What Happened That Night (What Happened That Night, #1) (2025)

Michelle

1,018 reviews1,751 followers

August 23, 2019

I'm sorry to say that this book didn't work for me at all.

It started out so promising for the first 15% but then it just went completely off the rails.

Eye roll after eye roll after eye roll. I didn't find one thing about this story plausible. It took a very serious subject matter and turned it into something silly which I can not forgive.

Also it came across as very Scooby-Doo-esque in the sense that two teenage girls can outwit police detectives and solve murders all on their hunches. Ruh Roh!

The writing was another issue I had. There are before and after chapters which didn't bother me at all but the time jumps within the chapters were confusing.

The ending was beyond ridiculous. 1.5 stars!

Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad Books for providing me with a digital ARC in exchange for my honest review.

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Selena

495 reviews390 followers

September 16, 2019

I received a free e-copy of What Happened That Night by Deanna Cameron from NetGalley for my honest review.

A very powerful and emotional read that will leave a lump in your throat and tears rolling down your face.

This is a story of the murder of a local boy named Griffin Tomlin. Emily (Clara Porterfield's sister) is in prison awaiting trial for his murder. All along, she has sworn she is innocent.

A junior reporter, Aniston Hale, speaks with Clara because she wants to know the real story. Clara tells Aniston that she doesn't know anything but wants to help her investigate. Clara, however, is hiding things and is pretty sure she knows what happened.

I really enjoyed the time line changes of the story being told before the murder and after the murder. Very clever writing with so many amazing characters. This is a very clever, and well thought out book.

Please keep in mind that if you want to read this book it does deal with rape.

Erin Clemence

1,340 reviews382 followers

July 8, 2019

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.

(“What Happened That Night” has some intense sexual assault scenes that may be triggering for some readers. My review, however, does not).

Oh Deanna Cameron, where you have been all my life? “What Happened That Night” has everything I didn’t know I was missing. Female psychopaths, murder, sibling relationships and sexual assault are just some of the topics in Cameron’s gritty, intense and powerful new novel.

When golden boy Griffin Tomlin is found dead, the entire community is in shock. But his neighbour Clara knows that Griffin was not the all-around good boy that everyone else saw. When her sister, Emily, is charged in the death of Griffin, Clara is soon battling with guilt, isolation and grief until some unexpected friends decide to investigate for themselves. Did Emily really kill Griffin? Was Clara somehow to blame? What secrets was her sister hiding?

“What Happened That Night” is told in two different timelines, alternating between “before” Griffin was killed, and the aftermath. The story is told from Clara’s perspective exclusively, and although the shocking twists are kept secret until the end, most of the novel’s storyline is revealed in a slow release of suspense and tension that will keep you turning the pages. Although graphic, the plot has some very powerful and thought-provoking themes that, as mentioned above, may be triggering for some, however they are so important to the plot, and they will stick with you.

This is one of those novels that actually keeps you guessing, and I ran through various alternatives before the true ending was revealed. The ending was well developed and even had some plausibility in it, which made the outcome satisfying and reassuring.

Personally, I wanted more Emily. I wanted more of her thought process, both before, during and after the trial, but that is just due to my personal obsession with psychopathology. “What Happened That Night” still provided the addicting thrill ride that I so desperately needed.

Cameron started this novel on the novel-sharing site, Wattpad, and I am beyond thrilled that she brought it into the world. This novel was so unexpected for me as I did not anticipate enjoying this novel so much. Now, I cannot wait to enjoy more of Cameron’s novels, and I highly encourage her to release some of her others into the world.

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Linda Strong

3,878 reviews1,697 followers

September 17, 2019

Clara Potterfield is living in a nightmare. Her next door neighbor, Griffin Tomlin, is dead. Clara's sister is the one who killed him.

The family is falling apart. Emily is in jail waiting for her trial. Her mother is in complete denial, filling her days with digging in the dead garden. Her father also in denial, supports his daughter fully and doesn't understand why her mother doesn't. He is close to packing his suitcase and leaving.

And Clara ... is filled with guilt. Because this story didn't die with Griffin Tomlin. There's another story that needs to be told. And sometimes, the lies we're told are nowhere near as deadly as the lies we tell ourselves . . .

Excellent story premise. Outstanding, well defined characters. Twists that leave your stomach clenching. Well written and thought provoking. The story is told in BEFORE and NOW in Clara's voice. What led up to the killing? This is a page-turner that just doesn't let go of the reader.

Many thanks to the author / Wattpad Books / Netgalley for the advanced digital copy of this YA crime fiction. Read and reviewed voluntarily, opinions expressed here are unbiased and entirely my own.

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Jillian Reynolds (Jillian Loves Books)

447 reviews69 followers

October 7, 2019

What Happened That Night (What Happened That Night, #1) (6)

Initial thoughts: This was supposed to be a murder mystery. Wtf.

Voice in the distance: "But it was not a murder mystery. It was not a murder mystery at all."

