Reviewed for NetGalley:

The story was written wholly in the perspective of four teenager witnesses in an interrogation room after their friend goes missing.

The narrative move too fast for me, jumping from character character. I didn’t love the format.

Interesting concept and wild story. The characters were hard to care about and felt maybe not all that flushed out. But it was a quick read. Definitely need to know what happened.

Thanks to Netgalley and SOURCEBOOKS for an eARC.

I felt so many ups and downs while reading this, but I think that's why I'm going to give it a glowing review - for some reason I just can't stop thinking about it!

Tell Me What Really Happened is a YA mystery told entirely through transcripts of police interviews. You get a unique POV from each of the four teens who were on a camping trip with their friend when she went missing. This format allowed for great tension build and for some fantastic unexpected moments of comedy (think: that classic scenario where Person A says "this is totally what happened, I'm 100% sure, would bet my life on me being right" and then it immediately cuts to Person B being like "yeah that's definitely not what happened").

I did not see the ending coming, and it kind of wrecked me (in a good way?). I've read lots of thrillers and mysteries and at this point I thought there couldn't really be a twist that would get me like this, but this one left me a little surprised and brokenhearted, which is probably why I can't stop thinking about it.

Huge thank you to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for providing a digital copy of Tell Me What Really Happened in exchange for an honest review! Tell Me What Really Happened will be available April 4, 2023.

I had a good time with this! It was a quick read and I found myself trying to guess the ending, and being unsuccessful. The formatting was interesting because we get all perspectives throughout the story. Some of that felt repetitive? But it also allowed to get the most details so I understand the reasoning for it. Overall a good mystery to read!

A very fast paced read about a girl gone missing during a camping trip with friends. I enjoyed the unique q and a format - the four teens being interviewed by the police. I found the book suspenseful and I was anxious to get to the explanation of what “really happened” since each perspective was unreliable in its own way.

Ultimately, the format allowed for us to understand the characters, but I didn’t felt buy in to their relationships with one another.

Thank you NetGalley for the ARC of this YA mystery thriller!

Five teens go camping one weekend in an area where there's been a cluster of disappearances over the years and only four teens exit. This thrilling mystery takes the reader through the interrogations of the four remaining teens after they've reported their friend missing.

I loved the set up of the chapters and POVs in this. I felt like I breezed through the story, though I didn't need help because the plot itself was enough to keep me reading.

I found the facts the conspiracy theorist spoke of were things that are googleable, even though Salvation Creek itself is fictional. There's truth to the disappearances of people in Yosemite and other National Parks that are unexplained. The theories on Bigfoot were also known theories and it added to the plot line. You can even Google Bigfoot being helicoptered out after the Mount St Helen's blast. I definitely appreciate the realism in this fictional story.

While I may no longer be a teen, I found the four completely relatable and believable. This is excalty the way I would expect four teens of different backgrounds to think and act. It's eye-opening to realize the little things we do that may cause unintentional hurt and damage to another person and its refreshing to see a novel.

The twist ended up being something you saw coming as the story progresses through the interrogations. Having seen it coming didn't take away from it though. It really left me going oh, oh, ohhh...oh no. I also may have ventured off in a different theory prior to landing on the correct one.

I really hope this book gets the hype and popularity it deserves. It was quite the read!

Sedoti gives the reader a unique and compelling mystery with twists and turns that keep one on the edge of their seat. Told in first person during a police interrogation four teenagers separately share their version of what happened that night on a camping trip in which their friend Maylee disappeared. This is a story of manipulation, friendship, family relationships, secrets, and what can happen when fear controls your choices and actions. What happened that night? Who brought a gun? Where's Maylee? All will be answered by the end of the story. A very enjoyable read that I would recommend to anyone who enjoys a creepy mystery.

I wavered between 3-4 stars, finally setting on 3.5 stars.

I really like the way this book was written, where the whole story was told entirely first person through police interviews. Five teens go on a weekend camping trip. Sometime during the night, one of them disappears and is their body is found later. As the police interviews progress, it is clear that at least one of them is lying.

