Reviews tagging 'Child abuse'

Sadie by Courtney Summers

415 reviews

magdamagbuecher's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

Ein unglaublich wichtiges Buch und ebenso schwer zu verdauen. Sehr zu empfehlen!

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Content Warnings

Minor: Child abuse and Pedophilia

amberacks12's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I initially picked this book up to read as my entry for Colorado in a personal Read Across America challenge involving reading one book set in every state. I picked Sadie because I didn’t want to read Stephen King, which I thought would be too dark for me. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into though, because Sadie is probably just as dark, but deals with real life horrors instead of fantastical ones. 
I will say I did not enjoy this book, because how does anyone enjoy books with the kind of topics addressed here? But despite the difficulty I had with many of the topics addressed, this book still definitely left an impact. 

Enjoyment: 2.5
Emotional impact: 4.5
Educational value: 5
=4 stars

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Cursing, Death, Drug abuse, Medical trauma, and Alcohol

Moderate: Pedophilia, Murder, and Abandonment

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

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

3.5

I feel so bad for giving this book a 3.5/5. It wasn't a bad book by any means but I just didn't really feel much towards it while I was reading it. I felt for Sadie, I really did. But I honestly couldn't connect to her as a character or anyone else for that matter, so much so, that I found myself enjoying the mixed media POV more than hers. I figured out the "mystery" aspects to this story earlier on so yay me for that, but no yay to what actually transpires in this book because it really hurts my heart to know that stuff like this actually happens to people in real life. Like this story could be real! Which, in turn, made my stomach churn to read at times. Considering the book is YA it doesn't go into detail about these heinous crimes but it does tell you what's up.  I'd say, for me, the story didn't pick until the 80% mark. Overall, it was a fine read, but nothing really speculator. The ending was inconclusive and I got the bonus content version and things are still left unresolved which was so annoying because there were a few questions left unanswered.

Like what happened to Sadie? We went through this entire book looking at her looking for Keith/Darren/Jack and we don't even get to see their confrontation?! It's just assumed that her stab wound killed him. And it's just assumed that Keith/Darren/Jack killed Mattie because it's never said for sure. And if he did, why? What did he have to gain by doing that? Also, we never find out what happens to Sadie even in the bonus chapter. So annoying! And not the way I wanted it to end, But whatever. Oh and also, that bit of Sadie indirectly leading Mattie to her death was such an unnecessary detail. Sadie literally never brings it up or even alludes to that in her POV.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Grief, and Alcohol

Moderate: Child death, Cursing, Death, and Injury/Injury detail

Minor: Cancer, Drug abuse, Drug use, Physical abuse, Violence, Vomit, Kidnapping, and Murder

garlicbread247's review against another edition

challenging dark 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? N/A

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Rape, Blood, Grief, and Abandonment

Moderate: Child death, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Hate crime, Physical abuse, Sexual violence, Stalking, and Murder

Minor: Car accident and Suicide attempt

lias_library22's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail

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

Minor: Rape and Blood

anna_blahh's review against another edition

dark sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

When i started reading i wasn't convinced by this book. But about at some point i was hooked. 
It gets dark and emotional. I even got goosebumps after i finished. 
I liked the ending but i know that this isn't for everybody.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction and Child death

Moderate: Child abuse, Rape, and Murder

annathechaoticreader's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

5.0

I thought it was a fantastic book, definitely one of my favourite young adult books. It was intense, thought provoking, with deeply flawed and complex characters that felt very distinct and human. It’s going to be a hard thriller to top for me! She not only told the story of fictional Sadie and Mattie but also the story of so many missing/murdered girls. On top of being a great read, its an important one that I would recommend to y/a and adult readers!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Addiction, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Blood, Grief, Murder, and Classism

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Eating disorder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, and Abandonment

teetea's review against another edition

adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Violence

Moderate: Child death, Drug abuse, and Murder

megold12's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Child death, Blood, and Murder

Moderate: Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Sexual assault

tibbarasden's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

5.0

Check trigger warnings as this deals with very hard topics. This book was so well done. I found the format very impactful, especially with the way it plays out towards the end. I really enjoyed the mixed media element with the podcast and the way the author combined it with the first-person pov. The thing that stood out most was how certain things weren't believed because of appearances. I found the communication struggles of Sadie to be well done. This one will be sticking with me for a while.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Addiction, Child abuse, Child death, Pedophilia, Grief, and Alcohol