This is How it Happened, by Paula Stokes is a book about honesty and the consequences of staying quiet. Genevieve Grace seems to have it all. Her boyfriend is Dallas Kade, a rising music star who has just released his first album. They both have their futures perfectly planned out, with them both wanting to go into pre med. But then everything changes one fateful night. Genevieve’s driving her and Dallas home from a party, when suddenly the next thing she knows she’s waking up from a coma with little to no memory of that night. Only to find her world flipped upside down. Dallas is dead. A drunk driver had swerved into their car and caused an accident. Or at least that’s what the media and the police have worked out. As the man blamed for the accident is harassed and subjected to torment by the internet, Genevieve has to come to terms with what really happened that night– and whose to blame for it. The novel deals with serious topics such as impaired driving and online shaming, but they’re paired with sweet moments while still showing the importance and severity of the aforementioned issues. The author portrays online shaming well, pairing the story with tweets, comments, and articles to show the reality of what it’s like to be the subject of internet outrage, and the how damaging it can be. The characters were written well, as Genevieve wasn’t perfect and made mistakes but in the end tried her best to do what was right. The other characters were also well written and each one felt unique. Overall, This is How it Happened is a book that will stay with you well after the last page, having well written relationships and characters, a vivid setting, and handling of tough topics.

4/5 Stars