She Said/She Saw

by Norah McClintock

Tegan was in the backseat when her two best friends were gunned down in front of her. Was it an argument over drugs? An ongoing feud? Or something more random? Tegan says she didn't see who did it. Or know why. Nobody will believe her. Not the police; not her friends; not the families of the victims; and not even Kelly, her own sister. Is she afraid that the killer will come back? Or does she know more than she is saying?

Shunned at school and feeling alone, Tegan must sort through her memories and try to decide what is real and what is imagined. And in the end she must decide whether she has the strength to stand up and do the right thing.

Genres: Mystery, Young Adult, Realistic Fiction, Teen, Fiction, Contemporary, Mystery Thriller

224 pages, Paperback

First published April 1, 2011

About the author

Norah McClintock’s fascinating mysteries are hard to put down. Her Chloe & Levesque series, Mike & Riel series, and Robyn Hunter series, all published by Scholastic Canada, have been popular with readers in many countries. Norah has also written several crime novels for reluctant readers in the Orca Soundings series from Orca Book Publishers,

Norah is a five-time winner of the Crime Writers of Canada's Arthur Ellis Award for Best Juvenile Crime Novel. Read Mistaken Identity, The Body in the Basement, Sins of the Father, Scared to Death, and Break and Enter to find out why! Norah's books have been translated into more than a dozen languages, and she has won numerous awards.

Awards:
Arthur Ellis Award - Juvenile
o 1996 – Mistaken Identity – Winner
o 1998 – The Body in the Basement – Winner
o 1999 – Sins of the Father – Winner
o 2002 – Scared to Death – Winner
o 2003 – Break and Enter – Winner

Red Maple Award
o 2004 – Hit and Run – Winner

Reviews

[Krista (CubicleBlindness Reviews) · Rating 3 out of 5]

My thoughts through most of this book were "why is she not seeing a therapist" and "what about hypnosis" Although only one of these questions I had were touched upon, I spent most of this book thinking that her going back to school almost immediately after witnessing a double murder,and her mother and sister mostly exhibiting an uncaring attitude towards the situation was somewhat unrealistic.
The interesting part of this book is that it switches perspectives between the sisters in rotating chapters. Tegan's story is written in a normal novel format but Kelly's chapters are written as a reality show script type of writing. I have never seen anything like this before and found reading it was a very unique experience.
Overall this short novel was full of intense drama, interesting writing style and the constant question until the last page "what did she see?"

[Kristy · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book was poorly crafted, annoying to read, and incredibly unrealistic. The use of the screenplay format could have been interesting if it wasn't so badly done. The plot itself was stupid, the characters vapid and doltish, and the big reveal at the end didn't even make sense. I would avoid this.

[Riley · Rating 2 out of 5]

I enjoyed this book because I found it unpredictable, I did however find it very unrealistic. The way everyone pressed Tegan without any evidence seemed forced and some points of the story did not make sense to me. The ending was good but I think it would have been a nice twist for Kelly to say she didn't see anything when she saw what she did.

[jule · Rating 4 out of 5]

fand ich ganz gut mal was anderes

[Ashley Loehrke · Rating 4 out of 5]

Personal Response-
This is my first time reading a book by author, Norah McClintock. I read the book called She Said, She Saw. I really enjoyed this book, and it only took me two days to read! I loved how it kept you on your toes and wanting to turn the next page to see what was coming next. My favorite part was when Teagan stood up to the killer of Martin and Clark in the middle of the road when she was about to get shot.

Summary-
Currently In high school, Tegan, Martin, and Clark are all best friend, until the night of a life changing event. It all started when Martin got mixed up in a drug ring and was now dealing drugs to other classmates. Then when the three of them were leaving a party at a friends house, Martin and Clark were shot in Clark’s car right in front of Tegan’s eyes. Tegan was sitting in the back seat, so everyone assumed that the killer did not see her because of the tinted windows. Soon more information was coming about on the case and was causing Tegan stress. Tegan said she saw the incident happen right before her but did not see who shot her friends. Soon enough, nobody believed Tegan and was then blaming her for not coming out with information because they thought she was scared the killer may come out and kill her. When the investigation came to an end, Tegan remembered something that had happened a few weeks before the incident with Clark. Clark had stolen someone's parking space, and the guy was very mad and threatened to kill him. Tegan soon found out that he was the killer of Martin and Clark and on the night that Tegan remembered who he was, he shot her in the middle of her street. Tegan fully recovered, and the murderer was put into jail. Everyone felt sorry for Tegan and soon forgave her for not believing that she actually didn’t see who had shot Martin and Clark.

Recommendation-
I recommend this book to anyone who likes books with real-life situations and a learning experience. She Said, She Saw, is a great and quick book for teenagers to read because the situation in this book can happen to anyone at any time. By reading this book, teenagers could learn that even if something bad happened in your life, that you can regain your strength and that there will always be a positive outcome.
.

[Abby Wheaton · Rating 5 out of 5]

Personal Response: Overall, I thought the book was pretty good. There were points where the book got boring, because the main character kept repeating the same saying. The best part of the book was the ending where I refused to put the book down.

Plot: Teagan was a sweet girl who had two best friends, Clark and Martin. She decided to go to a party with her two best friends where drugs and alcohol were involved. None of them saw that as a problem, but as they were about to leave the party Martin and Clark were shot dead. Teagan just so happened to be the lucky one in the back seat who did not get shot. This haunted her everyday. Everyone kept telling her she needed to tell the cops what she saw, but in reality Teagan saw absolutely nothing. She was talking to and looking at Martin when they were shot and didn’t see the shooter. No one believed her, and it drove Teagan crazy. Everywhere she went she was bullied, left out, picked on etc. No one wanted to be around someone they believed wasn’t telling the cops everything. One day Teagan came up with a great plan. Although this plan ended up getting her shot in the shoulder, the cops were able to catch Martin and Clarks murderer. Everyone felt terrible for all the terrible stuff they did to Teagan, but Teagan finally felt relieved that people liked her again.

Characterization: Teagan was a very nice girl that spent most of her time with Martin and Clark. She was a bit of a troublemaker and did some illegal stuff such as drugs. She didn’t think that she was doing any harm, but after her friends were shot she felt terrible for everything. She managed to turn herself around and showed the world how honest she actually was.

Recommendations: I recommend this book to people in the ages of 12 and up. I think this book could be interesting for both guys and girls even though the main character is a girl.

[Irmak Tandoğan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Was a pleasant experience and also loved the fact kennys povs were like a movie script because she loved movies and tv series and i also loved tegans povs were like a novel because she likes novels it was mind blowing to me when i noticed it (page 20) ending was mid tho most of the things didnt made any sense to me (and apparently to a lot of people too)

[Lexie Toney]

Personal Response-
The book She Said/She Saw is a really good book for teens and young adults. Not only was it a good book, but it always grabbed my attention and it made me never want to put down the book or stop reading it. The main thing that I loved about the book was the way that it was formated. The author kind of let you in on some hints about what happened but didn’t spoil the whole purpose of the book itself. The author did a really good job writing the book and making you feel as if you were one of the characters.



Plot/Summary- **Spoilers Included!**
Teagan and her sister Kelly were nearly twins, born less than a year apart. Everyone always considered Teagan as the smarter and more popular one between them. They were good girls until one day after the first semester, Teagan decided to go to a party. At the party, she was hanging out with everyone and Martin and Clark decided that it was time to go home. Just as they were about to leave, someone came up and shot Clark and Martin through the car window. Teagan was in the back seat when it all happened. When she arrived at the police station, she told her story and said that she did not see who shot Clark and Martin. At school, she was getting bullied and still said that she did not see anything, nor did not have a clue who shot them. Will they ever find out who shot them?



Who should read this book?-
After reading this book, I think that this book would be perfect for teens or young adults. It has some romance to it as well as some R rated scenes, but overall the viewpoint is really good. When I did some research on the book, I heard that many young adults have read this book and really liked it. Overall, I rate this book at four out of five stars.

[Mampfwurm · Rating 1 out of 5]

Das ist ja von schrecklicher Qualität!

Erstmal taugt dieses Buch literarisch wenig. Ich weiß nicht, wie sehr das vielleicht an der übersetzung liegt, aber dafür, dass hier Teenager aus der Ich-Perspektive erzählen sollen, gerät der Stil deutlich zu umständlich und förmlich:

"Warum sollte er so etwas fragen, wenn er nicht glauben würde, dass ich ihm etwas vorenthalte?"

