“Summers has pulled no punches when it comes to diving into the darker side of teen lives.” –BustleA gripping novel about the depth of a sister’s love; poised to be the next book you won’t be able to stop talking about.A missing girl on a journey of revenge and a Serial–like podcast following the clues she’s left behind. Sadie hasn’t had an easy life. Growing up on her own, she’s been raising … 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 meager 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.
Courtney Summers has written the breakout book of her career. Sadie is propulsive and harrowing and will keep you riveted until the last page.
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Sadie is an intriguing mystery book by Courtney Summers. The podcasts give the story a unique twist that I’ve never seen in a book before. The way the story unravels before your eyes and the AH-HA moments are worth the confusing aspects. And the emotions Sadie shows are strong and you can feel her torment from the loss of her sister. However, the story is sometimes hard to follow and it feels like it skips around. I think that Sadie is a unique mystery that will keep you wanting more until the very end.
It’s been some time since I have rated a book five stars, but Sadie by Courtney Summers deserves every single one of them.
I won’t dwell on details, the synopsis gives a good enough description and I want to keep this spoiler free.
Half of this book is written in Sadie’s point of view as she follows the trail to finding her younger sister’s murderer. The other half is written as a pod cast from a man name West, who has been enlisted to track Sadie. The writing style was one I wasn’t sure I would connect with…reading a podcast…who knew I’d love it? Not me. I did, though.
Sadie’s chapters are heartfelt and traumatizing and keeps you reading at a quick pace. I was so eager to find out the next bit but was also very thankful for the break into West’s chapters. You see, Sadie’s story touches on things you don’t ever want to touch on and at times they are simply heartbreaking. That being said, I adore Summers for the way she handled these hard realities. There is a solid lack of graphic detail and graphic violence. Yet you are still able to feel the pain and the terror of these characters. It was expert writing, in my opinion.
I’d say that if you were going to pick one Young Adult book to read this year, Sadie should be that book. In a word it’s powerful.
****
So fucking powerful. I’ll have more words when my brain catches up to my heart.
An excellent, tragic tale, told in an amazing, new format. I couldn’t have enjoyed it more!
I won a copy of Sadie on Goodreads giveaway page. I am so happy I did, I found a new author that I absolutely love. I can’t wait to read another book by her.
This book will take you on an emotional roller coaster. I could not put the book down. I just had to know how it ended. I would highly recommend it if you can handle the subject matter.
Wow! This was a difficult book to read! Besides the subject matter, the way that the dialogue was written in the story made it very difficult to follow. As I read further and got to know more about the characters in the book, I enjoyed it and was able to follow it better. It has a very believable storyline, and shows us that the ones that love and care about us the most are not always blood relatives. This is a story about Mothers, daughters and love. And the difficult lives that some families go through.
Remarkable. Incredible. Chilling. Heart-wrenching.
This audiobook was AMAZING!!!
I should start from the beginning: I received this book as an ARC, but when I found out that the book was partially formatted like a podcast I had to listen to the audiobook. Sine I love audiobooks, and I also have listened to my share of podcasts, so I knew that the audiobook would be vastly different from any other audiobooks I’ve ever listened to. In other words this book was meant to be an audiobook. It’s incredibly formatted, perfectly executed and addicting in the very best way.
Sadie was an incredible novel that surprised the heck out of me.
The writing was fascinating, on point, and the story on its own will stay with me for a very long time, especially the ending. The format of the book was absolutely unique, and unapologetically original – that alone should be a reason to pick up this book.
Sadie’s voice was distinctive and incredibly honest, and she stayed true to herself throughout the entire book. She was a character that carried a burden that nobody should have been forced to carry. It was so very easy to emphasize with her. Although she was emotionally closed off, Sadie was a tough cookie, and she had only one goal in mind. Whatever the outcome, she was on a mission and I have to respect that. Nevertheless I just wish she would have allowed herself to ask for help.
Consequently Sadie’s story was heart wrenchingly raw. And thanks to the author’s original voice the entire book was refreshingly different. For one thing Sadie felt like a true crime report, including interviews of witnesses and research. It also felt partly like a diary. But combined they told an incredible story about a young girl’s harrowing journey.
I still can’t believe how well this book was written, and how amazingly different the format was. Ultimately the hype around this book is well deserved. Not only is the writing superb, the story was fantastically plotted, and the execution something that is rarely accomplished. But the ending was what made this book an unforgettable experience.
With this in mind, I can’t wait to see what the author comes up with next.
I’m trying to come up with appropriate words to review Sadie, and I can’t find any that describe just how intense and crazy this book is.
This is a page turner of a book. It is one of those books you will continue reading when you go to bed. You will be late to work or appointments because you cannot stop reading Sadie.
Sadie is an emotional and tragic rollercoaster of a ride that will leave you wondering just what happened by the time it’s over.
I wish I could give half stars, I would go with 3 1/2
Sadie is being called a young adult thriller, centering on 19 year old Sadie. Told in alternating chapters of Sadie’s point of view and that of West McCray, host of a podcast, we follow Sadie from city to city trying to track down her little sister’s killer.
It took a little while to get into this story, I think partly due to the heavy subject matter. While the back of this book says YA THRILLER, I can’t see myself recommending it to any young adults I know, lol. Adults, yes, but the language alone would keep me from telling even older teens about it. Again, there are difficult subjects going on here, but the story & characters are well done, and the podcast aspect was an interesting touch.
Give it a try, it’s an interesting story
I received an ARC copy of Sadie by Courtney Summers in exchange for my unbiased review.
To begin, the cover art is intriguing as Sadie’s face is hidden behind her hair, leaving the reader with a haunting image of a lost girl.
Nineteen year-old Sadie has lived through a lot, beginning with a mother addicted to cigarettes, drugs, booze, and men. Her mothering skills were less than stellar, and Sadie grew up starving for her mother’s attention, acceptance, and love. Sadie finds purpose for her life when her baby sister Mattie is born. Mattie fills the void in Sadie’s heart. At some point, Claire leaves the girls and Sadie takes the role of single mother, drops out of school and gets a job to support herself and Mattie. Mattie is distraught and depressed over her mother’s departure until she receives a postcard from her mother from LA. Mattie seems to recover, but is adamant that Sadie and she go find Claire.
When Sadie denies the earnest request, Mattie decides to go anyhow. Sadie’s world becomes undone when Mattie is murdered. Sadie knows who the murderer is and decides to seek justice for Mattie’s life… Sadie will kill the man that killed her sister, even if it kills her…but she has to find him first.