What Happened That Night (What Happened That Night, #1) (7)

Trigger warnings for graphic rape, violence, depression, mental illnesses, abuse, toxic relationships, etc.

I don't like reviewing books like this. Because I understand the importance of hard-to-tackle subjects. But for the love of god, don't market it as a mystery. Nothing about this cover/synopsis gave any indicator about what this book was really about. And if you're an idiot like me, and didn't even read the author's note, you could run into some graphic scenes in here that make you VERY uncomfortable.

Readers be warned.

What Happened That Night (What Happened That Night, #1) (8)

I didn't like this book. But I would feel like a real piece of *expletive* if I rated this below 3-stars. Although, I'll be honest, I didn't expect much from a Wattpad book, but luckily, it surpassed my expectations in that sense.

What Happened That Night (What Happened That Night, #1) (9)

So here we are at the spoilers. Don't scroll if you don't want to get spoiled for this or if you are triggered by the topics I listed above.

I found all of the characters to be aggravating. I found the motives to be total shit. And it made zero sense that the main character came out ok. She got raped, almost murdered, her sister killed two people, her best friend borderline blamed her for her own rape, no one believed her, her father took her sister's side, and her new friend's dad had also been murdered. And amidst all of this, she fell in love with her rapist's best friend. It was just.... It was a lot. The author tried to tackle a number of hard subjects in here, but I closed the book feeling exhausted and confused.

What confused me the most was this weird love triangle between Clara, her sister Emily, and her rapist Griffin. Emily apparently used Clara as bait to fulfill Griffin's desires, and then killed another girl for Griffin, while also defending her sister and trying to protect her, but also NOT protect her? And then she killed Griffin like it was nothing because he rejected her and was into her sister?

What Happened That Night (What Happened That Night, #1) (10)

I guess this just felt like an episode of Snapped more than the spooky YA the synopsis makes it out to be. Also, there were these weird characters that served no real purpose. Clara meets a random girl at a birthday party Griffin's mom throws for him. Griffin's brother Brandon is often in scenes, but does nothing but give a kid peas after he gets punched in the face. Clara's new friend doesn't do much but push her into exploring the murder of her rapist. Oh. And she somehow conveniently manages to solve murders better than the police #believable. It's just a weird cast that felt overwhelming at times.

I will say I appreciated how this book tackled depression. I've never been in a situation like any of those mentioned in this book, and I consider myself extremely lucky to have not experienced something that is all too real for many people. Clara's depression throughout the book is brutal and explored in the way she communicates with others and withdraws herself from her life. It was really sad to read, but really well executed. You wanted so badly for Clara to be okay.

Anyways. This book is probably really important for someone out there, and that's why I feel awful giving it less than 3 stars. However, the publisher really should re-evaluate the way they market this book. It was a huge letdown because it wasn't at all what it pretends to be. If I had known the subject matter, maybe I would have been able to process it better. But I 100% have a personal bias here, because I have a very hard time reading about rape, and the entire rape scene is written in great detail. And the grammar in this book just wasn't great at times. Example: "I wanted them to know that I was sorry they'd got tangled into this." And the frequent use of got rather than gotten happened way too often.

If you're going to read this, just don't expect a mystery. That's not what it is. It's a sad story about rape/depression/mental illnesses, and the havoc all three of those subjects wreak on the people around them.

Goodreads 2-star, but a personal 1.25/1.5-star for me.

PinkAmy loves books, cats and naps

2,541 reviews242 followers

June 26, 2020

***Thanks to NetGalley for providing me a complimentary copy of WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT by Deanna Cameron in exchange for my honest review.***

Emily killed Griffin, the boy next door and Clara, her sister knows why. Or she thinks she does.

The premise of WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT brought the book onto my radar, so I was thrilled to receive an ARC. Clara feels guilty, ashamed and angry for the secret she disclosed to Emily, as she’s at fault for the murder. Most readers will guess what would cause a sister to kill for her sister, I did. And I was both right and wrong. WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT is anything but predictable.

Deanna Cameron constructed an unexpected plot. Whenever I thought, “I saw that coming.” I was usually right before being wrong. Although some of the scenarios were unbelievable, they didn’t detract from my enjoyment of the story.

Most of the characters had personality, but Clara’s was more nebulous. I wish, as narrator, she had been more fleshed out. The minor characters were filled with nuance. New friend Anniston, bedecked in pink, was a hoot, taking her role with the school newspaper way to seriously. She says she’s not trying to investigate why Emily killed Griffin, but she fooled no one. Kolby, Griffin’s best friend, was a good guy, but not too good to be true. Even Wilson, Emily’s boyfriend surprised me.

Until the very last page, I wasn’t certain about the reliability of Clara’s narration. I enjoyed how Cameron gave me enough doubt not to completely trust her.

WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT is a bit of a clunky read. I felt as if the book was 500, not just over 300 pages and I’m someone who loves long books. Cameron take a little too long to get into the plot with much telling and explanation vs showing. Aside from slow pacing, I didn’t experience many emotions reading WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT, no tension or trepidation.

