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A review by jessica42980
That's Not What Happened by Kody Keplinger
5.0
All my reviews can be found at: http://jessicasreadingroom.com
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This review will appear on my site on April 3, 2021 as a double review with my co-reviewer Kim!
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Wow! This is a powerful YA novel that takes place three years after a school shooting. It is written via letters from the survivors, mainly from Leanne (Lee) Bauer and we also learn about the victims of the shooting. We learn nothing about the shooter who is only referenced as “him”.
Three years have passed and Lee finds out her best friend Sarah’s parents are writing a book about her. Sarah died proclaiming her faith to the shooter… Or did she? Lee was in the bathroom with Sarah when the shooting happened. Lee knows the truth, but kept silent. And now that a book is soon to be published she wants to set the record straight: That was not Sarah’s necklace! Kellie was also in that bathroom and tried to tell the truth when the shooting first occurred, but no one believed the outcast goth girl.
This powerful novel gives you so many things to think about, the main thing being The Truth: Do we ultimately want the real truth if it differs from what we believe? And how important is a lie that affects the real truth. And a big question the reader feels is why does Lee feel the need for the truth to be revealed now and not three years ago when the shooting occurred. So many people believe one version of the story and Sarah has become a martyr… What will the actual truth do to people when and if they find out? Will people believe the truth or want to keep believing the lie? How much damage can be done to so many people (including Sarah’s parents) when the truth finally be set free?
We do get to meet all of the survivors, one of them being Denny who is blind. I found his story one of the more interesting perspectives. Denny gives you an idea of what it is to be blind and that the blind actually do not have super power hearing that we ‘seeing people’ may think! I would have loved to have more of Denny.
And yes, we do get the ultimate truth of what happened in that bathroom at the end of the novel in one last thought provoking letter.
I did not read That’s Not What Happened for #Diverseathon2021, but it could have been read for a few prompts. Our narrator Lee is asexual and this lack of sexuality does come into play in the novel. I wish I had known this prior to listening as I would have saved the novel for that prompt later on in the year.
That’s Not What Happened is very highly recommended.
~~~~
This review will appear on my site on April 3, 2021 as a double review with my co-reviewer Kim!
~~~~
Wow! This is a powerful YA novel that takes place three years after a school shooting. It is written via letters from the survivors, mainly from Leanne (Lee) Bauer and we also learn about the victims of the shooting. We learn nothing about the shooter who is only referenced as “him”.
Three years have passed and Lee finds out her best friend Sarah’s parents are writing a book about her. Sarah died proclaiming her faith to the shooter… Or did she? Lee was in the bathroom with Sarah when the shooting happened. Lee knows the truth, but kept silent. And now that a book is soon to be published she wants to set the record straight: That was not Sarah’s necklace! Kellie was also in that bathroom and tried to tell the truth when the shooting first occurred, but no one believed the outcast goth girl.
This powerful novel gives you so many things to think about, the main thing being The Truth: Do we ultimately want the real truth if it differs from what we believe? And how important is a lie that affects the real truth. And a big question the reader feels is why does Lee feel the need for the truth to be revealed now and not three years ago when the shooting occurred. So many people believe one version of the story and Sarah has become a martyr… What will the actual truth do to people when and if they find out? Will people believe the truth or want to keep believing the lie? How much damage can be done to so many people (including Sarah’s parents) when the truth finally be set free?
We do get to meet all of the survivors, one of them being Denny who is blind. I found his story one of the more interesting perspectives. Denny gives you an idea of what it is to be blind and that the blind actually do not have super power hearing that we ‘seeing people’ may think! I would have loved to have more of Denny.
And yes, we do get the ultimate truth of what happened in that bathroom at the end of the novel in one last thought provoking letter.
I did not read That’s Not What Happened for #Diverseathon2021, but it could have been read for a few prompts. Our narrator Lee is asexual and this lack of sexuality does come into play in the novel. I wish I had known this prior to listening as I would have saved the novel for that prompt later on in the year.
That’s Not What Happened is very highly recommended.