Five teenagers are planning on a one-night camping trip at Salvation Creek. It’s not smooth sailing from the beginning, but gets worse when one of them goes missing. Everyone has their own theories about what happened and what they think needs to be done.

I wasn’t prepared for the story to be written in this format. It was different than anything I’ve read before. The prologue confused me but I got it once I was actually in chapter one.

The premise of the story is that the four teenagers are being questioned by police about the missing girl. We get the perspectives of all four, responding to a question posed by police, which is at the beginning of the chapter. Otherwise, there’s no dialogue from the police. There are a lot of context clues, but the only direct police comments are at the beginning of each chapter.

It’s a formatting you’ll like or hate. If you don’t like the way it’s written after the first couple chapters, you will probably feel that way throughout. But I thought it was a neat way of writing.

Regarding the actual plot, it was decent and fairly quick moving. I didn’t get bored throughout and I read it pretty fast. Don’t expect to like the characters, but they were written well to understand their background.

I guess there were kind of plot twists but they were anticlimactic with the reveal. It tied everything together and shows how one action can have a domino effect, but the “big reveals” weren’t shocking.

Review of eBook

When Maylee Hayes convinces her best friend, Petra Whitfield, and her boyfriend, John Massey to go to Salvation Creek for a camping trip with her, it isn’t long before things get a bit out of hand. Maylee’s friend, Abigail Buckley, and Petra’s stepbrother, Nolan Anderson, are also along for the weekend and end up adding to the tension.

But when Maylee disappears, can the group figure out what happened to her?

Petra, the organizer, sets out to search the woods, but Nolan is convinced that, with his thermal imager, he’s seen Bigfoot there. John is reluctant to wander in the woods; Abigail is strangely silent. Did Maylee return to the hunting cabin the teens discovered earlier in the day? Or, as Nolan insists, has Bigfoot grabbed her?

What really happened to Maylee?

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Secrets, deceptions, alcohol, and a gun all play a part in the unfolding story, spinning out in a series of interrogation questions asked by the detectives investigating the girl’s disappearance. As each person responds to the question, the teens’ responses reveal bits and pieces of information; through these responses, readers learn more about each of the characters and the events that took place during the camping trip.

Although well-defined, the characters weren’t always likable; sadly, John seemed to be in the story solely to provide a token Black character. Petra’s bossiness is a bit over the top at times, while Nolan’s Bigfoot obsession provides an eeriness to the setting in the woods. Maylee’s manipulative nature strains friendships, but the constantly-building suspense adds to the telling of the tale.

Young adult readers are sure to find the mystery of what happened to Maylee intriguing, but the ending of this suspenseful tale is rather disappointing.

Recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from SOURCEBOOKS Fire and NetGalley
#TellMeWhatReallyHappened #NetGalley

This was a very engaging, fast-paced teen read. There were plenty of false leads, red herrings, and twists to keep you reading if you happened to put it down and return to it. I did not - I binged it cover-to-cover! I enjoyed the format of the investigative questions. It made the characters believable teenagers who were trying to balance and build relationships, despite the precarious position they find themselves in. Situations and settings were likely and well-described through the dialogue. I would highly suggest this for a HS library or YA collection. Good for grades 9-12, and I will be pushing it with my grades 9-10 and my student book club. Good read.

Solid 3 stars.
Murder mystery where 5 go into the woods for a camping trip and only 4 come out. Kept my interest throughout and I loved the multiple viewpoints and interview style setup of the book. I feel like the end could have been a lot better and a little more believable but was still a fun read.
Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the arc!

Thank you NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

This was quite the interesting read. I do enjoy books where you get different pieces of the story with each confession/interview. I did feel the suspense throughout and was feeling myself get invested in each character. I flew through the book, and would highly recommend it to others. The ending wasn't my favorite, but that is not to take away from the creativity and fast-pace of this novel!

This was an excellent thriller/mystery. I am a sucker for unreliable narrators and shifting POVs. This was so cleverly written that i could not put it down.

Mixed feelings on this one!

For one, I LOVED the format. A murder mystery told through the interviews of the suspects is BRILLIANT. So well done there. The voices were also incredibly distinct--something so, so hard to do when you're not writing gestures, character descriptions, interactions, etc. I was impressed. It was almost like reading a screenplay, in the best way.

But frustratingly, the plot itself was a letdown. Nolan's obsession with Big Foot was just way too much, and really took me out of the story. The ending was underwhelming and didn't explain why any of them were lying, which we'd clearly seen in the interviews? Unless they were just all supposed to be unintentionally unreliable. Nolan gets drunk halfway through the book, but after a couple chapters he was fine? Maylee was incredibly shallow to the point of being unbelievable. John served no purpose but to bring in the racial aspect... and the author's random jabs at conservatives were unnecessary.

That said, I'd still be interested in seeing what Chelsea writes next, since her writing STYLE and ideas were clever and creative.

Super grateful to Netgalley and SourcebooksFire for the arc!

-A

I'm a sucker for teen mysteries and add to it that this is epistolary and you have a winner for me! This is a great book and a read that sucked me in from the beginning. I would recommend this to teens looking for a great thriller!

Brilliant twisty thriller that had me hooked from the get go. I was guessing throughout and loved the way it threw me and made me doubt what I was thinking!. Cannot recommend it enough!

