This is How it Happened by Paula Stokes

This is How it Happened

by Paula Stokes

Source: ARC provided for review. Thank you!

My Rating: 3.5 - 4 stars

Goodreads/ Amazon/ TBD

Summary:

When Genevieve Grace wakes up from a coma, she can’t remember the car crash that injured her and killed her boyfriend Dallas, a YouTube star who had just released his first album. Genevieve knows she was there, and that there was another driver, a man named Brad Freeman, who everyone assumes is guilty. But as she slowly pieces together the night of the accident, Genevieve is hit with a sickening sense of dread—that maybe she had something to do with what happened.

As the internet rages against Brad Freeman, condemning him in a brutal trial by social media, Genevieve escapes to her father’s house, where she can hide from reporters and spend the summer volunteering in beautiful Zion National Park. But she quickly realizes that she can’t run away from the accident, or the terrible aftermath of it all.

Incredibly thought-provoking and beautifully told, Paula Stokes’s story will compel readers to examine the consequences of making mistakes in a world where the internet is always watching…and judging.  

****

I love Paula Stokes’ books, she’s such a great storyteller and her stories are awesome. Maybe that’s why there’s a war in my head because of this book.

I’m going to start with: What I liked.

This Is How It Happened was a fast-paced and thought provoking read. I was shocked with how realistic and emotional it was. The main plot twist was revealed early in the book, which was surprising, until I realized that wasn’t the point of this book. This book was about choices the consequences of what we do or hide.

Paula Stokes has the ability to make you feel like pages fly. I read this book and two days, and that’s really fast for me, but that’s because I was dying to read the end.

I really liked the characters, too, especially the parents. I loved how Genevieve’s parents, mom or dad, were always present in the book and how not everything happened behind their backs.

And I adored the mention of American Ninja Warrior! I’m a huge fan of the show and this is the first time I ever read about it in a YA book.

Now. What I did not like.

This will be weird, because I give it a high rating, but I feel like there are more things I didn’t like than things I actually liked.

For starters, I didn’t like Genevieve. I understand her, and I felt bad for her, but I felt like everything was just too easy for her. She did many cowardly things throughout the book and even though I knew why and I -again- understood her; I simply couldn’t feel sorry for her. I couldn’t connect with her at all, and that was even before I read the plot twist.

I’m not going to lie here. I read the last chapter and I STILL felt bitter that nothing more happened to her. And no, I’m not one of those people who write cruel things online and I don’t judge other when I don’t know their stories. I just didn’t like Genevieve.

I also disliked the romance.

That’s might be because the two books I read before this one didn’t have much romance, but I felt like this book didn’t need it. I felt like this boy presence (please forgive me, I already forgot his name) was just convenient.

I didn’t like the ending, either. This is mostly because, like I said, I didn’t like Genevieve and how good everything turner out for her… 

Would I recommend this book?

Yes, even when there were things I didn’t like, this book has such an important message about a really important topic and we all should be aware of it. 

****highlight for SPOILER**** Even if drowsy driving isn’t a crime where Genevieve lives, it’s still a crime in my country and I can’t tell you how many times I’ve read horrible stories or known some people who died or ended up terrible injured after a crash provoked by drowsy driving, so it really and personally bothered me that Genevieve didn’t face any legal consequence after they knew she caused the accident and then kept it for herself, especially because of what Bradley Freeman went through. I found it really unfair.