Reviews tagging 'Drug abuse'

Sadie by Courtney Summers

221 reviews

hypofemmadchen's review against another edition

dark 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? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I HATE this book. It's a book that slowly drags you down a tunnel that is constantly getting smaller and smaller. By the time you get half way through, the tunnel you are in completely darkness, and you can feel your bones  breaking. By the time you reach the end being squeezed out the tunnel you will be nothing more than a mangled tube of meat, the only positive being the fact that you're able to see the sky again. However what was once the shining bright midday sun, now only a eastern band of gold holding the promise of a new day, but only if you are willing to wait. This is my new favorite book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Drug abuse, Addiction, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Violence, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Death, and Abandonment

Moderate: Drug abuse, Injury/Injury detail, Sexual violence, Violence, Child abuse, Drug use, and Grief

Minor: Gore, Pregnancy, Car accident, Blood, Eating disorder, Alcohol, and Medical content

sosocrafty's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad 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? It's complicated

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Murder, Death, Pedophilia, Blood, and Child abuse

Moderate: Addiction, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Death of parent and Drug abuse

blue_is_at_sea's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Addiction, Blood, Death, and Grief

Moderate: Classism, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Alcohol, and Addiction

Minor: Drug abuse, Pedophilia, Drug use, Child abuse, Classism, Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Murder, Rape, Sexual assault, and Stalking

mari_lit's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, and Grief

Moderate: Drug use, Drug abuse, Rape, Death, and Addiction

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

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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

grays_opinion's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

I would recommend Sadie to anyone interested in a gritty, dark revenge novel and can handle the subject matter (more on that later.) I loved how the story was told, with the narration switching back and forth between Sadie and West, a podcaster covering Sadie's disappearance months after she went missing. It definitely helped build suspense and give the reader more information as to what exactly was going on. West in particular has an interesting arc, going from resistant and unwilling to cover Sadie's disappearance to becoming invested not only in her story, but also in the lives of others involved in her life. Sadie herself doesn't actually undergo any character development, but it's definitely not a bad thing; it helps show her determination in her mission and how deeply she is grieving her sister. I didn't necessarily find myself loving West or Sadie either. I definitely didn't hate them (although I didn't like West's initial dismissal of Sadie's story) but I never really found myself loving them. They're both characters on a mission; I found myself more invested in their stories than the characters themselves. As for why I said "it's complicated" when referring to the diversity of the cast, the characters are largely not racially diverse, if that's something you're looking for. Both Sadie and West are LGBTQ+, but that's not a big part of the book (or even a small part of it.) What I'm trying to say is that if you are looking for a book that includes a lot of diversity and has a lot of focus on it, Sadie is not that book.

The reason I gave Sadie 4 stars and not 5 is because of the subject matter of child sexual abuse and pedophilia. It was difficult to process and generally something that I don't like to read about. However, I thought that the topics were handled well and in a sensitive manner. If you choose to read this book, definitely heed any and all content warnings you find.

Overall, Sadie is a really gripping book. I was invested in Sadie and her mission. She and West make for somewhat compelling characters, although the story focuses more on the plot than the characters. It's a very interesting story, and I would recommend it to anyone who likes true crime. This book does kind of have a true crime feel to it, except it's fictional haha. This is a very interesting, but very dark book; a good read overall.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Grief, Ableism, Injury/Injury detail, Abandonment, and Blood

Moderate: Cursing, Violence, Child abuse, Sexual violence, and Rape

Minor: Fire/Fire injury, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Murder

Sexual abuse of children is an important detail in this book, and it is heavily implied/confirmed throughout the story. Please please please sit this book out if you are triggered by that. If you choose to read the book anyways, please note that the content can be disturbing.

lydialesnevich's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Grief, Murder, Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug abuse, Blood, and Child death

itsacsa's review against another edition

4.0

 i knew this book could break me in a lot of pieces but i took the risk and yes, was so hard to process.

sadie had nothing but her sister and then she doesn't have her anymore, she was alone in a cruel world only with her thirst of revenge. i can say that i understood her. 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Drug abuse, Child abuse, Violence, and Murder

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

blythe_auden's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

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

4.0

This book didn’t end how I thought it would. And in some ways my brain is bitter for it. However, it does end in a way that feels authentic and real, as harrowing as it is. 
This book packed a punch with its rawness and I think if I had been able to listen to it as an audiobook I would’ve been even more hooked - the format of having a podcast and Sadie’s perspective is absolutely incredible and I wish more mysteries took on that aspect.
 Overall, this wasn’t a story that was so unbelievably action packed and attention grabbing but the characters and relationship between Sadie and Mattie is really what drives this book and makes it so heartbreaking, so I appreciate it immensely and I would recommend it to anyone who loves ya thrillers and mysteries because it is so good. 
Remember this is a heavy book so PLEASE CHECK TRIGGER WARNINGS! 

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Death, Pedophilia, Child abuse, and Drug abuse