Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Sadie by Courtney Summers

244 reviews

melimar's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I started this book not knowing if I would like the format, which switches from Sadie’s POV to West’s POV to snippets of a podcast about Sadie and her sister’s lives. I don’t know how it would have differed to read the book in print, but the audio format helped the different POVs come together well. I really enjoyed this book, though there were some things that kept me from giving it a higher score. It is a bit difficult to get through parts of this book, due to the topics. The ending was a tiny bit disappointing, but I understand why the author made the choice to end it that way. I’m glad I chose to listen to the audiobook version of the book. The narration in this book was absolutely amazing. 

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Content Warnings

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

nicolemariecreative's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Murder, Physical abuse, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Abandonment and Alcoholism

taylorthebookwitch'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

4.5

This one was heavy, for sure. I listened to it on audio, which was fantastic for the podcast element of the story. It was full cast, which I loved, and I thoroughly recommend the audio if you can listen to it that way.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pedophilia, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Murder, Addiction, Death, Rape, Abandonment, and Alcoholism

nyantastic's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, and Blood

Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Rape, Sexual assault, Abandonment, Child abuse, Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Violence, Pedophilia, Death, and Murder

Minor: Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Drug use, Bullying, and Drug abuse

hlear's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Murder, Sexual assault, and Death

whamarillo's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Murder, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, and Pedophilia

douaaa's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

As a woman who was once a girl and maybe still is , this book touched me profoundly. It was unapologetically dark and emotional without even having the tragic scenes described.
I was reading this book as YA and it shouldn’t be put in this genre
I will always have Sadie in a part of my heart I will always think about this book. I cried a lot at the end tears of anger, for Sadie for her sister mattie and for every girl who had to live this because it happened and is happening all around the world in this minute.

📍SPOILER”:
“Sadie is alive maybe not in the book but in my heart she is in my heart she runs away start a new life and have a daughter of her own somewhere else 
As a girl this book represents my deepest fears abuse sexual abuse and losing my sister to a man”

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Rape, Murder, and Pedophilia

shoppy96's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

Read the trigger warnings 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Murder, Violence, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Death, and Grief

aprilyvonne's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

5.0

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“Sadie” by Courtney Summers broke me. My eyes are still puffy and I’ve used more tissues in the last couple of hours than I normally do while reading. It’s always hard to review a book that tears your heart outside of its body, while recognizing that you also appreciated the story. I can’t even decide on which word to describe this reading experience. Either way, “Sadie” was well written, vivid, but also heart wrenching and horrid.

I didn’t know anything going into the novel, so the true crime podcast style was a welcomed touch. Yet, once more details about the crimes came to light, the more painful it was to read. 

Sadie’s character will live on in my memory for a long time due to her tenacity, grit, and heart, which were enthralling and admirable qualities. Considering all what she had gone though, it was hard not to feel for her. The whole messy situation and family dynamics shed light on so many unspoken issues in the world. Unfortunately, some of those reminders hit too close to home at times. 

West McCray, the journalist that goes on this journey with readers in search of what happened and the search for Sadie, was genuine and sincere. I listened to the audiobook while following along with my hardcopy (as I often do). The narrators were authentic and clearly made the the “podcast” feel real - too real. Overall, I’m glad I read this, but I’ll need some time to recuperate. 

I would like to warn readers to check the triggers prior to reading just in case. 

Please be kind and gentle with others, as you never know what someone’s going through. 

QOTD: What was your last 5 ⭐️ read? Any great audiobook recommendations?

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Death, Violence, Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Murder, Misogyny, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Child death, Child abuse, Addiction, Sexual violence, Rape, and Abandonment

ross_emm's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

I'm always down for a dual POV book and this delivered! the written format of the podcast works very well for me and I love the way the story weaves back and forth through sadie and the podcast. a devastating read but well worth it

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug use, Sexual assault, Death, Murder, Blood, and Drug abuse

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Vomit