Still WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT is a great read and I recommend.

Ruthy lavin

453 reviews

September 3, 2019

When I first saw the gloomy barn picture on the front cover of this book and then read the synopsis, I thought I was going to read a scintillating dark crime thriller set In a secluded rural area.... I was wrong.
This book tries its best to be a dark crime thriller, but the truth is that it tries too hard.
It was fairly predictable from early on, with few surprises along the way.
Suited in My opinion to the elder teens and up audience, it was a bit too tame.
A disappointing 3 stars, but with more editing could achieve 4.

Velvet

78 reviews33 followers

November 9, 2019

Griffin is dead. Emily killed him. But why?

That's the premise and the question at the center of this YA mystery that deals with very mature subject matter in an interesting, yet thoughtful, way. Griffin and Emily are teens. So is Emily's sister, Clara, who is at the center of this story. So injecting a YA Story with incidents so triggering and mature in nature is both over-the-top and brave. And I'm not certain our author pulled it off.

The book started out well, with enough suspense and intrigue to keep me interested and turning page after page, despite the annoyingly non-existent transitions between time and space changes. But one small thing kept nagging at me: the teenage, amateur sleuths.

This, right here, is why I knocked a full star off my review. The ridiculousness of this--and the author even mentions how unbelievable it is within the story--was too much to get beyond.

And that's so unfortunate because the plot was such an interesting one, and unique in so many ways.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

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Cynthia

1,051 reviews190 followers

Shelved as 'abandoned-books'

July 1, 2019

Thank you, NetGalley and Smith Publicity, for this advance reading copy in exchange for an honest review.

Unfortunately, I am not the right reader for this book. I wish I could leave you with a better statement but at 36% after two weeks of trying to push through this, I just have to confess I am really not enjoying it. I am a lover of thrillers but, admittedly, not all of them work for me.

I encourage others to take a look at this book if it piques your interest. You may find it works for you.

Vicki Willis

956 reviews64 followers

October 11, 2020

This book was dark and disturbing in content but read like young adult. The characters were high schoolers and their behavior and actions reflected that. The parents as characters though had their own issues and the dynamics added depth to the story. The issue of rape, abuse, psychological abuse and murder were very realistic to me. This might be triggering to some readers. The book flew by and was hard to put down. I liked how the timeline switched from present to before. A four star read for me!

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Dilushani Jayalath

1,000 reviews215 followers

August 26, 2019

I kindly received an ARC from Netgalley for an honest review

Wow. I just don’t know where to start with this book. This was without doubt one of the most mind blogging YA novels I’ve ever read. Please take to notice me saying YA novels. I did not expect such a story at all. And let me say the twist. Did not see that coming. Oh how I’m glad I picked this one up.

Siobhan

267 reviews53 followers

July 15, 2019

https://the-persistenceof-memory.blog...

"I knew why she'd done it. I knew that Emily hated Griffin Tomlin the moment I'd told her something I never should have".

Clara's sister Emily murdered the boy next door, and only Clara knows why she did it.

This is a multilayered and complex story that takes some time to come together. Too much time in fact. The story is very longwinded. It easily felt like double its 300 pages. I know I am a reader who likes slow pacing, but this was borderline frustrating, with a lot of telling and explaining instead of showing. The writing is quite juvenile in that sense.

However, despite my problems with the telling, the actual story was interesting and did keep me guessing. I thought I had it all figured out early on, but there was always more to know. To the point it was quite unbelievable at times.

For a book tackling such sensitive issues as rape and assault, I would expect to feel some strong emotions. I didn't cry once (and I'm a crier trust me), but I did feel quite uncomfortable with the vivid description of some of the most horrific scenes.

The main character is a normal, pleasant girl whom a lot of people will relate to. She has gone through trauma that has changed her entire being and turned her whole world upside down.

“I almost wanted to tell him why she'd taken Griffin away from him and his parents. But I knew none of them would believe me about what happened between Griffin and me".

Probably my biggest gripe through most of the book was Clara's lack of understanding and forgiveness for people around her, for not reacting to things exactly how she wanted them to in the first instance. Sometimes people need a minute. And you should offer them the same understanding you expect to receive. I suppose this is something she had to learn.

I liked the dual perspectives of the book, present and past. I generally love that way of storytelling in any book. The information from the past was fed to us in just the right dose.

However, another issue I had was with the formatting of the book (at least I think that was the issue and assume it will be fixed) which made the story hard to follow. There was sometimes no indication that the story had moved on to another time or place. Not even a line between paragraphs. I often had to reread bits to figure out that the narrative had jumped ahead to another place from one line to the next. Very confusing.

I did enjoy this book, I was gripped by the plot and needed to know how it ended. But my overall impression is that it needs some serious editing to make it a more concise and appealing novel.

