Golden boy Griffin Tomlin is found dead, floating in his pool, the morning after his family’s Labor Day party, and neighbor Emily Porterfield is arrested for his murder. No one knows why she killed him, except for her younger sister, Clara. The secrets behind What Happened That Night unravel in dual timelines:

In the present, Clara struggles with the aftermath of the murder―questions and distrust from her friends, denial from her parents, and visits to her sister in jail. And amidst all of that, another body is discovered that could be connected.

In flashback, the events that brought Clara, Griffin, and Emily together and that led to his death are revealed―events that involve a crush, an obsession, and a shocking twist.

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC of this book! I was so hoping to read it, and I was previously denied on another site, so seeing it pop up on my Shelf was the highlight of my week. I finished it in one day because these are the kinds of stories I live for. Murder, mystery, and broken people putting themselves back together after tragedy strikes. There’s just something so beautiful in knowing that no matter what happens to you, no matter how an experience may mark you forever, that there is such strength lying dormant in humans as a species to overcome. 

Clara is someone well acquainted with pain. When we join her story, she is living in the aftermath of her sister going to jail for killing their next door neighbor. That next door neighbor was Griffin, Clara’s childhood crush. She has cut off everyone who was close to her, including her best friend, Bex, and doesn’t even go to the jail to visit Emily. She quit theatre at her high school, started hiding behind baggy clothes and a tight lip, and tries her hardest to just fade into the background.

All that changes when she meets Aniston, a perky journalist for her school’s paper who is interested in her sister’s story. Reluctantly, she joins forces with her and Griffin’s best friend Kolby to uncover the mysteries of what really happened that night. I don’t want to go into very much more detail, because there are so many intricate twists and turns in this novel that I really would hate to spoil. It’s such an emotional and heavy book, and it brings to light so many real horrors in this world that do not get enough coverage. If you read it, you’ll see what I mean, and I really recommend you do.

I commend the author for starting this book with a preface that if you need to put the book down, you most definitely should. There are experiences in this book that may be hard for some readers, but I think it is a worthwhile and necessary read. It is raw, but not unfeeling, and many scenes left me with a huge ache in my chest at this absolute devastation that I could never understand in full. The switches between past and present were so powerful and crushing, seeing the changes that time and devastation can make.

Deanna does a wonderful job creating characters that you can fall head over heels for, and the best part of it is that none of them are perfect. They are perfect examples of real human beings, and those same kind that I mentioned before who have shattered but by the end of the novel are on their way to placing the puzzle pieces of their identities back in place. The book is harrowing but heartening, and I’m glad I had the chance to read it.

5/5 stars