I had high hopes for this one, but it just fell short. The ending was rather abrupt and left the reader with more questions than answers.

Very hard-hitting. There were some themes that I think could've been held handled better. But the characters honestly made up for it. Pretty engaging plot-wise.

(Thank you to Netgalley for providing me with an ARC in return for an honest review)

Rating: 2.5 stars rounded to 3

It has taken me an awfully long time to write this review, although this book was one I had been very excited to get into.

The title, and premise pulled me towards this book, and as a mystery lover, I was more than ready for whatever Greg Herren would throw my way. However, #shedeservedit was very underwhelming for me.

There were many instances the story could have been better developed, and apart from the occasional typo, the characterisation also lacked a lot. I would have loved to see more emphasis on Alex's relationship with Lance, as the wrapping up of the story, and the Big Reveal all ended up being very abrupt and disjointed. Still, there were some parts I enjoyed lot, especially Alex's confrontation with his teacher, and him uncovering the secrets of their football team.

The book was very forgettable, and if not for the prompts and alerts from my Notes app, I wouldn't have remembered I ever read it.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this copy.

I’m don’t even know where to begin to review this book. It got mixed reviews, but honestly I think it’s an important issue to write about. Young men who play sports are put up on a pedestal all over the United States. Young women are held at a different standard. We don’t teach our boys to respect women, we teach them that if a girl gets drunk and shows a little skin, they are whores.

This book made me mad…..and it should make you mad. I don’t care if a girl walks into a party completely naked….it doesn’t give a man any right to take advantage of her and rape her.

I thought the ending ended way to abruptly. I wanted justice and I wanted a little closure and why I’m not giving 5 stars.

I wanted to like this book, but I just felt it could have been done so much better than it was. It was so difficult to follow, and I still feel I don't really know what is going on. I couldn't get behind the writing at all.

I will be honest, I am putting this book down at 47%. I think this book needed to be edited a lot more. The tense was confusing, and not one I enjoy at the best of times. What got me the most though, was the fact that I am 50% of the way in, and I still don't know what the heck happened to Kayla. There are a lot of characters, and I did find it hard to keep track of who knows who, who dated who, what everyone looks like, and also how many dang secrets they each have! Is Alex gay? Did his sister get raped? Is Lance a drug dealer? I have no idea.

Things that this book did well: I appreciated the fact that we had a male main character, and the family dynamics were refreshing, as it felt real. It was also nice to have the sister and brother as both being volatile as well, not just the dad, as this is realistic - violence and anger begets more. I thought the fact that Alex is insecure was great, because big macho football players don't tend to be portrayed as having weaknesses. So inter-personally, this was great.

Overall, not for me, and not something I would look at purchasing until it has had a solid edit again.

I got this book from NetGalley in exchange for a review. All opinions are my own.

This book is about a high school senior named Alex who just wants to make it through the rest of his senior year and move out of his parents house. He plays football because his father wants him to, is dating a nice girl and is trying to rebuild a relationship with his sister when he becomes a suspect in his best friend's murder. His girlfriend sticks by his side and tries to help him solve the crime.

I thought the way that the book referenced back to the assault of the cheerleader and connected the two crimes was well done, but it was hard for me to believe that Alex would just keep going along with things and "being a team player." The plot twist and secrets revealed were pretty well done, but then the book just ends with no real resolution.

I wanted an actual ending to this story. I felt like getting so invested in the mystery and then just dropping the story was a complete let down.

Thanks to the publisher for providing an eARC of #shedeservedit in exchange for an honest review.

I honest think this was just? A mystery book without a mystery? Maybe it was because the narration was confusing and maybe that'll change when its formatted for a print book but I kept waiting for this to become a mystery and despite and mystery technically being part of the plot it just never really was one?

Thank you to Bold Strokes Books and NetGalley for providing a free e-ARC in return for an honest review.

This title held promise in that it appeared to be a unique way of tackling a very serious subject, however there was only one other positive aspect for the novel and it came in the design. The cover was intriguing and set the scene/tone for the title well. This is where the positives end.

#shedeservedit promises a mystery yet there appears to be confusion over which mystery the main character - Alex - is trying to solve. This is partly due to the convoluted nature of the plot, the writing and the use of flashbacks and partly due to the inclusion of seemingly pointless subplots which are dropped without explanation. **Spoiler** - the two deaths are never fully 'solved' leaving the reader unsatisfied.

It is evident that a man wrote this title, and by that I mean while the title appears to deal with the fallout of sexual assault and the rape, mistreatment and murder of females attending a football-focused school, the actual writing makes these events about Alex. The victims are treated as catalysts for Alex' sadness, almost disposable characters who simply add to Alex' feelings about the school, his father and the recently deceased Lance.

In addition, to frame this title as an LGBTQ one is a stretch and the only LGBTQ storyline feels forced.

Overall, not a positive reading experience.

This book has some good bones but I feel like it ended abruptly. I have so many questions that need answers!!

*this book does deal with sexual assault*

The book starts with Lance, the star quarterback, being found dead, and his old best friend Alex Wheeler becomes the prime suspect for murder. The day before Lance died he asked Alex to hold something for him in case something was to happen to him. It seems as though the murder has something to do with a rape at a party that ended in suicide. Or did it have something to do with Lances sexuality?

The book has a good story but I wish that some of the questions that were left open had been answered. I would definitely read more from this author.

First off, I loved this cover.

Coming from a background where I grew up cheerleading and spent many years on the sidelines of a football field, I believed when picking this book out, that I would have a connection with it.