I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

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Laurie • The Baking Bookworm

1,662 reviews504 followers

September 17, 2019

The old, battered barn on the cover grabbed my attention and, along with the publisher's blurb, I was eager for a creepy suspense read. There is a mystery surrounding a murder, but I thought more time was spent skimming along the surface of teen relationships than building a ominous suspense read.

Unfortunately, I struggled quite a bit with this story for a few reasons. First, while I appreciate the author's note of warning at the beginning, I wasn't ready to read the graphic rape scene. In fact, I put down the book for a couple of days but when I picked it up again, I felt underwhelmed by the plot and disconnected with the characters.

It felt like Cameron wasn't sure what kind of book she wanted to write. A Contemporary Teen Fiction? Teen Romance? Mystery? Or graphic suspense read? The writing suggested it was a Teen read but the subject matter was too mature for that genre (in my opinion). The story teetered between being predictable and far-fetched (other reviewers said a couple of teens solving a mystery that stumped police gave this book a Scooby-Doo quality to it and I can't totally disagree).

What Happened That Night has a good premise but suffered from weak execution in a few areas. With more depth, focus and tension, this book would have garnered a higher rating from me.

Disclaimer: My sincere thanks to Wattpad Books for providing me a complimentary digital copy of this book, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.

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Stacey

808 reviews21 followers

September 11, 2019

I really was engrossed in "What Happened That Night". I almost didn't want to put the book down. This is the story of Clara and the aftermath of a tragedy that spiraled into another tragedy. Clara had a crush on neighbor and family friend Griffin. But something happened one night that changes everything for Clara, Griffin, and Clara's sister Emily. Now Emily is charged with murdering Griffin. Was it payback for what happened to Clara or something else? There is a definite mystery/thriller element to this novel. It also touches on potentially triggering topics such as rape, violence, domestic violence, threats of violence, etc. However it does not show any of these things in extremely graphic detail. Some parts were so implied I had to go back and re-read the passages. The reason this book really deserves the five stars (not just the amazing, twisty plot) is the way that it translates human emotion. It confronts biases and assumptions people can make against others that can be completely incorrect. The bad guys aren't always the ones that you assume would be the bad guys (or girls). I highly recommend this book. It is a page turner, keeps you guessing, and challenges you to confront your biases assumptions and expectations as well. Great job from author Deanna Cameron. I will keep my eyes open for future releases by this author.

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Queen Cronut

183 reviews37 followers

October 14, 2019

What Happened That Night follows the murder of school golden boy and long-time crush of Clara, Griffin Tomlin by Clara's sister, Emily. No one knows why Emily killed Griffin but Clara, haunted by the murder and unspoken questions, is determined to uncover the truth behind the murder.

This novel features dual timelines- before the murder and after. The plot was fairly predictable after reading a few chapters though there were a few twists throughout. I was expecting a darker, more sinister atmosphere from this book, but the tone had very little tension and suspense.

What Happened That Night is told through Clara's POV but I think it would've been even better if Emily got a chapter or two. Clara was a worthy MC and I liked that the author wrote her in a way that made her seem unreliable, leaving the reader to read between the lines and examine the facts more closely. However, I feel like Emily and her motives are never fully justified or explained by the end of the novel- she's such a complex character but has such a limited presence in the book. I think it would've been very interesting to see her thoughts. Overall, this was a decent YA binge-worthy thriller.

*Thank you to NetGalley and Wattpad Book publishers for providing a free ARC

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Read For Your Life

157 reviews6 followers

July 8, 2022

The cover of the book had me hooked, as well as the book description. Well I thought it was going to be a murder mystery, turns out it was something else. Like it was written there that Emily wants something from her, the truth about what happened that night blah blah, it was written like there was actually some secret in the book that we are supposed to solve but nope, it's non-existent. No plot twist, absolutely nothing. The said Emily only appeared once in the present part of the story. (Never asked her for anything by the way) well, of course it's a Wattpad book, why did I put my hopes up.
Clare or Clara was just another pain, it seems that when someone does something she doesn't like, knowingly or unknowingly, instead of talking to them about it like a supposedly 18 year old, she just ghosts them.

If you are looking for murder mysteries and decided to read this book because you saw the cover and description and thought it's a murder mystery, you shouldn't because it's not, it's just a book about depression and the character dealing with the aftermath of a sexual assault (funny how it was only described in the author's note after you actually buy the book)
Total waste of time.

This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.

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anaïs

94 reviews

June 27, 2023

update june 2023
omgggg i just finished the second book and wow, this is so a masterpiece !!
this thriller is so underrated and so addictive, i read it only in a day because i don't want stop it before knowing the truth, this truth not being the same that in the end of the first book.
moreover, the cliffhanger was so brainwashing, we don't know until the final pages what really happened that night and who are the "good" persons or not. so obsessing !!

april 2022
omgg i need the sequel can't wait ! it was so captivating, i'm obsessed to discovering the truth about Emily, Clara, Griffin and the others...
why is the french version separated in two books seriously ? i'm gonna cry 😭

    5-stars from-wattpad my-personal-library

Jennifer

198 reviews14 followers

October 17, 2019

3.5 stars. That was heavy, and better than I expected from a Watt Pad book.