Und: "Ich hatte nicht das Gefühl, mich mit Mr Genovese und seinem Kummer konfrontieren zu können."

Zweitens muss eine der beiden Protagonistin aus irgendeinem Grund nebenbei besessenen von Filmen sein, was dazu führt, dass ihre Perspektive in einer Art Skript-Format erzählt werden muss. Ich sage extra "in einer Art", weil mir so eine Form weder in Theater noch in Hollywood-Produktions-Standards oder Cartoon/Comic-Skripten jemals untergekommen ist. Ich muss an dieser Stelle Skripte ein wenig verteidigen: Skripte sind nicht notwendigerweise roh und technisch, nur weil sie eben das Skelett der Geschichte sind. Ich habe schon Skripte aus Cartoon-Workflows gelesen, die so erzählend und visuell waren, dass danach dann Storyboards gemacht und Hintergründe gemalt wurden. Schon wenn man ein Drehbuch zu einem guten Film liest, merkt man, dass Skripte in ihrer Knappheit und Präzision der Beschreibung auch literarische Qualitäten haben können. Die sie auch brauchen, denn ein Skript muss auch immer seine Geschichte ein wenig mitverkaufen, um gekauft und gemacht zu werden.

Dazu braucht es aber natürlich ein gewisses Talent auf Autorenseite. Hier scheint das Skriptformat jedoch eher als literarische Abkürzung zu funktionieren, etwa in Form solcher Beschreibungen: "GINA wirkt nicht sonderlich überzeugt." Für einen Roman ist das echt mager. Aber auch für ein Skript ist das zu schwach. Ein Pilot-Skript in diesem Stil würde wahrscheinlich direkt in den Papierkorb wandern.

Dass ich überhaupt so etwas unterstelle liegt daran, dass auch die reine Prosa nicht gerade beeindrucken kann. Nehmen wir etwa diesen Ausschnitt aus einer wörtlichen Rede: "Tegan ist kein schlechter Mensch. Aber ein bisschen egozentrisch. Ach was sage ich? Total egozentrisch [...] Es ist schrecklich, so etwas über die eigene Schwester sagen zu müssen, aber so empfinde ich nun mal."

Kann man so etwas nicht organischer in die Geschichte einfließen lassen? Es schreit doch wirklich jeder der auch nur einen Zeh in die literarische Welt gedippt hat "Show don't tell!" von allen Dächern. Übrigens soll diese Aussage von einer Teenagerin kommen, klingt aber eher nach einem Aristokraten-Kaffeekränzchen: "[...] aber so empfinde ich nun mal."

Hier fehlt es massiv an einem Gefühl für die Feinheiten von Sprache, Erzählung und dafür, wie Menschen funktionieren. Und außerdem dafür, wie die Welt funktioniert. Etwa tauchen urplötzlich Reporter mit einer Fernseh-Kamera vor der Haustür einer der Protagonistinnen auf. Schon so etwas ist reichlich absurd, keine gute journalistische Praxis und auch potentiell strafbar, höchstens die Bild-Zeitung oder Fox-News würden so etwas veranstalten. (Andererseits soll die Geschichte in den USA spielen...) Wenige Minuten später ist dieses Material dann auch schon in den Nachrichten im Fernsehen zu sehen. Erklär mir mal jemand, wie das funktionieren soll, wenn nicht für einen lächerlichen Kleinstadtmord gleich ein ganzer Sendewagen vorfährt, der das Material innerhalb von Sekunden verarbeitet und ausstrahlt.

Mein Favorit ist allerdings, "dass die Wirtschaft momentan in einer schwierigen Lage ist." Und auch "Detective Zorbas", ein erwachsener Mann, sagt dazu: "Aber die Wirtschaft steckt wirklich in einer Krise [...]" Dieser wunderbare Sprachgebrauch rief bei mir schallendes Gelächter hervor. Wer auch immer dieses Werk übersetzen musste, hatte an dieser Stelle vermutlich schon lange aufgegeben. Was ich niemandem verübeln könnte.

Übrigens ist der Plot irgendwie auch öde. Die meiste Zeit passiert nichts, irgendein Geheimnis wird verschwiegen. Und es wird verschwiegen. Und immer so weiter. Und in den letzten circa 20 Seiten passiert dann auch noch mal was.

