That’s NOT What Happened by Kody Keplinger

(Disclaimer: major SPOILERS!!! I will assume you have read the book.)

Rating: ****/5 stars

When I was in middle school, I’d read a book called She Said Yes, which was a (supposedly) nonfiction book based on Cassie Bernall and her Christian faith. One of many victims in the Columbine High School massacre, before being shot to death, her killer had asked, “Do you believe in God?” As the book claims—despite the denial of investigators as well as Cassie’s own best friend, who was right beside her when she died—“She said yes.” Notice the resemblance?

I have nothing against religion. I, myself, am a born again Christian. Before then, and still today, I believe it doesn’t matter which faith you were brought upon, as long as it teaches you love, peace, and to spread the good. Otherwise, all religion is the same; we just celebrate our Higher Power differently.

What gets to me is this Ashley character. Looking back at her entire story, I feel less angry with her, because she wasn’t aware that the girl whose actual voice she heard was present. As far as she knew, Sarah and Lee were in that bathroom alone when she exited, because Kellie did not want to be seen. Still, I can’t be mad at anyone in the story, because while this isn’t based on a true story, it must be inspired by reality.

Ashley started this rumor, unaware that she was mistaken (therefore unintentionally starting it), because it restored her faith in God: Sarah McHale, this particular girl whom she had caught skipping out on youth group meetings in order to fool around with a boy, had reclaimed her faith while staring down the barrel of a gun. Ashley, by facing the reality of being contradicted, also faces an identity crisis as a Christian.

Personally, I don’t see how this would cause her to lose her faith (which is what I can only assume she was afraid of), but I’m glad she didn’t. Ashley was correct in hearing someone in that bathroom say she believed in God, that it was her cross necklace that was on the floor. It just happened to be someone else.

I never thought I would finish this book, mainly because it was so hard to get into. It didn’t get interesting until right before the halfway point. Being a writer myself, I think that is way too much backstory, but at the same time, maybe some readers got hooked at a different point. After all, we’re all attracted by different storylines and various situations. I’m not saying it was bad or sloppy writing at all, since it turned out to be a fantastic book—it just took too long for me, personally, to get into it.

But I’m glad I eventually did. Overall, I would recommend it to other readers who are into YA fiction. Whatever research the author put into how school shootings can affect those who were face-to-face with the killer, I give her props. She did the smart thing in not getting too political either. 

The only thing I would have liked to see was a narrative coming from a student who survived the shooting, but never saw the gunman. One of the lucky ones who stayed inside a classroom in lockdown mode. While they wouldn’t have made much impact, to the story, there had to have been at least a few classrooms full of students and a handful of faculty who were sitting in fear, behind barricaded doors. Not a major character, just someone who represented the others who hadn’t seen this unnamed gunman.

Speaking of “unnamed”, redacting his name from the entire story? That decision was powerful, even though this is a work of fiction, monsters like that don’t deserve recognition. This is the same in reality when I read the news and the name of the shooter is released first, when you know those victims deserved to be identified first. (I guessed his name was five or six letters long, but that’s about it. I couldn’t come up with any other details. Out of curiosity, although I would understand why it’d be left unsaid, what name had the author picked out for this gunman?)

If you’ve got time and money, why not give this book a shot? It’s a quick read—if I had read through the entire thing in one sitting, it would have taken me the weekend. Although, by reading this review, I assume you’ve either already read it or read too many spoilers. Either way, reading a response to the book isn’t the same as reading it.