Lauren

469 reviews62 followers

September 20, 2019

3.25/5⭐📚 I received a e-copy from netgalley in exchange for my honest opinion.

*Trigger warnings* Rape, murder, abuse, violence*

What happened that night, The book starts off with a murder and then an arrest and investigations and you don't know what to believe and it leaves you questioning so many things, you start to think you understand why and then BAM a twist... Ok so I started this book and did not know what to expect but I loved the idea of this book, I feel like the book needed more on Emily who is the MC sister, I just felt we didn't have enough story behind the sisters, also the fact that two high school students (Aniston and Clara) decide to take up the case and discover more about what's going on than the police is really surprising, I'm just confused as to why the police didn't work out what was going on sooner, it was a little unbelievable at times tbh.
I did like this book but I just didn't love it, something was missing for me... I liked the character of Kolby but didnt really invest in the relationship between him and the MC Clara. Griffin was awful, Emily was awful. I've never read a book similar to this before and was shocked from start to finish, I wasn't expecting a lot of the things that happened in the book to happen, so the twists and turns keep you intrigued and just when you think you know everything another twist gets thrown in and you just start to hate certain characters more and more, it's a rollercoaster from start to finish, I would definitely reccomend this book.

This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.

Brittany Filopanti

257 reviews7 followers

August 27, 2019

I was sent an eARC of this from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I don't really have any words for this book other than it was like an episode of Criminal Minds, only instead of the BAU being involved, we have a high school reporter, a hurt friend and a girl not willing to see the truth, solving the case.

This book was so good and I am so good I had the chance to read this early. Deanna Cameron is a great writer and this was an awesome debut novel. I can't wait to read more from her.

Clara was a great main character. It was a little annoying that she didn't change her mindset until the last like 10 pages, but I think that is what made the story. She was in denial for so long that I don't think it is fair to make her change throughout the whole story.

Ashley Reindeau

183 reviews8 followers

February 25, 2022

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It definitely made a statement and was incredibly powerful in the beautiful way the writing portrayed the message. You could feel what Clara felt and I think with a book like this, that's very important.

Really great read.

    favorites murder-mystery-mayhem purchased-to-read

April Taylor

Author10 books119 followers

August 17, 2019

This book wasn’t at all what I expected, and I’m placing the blame for that on the publisher’s marketing. Although a barn does come into play about halfway through the book, the mood the cover image evokes isn’t even slightly representative of the story. Also, the description made it sound like this would be a good murder mystery, but that wasn’t really the focal point of the book.

The murder mystery (which wasn’t much of a mystery) started wrapping up really early. Then we were left with countless long-winded passages about the main character’s feelings and experiences. Some of this was interesting, but the momentum of the book really stalled after the murderer was revealed.

Also, the marketing in no way indicates that this is a book that needs a serious trigger warning. Two characters in the book are sexually assaulted, and that’s what the vast majority of the plot is actually about. While I believe it’s important for YA readers to take in the lessons shared here, I was really shocked by how brutally descriptive one of the assaults was.

As someone who has been sexually abused, I felt really uncomfortable with the descriptions and the almost constant references to what happened. Readers without a history of sexual abuse may learn a lot about the reality of it by reading this, but I can’t in good conscience recommend this book to any survivors.

I kept reading because I hoped there would be a final twist in the murder mystery. I won’t give away any spoilers, but I will say that I wish I’d walked away from this book early on. The author has skill, but the story really needed to be trimmed in several places for a better flow. It felt like watching a movie that’s 30 minutes too long and becomes a tiring exercise in patience.

Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for providing an ARC. This review contains my honest, unbiased opinion.

Jessica (Read book. Repeat)

726 reviews18 followers

July 12, 2020

You can find this review and all of my others over at www.readbookrepeat.wordpress.com

I received a copy of this book from the publisher, Wattpad Books, and the author via Netgalley, in exchange for an honest review.

THIS REVIEW POSSIBLY CONTAINS SPOILERS SO READ AHEAD AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION

Griffin Tomlin is dead. That's what the cop cars were doing at the Tomlin's house that morning. And Clara's sister killed him. Months after Emily Porterfield has been arrested and is in jail awaiting the murder trial, Clara is trying to get back to some semblance of normal life. However, she finds this difficult, as she believes that SHE is the reason Emily killed Griffin Tomlin. The guilt and the unstable reality that Clara finds herself in makes normality an impossibility, until Aniston, a girl at Clara's school who writes for the school newspaper, comes to Clara asking questions about Emily and what happened. Clara begins to worry that her secret will be exposed, and she can't have that. Pulling away from those that try and reach out to her, trying to deal with the fact that her father is in denial and still hasn't forgiven her for being responsible for Emily's arrest, and her mother's inability to function in life as she digs away at a dead, frozen garden while she tries to pretend that everything is okay, she relives the past wondering what she did wrong. However, there's more to the story than meets the eye, and the truth is terrifying. Will Clara be able to handle it?

