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4.1 AVERAGE
4.1 AVERAGE
Wow, this book. I really loved it so very much. I read the audiobook since that's what everyone was recommending and omg they were right. Since it is in the format of a podcast, it was a super cool audiobook and I appreciated how it was full cast. This is a phenomenonal, heart wrenching book. Sometimes lines were just so powerful it felt like a punch right in the heart. This is my first Courtney Summers book and when I'm in the emotional place to be able to pick up another one of her books, I definitely will. This book was so gripping and intense. It dealt with such difficult issues with an element of rawness but also an understanding of what will be too triggering. That being said, trigger warning for sexual assault and abuse (physical and emotional), family struggles and drug addiction. This book dealt with grief in such a wonderful and Sadie was such an incredibly deep and complex character. I know some people did not like ending, I didn't hate it and kinda understood why Summers ended it how she did. I really loved the format, having both Sadie and the podcast, because it really adds to the level of suspense and gives you such a wide scope of the whole story. I really powerful story and I really love Courtney Summers writing style.
Terrific suspense novel with a very moving story about sisters. I was reading as I walked down the street for my commute because I couldn't put it down.
I couldn’t put this book down. A great YA thriller that kept me on edge. PROS: the format was by far my favorite part. I also loved that it becomes apparent that the podcast and Sadie’s narration are on different timelines and that Sadie’s fate has most likely already been determined. CONS: not a big con but the ending was frustrating although probably extremely realistic. Like lots of things in life, we don’t always get to see a crystal clear, neatly tied up resolution.
This book was so great, and I cannot wait to experience it a second time, but via audiobook, which everyone says is AMAZING. I consider myself pretty new to the thriller/mystery genre, but I'm wading in and this was a really good book to start out with. I loved the podcast element that was brought into it. These kinds of podcasts have been wildly successful and drawing on that obsession that podcast listeners get and working to evoke that in a book was genius.
Wow. This was such a book! It wasn't a light read by any means, and it covered some pretty heavy topics.
But y'all, the audiobook! Wow. It was a great smash up of an audiobook with a great cast and a podcast mixed in and everyone did such a great job. The music, the background sound effects, everything made it a fantastic listen. The way she kept saying, I'm dangerous. I have a knife. Ugh, that really got me every time!
And that ending, oof.
But y'all, the audiobook! Wow. It was a great smash up of an audiobook with a great cast and a podcast mixed in and everyone did such a great job. The music, the background sound effects, everything made it a fantastic listen. The way she kept saying, I'm dangerous. I have a knife. Ugh, that really got me every time!
And that ending, oof.
Spoiler
It takes a special book for me to accept an open ended ending like this. Not knowing whether or not Sadie died or why exactly/how Mattie died was tough, but I don't think it was necessarily wrong if that makes sense? I think it's a fitting ending for this book. I hope not, but I do think Sadie died at the end. I wanted so much more for her, she deserved so much more after everything she'd been through. I also can't help but wonder what would have changed, if anything, if Sadie had heard the podcaster West on the radio when she had the hitchhiker with her.
medium-paced
4.5 stars!! One of the best audiobooks I’ve ever listened to, and the story kept me intrigued the whole time. I really enjoyed the cast of characters Sadie met and left on her way to avenge her sister’s death. At points it left me feeling haunted, where certain lines hit as hard as one liners in a slam poem. I felt this deeply, and I believe the reader is meant to.
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wasn’t a fan of the podcast aspects or what I feel to be a dead end.
dark
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes