Sadie by Courtney Summers

4.5 Stars

Publisher: St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books

Day of publication: September 4th, 2018

Genre: Young Adult, Mystery, Thriller, Suspense

Where you can find Sadie: Amazon | Barnes and Noble

Book synopsis (from Goodreads):

Sadie hasn’t had an easy life. Growing up on her own, she’s been raising her sister Mattie in an isolated small town, trying her best to provide a normal life and keep their heads above water. 

But when Mattie is found dead, Sadie’s entire world crumbles. After a somewhat botched police investigation, Sadie is determined to bring her sister’s killer to justice and hits the road following a few meager clues to find him.

When West McCray—a radio personality working on a segment about small, forgotten towns in America—overhears Sadie’s story at a local gas station, he becomes obsessed with finding the missing girl. He starts his own podcast as he tracks Sadie’s journey, trying to figure out what happened, hoping to find her before it’s too late.

My review:

I had seen reviews for Sadie on various blogs that I follow. All them good. I thought to myself “This book can’t be THAT good.” I had gotten Sadie as an ARC a few months back but due to school vacation, I fell behind on my reviews. So I went into reading this book with a fair amount of skepticism. Well, let me take back everything I thought to myself. Sadie was amazing. There are very few books that I will get completely immersed in and Sadie was one.

I loved the way it was written. It was split between being told as a podcast and from Sadie’s POV. Not only did I get to see the effect of Sadie’s leaving had on people. But I also got to read about what Sadie was thinking when she started off on her journey to find Keith.

I loved how the author dangled parts of the plotline. Instead of giving everything all at once, she broke things up into little pieces. You know that Mattie, Sadie’s younger sister, was killed. You know that Sadie didn’t deal with it well. It’s the underneath that the author takes her time revealing. It was drawn out. Sadie would reveal something then it would switch to McCray as he is doing this podcast. What was revealed was explained after the fact, by the people affected. It was interesting because not everything was told to McCray.

McCray was trying to do good with his podcast but it seemed like he was always 3 steps behind Sadie. At one point, I got mad because he kept running into dead ends. But, Sadie did make it easy for him to follow her. She left clues. I could see McCray getting more and more involved in this case the more time he spent on it. He went from an impersonal radio host to a human being trying his best to find a missing girl. It was interesting to see that transformation.

I should have seen what Keith did to Sadie coming. It wasn’t addressed until after Sadie found those pictures. Then, I understood while she was doing this for Mattie, she was also doing it for herself and the other girls that Keith victimized. If Keith had stayed away, Sadie would have gone on with her life, caring for Mattie. But he came back and bad things happened. That broke Sadie. So yes, I wasn’t surprised that she decided to go after him.

I was angry with Sadie’s mother. She was the catalyst for everything. Either she didn’t know or she turned a blind eye to what was going on. But, when he dared to attempt something on Mattie, she threw him out. Even with Mattie dead and Sadie gone, her mother mourned only for Mattie. I don’t think she had it in her to love Sadie (even though she said she did). May Beth, the surrogate grandmother, shed more tears for Sadie than her own mother. That showed how empty Sadie’s life was.

I couldn’t believe the ending. I tried to flip to the next page because I refused to believe that the author ended it that way. I might have shouted “Seriously!!!” Talking about frustrating. But genius of the author. Because it made you think. And, unfortunately, it ended as it would have in real life. With more questions than answers.

What I liked about Sadie:

A) Relatable characters

B) How it was written

C) Was able to get completely immersed in it.

What I disliked about Sadie:

A) Keith

B) Sadie’s mother

C) The ending

I gave Sadie a 4.5-star rating. I was completely immersed in this book from page 1. This was a fantastic book to read. The only downside to it was the ending. Other than that, a great book to read.

I gave Sadie an Older Teen rating. There are sex and sexual references. There is language. There is violence. I would recommend that no one under the age of 16 read this book.

I would reread Sadie. I would also recommend this book to family and friends.

I would like to thank St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books, and NetGalley for allowing me to read and review Sadie

All opinions stated in this review of Sadie are mine.

**I chose to leave this review after reading an advance reader copy**