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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
fast-paced
4.5
not sure how to put into words how i feel. i feel sad, mostly, and a deep sympathy for the girls in this story. this was an impeccably written story, and i’m glad that Summers is getting the attention and praise that she deserves.
not sure how to put into words how i feel. i feel sad, mostly, and a deep sympathy for the girls in this story. this was an impeccably written story, and i’m glad that Summers is getting the attention and praise that she deserves.
Very good book. Only a 3⭐ because it's slightly unclear how it ended and I wish it was more clear.
Caffeinated Reasons to Grab Sadie
- The story format includes podcasts, narratives from an investigative journalist and pov's from Sadie. The timeline weaves between Sadie's and West's bringing the past and present together. It built suspense and filled in blanks as the story unfolded allowing the reader to grasp what was happening before West.
- Journalist West McCray hears a story about a murdered young girl and soon learns about her missing sister.
- The girls' story is a dark and sadly it could have been ripped from today's headlines. They were raised in a trailer park on the outskirts of a small economically depressed town by their junkie mother and her long string of boyfriends. When their Mother abandons them Sadie takes over the care of her thirteen-year-old sister until Mattie goes missing and later discovered dead. Destroyed, Mattie's death became the catalyst for Sadie's journey.
- The story that unfolds is dark, twisted and suspenseful. As I read my palms began to sweat and Summers pulled at my heartstrings. We travel with Sadie and learn her story, but we also travel with West as he investigates and travels the path Sadie took. These threads finally merge and we learn as West does.
- Gritty and addictive Summers made me experience all of Sadie's emotions, fears and desires. I swore, I got angry, I even wept. The subject matter wasn't easy, but the story deserved to be told and I read on needing to know its outcome.
- Sadie is a powerful, complex character who is both broken and fearless. At the tender age of nineteen she has lived a hard life and carries heavy burdens regarding Mattie. She sets off to right a wrong and facedown a monster. Her journey takes her to some seedy places, offers her a glimpse at a life she's only dreamed of and allows her to see her own reflection mirrored by another. Along the way, Sadie makes a difference for others and perhaps finds a little peace for herself.
- Summers does justice to their story. The ending isn't wrapped up in a neat little bow, but it is one that will stay with you long after you've closed the book.
Cool audiobook but I do not enjoy books about women being abused and pedophilia. Probably should have read the description before diving into this one.
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I couldn’t put this book down. The subject matter was hard to read at times, but I’m glad I did.
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
"the worst has already happened."
as expected, extremely triggering for older sisters. but that's not why i'm giving it 5 stars. i don't judge a story by its level of sadness or the number of hard-hitting topics it discusses. i'm giving it 5 stars due to the fact that i can't remember ever being this impressed by a young adult book. i liked Six of Crows and A Deadly Education just fine, but they still felt pretty ya to me. this one forgets to remind you, except for two, maybe three instances, none related to characterization. a young protagonist who acts like it, and an author more concerned with portraying her in honesty than selling her to other young people. one week since finishing the book and i still catch myself missing Sadie. that feeling of watching Tár not quite believing Lydia Tár isn't real because not many people feel that expansive. as if they expanded the world a litte. except that Sadie is completely unremarkable, only remembered for her stutter. it's her, a stolen knife and broken words. she doesn't want to be remembered, however, she wants to be dangerous. she wants it so bad, the way only someone who always has to protect without ever being safe could. a wish hard to grant and hard to forget.
another thing that made this a memorable reading experience for me was the full-cast audiobook: it edges perfection. i had always planned to listen to it so i could better immerse myself in the podcast episodes that intertwine the chapters narrated by the protagonist. this meta quality provides the sole reason for Sadie to have endured on my tbr, as i couldn't care less about true crime podcasts and rarely pick up books of this genre (the who-did-it, what-happens-next, where-do-we-go-now type of books) or with this thematic (calling all women to read and rant about the real-life nightmare that could happen to them at any moment! what? you don’t like literature?). thankfully, everything is dealt with care: the narrative haunts the reader without being graphic, and the side characters' perceptions of the abusers bare a heartbreaking plausibility. furthermore, the audiobook enhances the story's format —a girl on a mission versus the investigation that follows her traces months late— so the atmosphere is also on point.
even more striking is the contrast between Sadie’s stutter and her fierce, almost vicious inner voice that gets tender bit by bit once she starts thinking about her murdered sister. she's always ready to put her knife to use and cut through whatever meat blocking her way (or at least she thinks she is, urges herself to be); then comes a memory or some vision of the past engraved in her subconsciousness and projected onto the world –for there are Sadies and Matties everywhere– combined with a yearning she can’t completely vanquish, and her narration takes a different color, becomes somewhat dreamy, a bit surreal. it’s a shame when Courtney Summers breaks the spell to remind us of the ya label attached to her book and explain that these visions are just Sadie’s trauma resurfacing. anyone can figure that out by themselves and still be caught off guard every time it happens as the memories pop up so naturally yet so abruptly our first thought is that we’re meeting new characters or passing strangers by. the author found a great way of incorporating flashbacks without the usual dullness that comes with them, so there was no need to show her hand like that (elements of the story that could use an actual explanation, like the mother’s motivations, get none). anyhow, the audiobook’s cast doesn’t waste all the groundwork and makes an already good story shine bright. now i wonder if the text alone would've been this dazzling. i know that last line wouldn’t have hit me as hard.
as expected, extremely triggering for older sisters. but that's not why i'm giving it 5 stars. i don't judge a story by its level of sadness or the number of hard-hitting topics it discusses. i'm giving it 5 stars due to the fact that i can't remember ever being this impressed by a young adult book. i liked Six of Crows and A Deadly Education just fine, but they still felt pretty ya to me. this one forgets to remind you, except for two, maybe three instances, none related to characterization. a young protagonist who acts like it, and an author more concerned with portraying her in honesty than selling her to other young people. one week since finishing the book and i still catch myself missing Sadie. that feeling of watching Tár not quite believing Lydia Tár isn't real because not many people feel that expansive. as if they expanded the world a litte. except that Sadie is completely unremarkable, only remembered for her stutter. it's her, a stolen knife and broken words. she doesn't want to be remembered, however, she wants to be dangerous. she wants it so bad, the way only someone who always has to protect without ever being safe could. a wish hard to grant and hard to forget.
another thing that made this a memorable reading experience for me was the full-cast audiobook: it edges perfection. i had always planned to listen to it so i could better immerse myself in the podcast episodes that intertwine the chapters narrated by the protagonist. this meta quality provides the sole reason for Sadie to have endured on my tbr, as i couldn't care less about true crime podcasts and rarely pick up books of this genre (the who-did-it, what-happens-next, where-do-we-go-now type of books) or with this thematic (calling all women to read and rant about the real-life nightmare that could happen to them at any moment! what? you don’t like literature?). thankfully, everything is dealt with care: the narrative haunts the reader without being graphic, and the side characters' perceptions of the abusers bare a heartbreaking plausibility. furthermore, the audiobook enhances the story's format —a girl on a mission versus the investigation that follows her traces months late— so the atmosphere is also on point.
even more striking is the contrast between Sadie’s stutter and her fierce, almost vicious inner voice that gets tender bit by bit once she starts thinking about her murdered sister. she's always ready to put her knife to use and cut through whatever meat blocking her way (or at least she thinks she is, urges herself to be); then comes a memory or some vision of the past engraved in her subconsciousness and projected onto the world –for there are Sadies and Matties everywhere– combined with a yearning she can’t completely vanquish, and her narration takes a different color, becomes somewhat dreamy, a bit surreal. it’s a shame when Courtney Summers breaks the spell to remind us of the ya label attached to her book and explain that these visions are just Sadie’s trauma resurfacing. anyone can figure that out by themselves and still be caught off guard every time it happens as the memories pop up so naturally yet so abruptly our first thought is that we’re meeting new characters or passing strangers by. the author found a great way of incorporating flashbacks without the usual dullness that comes with them, so there was no need to show her hand like that (elements of the story that could use an actual explanation, like the mother’s motivations, get none). anyhow, the audiobook’s cast doesn’t waste all the groundwork and makes an already good story shine bright. now i wonder if the text alone would've been this dazzling. i know that last line wouldn’t have hit me as hard.
This book was hard to read. It was about revenge, failure, and the love of two sisters. It’s heartbreaking. I really liked the true crime podcast transcripts. That part is so relevant today in 2023 where people are super into true crime and everyone thinks they can go online and make something that could solve the crime. The ending was difficult but so true. Sometimes we don’t ever know about what happened to missing girls. It’s even more true when you think about how Sadie was a white missing girl and got more attention via the podcast but think about all the girls of color who go missing every day and their stories aren’t told. I think that this book and Mondays not coming will be good to talk about in comparison with each other during the book club.
