Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

Sadie by Courtney Summers

91 reviews

chloenk_1011's review

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

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. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Addiction, Abandonment, Death, Alcoholism, Sexual assault, Drug abuse, Drug use, and Grief

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.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Abandonment, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Alcohol, Drug use, Domestic abuse, and Drug abuse

esmewasreading's review

challenging 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? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Mental illness, Death, Murder, Sexual assault, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Grief, and Violence

bashsbooks's review against another edition

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

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

claireswale's review

dark emotional sad 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? It's complicated

4.5

I listened to this book as an audio book which I would recommend since half of it’s supposed to be a podcast. However some of the voice actors were clearly just reading a script and weren’t very convincing in their role! If you like true crime podcasts though, this one’s for you! The story was pretty sad, especially the ending, which was almost too open ended to bear :( Sadie’s character and story is heartbreaking and it covers some difficult topics (see content warnings) but I recommend.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Blood, Panic attacks/disorders, Child abuse, and Grief

Moderate: Drug use

rmdougherty'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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Child abuse, Grief, Child death, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Rape

anielabooks's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

4.75

This book had been in my TBR for probably over a year before I decided to pick it up. I’d heard the audiobook was a good format to read it because of the podcast element. After listening to it, I wholeheartedly agree. Not only is the podcast element to the story heightened by the format, but Sadie’s stutter is portrayed amazingly by the voice actress. I decided to finally pick it up because it was available to borrow on Libby; I’m so glad I did. I’d definitely recommend this book to true-crime followers, especially those who listen to podcasts. The only reason I did not give this book 5 stars was because the beginning was a little confusing for me. That might just have been me getting used to reading audiobooks though; don’t let it discourage you.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Child death, Child abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, and Blood

Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Drug abuse, Rape, Murder, Abandonment, Drug use, and Addiction

Minor: Alcohol, Cancer, Bullying, Suicide, Stalking, Pregnancy, Grief, Death of parent, Vomit, Suicide attempt, Cursing, Violence, Toxic relationship, Death, Car accident, and Domestic abuse

hayleyfonhof's review

dark emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Pedophilia

Minor: Drug use, Murder, and Grief