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nikkiahaley's review against another edition
- 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.
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.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, and Violence
cdelgado88284's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Child death, Cursing, Grief, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Blood, Child abuse, Addiction, Murder, and Rape
sarah_shelf's review against another edition
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.
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.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Grief, Death, and Child death
Minor: Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Alcohol, Murder, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Sexual assault, and Sexual harassment
michelle_my_belle's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Violence, Ableism, Addiction, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Blood, Child death, Death, Death of parent, and Grief
Moderate: Drug abuse and Drug use
Minor: Bullying
stevie02's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Child abuse, and Pedophilia
Moderate: Death, Murder, Abandonment, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Rape, and Alcoholism
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.
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
caitlynischeckedout's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
sad
5.0
I listened to this as an audiobook and I highly recommend it! It had a full cast and the podcast portions are set up to feel like a real podcast, which really brings the story to life. It’s also easier to differentiate between the characters then as there is a decent number of them in the story. Every character is so real and flawed and fleshed out really well.
Sadie’s journey is so hard to follow but so impossible to put down once you start. I kept trying to fit in listening here and there even when I was busy to pick it up as much as possible. This heartbreaking story will stick with me a long time, I can’t stop thinking about it since I read it.
I generally hate ambiguous endings but I feel the ending of this story fits so well with the book, I can’t complain. It seems to sum up the message the author wants to get across well. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, I highly recommend it if you’re in the mood for a poignant, moving story.
Sadie’s journey is so hard to follow but so impossible to put down once you start. I kept trying to fit in listening here and there even when I was busy to pick it up as much as possible. This heartbreaking story will stick with me a long time, I can’t stop thinking about it since I read it.
I generally hate ambiguous endings but I feel the ending of this story fits so well with the book, I can’t complain. It seems to sum up the message the author wants to get across well. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time, I highly recommend it if you’re in the mood for a poignant, moving story.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Addiction, Abandonment, Death, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Grief
kaiouelios's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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? It's complicated
4.25
Content Warnings
Moderate: Pedophilia, Violence, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Emotional abuse, Drug abuse, Alcoholism, and Blood
gen_wolfhailstorm's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
The Details:
Narrated by full cast
Unabridged
Well, what a fantastic production this was. I'm so glad I went ahead and waited until I had an Audible account to get to this one. The full cast really made this story special.
The way this story unfolded was genius. I felt like I could really connect with Sadie and the people that tried to help her on her journey.
It left me with a weird feeling of melancholy and heart ache. What Sadie set as her mission was valiant and selfless and I was with her for the whole of it.
I thought we'd have a more closed conclusion, but with a story like this, I mean it mirrors real life so well... there never really is a conclusion to the mysteries of life.
Narrated by full cast
Unabridged
Well, what a fantastic production this was. I'm so glad I went ahead and waited until I had an Audible account to get to this one. The full cast really made this story special.
The way this story unfolded was genius. I felt like I could really connect with Sadie and the people that tried to help her on her journey.
It left me with a weird feeling of melancholy and heart ache. What Sadie set as her mission was valiant and selfless and I was with her for the whole of it.
I thought we'd have a more closed conclusion, but with a story like this, I mean it mirrors real life so well... there never really is a conclusion to the mysteries of life.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Abandonment, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Drug use, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse
libraryraven's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence, Pedophilia, Drug abuse, Murder, Toxic relationship, and Alcoholism