[Amanda L. · Rating 4 out of 5]

She Said/She Saw was a captivating book. Tegan, the main character, was in a car with her friends, Clark and Martin, when someone shot at the car. Martin and Clark were shot and killed. Tegan was in the backseat and claimed to have seen nothing. She didn't see the who the shooter was or what they were wearing. The police think that she is just afraid to tell them what she saw, so they interrogate her over and over. In school, her classmates and teachers treat her differently. They will stare at her as she walks down the hall and whisper to each other about her. Tegan is also confronted by classmates that she needs to tell the police what she saw. No one believes that she saw nothing except for her sister, Kelly. Although, Kelly's faith in her sister dwindles throughout the book. Tegan insists that she didn't see anything. Some students make a website called "What Tegan Saw" and post different things about what she should do and how she is a coward for not standing up for her friends. On this website after constant belittling, Tegan decides to post a video on it. She explains that she saw the shooter, and if he doesn't turn himself in that she would go to the police and tell them everything. Tegan actually didn't see anything, but she knew that the website was growing in popularity and that the shooter probably had seen it and would look at her post. Tegan was going to the police station when a car hit her. Kelly had seen the video and was going after Tegan to stop her. She witnessed the hit and run. The police were called, and then Kelly described everything that happened while Tegan was in the hospital. The police found the shooter, and justice is served. It is ironic because if people would have believed that she hadn't seen anything, the website wouldn't have been created and the shooter inevitably wouldn't have been caught.

Thoughout the book, Kelly's attitude changes. At the beginning of the book, Kelly sticks by Tegan's side and believes everything she has said. Over the course of the book, her faith in Tegan dwindles. She starts doubting that Tegan saw nothing. Then again at the end of the book Kelly feels bad that she hadn't had complete faith in her sister. Although Tegan never once says "I told you so."

I give this book four out of five stars because it was an enjoyable book that kept me wanting to read more. I was very captivated by the characters' choices and the suspense of whether or not Tegan saw anything. This book was one that usually kept my attention while reading, but it could have gone a bit faster. I am not usually a big fan of slow moving action in books or really fast pace action. This book was a bit on the slower side for a while which I wasn't a fan of. Although once some action started to happen it was captivating and held my attention.

I would recommend this book to ages thirteen to eighteen. It is a book that isn't a very mature book but also isn't a very immature book either. In order to read this book, it would be helpful to know about how high-schoolers act and a bit about police procedures. This is not needed but would be helpful to have prior knowledge on these subjects so you can better understand the book and character interactions. This book could be for either gender but would probably be better for a female audience so you can better understand Tegan's feelings throughout the book. Again, it really could be for male or female overall, but would be helpful to understand the book more directly. Overall this is a good book that I would recommend to the right audience.

[Marissa Hanneman]

Personal Response: I personally liked this book because it made you have to think in between the lines and was a mystery. However, I didn't like it because it kept dragging on the same subject, the author could have made it a bit more interesting. I like how it was formatted, it kept switching off between scenes and characters in the book.
Plot: There was this girl named Tegan with her two best friends Martin and Clark. They did almost everything together including smoking weed and partying. Martin wanted to become a doctor that he tried giving up weed with the help of Tegan's sister, Kelly. Tegan didn't know that Martin was trying to give it so she kept pressuring and pushing him to buy some and smoke her up. One night Martin finally agreed to go to this party with Tegan and Clark. At this party, Tegan was hoping Martin would tell her that he liked her more than a friend. Is that what he wanted to tell her? When they left, Tegan witnessed first hand someone shoot Martin and Clark. Later, she got questioned by detectives, police, parents, students, and etc. She said she didn't see anything but did anyone really believe her? People ended up ignoring her completely including her best friend and her sister, making her feel invisible because they all thought it was her fault for not going to the police. Tegan said she didn't see anything and just wanted people to talk to her so she ends up doing something drastic.
Characterization:
Tegan: She is a teenage girl who is going through some big complications in her life. Tegan likes to smoke weed more than participate in school. She barely ever talks to her sister and is in love with her best friend Martin. If Tegan doesn't get want she wants she'll keep pushing till she gets it. She's one to roll with the punches, whatever life throws at her she'll take it.
Recommendation: I would recommend this book to people that love to read mysteries and like a good page-turner. It is a really suspenseful book but it ends quickly.

