{My thoughts} – Some books have the potential to really hit home with a lot of people. Some books have the ability to pull you into the story without you fully realizing it and keeping you there until the very end, then they leave you wanting more and more. This is one of those kinds of books.

It is written in the narrative of Lee, she was a survivor of a school shooting that had taken place at her High School. She was one of six. It tells of her life and what it was like after the shooting. Three years later and how her and the others that had survived were fairing. It tell’s of how her best friend Sarah had died that die and how the story surrounding Sarah’s death was false.

This book helps you to reach into the minds of those that were there in the past, and that are still there in the present. It helps to paint you an image of what each student that had both lived and or died were like. It helps to show you both sides of the coin and it introduces you to the fact that not everyone’s story is going to be the same. There will be similarities, but not everything will match up word for word.

Lee decides after three years it is time to set the story straight. That it’s time she tells everyone that what they have been believing had happened at the time Sarah was killed isn’t what had happened. That the eye witness account the police had received from another student wasn’t what had happened. That in all intents in purposes “That’s not what Happened.”

I have always wondered how a book could be written that would show a reader what had happened in the past, the present and so on to those that were there and those that had their lives ruined in a sense by such a terrible act of violence. This book helped to put a lot of that into perspective. What I enjoyed the most was how the book didn’t outright name or accuse the shooter of being anything other then the shooter. I like that the author left it up to the readers to decide how they wanted to portray him in our minds.

I really think that this book should be on every school bookshelf. That it should be mandatory reading in English classrooms from grade six on through the end of High School. I really think that children could benefit from reading this book. It helps to show them that even though things aren’t always great that participating in such an act of violence isn’t the answer. That sometimes it’s better to talk to someone then to take your hurt and anger out on so many people. Many people that get hurt or die in situations like this had never done anything to the individual committing the act of violence. In many cases the person doing it has the mentality of I’m hurting so I want so many more to hurt. More often then not though, they end up dead or worse in all these scenarios.

I recommend that parents have their children read this book, once they are old enough to. It’s well written and it helps to open up someone’s eyes about what happens during mass shootings. It helps to show that the victims aren’t the only one’s that are left hurting. that it’s all those around them. It help’s to show that even when everything is said and done, that life will and can continue on after for all those that are survivors. ( )

It's a bit difficult to date books with such intense subject matter sometimes. I loved the premise though, and thought it was told in a very compassionate and realistic way. How trauma affects people, and how stories or small misunderstandings can spread out of control and take on a life of their own, especially after death. ( )

I had the privilege of listening to Kody Keplinger while at YALSA. She was a part of the Disability in YA panel and she talked a lot about this book. I was intrigued...I got a free autographed copy....and read the book in a night.

It's the story of how lives are effected by a school shooting. It's the story of truth and justice and how one small action can have a large ripple affect. There are characters who yes have disabilities but they are not defined by them. There is another character who is asexual....yet thankfully that is not a huge premise of the book. It's more about finding healing. I can resonate with that.

There is a faith angle to it, one that I believe the author didn't even intend. Christians don't have to look a certain way to believe in Him. Or even have faith that there is a God. It's a refreshing reminder. ( )

Complicated feelings. I didn't realize this was a Cassie Bernall of Columbine retelling & that felt sort of unoriginal. Also, I didn't like the characters or the way this book felt almost scared to say anything at all. I'd probably give it 2.5 stars if I'm being honest. ( )

I quite enjoyed the intro to this and thought maybe I'd been quick to judge Keplinger on her previous books, but then it kind of... flopped. It didn't deliver what it promised.

SO. ASEXUAL MAIN CHARACTER. YAY. But. I think this was actually the most disappointing aspect, because it felt...forced. It affects one relationship for like five minutes and then everything is quite hunky dory, and she doesn't seem to struggle other than that. Lee talks a little bit about her fear of entering relationships as a result, but... I don't know. I just think that it could have done so much better in representing the experience. Like, how did she even know she was ace in 8th grade? I'm sorry, but that's so rare. That's so, so, so rare. Just ask r/asexuality. And based on the way that Lee was forming romantic attachments, I just don't buy at all that she could have known. Because I was her in eighth grade, and that's not what happened. (heh heh heh) It's far more nuanced and complicated and seeing that completely erased really just kind of sickened me.

Mainly, I'm not a fan of the resolution to the plot. There's all this buildup but I think Keplinger missed the actual conflict. So the book makes it out into the world. But what happens after? Where's the actual tension? How does the world react? What changes? It felt like a cop-out to me. The writing wasn't particularly great either; there's a lot of repetition and ohmygoth Lee says the same five things at least three times each and it gets old. I did very much like Miles's character though, so there's that?

I was going to three star this one, but eh, I just feel like big topics should be done REALLY well and it kind of devalues them when they're not. ( )