I was really disappointed with the ending! The buildup of tension was well done, but the end was anti-climactic. I was thinking that an epilogue or something to give us a little more closure would have been the best move. There were too many threads not tied up nicely.

(review is posted to goodreads, and will be reshared closer to release date)

2.5 Stars:

I’ll admit that I came into Tell Me What Really Happened with pretty high expectations given how great the premise and narrative device seemed.

The Premise: 5 friends go into the woods for an impromptu camping trip. Only 4 come out..
The Narrative: The story is told via police interviews with alternating POV.

Potential Light Spoilers Ahead:

I actually found that none of the characters were particularly likable (with John as the exception). I wasn’t really attached to the missing character and so I didn’t particularly find it impactful what led to her disappearance. While it’s not always necessary to like characters to enjoy a book, in stories like this where we’re clearly supposed to care for the leads, I just couldn’t find myself invested enough to care.

The police interviews actually seemed to do more harm than good here. A lot of the information felt very repetitive and granted I haven’t been interviewed by the police a lot in my days, I’ve got to say the interviews weren’t remotely realistic.

I think this would have gone a lot better if we only got some characters POV of each scene/question asked rather than getting all 5 each time (especially when they didn’t have anything new to contribute).

I made it to about 28% of the book before I realized that I would end up DNFing if I didn’t start skipping unnecessary POVs so much of the book was skimmed (do with that what you will).

Overall the plot was pretty slow and in terms of actual plot, not a lot actually happens which really makes the ending underwhelming.

I’m glad I finished the book but I’m not sure i was the right audience for this novel.

Thank you to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the advanced read of Tell Us What Really Happened in exchange for an honest review.

This book was pretty good considering! I enjoyed the short chapters and the fact that a lot of it was dialogue. I think it would be a very interesting audiobook, considering it’s all dialogue between multiple people. It was definitely giving spooky Wintory vibes, so I’m glad I read this during the winter. However, with all of that being said that ending was not what I was expecting. It could definitely have you some work as I think it was a lame weight in the story. Overall, I would give this book for stars because it was a decent thriller/mystery but it definitely could use some work in the plot and finale. I would recommend this to fans of knives out or even Riley Sager books!

Thank you, net galley, and source books fire!

The plot of this was pretty intriguing. I wasn't a huge fan of the way it was written in interview format but the book captured my attention enough to see it through. The plot twist at the end was one I didn't see coming which was a pleasant surprise!

#TellMeWhatReallyHappened #NetGalley
Twisty. 4.5 ⭐
There are stories about the woods around Salvation Creek and 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?
I didn't like that ending but overall it was a thrilling ride.
Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Inc for giving me an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

Interesting and unique format for this YA book. Teenagers go camping in the woods the night their friend dies. The book is narrated by them as they answer questions in the police station which is a very interesting reveal as the different perspectives and plot twists are uncovered. Unfortunately the ending is rather anti-climatic - even though it is foreshadowed in the book and is entirely plausible.

Thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the opportunity to read this ARC.

I've never read such an interesting book that's narrated in multiple point of views plus in the format of a police investigation.

The plot itself is quite mysterious with a lot of twist and turns, having me guessing who's the kidnapper/killer behind Maylee's disappearance. What was supposed to be a fun camping trip for a group of 5 friends turned south when one of them went missing, and later found dead in the woods. Throughout the investigation, more buried secrets are revealed, were they the only one in the woods? Or was there someone else with them during the camping trip?

Tell Me What Really Happened is a fast paced mystery told in flashbacks. The story is told entirely in the form of a police interview where the reader follows the plot through transcripts. With alternating narrators providing in-depth recollections of the fateful night, the reader is able to get a unique understanding in what really happened to Maylee Hayes. Maylee herself is revealed to be a deeply flawed and nuanced character. The more is revealed about her and the events that transpired that night makes the reader more and more invested in the story. Every turn and twist leads to a neat ending that wraps the story together with a caution tape bow.

Five teens go camping and only four exit. What follows is the interrogations of the remaining four.

This book is so creative! Each chapter starts off with a question from the police & then the rest of the chapter is each characters answer to that question. Because of the format the book was a really fast read, but the story is so good you get pulled in by that as well.

Thank you to NetGalley & Sourcefire books for an ARC of this book!

Really love diving back into teen fiction!

I enjoyed everything about this, especially all the different relationships. They were so great. I loved their background history and their chemistry, the slow eerienese, the angst, the push and pull. Everything was so well executed by the author.