[Sydney Bartel · Rating 2 out of 5]

Personal Response:
I thought that this book was okay. It was very slow moving and was written really weird. I was confused as to why they kept referring to a camera throughout the story and why they had it written like it was a movie script. I thought it was interesting to see who actually murdered the main character's friends, but otherwise this story was slow moving.

Plot:
This book was about two sisters named Tegan and Kelly. Tegan had witnessed her two best friends get shot in a car while she was in the back seat. Everybody kept questioning her to see if she knew who did it. Everyone figured that she saw the shooter and was too afraid to speak up. She kept claiming that she had no idea who shot them. Finally after everybody pretending she was invisible, she decided to make a video. In the video, she said that she knew who the shooter was. She also said that if the killer didn't turn himself in, she would tell the police who they were. After posting the video, she started running away. Kelly started running after her and she witnessed Tegan get shot. Kelly saw the whole thing happen and helped catch the shooter of Tegan’s friends and Tegan. In the end, Tegan ended up living and the shooter went to jail.

Characterization:
Tegan is a high schooler and the main character in this story. Her character grew a lot throughout this book. She started out as a naive party girl, but after her friends were shot she began to take life a lot more seriously. She began to realize the value of life and how quickly it could end.

Recommendation:
I would recommend this book to middle school and high school students. I think that age group would enjoy this story best because that is around the age that the main characters are. I think that girls would enjoy this book much better than boys would because the two main characters are both sisters.

[Harley Graham]

Plot: The plot of this book is always telling the truth. Tegan is one of the main characters in this book, she witnessed her to best friends, Clark and Martin, being murdered. No one really knows whether she is telling the truth or not, she said she is but no one believes her. Throughout the book she tells cops, parents, family members, siblings, friends, enemies, school faculty, and students she was telling the truth be still no one believed her.
Personal response: I enjoyed this book because it was written in a movie script type way. Its was also really easy to understand what was going on. Throughout reading the book I always thought Tegan would have know more than she always said she did.
Characterization: The main character is Tegan, spends the book talking to cops, and being shunned by students. She goes through this because, she was in the same vehicle as two guys when they were murdered. She had a huge crush on one of the victims Martin but Martin liked her sister Kelly. Kelly was another main character. She is Tegans younger sister by about 8 months do everyone calls them twins. Kelly stays by Tegans side throughout all of the hatred.
Recommend: I recommend this book to people who like easy to read books and crime and drama. I also recommend this book to 8th & 9th graders because it is a good book to learn from. This book teaches a lot of lessons about how to deal with certain situations.

[Ash McKenna · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'd been wanting to read this for a while, and once I'd read the first few chapters I decided I'd read the whole thing. The premise was perfect for me, but that was all this book had going for it, in my opinion. I didn't like it. I actually read it all in one setting, so there was something good about it -- perhaps the script part? But, honestly, it didn't jump out of me.

I felt like it had so much potential that hadn't been addressed properly. It needed fleshier characters, more background, more everything really. The 'whodunnit' scenario wasn't panned out very well, as there were basically no characters to suspect. Everyone was one dimensional. It felt like the book was about 20'000 words long. It's a shame because i was really excited to read this. It felt like a very old book, like something I would've read in the early noughties, and i'm not sure why. It's a fast read, I'll give it that, but I was very disappointed.

The characters dialogue was the worst part for me. It was so far-fetched and unbelievable, and there was so much repetition. So many characters said the same thing over and over again. There was no surprise. It's a MYSTERY novel, right? Then where the hell was the suspense?

The reason I gave it two stars and not one is because it was a creative idea.

[Anne · Rating 3 out of 5]

Norah McClintock is the reigning queen of YA mystery in Canada. This book is a pretty good addition to the genre. Tegan is a high school party girl and after midterms finds herself in the back seat of a car while her two best friends are gunned down in front of her eyes. But, perhaps not...Tegan insists that she did not see anything. But no one will believe her - the police, the parents of the victims, her own sister and mother, her friends and non-friends at school who declare her invisible, a non-entity. Written as a script with Tegan and her slightly younger sister, Kelly as the main characters, McClintock's writing is taut and tense and the reader is flipping rapidly through the pages. What makes this a three star read is that the resolution of the mystery is foreshadowed and telescoped too early in the book, and the climax and the solution are less than believable.

