A review by chelsealouise
Sadie by Courtney Summers

5.0

5/5 Stars: ‘Sadie’ is a Young Adult, Contemporary Mystery by Courtney Summers; ‘Sadie’ is a high-concept novel with a gritty punch. It alternates between chapters from Sadie’s perspective, following her as she tracks down a man who has perfected the art of disappearing, and West McCray’s True Crime Radio Show transcript called The Girls trying to find Sadie by following the little information the police offer. This compelling narrative drives up the anticipation and feeling of dread to almost unbearable heights at times. Sadie’s chapters are fast-paced and detail her shaking people down for clues to the killer’s whereabouts and the grimy secrets she finds along the way. As for McCray, his investigations try to get the truth out of the people Sadie met along the way. Between the two perspectives, it is completely riveting. It's impossible to put the book down once you’ve passed a certain moment in the novel because, much like West voices everyone’s ultimate fear in his podcast, “I can’t take another dead girl.” Not everyone will like Sadie, but personally, I was entranced by her. A young girl who had to grow up way too fast to look after her younger sister, who tried her best to make Mattie’s life great, was so relatable. Someone who’s never had the opportunity to be or do more, who worked relentless hours while going to school just to put a roof over her sister’s head. Someone who had to deal with others thinking she’s stupid because she has a stutter. A girl who put her sister above all else, even when that sister resented her for it. If you read the synopsis, you might think this is solely a story revolving around revenge—but it’s so much more than that. This story encapsulates a lot including children taking on way too much responsibility, neglectful parents, and the realities of poverty. Then there’s the dark underbelly to sisterhood, the unsettling realisation that monsters rarely look like monsters, and the cruel reminder that children are not as safe as you might hope. Underneath it all, however, is a running theme of love. Sadie’s love for Maddie that wasn’t enough, the love of a mother who could not measure up, the love that blinds us to the people we let into our homes, and into our children’s lives. Sadie might leave her town to find the killer of her sister—but she also tries to come to terms with her own past, guilt about what she could have done differently, and the person she’s become because of it. Ultimately, Summers doesn’t offer so much an ending as a resolution to Sadie’s story. It’s realistic because, much like in real life cases, closure is never just instantaneously given. It is an arduous process, and Summers reflects this throughout the book and in her ending. Trigger warning for: Child Abuse, Sexual Abuse and Assault, Violence, Child Abduction, Child Death, and Paedophilia.