Sadie

… because thats how emotionally drained I feel since swiping the last page on Sadie. Future readers, stock up on the tissues, and keep them handy at all times while reading. Youll need them!

WEST MCCRAY: She [Sadie] lived for Mattie, lived to love, care for and protect her little sister, with every breath.

Sadie Hunter only ever had one goal in life to protect her little sister, Mattie. To shield her as much as possible from the harsh reality of their poverty-stricken trailer park existence, living with an alcoholic, drug-addicted mother, and her revolving door of boyfriends. For thirteen years Sadie kept her safe, until the dreadful day Mattie was murdered. A year later, sees Sadie on the road, hunting down her sisters killer. Now Sadie is missing, and radio producer, West McCray is determined to get to the truth of what happened to her. Following her trail, he uses a serialised podcast titled The Girls to record and report his findings. May Beths (who owns the trailer park, and has a Grandmothers love for Sadie) only wish is that West finds Sadie and brings her home to her.

Ive been anticipating the release of Sadie forever, pre-ordered it in June, and have yet to see a review under 4-stars. Last year I was fortunate enough to read Some Girls Are (all the stars from me), so I was already a fan of Courtney Summers, and her ability to tackle timely, tough, real world teenage issues, in a realistic, emotional, thought-provoking manner. The former was dark in places, but Sadie is even bleaker, so if youre expecting a happy book then this is not the read for you. Warning for sensitive and disturbing content. References are used sparingly, and avoid great detail, but are still horrible to read. Also if you are feeling low, or dealing with a stressful situation in your own life, this may not be the right time to pick up Sadie, as it wont cheer you up. Although it may put your own problems into perspective!

I was immediately drawn to Sadie as a character, even before I got to her POV. Its impossible not to warm to someone who has so much love for another human being, who is selfless to such an extreme that she fails to care about her own well-being and future. Reading her POV only further cemented my love for Sadie, and I feared for her safety, prayed she wouldnt sacrifice herself in her search for answers, and quest for revenge. All I wanted for Sadies future was the kindness, love, and happiness she so richly deserved.

There were so many emotional moments, but one part that really got to me was the reveal of who came up with the title for the podcast, and the reason it was called The Girls (which went beyond the obvious just so you know).

I thought it was realistic, yet shocking, the amount of people who encountered Sadie on her journey, saw she was in distress, yet did nothing. This is a real, current issue of people not wanting to get involved for a variety of reasons the topmost being that we all have so much going on in this fast-paced world, and we just dont have the time or the energy to help out.

Sadie is an ambitious book (especially for the YA genre), that is completely different from anything I have ever read, and I applaud Courtney Summers for writing it. Chapters alternating between the podcast and Sadies POV were a unique way to structure a novel, and really upped the originality. Also cute how Macmillan Publishing has released an actual podcast, available on iTunes (which I have yet to listen to, but plan to). Very cool accompaniment!

My current top YA read for 2018! This ones going to be hard to beat. Courtney Summers, whatever you plan on writing next, I will be there hitting the pre-order button. Recommend to all the adults and teens in my life.

At the time Im writing this review, its been a couple of days since I finished Sadie, and I still havent fully processed it. This is one of those stories that seeps into your bones somewhere along the way, and it changes the way you look at the world a little. It is the best mysteryand one of the best books, periodthat I have ever read, and it is also one of the bleakest, most devastating reading experiences of my life.

You know, going into this story, that Sadies little sisters body has just been found, and Sadie is on a mission to track down the man she believes is responsible. Besides the fact that its a story partially told through podcast episodes (which is such an incredible touch), thats all you really need to know. This isnt about what happens so much as it is about coming to know and love Sadieand to know and love Mattie, too, through her memories. Its about recognizing that the society we live in has this terrifying, grimy layer that nobody wants to talk about, where little girls are never really safe, and children are forced to grow up way too fast, to become adults in replacement of the parents they didnt ask for.

With a mother suffering from addiction, a community that looked the other way far too many times, and a life of barely keeping food on the table, much less having any real opportunities to succeed, Sadie feels like such an old soul. I dont know how many readers will struggle to relate to the age of her inner monologue, but from another woman whose circumstances never quite allowed me to feel like a child, I saw so much of myself in the cynical, pragmatic way Sadie views the world around her.

Its hard enough to grow up poor and in a broken family, but Sadies also queershe doesnt label herself, but explains her sexuality in ways that heavily point to pansexualityand she stutters, which forms a barricade between her and the rest of the world. Her representation feels so valid and genuine, and it broke my heart every time she mused about how imprisoned she felt by her struggles with speech.

More than anything else about Sadies character, though, I loved the fierce, maternal determination she has for taking care of Mattieand, once Mattie is gone, for finding her killer and dishing out justice. Every memory of Mattie, whether told through her view of their adopted grandmother May Beths, is beautiful and haunting. The tremendous amount of guilt that Sadie carries as she blames herself for what went wrong had me completely breaking down in passages, and Ill admit without shame that I read the last several chapters through tears. The most brutal part of it all is that, somehow, it feels like Sadies story could be based on a real girlno, on countless real girls, all over the world.

Without spoiling the plot, I want to warn you that this book focuses heavily on child abuse and sexual assault, and it is broken down in the most honest, agonizing ways. Theres also a solid portrayal of how deceptive abusers can be, as the abusers in question are shown to have fooled so many people. But theres also another side to the representation here, as we see Sadies intense solidarity with other abused girls, and her desperate need to protect and defend them, even though (perhaps especially though) she feels that she failed to protect and defend her sister.

