Three years ago, a student shot and killed several students and two teachers in the hallway and bathroom at Virgil County High School. During the shooting, Sarah McHale was huddled in a stall next to her best friend Lee. Lee survived. Sarah did not. And as graduation looms, Lee has a feeling that tells her it is time to the tell the truth about Sarah, whom the whole country admires as a martyr who died for her faith. Except, Lee knows the truth. And that's not it. But for the six students who survived the shooting, truth is a complicated web that tugs at the kind of pain and trauma that only those who have experienced it can understand. What will the truth cost Lee?
I think there are a lot of really important ideas here - about the power of controlling the narrative, about the slipperiness of truth, about the very personal aftermath of traumatic situations. For myself, though, the writing style and the plotting of the book itself just didn't work for me. It's dry. It feels clunky. I have no problem with Lee's asexuality but I don't understand why Lee's sexuality is a part of her letter explaining the truth? Don't get me wrong, I always want at least a little romance in my books, but in this case, the whole romantic thread felt like it didn't belong. What I did like, though, is the very realistic look at PTSD and the not-so-subtle reminder to readers that the truth is not even necessarily what you see, let alone what you are told.
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