Trigger Warnings: Rape, Abuse, Spousal Abuse, Murder, Mention of animal deaths.

I've had this book sitting on my Netgalley TBR pile for SO long. I'm not going to lie, I originally requested it because the premise sounded super interesting, then kept pushing it back further and further down my TBR pile because I was thinking that it was going to be a court room procedural type of story. I was super wrong. The story follows Clara as she tries to disappear into the ether after her sisters arrest. Griffin Tomlin was the town's golden boy, she knows that, it's possibly what attracted her to him so much. She was in love with him from the age of six years old, and her sister killed him. What she hasn't told anyone, is that she knows WHY Emily killed Griffin. Her guilt over her feeling responsible for his death, as well as the fact that she feels like her sister stole him away from the town and his family and friends, is slowly but surely pushing her further down into a black pit of despair.

The narration jumps between the present to 'before' which is the events leading up to Griffin's death. The reason why is slowly revealed to us as the past is told and begins to take shape very quickly. I already had a very strong feeling what the why was as I read a review for this book that spoke about the main theme of the novel, I'm not sure if I wish that I hadn't read it and that the slow reveal was left to do it's job, or if knowing didn't really phase me. It's a tough one. I want to put trigger warnings in this review because I feel like it is definitely needed, I just hope that they don't take anything away from the story for anyone. I'm going to try and talk about stuff while trying to be as vague about it as possible.

I really felt for the character of Clara, though I will admit that she annoyed me at times. My annoyance was unprecedented though. Her reason of 'why' was a good one. I feel that the author really captured the feelings, thoughts and emotions of someone going through something like this ( I can only imagine as it hasn't happened to me, and I feel so lucky for this). Her character really hit home. She was so naive, trusting and full of hope and it really reminded me of myself when I was younger. I look back at some instances and think how easily things could have gone wrong for me, but I feel like I had something watching over me, making sure that I was protected. I put myself into some stupid situations when I was younger, and I'm so glad that I cam out of them unscathed. They're honestly nothing super outrageous, just situations that could have gone a different direction, hence changing my life forever, but they didn't, and I'm here reminiscing about them and thinking about how lucky I was. I know some people who weren't so lucky. And the guilt and fear and self loathing that the author portrayed through the character of Clara really illustrated that.

The story was well written though the narration at times seems a little juvenile, though I can understand why as the characters are around the 17 year old mark. The story itself, I felt, couldn't surprise me, but it really did. There's another story that is happening within the main plot, and I did not see it coming until just before the big reveal. This was an absolute page turner for me, I read it in a day pretty much. I stayed up WAY past my bed time, when I had work the next morning, just so I could finish it and see what happened next. It wasn't just the big reveals and finding out the overall "why" in this story, for me, it was also wanting to see the reactions of the characters when they found out Clara's why. I wanted to see how they handled the truth and what they did with it afterwards. And I was not disappointed.

I read another review that said the reader gave up quite early on in the story as they found it to be a little bit scooby-esque with the protagonist and her friends seemingly uncovering things that the police hadn't. This isn't entirely true, yes they found themselves following a line of thought and seemingly uncovering things the police had missed, but it wasn't so.

I'm actually so annoyed that I waited so long to read this one. I was just thinking recently how I felt like I was in a bit of a book slump and that all my reads seemed to be 3 star or less at the moment. Then I finally decided to bite the bullet and get cracking on this one and I really enjoyed it.

If you want a book that deals with some hard issues, is a bit dark, stays true to the reality of the situation, has a mystery within a mystery and is just an enjoyable read, give it a go, you won't be disappointed.

Holley

11 reviews

August 27, 2022

It was an incredibly well-written book in that the writing was engaging and I found myself completely engrossed and wanting to have all these questions answered.
It was also, however, one of the most— if not THE most upsetting books I’ve ever read. Incredibly triggering to me as someone with SA and abuse in my past. The author’s note at the beginning was clear though, so I did know going into it that I might deal with that.
I also just want to add that the author was… noble, for lack of a better word, to use the narrative to drive a conversation about male victims of abuse and SA.

Barbara

12 reviews1 follower

August 25, 2019

First and foremost, I want to thank NetGalley for allowing me the opportunity to read and review this advanced readers copy.

The book is written in first person and follows main character Clara. The premise of the book is that Clara's neighbor and long time crush, Griffin, is murdered by her sister, Emily. Not much of a spoiler since it's stated in the description of the book. The rest of the book unfurls with the aftermath of Griffin's murder and what led up to it. Just like the author's note in the beginning of the book, there are some triggering subjects, such as rape and violence. It's not too graphic, but can definitely be disturbing nonetheless. The pacing wasn't awful, a bit slow at the beginning but picks up about midway through the book. The characters and their motives are written well. The book did a great job of making me wonder why Emily did it, since the most obvious reason comes early in the book. I kept wondering if there was something more to it, because it couldn't just be that obvious, and it didn't disappoint. Overall, I would recommend this book. It never drags and doesn't throw in random shock value for the sake of it.