[Victoria · Rating 1 out of 5]

Oh boy... I did not like this book.
Firstly, as I began reading, I couldn't help but make several connections to other things that made me entirely distracted as I read. Firstly, the cover looks like Shenae Grimes and gives me the distinct impression of Frank Iero during the Three Cheers era. Secondly, the whole drive-by shooting trope gave me major flashbacks to Invisible Monsters by Chuck Palahniuk... but he did it much better... and it wasn't actually a drive-by shooting. Finally, I couldn't help but get war flashbacks when I realized that I've already read a book by Norah McClintock - Hit And Run - during our grade 8 reading circles. And BOY, was that a mess. More often than not, my mind began to wonder about the plot of that book and how it compared to this one, as well as how it contained many of the same problems.
As I was reading this mystery, like many others, I began to guess who the murderer was. A few guesses that crossed my mind were Mr.Tyrell, who is never once mentioned in the book, or maybe Clark purposefully hired a hit man to kill him, or maybe even Kelly ?? But I would not have guessed it was the character who was just THROWN in there for some drama - OH NO, of course not. Literally the only person who is mentioned to have a motive against either Clark or Martin... who would've thought.
This book, as well as Hit and Run, lacked a human connection. I don't know how to explain it, but I often found myself saying, "this is not how human beings interact or speak, ever". It's utterly strange and artificial. It's trying to be like real life, but isn't. And it's not so far off that it could be seen as artful or abstract. It's just plain awkward. I mentioned in the above paragraph that I even began to question if Kelly had the murder committed, and, considering that that's the victim's sister.. that's odd, no? They was absolutely no bond between Tegan and Kelly. And I understand HATING each other (trust me, I do), but if your sister has just witnessed two people being brutally killed in front of her.. a little compassion would suffice. But this she-devil, KeLlY, had none. And the whole book, Kelly kept complaining about how Tegan was a self-centered, ego-maniac BITCH - but it's clear to anyone who reads this book that it is the other way around. Besides the most unrealistic, cold, unsisterlike bond, the way other interactions occur suck as well. I'm not sure the mother would really allow Kelly to say the things she did to her or Tegan, or why she was such a 2D character. It was like she only existed to portray that stereotypical mother figure (by the way, no mention of Dad anywhere?). And finally, Gina and Tegan's friendship... it's absolutely so hard to read and comprehend and try to place in real life. It's so so so bad. I don't even want to explain it.
Genuinely, a lot of parts of this book were confusing and unnecessary. As in, the strange love triangle between Kelly, Tegan and Martin, the destroyed relationship between Mr.Carson and Clark, the entire weed fiasco, the news reporters at Tegan's door, the threatening of Mrs.Tyrell being fired, etc. None of these things held any relevance or importance to the end of the story and just genuinely confused me or got lost in tongue. Because, by the way, unlike Kelly's side of the story, things are usually not written as a screen play where characters talk to an invisible TV in books. And guess what? There's a reason for it: It gets confusing.
Although Tegan witnessed two human beings being shot in the head and killed in front of her, she does not attend therapy, or try hypnotherapy like mentioned, or even once go to a school guidance counselor. Not once. There goes another point for inaccuracy and absentee, but somehow ever-present parents.
The cherry on top of this heaping pile of garbage was the resolution. Nothing really happened and it was totally UNsatisfying (not what I want from a mystery book). The most insignificant character ever was caught, the problem was passed off to the other sister, who also witnessed someone being shot and received no therapy for it, and yippee-kiyay, we hear nothing of what happens to Martin or Clark. Essentially, Tegan's all like, "I had to get shot for you all to believe me!!!" and everyone's like, "yeah sorry about that lol XD!1!" and that's all. Sister-bond, friendships and parental status fixed!
And by the way, don't even get me started on how the murderer committed the same crime again, in broad daylight, in his own personally identifiable vehicle, with the same weapon as before, on the most obvious victim, in front of what appears to be the victim's twin, who's not even a few paces away. Not to mention any of the other people who could've witnessed this at 6am on a weekday, when people are leaving for work.

Awful.

