This is How it Happened by Paula Stokes

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Publication date: 2017
Publisher: Harper Teen
Pages: 368
My rating: 3.5 stars
Ages: 15+

Genevieve Grace woke up in the hospital with no memory of the accident that landed her there and killed her famous boyfriend, Dallas Kade. With the internet exploding with accusations against the man in the other truck and reporters camping out on her front lawn, Gen decides to escape and spend the summer with her dad in Utah. But as Gen's memory of that night starts to come back, she starts to realize that things may not have happened the way everyone else thinks.

This was a book that I wanted to keep reading, to discover what Gen would do and how people would react. I'm not sure if there has been a book that has focused so well on the downfalls of living in the digital age, where netizens become judge and jury, condemning people in trial by media.

Having been born and raised in Utah, I was a little apprehensive about the portrayal of the state and its people, but I was pleasantly surprised. It was nice to have a Mormon character in a nonreligious book that wasn't overdone or made of stereotypes. It was also great have some appreciate the beauty of the state, which some people miss because it isn't green and lush.

There was some mild language, sexual topics, and talks of suicide.

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