*********spoilers ahead********

Clara thinks she knows the reason why her sister, Emily, killed Griffin. She believes that it's because she told Emily that Griffin had raped her. The book's chapters go back in forth from present day to before the murder, describing the events that led up to that night. While reading the book, I was curious to know what other past events could be brought up since the actual rape comes pretty early in the book.

Cameron did a good job of painting Griffin as this disturbed individual in those "before" chapters. I thought his character was written well, since he was obviously unhinged. I enjoyed Clara as a main character. Her flaws made sense and it was nice to see her character develop throughout the book. The side characters didn't detract from the overall story and helped move the story along well. Sure, the fact that a budding kid journalist (Aniston) solved a crime the police didn't seem to be able to do (until the end) was a little far-fetched, but she also knew that the two people involved were disturbed individuals to begin with, so I guess that's why she had a leg up?

I enjoyed how the book presented Emily. At first, you believe she murdered Griffin to protect her sister. You don't get much about her until later in the book, and it was a bit shocking to find out that she's just as messed up as Griffin was. She literally helped him torture her own sister to get closer to him. I was just a little disappointed at this turn of events, since it's rare to find books with a strong sister bond. I think I was rooting for that so it made the reveal of how twisted Emily truly was a little more shocking to me. I was a little disappointed to find out that her sister was a psychopath and I that I wouldn't get a strong bond between sisters book like I had hoped. I liked how the book had Clara deal with the fact that her long time crush and sister were these two people she truly didn't know and the aftermath of finding out and how to deal and process with that information.

My only gripe was that the formatting was a little jarring. I understand that is not the authors fault (no points were taken off for this) since I received an ARC copy. It made reading the book a bit difficult at times since paragraphs were chopped at random places and made for some awkward and confusing breaks in the book. I would have to reread a few lines to understand there was supposed to have been a break in-between scenes and that it wasn't just randomly jumping from one scene to the next in the same paragraph. Once again, I know this is no one's fault since I received an ARC copy and I would be happy to own the book in its final format.

Hallie

112 reviews334 followers

July 25, 2019

"I knew Emily hated Griffin Tomlin the moment I'd told her something I shouldn't have."

I read this book nearly a month ago, but I just couldn't bring myself to review it even though there was so much to say about it, so I don't remember everything I initially wanted to say. At that moment, it was just the perfect book that I could connect with. Raw and intriguing, the book explores an adventure so compelling that it's hard to forget. Content warning: Sexual abuse and rape. If that is a triggering topic, I wouldn't recommend reading it.

"It felt so surreal that here, out in the world, people were actually beginning moving on from Emily Porterfield."

Clara had a huge crush on their neighbour Griffin for years. The story begins with his death following which Emily, her sister, is arrested behind the scenes for his murder. Clara has to deal with the looks people give her as she walks around being branded as the "sister of the girl who murdered her neighbour". Only she knows the reason why Emily murdered Griffin, and she struggles to deal with the drama revolving her. The premise reaches a compelling point as secrets unfold and reveal events that lead to his death.

“I almost wanted to tell him why she'd taken Griffin away from him and his parents. But I knew none of them would believe me about what happened between Griffin and me".

Clara is such a mess. Her emotions and anxiety are all over the place, and this is the reason why she is so relatable. I could easily connect to her antsy, mentally wrecked, broken character. She feels so angry and guilty. So she isolates herself from all her friends and activities that she previously enjoyed, and of this is something that hit home. I still believe she could have more personality, and since she is the protagonist, more character development.

"That's the nicest way anyone has ever told me I'm dumb before."

My favourite character, of course, was Aniston. Yes, she was annoying as hell, and when she first popped up, I totally hated her. However, as I got to know her, I realized that I was a little bit like her - perhaps a lot, lot more loquacious than me, but she wants to be an investigative journalist or something, and that is so me. For some reason, the side characters seem a lot more fleshed out that Clara. Kolby is the awesome, but do boys like him actually exist in the real world?

"I knew why she'd done it. I knew that Emily hated Griffin Tomlin the moment I'd told her something I never should have".

I just love the overall setting of the story and the writing style. The very first chapter of the book was intriguing enough to suck me into Clara's world, and it only kept getting more and more better. I loved how the author constructed everything in such an immaculate manner. Everything fit in so perfectly. There was always suspense and twists were just waiting to pop out of nowhere. I also enjoyed the dual perspective, shifting between past and present events so smoothly.

There were still minor flaws, but they didn't stick out too much to hinder my reading experience. In nutshell, it was an absolutely thrilling page-turner, and the psychology behind the characters fascinated me so much that I fell in love with it instantly. I'm sure I'll be reading it over and over again in the future.

    4-stars arc ebooks

Donna

1,211 reviews

October 27, 2019

I could not put WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT down. COULD NOT. I was so engrossed and so compelled to keep reading I found myself reading in giant book chunks on my iPhone because I couldn’t put it down. I was apprehensive about it because it’s from Wattpad, but holy crap did it blow my expectations clear out of the water.

There is so much going on with this book, so much to unpack, and it’s one hell of a rough topic. Not only does it deal with rape and a stalker, but a guy who’s an outright psychopath and for which Clara has no recourse, because he’s dead and he died with everyone thinking he was this golden boy. And we all know how people feel about speaking ill of the dead. But once this story starts unfolding it just unravels in a torrent of emotion as Clara comes to grips with her situation, her sister’s situation, her blooming romance with her rapist’s best friend (not nearly as bad as it sounds), and Aniston who just wants to find out the truth, but Clara thinks she knows it all. Oh how wrong she is.

Just when I thought it couldn’t get any better, the twists start happening and my mind gets blown over and over again. Even the personality issue I was having with Clara, how seeming unforgiving she was with people, gets resolved by the end of the book. Don’t think for a second that things get resolved with a neat little bow on top. They don’t. But Clara is an exceedingly realistic character who acts in ways that are completely believable and everything ends up sorting itself out by the end of it. And then some.

WHAT HAPPENED THAT NIGHT doesn’t shy away from details, but it falls short of being gratuitous. It rips at your heart and makes you so incredibly angry that you just want to pour kerosene on Griffin and light a match. You want to scream it in everyone’s faces on Clara’s behalf and make them believe that Griffin was hiding something truly dark. Thing is, more than he was doing that.

Read it if you can stomach it. If you’re triggered by things like this I would recommend passing it by because things do get really rough. But it’s a thoroughly satisfying book and one that Wattpad did good on, I think. This one definitely deserves it. And it looks like it’s a first in a series so it’ll be interesting to see where the story goes from here. I would say I can’t wait but that seems inappropriate considering the topic.

5

I received a copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

    best-bitten buy contemporary

Audrey

695 reviews46 followers

February 9, 2020

*3.5 stars*
This book really surprised me, in more ways than one. Obviously it's a thriller, so it was filled with plenty of twists and turns, but I also ended up enjoying it a lot more than I honestly expected to. There can definitely be a bit of a stigma surrounding Wattpad books and, after a few lackluster experiences, I didn't know if I would make it through this one. However, I was very impressed. The plot was complex and included lots of great characters and plotlines. It didn't necessarily feel entirely realistic, but it was believable enough to capture my attention. It did surprise me quite a bit with how dark it was, making me question the target audience. The characters and plot weren't necessarily sophisticated enough to appeal to a lot of older readers, but the violence seemed a bit much for younger fans. The trigger warnings are definitely worth looking into if you're considering picking it up.
There were times that the plot did seem to drag a little bit, but I felt that we got an exciting reveal just as my attention began to wander. It also felt like there was excessive detail at some points, which was one of my main problems with the writing style. There were so many long sentences with multiple unnecessary clauses providing innocuous details. I'm sure it was done as an attempt to engage the reader in the story more, but it was distracting to the point that it took me out of the story.
All in all, this was honestly more than I expected from a YA thriller. It was fun to read a couple chapters every night before bed and slowly figure out what was going on. It also tackled some really tough subjects - some of which I've never seen in any book - and I think it did so well. Would definitely recommend if you're interested.

    2020 alright arc

Kathy

3,617 reviews

September 19, 2019

4.5 stars.

What Happened That Night by Deanna Cameron is a compelling young adult mystery.

Clara Porterfield thinks she knows why her popular sister Emily murdered their neighbor, golden boy Griffin Tomlin. But she is afraid no one will believe her, so she keeps her secret to herself. In addition to dealing with being a social outcast at school, life at home is a minefield because of the divide between her parents. So when she is approached by classmate Aniston Hale for an interview about Emily, Clara initially brushes her off. But Aniston is persistent and Clara eventually becomes her reluctant partner in a surprising investigation that leads to a very shocking discovery.

Written from Clara's perspective, the story unfolds from two timelines. In the present, Clara is trying to come to terms with what she perceives to be her role in Emily's inexplicable decision. She is also navigating a tricky new romance with Griffin's best friend Kolby Rutledge, who is everything that Griffin was not.

Chapters dealing with events from the past are absolutely heartbreaking as Clara's longtime crush on Griffin takes a violent turn. In the months leading up to his murder, Griffin's relentless attention is extremely frightening. Although Clara hides the truth from nearly everyone, Emily eventually learns what happened between her sister and Griffin. But is uncovering Clara's secret the only motive Emily has for murdering Griffin?

What Happened That Night is a fast-paced and engrossing young adult mystery. The main characters are well-developed and interesting. The storyline is intriguing but it does take a bit of an unrealistic and unexpected turn. With some very jaw-dropping plot twists, Deanna Cameron brings this riveting mystery to a satisfying conclusion. Recommended to older teen and adult readers due to graphic descriptions of sexual violence.

What Happened That Night (What Happened That Night, #1) (2025)
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