Reviews with content warning for Ableism - Sadie

What an A+ listening experience on audio!!! Truly fantastic audiobook I recommend to folks who are into true crime podcasts. (But please check the Content Warnings). A gripping and compelling mystery, but with a lackluster ending. Regardless, a lot of good stuff happening here. I get why this audiobook took booksta by storm!

Content Warnings

themword's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

Rating: ★★★★★

Non-Spoiler Review:

‘Sadie’ by Courtney Summers is an incredibly gripping story told in two perspectives: Sadie, a young girl looking to avenge her sister’s murder and West McCray, a radio personality who’s searching for Sadie months after her disappearance.

I loved this book. The plot was super interesting and relevant. And even though this book wasn’t as unpredictable as mysteries are often expected to be, I was kept on the edge of my seat thorough all of it. Summers made Sadie’s and McCray’s journeys incredibly riveting by slowly revealing pieces of the circumstances that led to Mattie’s death and Sadie’s disappearance. And it was all wrapped up in a nice little bow with an ending that may not answer all of the reader’s questions but will satisfy them by how realistic it is.

All the characters, especially Sadie and McCray, were extremely well written. Sadie is unique, relatable, and engaging. She’s easy to like and thus, has no trouble gaining the reader’s support even before the full details of her quest are revealed. Moreover, I appreciated how she could be described as an unreliable narrator. Even though the reader wants to believe she’s justified in her actions, her promptness to violence and mixed feelings for her sister pricks at the back of your mind making you question whether she’s as innocent as she would have us believe.

On the other hand, McCray’s character is a breath of fresh air. In a world where almost every book’s main detective has pure intentions, McCray differs by being a more truthful representation of our actual society. In our world, like McCray insists on the story, “Girls go missing all the time” and most people don’t care about it unless they are related to the missing girl or the girl in question comes from a wealthy and/or powerful family. And by having a detective with this “carelessness”, Summers does an excellent job portraying the flaws in our society when it comes to these tragedies. The social commentary throughout all of the book was brilliant and nobody displayed it more perfectly than the radio host. It’s true that in the search for the most interesting, unique, and dramatic story, humanity has desensitized from the horribleness of the “mundane”.

Moreover, I also loved that the writing style in McCray’s portion of the story simulates a crime podcast. It made his segments extremely interesting and unique, especially since I read this book via audiobook. It was a fantastic experience. The even had a theme song for his podcast!

I would recommend this book to every fan of mysteries and crime dramas/podcasts. And I 100% recommend listening to the audiobook, it has an amazing cast and format. All of the Voice Actors did an incredible job portraying their character’s emotions, especially the VA for Sadie. She was amazing.

However, before reading this book, make sure to check out the Trigger Warnings since it does deal with sensible subjects that not all readers may be comfortable with.

🔗: https://linktr.ee/themword.books

Content Warnings

danidamico's review against another edition

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dark sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

Me gustó bastante. Tal vez si lo hubiera leído hace algunos años me habría impactado más, porque lamentablemente lo que sucede cuando uno lee muchísimo y encima es estudiante de literatura es que empezás a verle los hilos a los textos, los lugares comunes, las partes flojas. Creo que Courtney Summers construye una buena historia que logra mantener al lector interesado durante toda la novela, eso realmente lo valoro porque no es fácil cautivar la atención durante casi 300 páginas. Peeero la escritura me pareció un poco plana, con descripciones precarias como "tall and skinny guy", momentos donde para mi gusto faltaba profundizar en la caracterización de los personajes, particularizar más el texto para que no se volviera tan genérico.

Sin embargo el tema sobre el cual trata es muy importante y creo que lo aborda con suficiente sensibilidad. Casualmente, el libro que leí antes que Sadie también tocaba el mismo tema pero de una manera que me pareció asquerosa e innecesariamente gráfica, así que aprecio que Summers haya evitado el camino de la explotación de los cuerpos. Es una novela muy recomendable para adolescentes especialmente, porque llama la atención sobre una temática indispensable de ser hablada sin dejar de construir una novela atrapante llena de suspenso.

Content Warnings