Tell Me What Really Happened
"Maylee once said, "What's the point of living if you don't live big?" And she did. Always. She was so alive that she made me more alive by being around her."
Tell Me What Really Happened by Chelsea Sedoti is a unique young adult thriller told entirely through a police interrogation. Formatted to look like a transcription of a recording, each chapter title is a question, followed by first person answers from the four witnesses, including stage descriptions of sniffles, pauses, and whispers to a lawyer. As the hours tick by, each witness tells a slightly different version of the same story, leading the reader to wonder who is unreliable, and who is telling the truth.
Synopsis:
Salvation Creek is dangerous. There are decades-old stories of people going missing in the woods around Salvation Creek, not to mention the rough, remote terrain in a forrest filled with wild animals. Hell, not even a year ago a woman went missing, only to be found naked and dead a couple days later. So when Maylee Hayes proposes a camping trip to Salvation Creek, none of her four companions are thrilled about the idea. Then, when Maylee goes missing their first night, fears become reality as the four teens find themselves at the police station undergoing interrogations while search and rescue scour the forrest for Maylee—or her body.
Petra: Maylee’s best friend since Kindergarten. Petra’s dad is a detective, so she’s well aware of the time crunch S&R are on to find her friend. Rather than analyzing the nitty-gritty details of the night, Petra wants the cops to get out of the interrogation room and into the forest to look for Maylee. Instead, Petra is pushed further and further to the brink of a breakdown as she is asked to repeat her story, explain her theories, and do the police work for the idiots who won’t stop asking her stupid questions.
Nolan: Petra’s step-brother. Nolan never wanted to go in the first place, but his step-dad insisted he go to look after Petra, which is ridiculous, since Petra is the most anal, over-prepared person he knows. Besides, the cops are wasting their time asking questions about how the night went. Nolan knows what happened; it was Bigfoot who killed Maylee, and it was Bigfoot who killed all the other girls who went missing at Salvation Creek. Nolan only went along with Petra to gather proof of the creature, and Maylee’s “disappearance” is definite evidence.
John: Maylee’s boyfriend. Sure, he and Maylee argued all the time, but he would never hurt her. Just because he’s Black the cops in this town think John’s behind everything—first the car accident, now Maylee’s disappearance. John loved Maylee, despite what anyone else is saying. Now he’d please like to speak to his lawyer.
Abigail: Maylee’s friend. Abigail’s the outlier, just like she always has been. Her and Maylee were close for a couple months awhile back, but she’s not part of Maylee’s usual crowd. Everyone was surprised she was coming on the camping trip, and she was even more surprised that it wasn’t just her and Maylee. Abigail knows what everyone in this town thinks of her, the way they judge her based on where she lives and the truck her dad drives, but she knows those woods better than anyone, which is why Maylee invited her in the first place. Like her grandma always says….oh right, focus. No, Abigail wasn’t the one to bring the gun, and no, she has no idea where Maylee could have gone.
As crucial minutes pass by, each member of the camping trip tells a different story of what happened, pointing fingers and uncovering dark secrets about each other. But someone has to tell the truth; someone has to know what happened to Maylee…Right?
Thoughts:
Although I was initially thrown by the format, I loved this book. Having four different first-person accounts of the same night was riveting, and since it was entirely dialogue, the novel was a quick read. Every character was suspicious as some point, and each point of view was unreliable in the sense that memory itself is jaded as the brain protects itself from harm. Each reveal was gasp-worthy, and even without descriptions or scene-setting, the characters and plot were well-rounded and tangible. Even Maylee, without having any narration from her point of view, was three-dimensional, and I’m thoroughly impressed by Sedoti’s ability to flesh out a complete story using only an interview format.
The only thing that made this story four stars instead of five was the slight predictability. Because I read so many mystery/thrillers, I’ve become attuned to the cues authors give before big reveals, so while I may have seen this twist coming, the twist was so good that I think most readers will still be shocked. Finally, although I loved the last page, I found a lack of resolution at the end, which may have been Sedoti’s point, especially in a police interrogation. However, the final page makes up for that immediately, and I finished the book disquieted in the best way.
Overall:
Tell Me What Really Happened is the perfect young adult mystery for fans who enjoy an unreliable narrator. With this new thriller, Chelsea Sedoti joins the likes of Karen M. McManus, Courtney Summers, and Gillian Flynn. I can’t wait to read what Sedoti writes next, and I’m eager to see the reaction to her unique format and writing style.
My Rating: 4/5
Goodreads Average: 3.7/5
Information:
Tell Me What Really Happened by Chelsea Sedoti (Sourcebooks Fire)
Publication Date: April 4, 2023
ISBN: 9781492673057