The characters were not perfect, they had their own struggles and obstacles they had to overcome. There were so many times I was wondering if one of them was gonna let up, if anyone was about to die right then and there. I’m so happy with how everything wrapped up (or, did a cliffhanger, I suppose) at the end. It was such an enjoyable book.

if u like getting ur hopes up with an interesting writing format and compelling characters and then having those hopes punted into a 200 foot canyon this book is for u!!!

I'm really glad I stuck with this one - I was a little concerned that it was going to go all supernatural monster in the woods situation on me, and monster horror isn't really my thing. That said, it didn't, and I ended up really enjoying the book! I actually really liked the interview style and shifting perspectives - it worked perfectly for this story. Ultimately, this incredibly stressful scenario was well portrayed and put the reader in the scene perfectly. I loved it!

i liked the format of the book, really fun to read and each character had a very distinct voice, although some of the characters (nolan) are super annoying

First, this is a thriller that teens will enjoy. Especially those who love thrillers with teens who go out into the woods alone (think Friday the 13th but with a bigfoot-obsessed teen who is just sure a bigfoot is stalking them at the campsite).

In this story, five teens plan a last-minute camping trip at Salvation Creek, a place that apparently has had a couple of disappearances over the years. Three girls and two boys--one couple in the bunch and the rest are just acquaintences. When one disappears, the others try to figure out what happened. Was she kidnapped? Did she run away? Did a bigfoot grab her?

This story is told in reverse, at the police station, as the kids are interviewed about what happened. So the story is told through their many points of view as they are being questioned by the police. It's hard at first to stumble through the interviews and figure out what is going on and I assume some kids will love this format while others will hate it. I'm not sure why the author included so much material about bigfoot. It was a strange take on what was happening in the story. But to each his own,. I guess.

⭐️⭐️⭐️

Read if you like:
- multiple POVs
- camping thrillers
- Bigfoot

I absolutely loved the format of this book!! It is written consisting entirely of first person police interviews. I haven’t seen this idea done before and I thought it was really cool. I also really liked that the POVs switched every few paragraphs or so; it made it very interesting seeing multiple peoples stories at once, as well as easy to keep the characters straight.
There was a little too much Bigfoot talk in here for me; honestly it made the story feel ridiculous and unbelievable. The ending made sense when it was all tied together, it’s just not personally my taste.
I did actually really enjoy this book though; I could not put it down until I finished, and I did not see the ending coming!
I would recommend this to anyone who loves YA campy thrillers (I LOVE THEM!!!) and anyone looking for a different style book that you will devour 😊

I love a good thriller, and I love when it centers around a cast of characters that has a little something for everyone, like The Breakfast Club. Sedoti pulled that off quite well. Her character development is some of the best I've ever written and I could "hear" the voices quite quickly and easily in my head. This will make an amazing audiobook---and I'd love to see it as a movie.

Four unreliable narrators telling the story of a fifth in their party who has disappeared. All are guilty of something, but no one really knows what. There were twists and turns, and some expected bits, but overall, I was captured by this read and had to know just what happened to Maylee.

The storyline unfolds during the four separate, and long interrogations held in the police station. The quick change between narrators made the story move more quickly than a strictly linear telling would have. Often, in YA, there's a lot of "drama" that, for me as an avid YA reader, takes away from the story and characters. Not in this book. It was very like listening to my students talk about things, with the occasional asides that are related but not moving the story forward much. I was convinced right up until the end that I knew what had happened and who was to "blame." I was wrong.

Being YA, there is some language and a few sexual overtones--nothing overt or explicit, just touched on.

My only "eh" is regarding the ending. It seemed very abrupt to me, initially. I mean, we were rolling along and the pieces fell into place, and then....it was done. I don't normally go for an ending like this at all, but I think the fact that my minds keeps wandering to it and wondering how it played out made it work, probably as intended.

This review will be posted on my blog on the book's street date.

This book is such an interesting one! I loved the different format of storytelling and while it took me a little bit to get into it, once I did, I thought it was very engaging. The characters all feel very distinct and the ending was wrapped up nicely.

Maylee is missing after a disasterous camping trip and her friends are all suspects now. Lots of people out there had reasons to hate her, and possibly want her dead, but who knows where she is? Told through the police interviews of her friends the drama in this case unfolds as each one has their own story of the events of the night. A fun read but it felt like I read something like it before. The most original parts were about the Bigfoot and that was way dragged out and overdone