TRIGGER WARNING: If violence or abuse in any form unsettles you, I’d recommend skipping this one.

Dahlia is traumatized by an unspeakable act committed against her, causing her to have pseudo seizures. She’s angry that there are guilty people walking around with impunity. She’s also a suicide survivor, along with her best friend, Eli, who does all he can to protect Dahlia. Dahlia has a new friend, James, whose sister, Ramona, succeeded in taking her life. James and Dahlia are workmates but they truly meet at a support group. James has a secret about Ramona that’s hard for him to share with Dahlia. His father couldn’t bear Ramona’s secret, but James knows he has to tell Dahlia. James is internally tormented by his sister’s untimely death, and he’s attracted to Dahlia, but he has Asperger’s syndrome. Dahlia isn’t put off by his awkwardness, peculiarities and personality quirks. Together, they make a formidable team, and they have an idea that will make each and every person who’s responsible for Dahlia’s tragedy wish they were never born.

I liked the relationship between Dahlia and James. Both have personal challenges to work through and they unequivocally balance one another. Dahlia’s friend Eli, as well as others, support her on many occasions and in many ways, but is she certain that everyone can be trusted?

Parts of What Happened That Night are a brutal, but realistic, account of unspeakable acts committed against a young woman that affects her so deeply that she almost succeeds in taking her life. Thanks to her friends, family, and a new love interest, she works through it all, but she’s evermore determined to make sure all involved get what they deserve.

I figured out Ramona’s secret.

Although I’m not a proponent of revenge tactics, I can’t say I felt remorse for the perpetrators in this story. Dahlia and James were masterminds when it came to plotting and scheming; and after everything was said and done one must ask the question: was it all worth it?

This book was excellently written but I would not read another like it. Although the events are a depiction of true-to-life scenarios, nevertheless, it was a bit disturbing to say the least. The end gave me sentimental vibes though. ( )

Absolutely fantastic, well-written book. This author is a must read! ( )

4.5 stars.

What Happened That Night by Sandra Block is an empowering novel of healing for a victim of a horrific sexual assault.

Five years earlier, Harvard college senior Dahlia Edelman attends a finals party where she is roofied and sexually assaulted by several men. With only brief flashes of memories of what happened to her and angry over her treatment by the police, she eventually falls into a deep depression and leaves Harvard before graduation. With the support of her best guy pal, Eli Sawyer, Dahlia is now getting her life back on track as she completes her degree through night classes while working as a paralegal. Her life is completely upended when she discovers someone has posted an appalling video of her sexual assault online. With the help of her friend, Daisy and her co-worker/friend James Gardner, Dahlia begins to uncover the identities of the men in the video in order to exact her revenge for the heinous and brutal assault.

Although Dahlia has not regained her memories of the night she was brutalized, she has taken many steps to regain control over her life. She still regularly talks with her counselor, she carries a weapon to protect herself and she has also taken self defense courses. Dahlia's life is a little solitary as she mainly hangs out with Eli, works and attends classes but she has achieved a measure of peace. At a support group meeting, James catches her eye but she is still quite surprised when he seeks he out at work the next day. Dahlia is taken off guard by how much she enjoys spending time with James, but her world is thrown into chaos after the video is posted online.

James is socially awkward and he is very literal during conversations. A computer geek, he is quite intelligent and lives a fairly quiet life with little social interaction outside of work. James immediately connects with Dahlia and although he is somewhat abrupt when he first asks her out, the two hit it off. He is angry on Dahlia's behalf when the video surfaces and he does not hesitate to join her as she seeks out her own brand of justice against the men who assaulted her.

Dahlia's attackers are now wealthy with successful careers but she and James gradually figure out how to take them down. They cleverly put James's computer skills to work and they ruthlessly set their plans in motion. Dahlia feels no remorse for what she is doing but she does have reservations about their plan for one of the men. However, when she recalls his actions on the video, she easily overcomes her hesitation. When shocking new information comes to light about the finals group, Dahlia is unstoppable as she does everything within her power to get justice for herself and right this terrible wrong.

What Happened That Night is an absolutely riveting, emotional and suspense-laden mystery. Dahlia and James are absolutely delightful characters who are struggling to overcome the tragedies that have left powerful scars on them. Although some of the content is graphic, Sandra Block deftly handles these difficult topics and passages with a great deal of sensitivity. With an absolutely stunning and completely unexpected plot twist, the novel concludes on a uplifting and positive note. An absolutely brilliant read that I HIGHLY recommend to fans of the genre.
( )

What Happened That Night by Sandra Block is a quick, fast, and suspenseful character driven novel. It is also the story of revenge, hate, second chances, and finding oneself.

Five years ago Dahlia was attending Harvard University fast tracking her way to become a lawyer. One night Dahlia's roommate convinces her to attend a party. She is brutally gang raped yet with very little memory of the assault the next morning. The police do nothing for her when she reports and her life changes forever. Suffering from PTSD, she moves back home, tries to commit suicide and is taking drugs and drinking. After a period of time, her best friend, whom she met in therapy at a suicide survivor group, convinces her to come back to Boston and take a job as a paralegal. Life is pretty much at a standstill, until the day she finds a group of co-workers watching a video in the break room. What she never expected was that it would be a video of her assault. Flashbacks and memories come flooding to the surface and she wants revenge. It is right around this time that Dahlia meets James. He is an IT specialist and has been admiring her from afar. He seems to be struggling with some issues of his own, it is revealed that he has Aspergers. James and Dahlia form a friendship and he tries to help Dahlia seek revenge on her attackers.

If you are not able to read about assault or rape, you might want to pass on this book. The flashbacks of the assault were descriptive enough that it was hard to read. The short chapters had me flying through this novel! The story is told from James and Dahlia's POV and it was very well done. I really liked James' character. It was well-written and very believable. There were several times that I though the story was going to end and bam, there was another twist. I always feel uncomfortable saying I enjoyed a story about other's suffering, but this novel kept me reading to find out what was going to happen next and if Dahlia was going to be able to pay back the men who destroyed her life. When the ending came, I was not ready for it, but overall, this was a very good book and I did enjoy it. ( )

Sandra Block wrote a book that grabbed me from the very first time I looked at the gorgeous cover and held me until I read the very last word. When I first saw the book I knew that this was a story that I had to read. I knew that the suspense would keep me on the edge of my seat, the characters would make me want to be part of their friend circle, and that there would be so many twists and turns that I wouldn’t know which way I should go next.

The storyline was not an easy one to read. There were subjects, especially the rapes, that had to be tough to write about but Sandra Block did an amazing job. She gave enough detail for the reader to have no doubt what was happening but not too much. I had no doubt how much pain and fear Dahlia felt while being raped and the intense feelings that she was trying to figure out how to deal with. I love that Dahlia was strong enough to continue her life, she fought to find a way out of the black hole, and she found a way to move on. I was concerned when Dahlia met James, was he leading her down the right path or would he hurt her more than she already was hurting. By the end of the story, I enjoyed seeing the friendship grow and loved that Dahlia had someone she could trust.

The setup of the book with short chapters and multiple points of views had me flying through the story. I was anxious and excited to get to the end to find out what happens. The ending… oh, the ending… PERFECT. I didn’t see it coming, I didn’t even dream it but it was amazing. ( )