Reviews with content warning for Death - That's Not What Happened

This is, unsurprisingly, a difficult book to read. But more surprisingly, it’s a difficult book to finish.
The “big twist” is hyped up far too much in the beginning - to the point where I nearly forgot there was a plot to begin with. When it’s revealed halfway through, the entire book loses steam. I dragged myself to the end, and while I’m happy I did, it looked bleak for a moment.
The timeline can also be confusing, as it jumps between different years with little explanation or warning.

However, overall I would recommend it. It’s very reflective regarding the resilience of teenagers, the impacts of PTSD, the importance (or not?) of the truth, and the reality of religion in America. 3.5/5.0

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pippat25's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective fast-paced

Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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chlo_123456's review against another edition

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sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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jodierose14's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

3.5

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brookey8888's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious medium-paced

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

3.75

First of all we love an asexual queen!! So that being said there is a ton of different representation in this and I can’t speak for most of them, but I didn’t find anything wrong with it. As for the story it doesn’t really focus on the shooting but the aftermath of it. Which I thought was important. Also it never gives the killer a name or the spotlight which I also thought was good. I thought it was interesting how religion played apart in this. I don’t think this is like the greatest book or the greatest book about a school shooting but I think it is well done.

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legalplanner's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

In a world of lockdown drills, post columbine, and more school shootings in recent years this is an important take on the narrative of survivors.

We meet Lee and the “six” on the third anniversary of the school shooting, when the youngest members are heading closer toward graduation. We follow Lee and her struggles to reconcile what happened that day and how the current narrative has been harmful.

Trigger warnings for this novel:

Gun violence, death, school shootings, anxiety attacks, panic attacks, PTSD, and mild trauma.

I went into this knowing that it would be a heavy read and it was every bit of heavy that I anticipated. In my small town in Indiana a school shooting happened and watching those survivors grapple with the same things Lee was sometimes got hard because I understood how her mother was feeling when trying to understand Lee.

The diversity in the characters both on a sexuality spectrum, “disability”, and class structure was amazing and very much amplified that schools are diverse areas students spend most of their time in and that not every victim is the same.

The writing style as a letter to be published to tell their side of the story was brilliant and the individual characters stories allowed you to see deeper into their personalities without having to switch points of view which I feel would have been hard in this novel.

The way guilt both as a survivor and as a bystander was very well done. You understand why Lee, Eden, Denny, and Miles all have guilt regarding the narratives of that day. While none of them are necessarily as heavy as Lee’s there’s is equally as important.

I urge you as a reader (if you’re looking for reviews to encourage you) don’t take my 5 star review as overhype. This was well done. Focusing on survivors, guilt, and how the issues surrounding mass shootings/school shootings are important but many. I also implore you to read this as there is zero shooter glorification which I think is important.

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