Although I DID in fact connect and have those flash backs to the good "ole" days, this novel did fall a little short for me. I expected so much more by reading the synopsis. I am not saying this is a terrible novel because it definitely wasn't . Just a bit under developed and had the capability of being so much more. My best advice for Greg Herren is to gather some BETA readers and see what he can add and remove from this novel to give it some edge and twist.

All in all, it still has a good plot. I would consider this a YA novel and not much of a thriller or murder mystery but still a good Young Adult book.

I think with the appropriate target audience, this will definitely make an enjoyable novel .

A story focused upon Alex Wheeler: A teenager navigating his way through what can only be described as a traumatic high school life alongside a falsified home life where the only thing that matters is their small town prestige.

I felt like #shedeservedit perhaps belonged in a different category to "mystery and thriller" as the element of thrill just wasn't there for me. Whilst I understand it was a kind of mystery, the mystery was never solved! Towards the end, it finally looked as though we might get some answers and comeuppance would be served when in actual fact it ended quite abruptly. I just felt this was a long-winded read which didn't tie up any loose ends. Not in the "ooooh, I'm still wondering who it was?!" kind of way, but more in the "I've just read the whole book and not found out who the culprits were or whether justice was ever reached. How frustrating!"

By no means is this a bad book, it just wasn't to my taste.

Thank you to NetGalley and Bold Strokes Books for providing me with this ARC in exchange for an honest review 📖

I really liked this book, I thought Alex was a great character, likable and interesting. The story is a good one, a popular football player at the school is found dead. Alex used to be best friends with him, but they fell out and when he finds the body it starts to look suspicious, especially when it turns out its not the first time Alex has been in this position.

I felt like this book fell flat with the writing a bit, I felt like I muddling through the plot at a certain point and the mystery never felt mysterious or even cohesive. This definitely just personally wasn’t for me, I felt confused and a bit misled.

A surprisingly intense book. You're thrown in to the middle of the action without much warning and you gradually learn what's going on through flashbacks and characters talking about the party and what happened.

A good enough read and covered important issues.

Slightly annoyed as I feel like as soon as the sorry resolved itself or gave some sort of answer, the book finished abruptly.

I received this book from NetGalley and the publisher, in return for an honest review. This review is based entirely on my own thoughts and feelings.

Overall rating : 3*
Writing skill : 2*
Plot: 3*
Characters: 3*
Pace: 2*

The premise for this book was intriguing and it really drew me in. But I’m sad to say the story was a bit confusing and disjointed. The characters were well formed and it was easy to follow who was who. But the backstory took up too much time and I got distracted from the ‘who-dun-it’ mystery that attracted me so much. The ending was rushed and I’m still not sure there was a conclusion to the story. I think this will appeal to fans of murder mysteries who like mean girls and pretty little liars.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc of #shedeservedit by Greg Herren.

Trigger warning for rape, assault, and suicide.

This book has a lot of twists and turns for being such a short story but it delivers an almost compelling ending. Alex is a football player in his high school and after a weird interaction with his ex-best friend, Lance, he find him dead the next day.

What follows is a look into small towns where football rules and football players can do no wrong. Exploring Alex's life, sexuality, and possible involvement is compelling and interesting and I had hope that Alex would be able to solve some of the problems that he is experiencing.

However, the end of the book seems very truncated and while I enjoyed it up until the end it seemed like it ended very abruptly without answering some of the very important questions. As the reader we have no clue what happened to Lance, what Alex is going to do, and really what had even happened to some of the girls before the book even started. Overall I enjoyed what there was of the book but would have loved a better ending that answering some of the questions that I have been left with.

This gave me 13 reasons why vibes and so I had high hopes and although there were parts I like there were also some parts that I didnt like. I found the writing style to be quite confusing as it kept going from present day to flashbacks to explain the plot - tbf I normally like dual timeline storylines but these felt really disjointed and confusing and when the twist finally came it was very underwhelming.
this book is characterised as both LCBTQIA+ and a mystery but to be honest I struggled with both with this book, the supposed mystery just wasnt very mysterious and fell flat and I didnt really feel the whole LGBTQIA+ part fo the story it felt like it was there to just be there which is a shame as more could have been done with that.
With more developmemnt I think this book could be good but it just fell short for me personally as it currently stands.

DNF this one. Just didn't connect and it felt like a chore to read the parts I did read. I am sure with some more editing and a guiding hand, this could have been so much better.

tw sexual assault and suicide

When star football player Lance winds up dead, his murder is quickly thought to be connected to a recent rape that lead to suicide that struck the school. Our point of view is of that of Alex Wheeler, Lance's best friend, as he finds his life turned on its head during the investigation.

The concept is good, but for what looks to be a gripping YA mystery, it's definitely lacking the latter. Instead it jumps crudely between present day and flashback and ends up becoming a very confusing read, and definitely needed more time with an editor.

And then, as the story begins to drawer closer to the end, you think the mystery is truly beginning to unfold, but it just doesn't. It's underwhelming and disappointing.

Also, it was categorised under LGBTQIA on NetGalley, but frankly, thats a desperate reach. Yes, the storyline is there, but it's so forced and minimal that it felt like overkill to even want to include it, not to mention the amount of f slurs needlessly thrown into the novel.

#shedeservedit is out January 11th, I'm going to keep an eye on reviews and maybe revisit it when more opinions begin to surface!

Thank you NetGalley and Bold Stroke Books for the arc.