Reviews tagging 'Sexual violence'

Sadie by Courtney Summers

136 reviews

chloenk_1011's review against another edition

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual assault, Blood, Sexual harassment, Mental illness, Murder, Sexual violence, Violence, Abandonment, Addiction, Child abuse, Drug use, Grief, Physical abuse, and Rape

glitterdeww's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I don't often pick up mystery thrillers, but I'm so glad that I read Sadie, by Courtney Summers. This is a gripping novel following the titular character, a nineteen year old girl full of guilt, grief, and rage after the murder of her little sister. If you have access to the audiobook of this novel, (check your local library app) I would highly recommend it. It's voiced by a full cast, and because half of the book follows a radio show host trying to piece together what happened, it sounds very much like a true crime podcast.

There are many ugly things in this book, so check content warnings. There's not a lot of graphic detail, just description enough to explain what happened to these girls. It's hard to look at, but like most difficult things I think it's important to understand what ugliness actually exists. I also want to stress that there's beauty in this novel, too. But it's the kind that makes your heart ache. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Murder, Addiction, Child abuse, Grief, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Violence, Rape, and Sexual violence

alexafuson's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I was really impressed by the quality of writing in this book, and the full-cast audiobook performance was AMAZING. It was beautiful and horrifying how much I was able to understand Sadie while reading this book. It was a bit different than other mystery novels to me because there was no major plot twist where you realized everything you thought was wrong. More and more information was slowly revealed which made the guess we all made early in the book feel more concrete. As for the ending, I understand the purpose of it, but I’m not sure I agree with how it ended. I was disappointed with the open ending, even though it was pretty easy to guess what happened next. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Gore, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Addiction, Sexual violence, and Rape

Moderate: Blood, Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, and Body horror

raix's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Pedophilia, Grief, Sexual violence, and Injury/Injury detail

vayalanay's review against another edition

adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Child death, Cursing, Death, Murder, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Sexual violence

faybae's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad 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? It's complicated

4.0

I borrowed this audiobook from the library, and I really think that's the best format for this. It made me cry at 3am.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Sexual violence, Rape, Pedophilia, Grief, Drug abuse, Death, Sexual assault, Murder, Child abuse, Child death, and Abandonment

bashsbooks's review

dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I don't know what I expected from Sadie but it was a much different book than I imagined. Crime thrillers are not really my typical genre, but this one came highly reccommended by a friend. I enjoyed Sadie herself as a character - by far, she was the best part of the book and her narration was great. I was iffy on the dual narrative structure (as half the chapters are transcripts from a podcast about Sadie and her sister, Mattie) - but I think it ultimately made the ending stronger. Wish it ended differently. I don't know. I will be thinking about it for a long time.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Grief, Addiction, Violence, Death, Emotional abuse, Abandonment, Child death, Child abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Alcohol, Sexual violence, Blood, Alcoholism, Murder, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Misogyny, Sexual assault, Rape, and Physical abuse

Minor: Vomit, Pregnancy, and Cancer

dr_readmore_17's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

I would not classify this as a YA novel. This book is dark with a lot of trauma triggers. Not sure how to feel about the ending

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence and Child abuse

nat_kiverse's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Violence, Child death, Cursing, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Addiction, Alcohol, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Blood, Bullying, Cancer, Car accident, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Death, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Stalking, Death of parent, Drug use, Emotional abuse, and Gaslighting

trashboatwinter's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad 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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Murder, Stalking, Child abuse, Death, Sexual violence, Child death, Addiction, and Sexual assault