Reviews with content warning for Sexual assault - Sadie

Sadie was a decent read; the writing kept you engaged with the alternating narration styles (Sadie's point of view and the podcast episode transcriptions focusing on the investigation of her disappearance). At times, the content was slightly difficult to read but definitely not the worst out there. Some of the characters were more developed than others. Specifically, I thought West's personality could have shown through more but he was not the focus of the story by any means, so that's okay. I was left disappointed with the conclusion (or lack thereof) to the novel, and that contributes majorly to my 3 star rating.

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nikkiahaley's review against another edition

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

5.0

This was a wonderful, amazing, difficult read. I listened to the audiobook and i think it is the way to read this. A full cast makes it gut wrenching. Especially with the podcast section of the book.

This is the type of book that makes you want to scream for the characters, many got dealt a bad hand and are dealing with the aftermath of their choices and many are pieces of shits who deserve to get curb stomped. I think that is something that full cast audiobook adds. The podcaster we follow we get to know, we learn his motivations, the things that he is struggling with. We hear Sadie's inner monologue and her pain for her sister. We hear maybeth saying "not another dead girl".

This book is going to put me in a book hangover. Everyone should read this.

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good_names_dont_exist's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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cdelgado88284's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated

5.0

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sarah_shelf's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad

4.0

I’m not quite sure how to begin with this book. It’s powerful and heavy and so vastly different from what I thought it was going to be. And I know this is going to sit with me for a long time.

This book is described like a mystery, but it’s really not about that at all. At least not in the way I think of traditional mysteries. The narrative is told from the perspective of Sadie searching for her little sister Mattie’s killer and from Wes McCray a podcast journalist who has picked up Sadie’s story after she has gone missing. The general whodunit and why that I was expecting isn’t really a part of it. Sadie knows what happened (even if it takes a while for her to explain that to us) and Wes’ investigation is largely parallel and two steps behind Sadie’s journey. Rather, the focus is on the sisters’ relationship: how much Sadie loves Mattie as well as the things she is willing to do for that love because no one else will.

I was not prepared for the monster Keith/Darren/Jack was. (Seriously check the content warnings. I was caught off guard and even more unsettled because of it). So much of Sadie’s journey involves the effects and reactions to his abuse, which is never fully described on the page. Instead we get disturbing flashback scenes of creepy behavior, the emotional turmoil of the evidence he and Silas kept, as well as testimonies from a host of characters who thought they were great guys. All of that makes this so much more real because “girls go missing all the time” but rarely are we forced into the true aftermath of these stories.

There was no other way to end this book. Apparently the ending is contentious, and I get that because usually such an open-ending feels unfinished and unsatisfying, but it would have hurt the story to do things differently.

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jamiee_f's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Teetering between 4 and 5 stars. A good book, but not at all what I expected. I saw this marketed as a YA book about a girl solving her sisters murder and got.....a young woman avenging her sister's death and her own years of sexual abuse.

I listened to the audiobook, which was immaculately produced and put together. I highly recommend that format, given the podcast components of the book. Once I realized it wasn't the book I was expecting, I fell for the book. It was compelling, sad, real, and I was rooting for Sadie. The way the story unfurled kept me intrigued, and I couldn't put it down.

This book explores how good people have to do bad things to survive, and bad people do good things to fly under the radar. Sadie is angry and hurt and on a mission, but she is driven by deep love. She is an angry, messy protagonist and I didn't mind not having an explicit ending for her. Her final scene was beautifully written and I felt the emotion from the moment she started talking to the little girl on the stoop.

I also think the author's use of the podcast narrative was a great way to force the reader/listener to grapple with consumption of true crime. I thought the mother character was treated with compassion, and I agreed when she asked West WHY he was doing this. Having the podcast host be a man helped establish the....commentary on the true crime industrial complex.

I do think this is an adult book, but I do recommend it. Characters were fleshed out and complex, and the audiobook was excellent.

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blue_is_at_sea's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Very good book!
I highly recommend that you listen to the audiobook version of this story. It has great sound design and has multiple voice actors to add to the story.

It’s absolutely heartbreaking reading about Sadie and her life and what she goes through. It’s amazing and highly recommended.
It has very dark themes so keep that in mind.

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