[Zoe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Where to start with this book? I began reading it for a school assignment and I initially thought it had an interesting plot. Was Tegan involved in the murder or was she truly innocent? And I have to hand it to McClintock that the plot was very well thought out. My only issue was the characterization. Tegan, I feel, wasn't a fully fleshed-out character and I think there could've been more to her than just witnessing a murder. Kelly had a lot more personality but she was just unlikeable in my opinion. I would've liked it if the characters did mundane everyday things to show they have lives outside of the mystery. I do believe that the twist and build-up were well written but I was disappointed by how the book ended. It sort of just fell flat and left some unanswered questions as to why Martin was shot first. In terms of why I read the book in the first place, it was assigned as a reading amongst other books that focus on the teenage perspective and life. That being said, I don't think Kelly, Tegan, and other characters, represented the teenage perspective well. Perhaps I am biased because this book was written in 2011 and my perspective is based on current times but I still believe it was just out of touch with how teenagers act. Like when everyone at school ignored Tegan, I just can't believe every student was able to come to a consensus to not acknowledge her presence. There had to have been a person or two who looked at her or talked about her. All of that aside, as far as school book assignments go, I'd say I enjoyed reading this one. Kelly's extra personality made reading this more enjoyable, even if for the wrong reasons.

[Rylie Clark]

Plot summary
Kelly and Tegan are sisters that are total opposites. Kelly would rather stay at home with a couple close friends or a book, and Tegan would rather go out and party with her friends. One night Tegan was out with two of her guy friends, and her friends got shot. Tegan claims she didn't see the killer, but everyone doubts her, and thinks she isn't telling anyone to protect herself. She becomes an outcast around the school and is desperate to stop the hate she's getting from the people at school, people online, and even her friends parents.

Personal response
I really liked this book because I really like mystery books. It went from different points of view from Tegan to Kelly which I really liked seeing their perspective of each other and the situation Tegan is in. The only thing I didn't really like was that for Kelly's point of view it seemed more like a movie script than a book.

Characterization
Tegan starts off as popular with lots of friends, a potential boyfriend, and a loving family, and it all changes in one night, she suddenly becomes unstable and filled with grief, and by the end of the book she’s okay.

Recommendations
I recommend this book to anyone who likes mystery. I think it’s a good book for teenagers because it can show what happens with drug use. I think boys and girls would enjoy this book.

[Fruggielicious · Rating 4 out of 5]

Review: „Was ich sah und was ich tat“ by Norah McClintock
Genre: Thriller (Young adult)
Werbung, danke schön für das Rezensionsexemplar

Inhalt und Meinung ohne Spoiler

Tegan wird Zeugin, wie ihre beiden besten Freunde erschossen werden. Alle, insbesondere die Polizei und die Familien der Opfer sind überzeugt, dass Tegan etwas gesehen haben muss und die Wahrheit verschweigt.

Es war mein erstes Buch der Autorin und ein erneuter Versuch, mich wieder mit dem Thriller Genre anzufreunden. Das Buch ist relativ kurz (unter 300 Seiten) und der stilistische Aufbau hat mir sehr gut gefallen. Wir lesen abwechselnd aus der Perspektive von Tegan und aus der Perspektive ihrer Schwester Kelly, die einen Vlog über die Ereignisse filmt.

Es war ein kurzweiliges Lesevergnügen für mich, hab es am gestrigen Abend in einem Stück durchgelesen. Ich fand diesen Thriller modern und ich wusste auch bis zum Schluss nicht, wie es ausgehen würde. Auch die Moral der Geschichte hat mir zugesagt. Dass man nicht vorschnell urteilen soll…

Es war jetzt keine Offenbarung, aber für mich persönlich war es ein Buch, das ich einfach echt gern gelesen hab. Es ist ein Jugendthriller, Empfehlung also für diejenigen, die es sprachlich dezent und nicht allzu brutal mögen.

Rating 4/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

[Hannah · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book caught my attention within the first few pages. Tegan, Martin, and Clark were all just friends and then one night at a party Clark, and Martin were both shot and killed. Tegan was in the backseat, they say the killer must not have seen her because of the tinted windows. Everyone said Tegan was a liar when she said she hadn't seen anything when they were shot but was telling the truth. She became an outcast at school and at home. The cops believed it to be drug-related and made it out as if Clark was a drug dealer. Finally Tegan decided she would make a video and post it on the "WhatTeganSaw.com" website for the killer to see, well he did. He shot Tegan the morning after the video was posted. Turns out it was some guy who Clark had just pissed off by keying his car and such. Tegan survived and was going to be expecting a full physical recovery. I recommend this book to people who seek mystery and enjoy ongoing surprises throughout the story.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tegan was in the back seat when her two best friends, Clark and Martin, were shot and killed. It all happened so fast she saw nothing. But no one believes her, not their families, her friends, or even her sister Kelly. Kelly actually isn't sure what to believe. Tegan can be a drama queen and Martin was going to ask Kelly out. Tegan had a big crush on him. Could she be holding something back? Everyone else thinks so, even the police. So Tegan decides to take matters into her own hands and lay a trap for the shooter. And no one could have guessed his motive.