The book was a fast read and the characters were genuine and engaging. I didn't like all the characters but they were believable. The ending was a bit anti-climatic, thus why I didn't give it a full 4-stars, however, I will definitely recommend this read to YA (and adult) fans of suspense and mystery.

Thank you to Chelsea Sedoti, NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for an advanced eBook in exchange for my honest review.

Gah.

This is such an engaging read, it’s told the light the police interview of all the kids on the camping trip being asked different questions. Some of the answers stay consistent and some change as the interviews continue. It’s supremely attention grabbing and the pacing works excellently.

This had the potential to be the next YA mystery phenomenon much like A Good Girl’s Guise to Murder but there’s one major plot point regarding Bigfoot that makes it fall flat, as the explanation in the conclusion is completely unsatisfying and frankly a bit annoying.

I still found the majority of this book quite enjoyable and kept me changing my guesses as to who or what truly caused the death of Maylee. I also thought it added to the enjoyment of this book that Maylee was a flawed character that has the reader further questioning what really happened.

3 stars

⭐️ ⭐️⭐️

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

I have to admit, I didn’t have such high expectations for this one because it was out of my comfort zone, but oh my gosh I loved it!

This is my first novel by Chelsea Sedoti and I really enjoyed it.

Told from each persons perspective, this is the first novel that I have read with this kind of story telling and I found it quite interesting.

The blurb reads
"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..."

It is a YA novel and it was a good read. I liked reading about all the main characters different takes on events and some of the over lapping facts, which leaves the reader wondering what is the actual truth.

The negative points for me was that I really had to concentrate on who was who and quite a lot of the story is repeated as each chapter starts with a question, supposedly from the police interview and each character takes their turn in answering the question in their own words.

A really interesting read and I would recommend it to YA readers. Thanks to the author, NetGalley and the publishers for allowing me a copy of this novel in exchange for my honest review.

Writing: 5/5
Character Development: 5/5
Dark Themes: 2/5

Warning: Language

Themes: Mystery

Tell Me What Really Happened was different from any other book I have read. Instead of going though the events of what actually happened it is told in a police interview of those who were there. I thought there would be something missing with telling the story this way but it made it so much better. Chelsea Sedoti did such a good job at creating a spooky atmosphere that made me want to know what happened. The characters were well written and each one of them had their own voice that made me feel like I was experiencing events with them.

This book is great for anyone who loves crime shows and solving mysteries where you are never really sure who is telling the truth and who has something to hide.

I received a free copy of this book and I am leaving an honest review voluntarily.

Excellent! Very tightly written and enjoyable, flew through this pretty quickly.

I adored all the characters and the atmosphere so much and I hope the author continues putting out more books like this!

What a great read !!! Loved the characters and was such a page turner. Really enjoyed the different plots. Definitely recommend! Thank you NetGalley for this ARC

Really fun book! I love when the narrative of a book is presented in a unique way. In Tell Me What Really Happened, we are introduced to a group of 4 very different high school students who are responding to interview questions presented in a police station. Before long we learn that a 5th member of a camping trip has been reported missing the police is questioning the friends about what transpired.

While this is a YA book, there was less of that over emotive language that sometimes ties up a narrative. All of the teens were very realistic. As you read on, you will learn more and more about the events and form you own hypothesis about what happened.

If you like teen based mysteries, a who done it based in a forest or just love unique stories with thrilling concepts, Tell Me What Really Happened is for you! #sourcebooks #ChelseSedoti

The Breakfast Club meets The Usual Suspects in this riveting YA mystery told entirely through the first-person police interviews of four teens over the course of several hours that asks: what happened at Salvation Creek?

An influencer, an over achiever, a heartthrob, an outcast, and a conspiracy theorist go into the woods for a camping trip at Salvation Creek.

Sometime around midnight, one of them vanishes.

Now, the four who came back are under suspicion, and they each have a very different story to tell about the events of the night.

With one of them missing, and the clock ticking, why would they lie? Who is hiding what? And what dark truths will their lies reveal?

Really enjoyable read totally recommend
Thank you NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire
I just reviewed Tell Me What Really Happened by Chelsea Sedoti. #NetGalley

Tell Me What Really Happened, by Chelsea Sedoti
3.5-4/5⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

TRIGGER WARNINGS-
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Murder, death, alcohol, racism


Five teens go into the woods to go camping but only four come out.
This story starts off with four of the five characters all sat in separate police interrogation rooms telling their version of events that surround the disappearance of their friend.
The format of this novel is something different- it's told in a separate first person point of view from each of the characters and the whole story takes place in a span of a day. Each character discusses what they believe to be the truth of the events of what had happened hours earlier.
This book was an easy, fast paced, engaging
read. I read it in one sitting, it defiantly has an interesting plot which keeps you hooked.
It shows the unfortunate cruel side of what happens when people become too obsessed with social media and living a life of "likes" for quick fame and fortune. How far people will truly go to impress others for the instant gratification that it brings.

Thank you to Sourcebooks Fire and NetGalley for giving me an E-ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Well, one interrogation room: four teenage witnesses from a camp trip that goes wrong in Salvation Creek where a brutal crime occurs. This is absolutely exciting, riveting thriller keeping you in your toes!

Over achier- control freak Petra, her nerdy- Big Foot obsessed step brother Nolan, an outcast of school who lives in trailer park Abigail and person of interest- victim’s boyfriend John! The events are told from their POVs. Their friend Maylee who is forced them to have a camping trip on weekend in Salvation Creek is MISSING and probably dead!

The other participants of the trip are these four unreliable witnesses who tell their subjective comments about the entire incident.

Petra gives snarky answers, trying to teach the officers to do their job because she knows a lot about criminal and investigation procedures about missing people ( thanks to her police officer daddy). Nolan keeps giving enough statistical information about natural habitats and special attributes of Big Foot and he also gives extra information about missing people in Salvation Creek since 1900s. Abigail gives long speeches and in the middle of them she forgets what was the entire question, constantly babbling, giving anecdotes from her dear Nana Abbie and poor John attends to the interrogation with his lawyer because this is his second round to get questioned for a crime. The first time he’s blamed to drive under the influence and injure his friend ( thankfully he was acquitted. He wasn’t even sitting in the driver seat. ) But two of his friends point their fingers at him ( especially Abigail insists he’s the murderer even though they are not sure yet that their friend Maylee is dead)

So what happened that night?
Five teenagers: Maylee: influencer, magnet of the group who convinces her best friend/ super organizer Petra and Abigail ;( Maylee and she have a complicated relationship) who knows a lot about the wilderness and her boy friend John to attend to the last minute camping! Petra’s conspiracy theorist/ ultra weird step brother Nolan joins to the group because Petra’s parents force him to keep an eye on his stepsister.

Instead of Maylee, none of them are volunteered to participate to this trip but Maylee is great manipulator. During their camping, Nolan brings his special gadget to search for the creatures lurking around. ( at least he insists some dangerous creatures took many lives of innocent campers in the past! ) He finds a cabin in the woods filled with hunting equipment ( lots of sharp knives! ) throughout his search. The other members of the group get creeped out and they return back to their camping site without looking back!

But at the night time things get a little heated between them. The more alcohol, more slurry confessions later, they find out one of them brought a gun to their trip! At the end of the night, a gun shot bursts out and cuts the silence of the woods!

What happened to Maylee! Did one of them kill her? Did Bigfoot tear apart her body?

Four unreliable voices, one murder case, long interrogation process! Just continue to read and enjoy the gripping mystery!

It was easy to read and smart whodunnit thriller to read in one sitting! Highly recommend to YA thriller fans!

Many thanks to NetGalley and SOURCEBOOKS Fire for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange for my honest thoughts.

This ARC was provided to me via Kindle, from SOURCEBOOKS Fire and #NetGalley. Thank you for the opportunity to preview and review. Opinions expressed are completely my own.

Enjoyable, entertaining and suspenseful.

I really enjoyed this book. Love the format of it and the story was pretty good. Saw the ending coming a mile away but that didn't stop my enjoyment of the book.