Theres not much else I can tell you now, because I think its the kind of story that you should go into without too many expectations. Just climb in, let Sadie take you for a ride and tell you her story, and try not to let your heart get too broken in the process. This is a phenomenal story, and I know that I will be thinking about it for a long, long time to come.

This is a good book about a difficult topic. Triggers abound in this novel about child abuse and assorted other misdeeds. You have been warned. But, it is an interesting story about 2 young sisters, one dead, one missing and the sad circumstances that lead to their troubled end. The book is narrated by the missing girl and the other narrator is a radio (serial-type) podcaster/broadcaster who takes up the cause of finding out who killed the first sister while trying to locate the missing second sister. It is quite the adventure. I give is 3.5 stars because the narrative was hard to follow at times but in general it was a worthy read. Hug your babies tonight. .5 – #book #bookstagram #booknerd #bookish #childabuse #abuse #bookworm #read #readersofinstagram #reader

This book is incredible. It is absolutely breathtaking. What a page-turner, it will have you reading it in one go and you’ll be left feeling bereft and shaken. You’ll feel helpless and sad, but also kind of relieved and proud. Proud of Sadie and all she was able to accomplish, despite the lack of closure you (as a reader) get in the end.

Everyone’s going nuts over the ending, but I found the ending so realistic, so beautiful, exactly the way it should have been. I applaud Courtney Summers for her courage in writing such a poignant and important story and in ending it so fearlessly.

The format of this book reminded me of a documentary format. Almost like I was watching “Making a Murderer”, where you follow the series of events that occurred to someone through the eyes of radio producer, West McCray, who following Mary Beth’s request (who was like a grandmother to Sadie and basically raised her), is determined to find Sadie and to get to the bottom of things. He does this through a podcast titled The Girls to record and report his findings through episodes. At first, he is reluctant to go on this hunt, but his employer basically pushes him to do it. Once he starts his journey, he finds himself drawn into the lives of these people and especially that of Sadie.

Sadie is nineteen years old, and has spent her whole life protecting her younger sister, Mattie. Their mom was a junkie, who eventually abandons them, and Sadie makes it her life’s mission to protect her sister, first from her mom, then from her mom’s countless boyfriends, and finally from life in general. Only Sadie realizes she couldn’t protect her well enough, when Mattie is found dead in a ditch. A year later, when the case is closed and the police making little effort in the investigation to find her killer, Sadie sets out to find him herself.

We read this story in alternating perspectives, one told by Sadie and the other by West, and it is executed to perfection. I loved Sadie’s character, her strength, her stutter and how she managed it, her self-loathing, yet unconditional love for her sister that continued to drive her long after she was gone. I found myself falling in love with Sadie and the incredible selflessness and disregard to her own safety. I found myself rooting for her and applauding her craftiness in getting the information she needed. Her quest to avenging her sister was so pure, so honest, and I hated the guilt that she lived in, and wished I could comfort her and give her the love that she deserved. Sadie broke my heart.

I also loved how Summers was able to show us so many different perspectives, and how well she was able to illustrate the “there’s a different side to every story” phrase.

It’s not an easy book to read. There’s a lot of violence and shocking content to get through. Topics discussed and portrayed are disturbing and sensitive and dark, but they are also real and thought-provoking and honest.

Sadie needs to be read. Sadie is an important book. Sadie is real.

Courtney Summers does something uncomfortably accurate with this book. She perfectly captures the reality of missing girls, how easy it is to overlook the monsters in our midst and most of all the devastation that comes with searching for answers about the loved ones you may never find. It’s painfully realistic, the characters are incredibly well constructed and the unique approach is compelling.

Sadie’s sister died, murdered with a bludgeon to the head, and Sadie’s world is completely upended. Mattie has been her sole responsibility since her deadbeat mum upped and left them, and so it makes perfect sense that Sadie would feel an unrelenting need to hunt down her killer.

The story is cleverly delivered via Sadie’s chapters and interspersed with a podcast called The Girls when Sadie is reported missing too. The radio presenter of the podcast is, after a tip off from Sadie’s surrogate grandmother, re-tracing Sadie’s steps and trying to find her before something terrible happens to her too whilst Sadie tries to find the man she plans to murder. This mixed media approach really works, it makes the situation feel so authentic with representation from the missing girl but also from the general public and the media revealing information to them as they discover new things. Quite often readers see one perspective; to see both running parallel adds a new dimension to the genre which has undeniably been lacking from similar novels.

Sadie is a relentless, headstrong and frightened teenager and her narrative voice is so relatable. I loved that she was equal parts vulnerable and fierce, with a stutter she finds embarrassing and a quick hand in her pocket to stash a knife. I think she probably represents so many grieving families, desperate and heartbroken from their loss whilst angry that the person who killed their love one still gets to go on living. I think Summers has perfectly created Sadie’s character; I was so invested in her and really felt like I understood her motives.

There is something missing from this novel. I’m not sure what it is really, I think it’s perhaps that we don’t know very much about the girls lives because the chapters are short and mostly dialogue, and that the story only focuses on the impact of Sadie’s case rather than the other missing girls mentioned. I think it’s deliberate, a story told at distance to convey the uncomfortable nature of missing information in missing girl cases, but it still left me feeling a little too shielded from the details.

Nevertheless, I think this is an intelligent and reliable portrayal of the stark reality of cases like Mattie’s and the families left searching and I’d love to see Courtney Summers create more stories to continue to build on the fictional podcast.