Tell Me What Really Happened
by Chelsea Sedoti
Mystery
Suspense
Thriller
* * * Stars (Pretty good)
Maylee Hayes goes missing on a camping trip, and the police are trying to determine what happened to her by interviewing her friends who were there – Petra, Nolan, Abigail, and John. Each chapter is voiced by a different character in response to the questions they’ve been asked. Petra is Maylee’s BFF and she’s convinced that Maylee is just lost. Nolan thinks Maylee is dead – killed by a bigfoot, that he is sure he saw mauling her. John is Maylee’s boyfriend and is afraid that the police are going to try to pin everything on him because he’s a.) Black, and b.) the boyfriend. And Abigail and Maylee used to be close at one time, but haven’t been for awhile. She doesn’t seem to have any connection to any of the other friends. As the story continues, it seems any one of the teens could have been responsible. Everyone is lying about something and eventually has to come clean about it. Readers learn a lot more about the kind of person Maylee was (not so great, not so nice, obsessed with becoming a social media superstar, determined to do anything to achieve that). It’s an intriguing if sometimes confusing mess, but fast-paced, and the ending is definitely surprising. Fans of thrillers should enjoy this one. For high school teens.
Reviewed by YA Librarian