Told from Tegan and Kelly's points of view, this could have been a much longer book. I found the concept pretty amazing. Both are likeable characters and what happens keeps the pages moving. I never doubted Tegan, so I'm not sure if the author wanted you to or not.

[Alicia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Overall, this was a pretty good book. It did get boring at certain points because the main character, Tegan, kept saying the same things over and over again. Tegan was in the backseat of a car when her two best friends were killed in the front seats. Nobody knows who the murderer is, not even Tegan, but nobody believes her. Not even her sister, Anna, or even her own mother. I really liked this book because it was a mixture of romance, mystery and drug abuse all in one. This book has taught me great lessons that are not spoken about abroad. For me, the ending made me not want to put the book down because the ending is the best part. In the end, I would highly recommend this book.

[SteffiVS · Rating 3 out of 5]

Tegan erlebt hautnah den Tod ihrer beiden Freunde mit. Diese werden im Auto erschossen während sie auf der Rücksitzbank sitzt. Der Täter hat sie nicht gesehen. Aber auch sie den Täter nicht. Dies behauptet Tegan zumindest und niemand glaubt ihr. So wird sie in der Schule von allen geschnitten.

Da ihre Schwester Drehbücher mag und schreibt, sind die Kapitel aus Kellys Sicht in Drehbuchform geschrieben, die aus Tegans Sicht normal. Diese Schreibweise macht es schwer eine Bindung zu den Protas aufzubauen. Daher bleiben die Charaktere alle blass. Das kleine Büchlein der bereits verstorbenen Autorin liest sich schnell durch. Doch Spannung wird keine aufgebaut.

[Lara · Rating 3 out of 5]

Schnell durchzulesen durch die kurzen Kapitel. War schon spannend, aber mich persönlich haben alle Charaktere ziemlich genervt. Sie waren alle ziemlich anstrengend, obwohl die Tatsache, dass ihr keiner glauben wollte, sogar noch nerviger und anstrengender war.

Schade, dass es im echten teilweise auch so ist.

Sonst fand ich die Art, wie die beiden Kapitel der Schwester aufgebaut, bzw. ihre Aufmachung ziemlich cool. Da merkt man, wie unterschiedlich sie sind. Das war sehr kreativ.

[Ren · Rating 1 out of 5]

The whole book had me annoyed with how people treated Teagan. She had just witnessed a murder, you’d think they’d be a little more understanding of her situation. It was also all so predictable i didn’t even bother with the last chapter. If you’re looking for something with drama go ahead. But it’s terrible if you want something realistic and a mystery. There was no mystery at all. The one and only suspect I had ended up being the suspect, so sadly I was very disappointed.

[amrai · Rating 1 out of 5]

The concept was interesting, have different writing styles for the sisters, but the characters sucked. I don’t know if the author simply never had a human interaction or if they are just bad at writing. It was truly hard to read and the only reason I did finish it was because I had already paid for and it was just about 160 or so pages long.

[Vixie · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really liked this book it was very mysterious, but also kind of sad. I totally recommend this book, I would have to say it is one of my favorites. I kinda wish it wouldn't be so confusing but this would be for more mature people to read. There is also some bad language but it goes with the story.

[Bella · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was slow to start and pick up and when it finally did, it was at the last 20 pages. The writing was disjointed and elementary at points. The story line itself was interesting but wasn't executed fully.

[Brighton Hugg · Rating 4 out of 5]

It definitely was a great read and kept me hooked throughout. The style was enthralling and thoroughly entertaining. I found, however, that the motive was too weak and unrealistic. I think there could have been a deeper connection between the killer and the victims.

[Tianna Baker · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was a different writing style than I'm used to, but it made it interesting to read. The ending was okay it was predictable and disappointing , only a one time read for me. If you like murder mystery sort of books I'd recommend it.