That's Not What Happened by Kody KeplingerMy rating: 3.5 of 5 stars
It's been three years since the Virgil County High School Massacre. Three years since my best friend, Sarah, was killed in a bathroom stall during the mass shooting. Everyone knows Sarah's story--that she died proclaiming her faith.
But it's not true.
I know because I was with her when she died. I didn't say anything then, and people got hurt because of it. Now Sarah's parents are publishing a book about her, so this might be my last chance to set the record straight . . . but I'm not the only survivor with a story to tell about what did--and didn't--happen that day.
Except Sarah's martyrdom is important to a lot of people, people who don't take kindly to what I'm trying to do. And the more I learn, the less certain I am about what's right. I don't know what will be worse: the guilt of staying silent or the consequences of speaking up . . .
--
3.5 stars.
I listened to the audiobook of this, and for a long time it was one of those books that could've ended up being a DNF. The writing was great, and the characterisation was great, but for me it was the story itself--the plot--that I had trouble with. The pacing felt a little flat, and I think I went into this with the wrong expectations. I thought this was going to be a YA thriller, but it's more of an exploration of lies and secrets. There are some very small twists, but I think I was just expecting more. More of a building of the tension and pacing toward a climax--but the whole thing was very much level in terms of tension.
It's about Lee, the survivor of a school shooting, and how she wants to correct the misconceptions around the shooting and those who died in it, namely her best friend Sarah. Lee decides to encourage the other survivors to write letters explaining their truth, and this book is a collection of those letters and essays.
In terms of diversity, it ticks that box. We've got Denny who's a main character and he's Deaf and Black. We've also got Lee who is questioning if she's asexual. Now, as soon as I heard that she was possibly ace, I was so excited. I'm ace myself, and we need much more rep--but I didn't really like how this representation was done in the end. Lee seems convinced for much of the book that there's no point in her pursuing a relationship because she's ace and when she gets together with the guy she likes, it's presented almost as if she's just really lucky that he's willing to try and make things worse. There seemed to be this underlying assumption in the story that ace people don't really have relationships and that really grated on me. I'd have loved for this view to be corrected by Lee meeting other ace people and learning that relationships are possible. Plus, the book also seemed to suggest that all ace people never have sex--which is not true!
Denny was my favourite character though, and the narration was really good--especially for him.
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3.5 stars.
I listened to the audiobook of this, and for a long time it was one of those books that could've ended up being a DNF. The writing was great, and the characterisation was great, but for me it was the story itself--the plot--that I had trouble with. The pacing felt a little flat, and I think I went into this with the wrong expectations. I thought this was going to be a YA thriller, but it's more of an exploration of lies and secrets. There are some very small twists, but I think I was just expecting more. More of a building of the tension and pacing toward a climax--but the whole thing was very much level in terms of tension.
It's about Lee, the survivor of a school shooting, and how she wants to correct the misconceptions around the shooting and those who died in it, namely her best friend Sarah. Lee decides to encourage the other survivors to write letters explaining their truth, and this book is a collection of those letters and essays.
In terms of diversity, it ticks that box. We've got Denny who's a main character and he's Deaf and Black. We've also got Lee who is questioning if she's asexual. Now, as soon as I heard that she was possibly ace, I was so excited. I'm ace myself, and we need much more rep--but I didn't really like how this representation was done in the end. Lee seems convinced for much of the book that there's no point in her pursuing a relationship because she's ace and when she gets together with the guy she likes, it's presented almost as if she's just really lucky that he's willing to try and make things worse. There seemed to be this underlying assumption in the story that ace people don't really have relationships and that really grated on me. I'd have loved for this view to be corrected by Lee meeting other ace people and learning that relationships are possible. Plus, the book also seemed to suggest that all ace people never have sex--which is not true!
Denny was my favourite character though, and the narration was really good--especially for him.
View all my reviews
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