Reviews with content warning for Murder - Tell Me What Really Happened

Five teenagers decide to go camping in the wood where girls are known to go missing; Salvation Creek. Four made it out. Maylee did not…It’s up to the four “friends” to figure out what happened to Maylee. All of them are hiding something but what? That is up to the reader, and the investigating detective, to figure out.

I love interview style books. Listening to the audio book version was also great. The voices match the age of the characters. I thought Petra’s voice actor was fitting for the character since she was supposed to be an analytical know-it-all. I would definitely recommend listening to the audio book version rather than reading this story. I tried reading at first but found it difficult and slow.

The thing is, I don’t know how I would rate this read. I also don’t know if I would recommend this to adult readers who like to read YA. I thought it was just ok. I’ve read better YA thrillers. Nolan’s character was VERY annoying and frustrating. There is always that one annoying character. I knew what had happened right as the author set up the Maylee’s disappearance. The author also had the characters make small observations but these were never answered.

One last frustrating thing was that the book didn’t get good until the 50% mark then again around 70%. It was slow pace until these points.

What I loved was John’s background about the “accident.” The author did a great job writing and depicting small town racism. It reminded me of what unfortunately happened in the small town I grew up in. The voice actor did a great job narrating this portion as well. I was very moved by how he spoke the words and felt every ounce of pain he spoke.

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daringreader13's review

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adventurous challenging emotional mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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avidreaderandgeekgirl's review against another edition

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emotional mysterious sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Well, I hated just about every character! Except for Abagail, who was used, and Josh (was it? John?) who I totally understood his anger at everyone for not understanding their privilege. Especially Maylee, what a little self-centered careless sociopath she was. Wasn't sad to see her go, to be honest! Nolan was annoying AF, with his constant, insistent, and illogical bigfoot theories! Though in the end, I guess I see how that led to the conclusion. But goodness was he ANNOYING!
The narration was excellent. And the conclusion to the mystery was unique, not who you'd expect. But boy was the journey hard to get through, with annoying Nolan it was very difficult.

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bookedandbusy's review

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book was INTENSE. I loved it so much. I didn’t know what to think or who to trust, and there were so many twists and turns and it made my head spin.

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thewizardofbooks's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

“She used to tell me, “Never apologize for taking up space in the world.”

Four interrogation rooms and four first person accounts of a camping trip gone incredibly wrong. Tell Me What Really Happened is a fast paced thriller, full of twists and a semblance of the supernatural.

The story picks up in a police station with a leading question and four teenagers attempting to recount how their night ended there and what happened to the fifth camper. Maylee, someone who wants to be remembered for any reason, girlfriend of John, and wannabe influencer, is missing and no one seems to know what happened.

So who are the other campers?

There’s Petra, a know-it-all, quick witted girl who is always prepared and always in control. Nolan, a believer of the supernatural, specifically Bigfoots (yes that’s plural). John, vice president of the Student Council and an all around popular guy (though he wouldn’t define himself that way). Abigail, a surprise addition to the trip, invited by Maylee, and someone who is quite familiar with the woods.

As each of the characters explain what happened, viewpoints conflict and the reader is left wondering who, if anyone, is reliable.

A little jarring at first, but easily read, the book is formatted like an audio transcript, just dialogue. There is no filler or description that is not directly spoken by one of the four witnesses as they lay out what happened. The teenagers do give details which build the world, and generally their language and manner of speaking is realistic. Most of the time it does feel as if someone is truly telling a story but there are bits and pieces that didn’t make sense in dialogue and as I read I kept thinking, no one really talks like this, or at least, teenagers don’t. Don’t get me wrong though, the fast pace of the book didn’t keep me too hung up on the language and the isolated setting had me genuinely feeling creeped out a few times.

Beyond language, the formatting didn’t leave a lot of room for connecting with the characters, and I never really cared about what would happen to them. (Except maybe John, who was falsely accused of a crime in the past and is being accused of something now. It’s a look at racism and how being black means there are often obstacles to jump over that others wouldn’t have.) All of the characters had their flaws and none of them were really likable.

The pace of the book kept me invested in the outcome and flipping pages as fast as I could. Sedoti’s style is great for those who may get easily distracted when reading or those who want something to speed through. It’s unique, thrilling, and mildly unpredictable. I would recommend it to anyone who likes a multiple perspective YA thriller.

LGBTQ+ Representation -

- Abigail is thought to be a Lesbian though this identity is never outright said. Maylee and Petra were exes and Maylee is potentially bisexual but definitely queer.

I received a digital ARC from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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caitlinn3's review

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

What a ride! I love a good epistolary novel, they are honestly some of my favorite stories to read. In this story we are hearing from 4 high school students who went on a camping trip that went very very wrong and someone disappeared. I really enjoyed the back and forth of the different perspectives and how each character remembered things differently. I was genuinely scared at times and surprised by all the twists this took. This was a fast paced read and one I highly recommend!

Thank you to NetGalley and Sourcebooks Fire for the Arc

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