Scan barcode
karyn_'s review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
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
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, and Alcohol
Moderate: Blood
judyannemarcelo's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Blood, and Sexual harassment
thelittlemermaid11's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Grief, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Abandonment, Alcohol, and Injury/Injury detail
ambergray's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
beautiful yet disturbing. i will never not recommend this book, so incredibly powerful.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Murder, and Abandonment
Minor: Sexism and Suicide attempt
arubunwritten's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
CW: abuse, paedophilia, drugs, neglect, violence
Sadie follows two threads of a story, the first is in the form of a podcast called The Girls, following the disappearance of Sadie Hunter after the murder of her sister. The second is Sadie's point of view as she sets on a path of revenge because she knows who killed her sister.
I don't usually listen to audiobooks but for Sadie it felt appropriate due to the podcast chapters and I definitely recommend it because they've done an excellent job. The podcast chapters are spot on, the voices are excellent and Sadie's actress is fantastic and displays such a good range of emotion.
Sadie is not an easy story to read by any means. It's about abuse, neglect, murder and there's a running thread throughout the book that girls go missing all of the time, bad things happen to runaways and poor girls and that seemingly good men can get away with hideous things for years. Summers tells you that this story isn't unique but that doesn't mean it shouldn't matter.
The story is compelling, each chapter has Sadie finding another clue and she moves another step towards revenge and the podcast chapters expand on the world and characters of the book. It makes the characters feel more realistic, seeing Sadie's perspective vs how they portray themselves when they are interviewed in the podcast. It made me think about all of the true crime podcasts I listen to and how one-sided or incomplete they must be.
There's an element of mystery and dramatic irony in the telling where the readers know what is happening to Sadie but the podcast is only just finding out and you so desperately want them to connect the dots.
I really fell in love with Sadie as a character. She's tough and she's angry but she is a product of her circumstances. Her anchor in life was her sister, Mattie, and when she is murdered, the only real choice she has is to exact revenge. She has so many facets to her character and Summers really takes you through her pain, her having to grow up so fast and how helpless she feels. Something Sadie wants desperately to believe is that she's dangerous to the men that can harm her, but over and over again, we are reminded that she's just a teenage girl - and one from an impoverished background at that.
I loved this book and I will be thinking about it for a long time.
Sadie follows two threads of a story, the first is in the form of a podcast called The Girls, following the disappearance of Sadie Hunter after the murder of her sister. The second is Sadie's point of view as she sets on a path of revenge because she knows who killed her sister.
I don't usually listen to audiobooks but for Sadie it felt appropriate due to the podcast chapters and I definitely recommend it because they've done an excellent job. The podcast chapters are spot on, the voices are excellent and Sadie's actress is fantastic and displays such a good range of emotion.
Sadie is not an easy story to read by any means. It's about abuse, neglect, murder and there's a running thread throughout the book that girls go missing all of the time, bad things happen to runaways and poor girls and that seemingly good men can get away with hideous things for years. Summers tells you that this story isn't unique but that doesn't mean it shouldn't matter.
The story is compelling, each chapter has Sadie finding another clue and she moves another step towards revenge and the podcast chapters expand on the world and characters of the book. It makes the characters feel more realistic, seeing Sadie's perspective vs how they portray themselves when they are interviewed in the podcast. It made me think about all of the true crime podcasts I listen to and how one-sided or incomplete they must be.
There's an element of mystery and dramatic irony in the telling where the readers know what is happening to Sadie but the podcast is only just finding out and you so desperately want them to connect the dots.
I really fell in love with Sadie as a character. She's tough and she's angry but she is a product of her circumstances. Her anchor in life was her sister, Mattie, and when she is murdered, the only real choice she has is to exact revenge. She has so many facets to her character and Summers really takes you through her pain, her having to grow up so fast and how helpless she feels. Something Sadie wants desperately to believe is that she's dangerous to the men that can harm her, but over and over again, we are reminded that she's just a teenage girl - and one from an impoverished background at that.
I loved this book and I will be thinking about it for a long time.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, and Abandonment
sarahsbookss's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-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? It's complicated
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gore, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Grief, Murder, and Abandonment
Moderate: Cursing and Death
thereadingshelf's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Grief, Murder, and Sexual harassment
lilianmelgoza's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault
Minor: Blood
harpy_reads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
The book was interesting enough to keep my attention, but it does end in a major cliff hanger and the author has said she does not plan on writing a sequel. This always irritates me, so that's part of the reasoning for such a low rating. I likely won't recommend it to others, and I wouldn't read it again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Cursing, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, and Violence
There is talk of minors experiencing sexual abuse at the hands of an adult - but it is not graphic. There is also brief mentions of violence perpetrated by the main character.cheraquili's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
4.75
"It was a terrible thing, sure, but we live in a world that has no shortage of terrible things. You can’t stop for all of them."
4.75 stars
WARNING: There is both drug and sexual abuse!
What a beautifully emotional novel!
I listened to this via the audiobook, which is with a full cast, and I honestly could not be more glad that I did. The audiobook made the book feel as if it was an actual podcast with a real crime case. In fact, the characters felt so real, which is the reason why I think that ending was so emotional for me.
"I can hear a lie a mile away. It’s not some superhero perk from stuttering, being in tune to other people’s emotional bullshit. It’s just what happens after a lifetime of listening to liars."
I must admit that about halfway through the novel, I started to get slightly bored; I did not feel that I was fully enjoying Sadie's perspective. Indeed, I initially thought that my final rating for Sadie would be either 2 or 3 stars.
"Ever since Mattie died, it’s been like this, this surfacing of ugly things, forcing me to witness them because living through it all wasn’t enough."
Fortunately, the emotional ending made me love this novel as much as I was in the beginning! As previously mentioned, I was not aware of how much I was connected with the characters until the end. This was conveyed to me since it had me sobbing , and it has been quite a while since I cried because of a book. Additionally, right after I finished this novel, the first thing I wanted to do was to go up to my mother and talk to her about Sadie.
"For some people, the future ahead is opportunity. For others, it’s only time you haven’t met and where I lived, it was only time. You don’t waste your breath trying to protect it. You just try to survive it until one day, you don’t."
All in all, I just have to say this novel is definitely a MUST read, especially via audiobook. Apart from the fact that it is extremely emotional , which I have repeated several times throughout my review, it is also very intriguing and deals with heavy subjects in a special way.
Undoubtedly, I would recommend this novel to anyone who is not afraid to shed a tear!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault