Published by Wednesday Books on September 4th, 2018
Genre: Thriller
Pages: 311
Format: audiobook
Source: Scribd
Goodreads
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Sadie hasn't had an easy life. Growing up on her own, she's been raising her sister Mattie in an isolated small town, trying her best to provide a normal life and keep their heads above water.
But when Mattie is found dead, Sadie's entire world crumbles. After a somewhat botched police investigation, Sadie is determined to bring her sister's killer to justice and hits the road following a few meagre clues to find him.
When West McCray—a radio personality working on a segment about small, forgotten towns in America—overhears Sadie's story at a local gas station, he becomes obsessed with finding the missing girl. He starts his own podcast as he tracks Sadie's journey, trying to figure out what happened, hoping to find her before it's too late.
Sadie and I got off to a rocky start. I was obviously incredibly excited for this, having read All the Rage a while ago and hungering for another Courtney Summers novel. But something about it just wouldn't allow me to connect. I wanted to read this strangely-formatted book so badly, but it was like there was a wall between me and my eARC. So I eventually gave up and moved onto other books. A couple weeks went by and people started raving about the audiobook and how amazing it was. At the same time, I had just signed up for a trial of Scribd, and lo and behold, they had Sadie. From the moment I pressed Play, I was hooked.
You guys, I can't begin to tell you just how great the audiobook version of this is. It has a full cast; every single person in this has their own voice actor. And since it's written with some chapters as a podcast, it made for an incredible listening experience. There were interviews and recordings and phone calls, as well as the monologue from the radio host. Even the chapters narrated by Sadie had its own actors for the characters she encountered. Also, Sadie had a stutter and the narrator did an amazing job with it; he was all-around fantastic, truly grasping Sadie's range of emotions. I felt compelled by both narrations for wholly different reasons, and I never, ever wanted to turn it off.
So, before I get any deeper into this review, let's get this out in the open: this is not a pleasant book. Trigger warnings for Sadie include: drug abuse, child abuse, childhood sexual abuse, rape, and violence. The subject matter in this book is really, really dark and ugly. I read really dark and ugly fiction sometimes, but this definitely took me to the edge of my comfort zone, and it wasn't even graphic (except in the instance of violence, when Sadie is beaten.) It's the kind of book that is compelling and masterfully written, but you're not exactly sure you enjoyed it and you have to be very cautious when recommending.
I swear, the most positive reviews are the hardest to write. How do I explain how much I loved this? Sadie's quest for revenge was almost addictive. It's not quite clear from the start what's going on in her head, especially since the story starts with the outside perspective of the podcast, The Girls. All we know is Sadie's missing, her sister has been dead for a while, and that's pretty much it. As we move along, we uncover the horrible, dark truths of their lives. While Sadie as a character isn't the most likable (and really, what Courtney Summers character is?) you can't help but feel for her. Her mother was a drug addict and kept a revolving door of really shitty men coming in and out of Sadie's and Mattie's lives. Their mother, Claire, also favored Mattie over Sadie, and quite dramatically. Claire was just the worst kind of parent, and by the time she left, walking out on her 10 and 16 year old daughters, Sadie hated her.
Sadie has to be one of the most interesting and capable heroines I've ever read about. She does exactly what she says she's going to do. She sets her mind to something and executes it. Maybe not always perfectly, but she never doubts herself, which I loved about her. She's armed with some cash, a car, a switchblade, and not much else, but she somehow travels hundreds of miles, infiltrates friend groups, and takes down a pedophile. She gets people to talk to her, to tell her the information she needs, even when it's clear they don't want to. And she never, ever accepts "no" for an answer.
The only reason I didn't rate this five stars was because of the ending. It's very clear and unambiguous. You, the reader, know what happens. But I wanted that closure for the characters. I wanted that closure for the podcast. I felt like we went from zero to one hundred fifty from the very first page, and never stopped that crazy, neck-breaking pace, until the end, where we hit a wall. It all led up to something not quite enough for the story that came before it. Don't let this deter you from reading though, because it was absolutely fantastic.
When you pick up a Courtney Summers novel, you don't expect warm, fuzzy feelings, you don't expect likeable characters, you don't expect sunshine. But you know you can expect something gripping, powerful, and just so incredibly well-written. You can expect to be blown away. And I was. Sadie is a masterpiece, honestly. If darkness, thrillers, revenge, and sometimes too-heavy topics are at all the things you like to read about, Sadie is for you.
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