I liked the way it was written: it‘s notes from police interrogations, the POVs are changing lots but it‘s not too difficult to follow. Yet, for me the book, the plot, the ending was a bit flat. Maybe it was too rushed, I couldn‘t get into the characters the way I like. It‘s by no means a bad book -only no „biggie“ to me. Just „ok“.

Thanks very much to the publisher and Netgalley for providing a copy!

I liked the setting - the woods, especially at nighttime were creepy. I thought I would like the fact that it was set up as police interviews of the four teenagers answering questions about their missing friend but I didn't like it that much; it just seemed to be lacking. The characters were okay. It never held my interest enough to look forward to picking it back up but it wasn't bad enough to abandon.

Thank you NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire for this ARC. This was definitely a great teen thriller, it reminded me a lot of One Of Us Is Lying, which is one of my personal favourites. There was so many great twists and you are always kept guessing what will happen next. I'm actually still in shock after reading this.. it's definitely one of those books that you just sit there after you're done reading and you're speechless haha. I do say that some POVs were more interesting than others but besides that it was a great read! Got through it really quickly.

Really enjoyed this book. With unreliable narrators and multiple viewpoints will keep you wondering what really happened.

Wow, just wow are really the only words I could think or speak after finishing this excellent novel. This one might be the best teen book I have read this year! What a ride! An excellent thriller, perfect for fans of Jennifer Lynn Barnes, 'One of us is Lying,' and 'Aa Good Girl's Guide to Murder' but anyone of any age would enjoy the twists and turns and the brilliant original plot. Wonderful, captivating writing gives this novel the depth and ability to pull in any reader. I had no idea how it would end, and it kept me guessing - but I could not put it down. I read it in one sitting, it was that good and addictive! I highly recommend this!! I can't wait to own this novel in print. Ten stars and more!

I went into this really loving the format of it. It's incredibly clever to write in police interviews. Each chapter beginning with a question the police is asking to the teens to figure out what has happened to Maylee on their camping trip. The chapters are quick and pretty concise with switching in and out of the conversations between the 4 teens being interrogated by the police. However, despite the overarching plot and characters being interesting, it was pretty easy to figure out what was going to happen since early on. I didn't love how predictable this one was. Also some POVS were way more entertaining than others. Since I was able to guess the plot, this didn't end up being as impressive as I thought it was going to be.

Thanks #NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire for a copy of “Tell Me What Really Happened” for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

Five teens go into the woods for an overnight camping trip. One doesn’t make it home. Now the survivors must tell the story of their night in the woods to police, but what really happened?

I was drawn to this book because the story is told in four voices as police interviews. The reader only sees what each survivor tells law enforcement officials over the course of the better part of a day. Each character is distinct and has a clear voice throughout. At times each stubbornly withholds information, but relents in the end. While camping the characters are sometimes funny, other times aggravating, and often protective of their own reputations before the night becomes fraught with paranoia and descends into chaos. The story is riveting and heart-breaking.

This book would be great for teens looking for a fast-paced mystery, with relatable, but not always completely likable characters (as humans are sometimes). The story is also great for those looking for alternative storytelling methods. I will get a copy of this for my classroom.

A group of teenagers go camping in the woods but one of them does not come out. I enjoyed the unique way the author told the story in interview format, as each of the teenagers give a description of their POV to the police interrogators about what really happened on that camping trip. There are secrets and betrayals and each is revealed in layers that will lead you to the truth. The Bigfoot lore sprinkled throughout the story, gives it added spookiness. This made for a perfect Halloween read. Thanks to netgalley and the publisher for this ARC.

Five teenagers go camping for a night at a mysterious lake. Four come back. One disappears.

Written as a police interrogation, we learn about what happened at Salvation Creek that fateful night. Did someone do something criminal that caused the disappears Maylee? Is her best friend involved, despite her know all about camping and has a father for a detective? Could it be her boyfriend who had a hand in it? Maybe it’s the girl she was trying to be a friend to that others scorned and made fun of because she lived in the wrong area of town? Or is it possible that her best friend’s conspiracy theorist stepbrother did something to her? But quite possibly, the answer could be none of the above.

While search and rescue try to find (recover?) Maylee, we hear about how things went down on the camping trip. From trying to find a niche to become an influencer to Bigfoot theories to a gun being brandished, what truly went down when the five friends went camping. Each character has their flaws, but in the end, we find out as each piece is woven together what ultimately happened at the camp site. This is considered young adult fiction, but those looking for a suspense written in a unique format will enjoy this book.

Thank you to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire for the advanced copy. Opinions expressed are my own. This book is set for publication on April 3, 2023. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

#netgalley #arc #tellmewhatreallyhappened #chelseasedoti #sourcebooksfire

This was fun and exciting!!!

I loved each character, who were all unreliable, telling their point of view, but that also made it a little repetitive after awhile.

I did guess early on some things, but others took me for a whirl.

YA lovers will love this one so be sure to pick it up!

"Tell Me What Really Happened" was a fast-paced YA mystery/thriller and I enjoyed the frame of a collecting police reports and the multiple points of view.. Recommended for fans of Chelsea Ichaso. Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC.