Thanks to Netgalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the e-arc of this book. I didn't know much going into this one other than it was going to be a YA thriller. I enjoyed getting the perspectives of each character (and since I waited, listening to the audiobook definitely helped keep them straight), but overall I thought this story lacked any major plot. Although I didn't predict "who did it" I felt like the whole process was drawn out too much. And there was way to much mentioning of Sasquatch. Overall I just didn't enjoy the read.

📚 BOOK REVIEW ✨

Tell Me What Really Happened by Chelsea Sedoti

⭐️ rating: 3
📖 genre: YA mystery
🖨 publisher: Sourcebooks
📍setting: Salvation Creek

🔲 REVIEW:

This was a fast read due to the unique writing style of the book. The story is told entirely though first-person police interviews of each of the four friends. By hearing all four points of view, you quickly realize that one (or more) of them is an unreliable narrator. The book ended with a twist I didn’t see coming.

I enjoyed:
-the quick pace and twists & turns
-the writing style of the first-person interviews

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

🔎 SUMMARY:

“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?”

💬 Have you read this book? What did you think?

Aspiring influencer Maylee convinces four of her friends to go on a camping trip into an area of the woods known for people going missing. But while the friends get out and to the police, Maylee is missing in the woods.

I liked the theory of the way it's constructed. First person responses to police questions is such a neat idea. In practice, the narrative jumped back and forth between different characters, sometimes a paragraph at a time, which was distracting. I also didn't like that a character would sometimes obviously be responding to another question that was asked to them without the question being explicitly asked. It felt like telling instead of showing. The story was engaging enough for me to finish it but I predicted the ending about halfway through. I was hoping there'd be a twist and it'd go a different way but that didn't happen. The characters were pretty interesting, although several of them annoyed me to the point where I almost put the book down.

In this book, five friends (Maylee, the blogger, Nolan, the conspiracist, John, the popular, Petra, the controller, and Abigail, the girl-next-door) go to a weekend camp because Maylee had the idea. Something happens around midnight, and Maylee disappears, leaving the other four to look for her.
The whole book is about them telling the story to the police after they called to find his body.
I could resist getting the arc when I read about the story, and I didn't get disappointed with this choice.

The book is all narrated by the four characters telling their views of what happened and also about the person that is Maylee with everything that happened in the past and present revolves around her and her ideas.
It was an interesting idea and one that I would have liked to read more in style for having embarked on the pace of the mystery, or maybe it was the way the author wrote that made me like it so much.

Maylee is the only character that we don't have the pov but she is the main character because everything revolves around her and how everyone moves because of her actions.
Petra is a character with a difficult personality but who cares a lot about the people she cares about and is the one who gives us more information about Maylee and certain events of the night.
John is a good young man and I wondered why he was dating Maylee and how complicated everything is for him on the police force because of his past.
Petra's brother Nolan goes on the trip at the insistence of their parents and a conspiracist bigfoot conspiracy theories, and it was interesting to learn more about how this obsession started.
Abigal is a nice girl and at first, we don't understand what she's doing on the trip, and end up becoming very important to give more information about the event.

I recommend this read for the mystery experience, I won't consider it my favorite mystery of the year, but it came close.

Sedoti did something I have not read in YA before and that's tell the story from four perspectives as a police interview. You get limited interaction from the police, mostly off screen interactions with the characters and questions that in a way act as chapter titles. You follow along as each character tells their story, adapts to new information, and slowly creep towards the truth. The inclusion of Nolan as a cryptozoologist adds a mystery of whether this book has supernatural elements or not. It honestly had me guessing for a while. Each character has a distinct voice, though they are each standard archetypes found in YA. What happened to Maylee was a bit of a disappointment, but the revelation, told through the police interrogation format, was pretty solid. This is a standard story told in a new and fascinating format.

I really liked the first-person police interviews. It's an interesting format that I've never read before. The story is a little scattered and confusing. It went in too many directions and then wrapped up so quickly. Overall, not a bad read.

4 stars. This is my favorite book by this author. All of her previous books have been 3 star reads, engaging enough but always missing something for me, but I keep picking her books up because they are fun, and I like her writing. This one was definitely better for me. I loved the interview medium used for the entire book; it made things go by so quickly, and soon, I found myself reading the acknowledgments. Such a wide cast of characters with a lot of eye-opening backgrounds. Really enjoyed this murder story.

This is one of those books that when you aren't reading about it, you're thinking about it. It has a really interesting premise with the story being told from varying POVs while the teens that are still alive are in an interrogation room.

I wanted so badly to know what really happened that I found myself skipping along quickly, needing answers. I just felt like there were secrets and lies and that something really scary was going on.

Unfortunately, this book was great up until the landing. It made me think of the TV show <i>Saint X</I>, where I was with it until the very end and it just failed to stick the landing. It's still a great read, and maybe you'll like the ending better than I did.

I thought this was GREAT. Got the ARC from NetGalley and the publishers (thanks!) and so glad I did. Not sure I would’ve picked it up otherwise, which would’ve been a mistake.

The format of each chapter was really unique and an interesting, engaging way to tell the story. Each of the characters’ voices was distinct, made sense, and gave more insight to them. There were a couple of great twists, and I appreciate that the ending didn’t come out of nowhere (listen, I was fully expecting it to be like “oh Abigail’s father came into the woods and MURDERED Maylee!” which would’ve been outlandish and disappointing lol).

This was a really great YA book, highly recommend.

This is a young adult book. I dont usually read many book in this genre. I loved the idea of the young teens going away for the camping holiday. Unfortunately there was too much repetition in the book which turned me off.

As is usual with YA thrillers, this book is a bit over the top. That said, the format in which the four main characters slowly reveal the story of what happened to their missing friend through police interviews keeps up the suspense and makes it compulsively readable. I enjoyed it, and teens likely will too.

3.5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

The format of this book gave me major Daisy Jones vibes - it was told through the interrogation interviews of 4 teens who went camping when 1 goes missing.

The ending was a little predictable and there was no real jaw dropping twist. However, I did love how this book took the concept of 1 story and seeing it play out through 4 different perspectives.

The chapters were short. This was a quick read and highly recommend the audiobook - it was well done and full cast!

Thank you @netgalley for this ARC! I’m a little late to the party on this one but I’m glad I gave it a read!

Thank you so much to NetGalley for the review. First thing to say, and this is why I think I may have loved the book so much is because of the way its told which almost seems to be more through the aftermath and police interviews.
I have heard however, that the audio book is fantastic because of the cast. Side Note- I liked the auidobook of Daisy Jones more than the written book just simply because of the characters.
Ok I digress

Anyway, essentially this is one story told in four different stories (all during the police interviews with the kids), yes there is a paranormal aspect, but it isn't a main focus and added the perfect hint of strange mystery if that makes sense.

The ending was a little lackluster, but that is because its one of those endings that are left up to interpretation. Usually I LOVE those, but in this one, I think because I was so invested, I would have rather had an actual black and white ending.

I received a free copy from NetGalley. Five friends go into the woods and only four come back out. Nothing new with that story line. The twist on this one, the whole story is told through the police interviews. Worth the read.

Date is for the review, not the reading.

This book is told in the form of police interviews between the campers after the fact so that we can piece together what happened.

I felt like some of the characters weren’t necessary but I guess they each had their role. I can’t say that Maylee was likable but she was relatable.

I liked Nolan and his Bigfoot obsession!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks fire for an advance copy of this book.

Five teenagers go on a camping trip and only four return. An interesting premise as the story is told only through the police interviews and with each of the surviving teens having a different perspective on what happened and not always in sync. It's the readers job to figure out who is reliable and telling the truth.

While I did feel it went a little off script with all the Bigfoot discussions, it kept me guessing and was unlike anything else I've read.

Tell Me What Really Happened was a book that delves into deep hidden agendas and secrets. Friends who love, envy and in sone ways despise each other. Each going into the woods with different plans and agendas. Shocking truths are revealed and in a maelstrom of confusion the unthinkable happens. It was all supposed to happen differently and no one wants to admit the part they played in the aftermath. The book was ok it had a decent premise and as it was probably meant to be the story is twisted and confusing m. But sadly it ends in that note with no real reason or definitive conclusion. I guess it fell a bit short for me at the end because it just stood abruptly with sun odd decision and everything else is left to speculation. And to sone that may be the best kind of ending. I didn’t hate it but I didn’t love it either. If you want a twisted camp fire tail that leaves you wondering what else was left unexplained this is for you m. If you need all the pieces of the puzzle to fit into a a story whether it is twisted, tragic or simply mind bending you may be disappointed. It is hard to say you can give it a try and see what you think.

Not an especially believable plot. A series of events slowly unspooled in a way that isn't terribly compelling and populated by vaguely unlikable characters. Not one you're likely to enjoy reading or to take strong messages from.

Audiobook Rating: 5/5

I started seeing Tell Me What Really Happened by Chelsea Sedoti all over Bookstagram so of course I had to see what the fuss was about, plus I LOVED her prior novel As You Wish. The format of this book was very cool and different, and it SLAYS as an audiobook. I don't read much YA anymore but when I do it is usually a mystery or thriller, and this one really delivered for me. There is a slight paranormal aspect that keeps you wondering if there is something more sinister going on, and plenty of action and young adult drama. Each chapter starts with some kind of question or statement from the cop questioning the high school students, and there are more questions asked throughout each of the chapters, but we find out what those are by the character's reactions to them.

I have never read a book quite like this before, and going back to it slaying on audio, it did that because it has a full cast of narrators: Shannon Tyo, Kimberly Woods, Reynaldo Piniella, Josh Hurley & Jeff Gurner. Whoever cast these voice artists really nailed it, as they were perfect for each of their parts. I HIGHLY recommend the audiobook since it is so well done, and it is one of my favorite YA audiobooks now. I did think the end was pretty anti-climactic after everything we go through to get there which is why I took off a star, but this was such a clever story and format that I couldn't put it down. Tell Me What Really Happened is perfect for the reader who likes a quick pace, high school drama, lots of secrets, and a hint of creepiness.

The synopsis seems like something you have heard before, but Sedotri artfully crafted it so it sounds like something brand new.