Sadie by Courtney Summers | Book Review

A missing girl on a journey of revenge. A Serial―like podcast following the clues she's left behind. And an ending you won't be able to stop talking about.

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 meagre 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.

She’s dead is the reason I’m still alive. She’s dead is the reason I’m going to kill a man.

Title: Sadie
Author: Courtney Summers
Publication: September 4th 2018 by Wednesday Books
Pages: 308
Genre: YA, contemporary, mystery, thriller
Reading format: Audiobook (Audible)
Standalone / Series

review

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

Sexual abuse, death of a family member, physical violence, drug abuse, murder

I was super late into this book but I made it, almost a year after this book was published (happy almost book birthday!). I read this book through an audiobook and it was a really amazing experience but more on that later. This book is, without doubt, the best young adult mystery book I had ever read. I know I said the same when I read The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas last year but compared to that book, Sadie is twice amazing.

I would not say that reading Sadie was fun nor was it an easy read but the story was so dark, intense and impactful and will haunt you ages after reading it. It shows a part of darkness in the world we're living in and is very unforgettable.

It was a terrible thing, sure, but we live in a world that has no shortage of terrible things. You can't stop for all of them.

I felt so much for both Sadie and Mattie. I listened to the audiobooks while doing some house chores and there were so many times I paused the audiobook and sat down for a few minutes because I was overwhelmed with shock and had an oh my god, that happened moment and need some time to think, ponder about it and digest everything. Do you know the nervousness you usually get during a horror movie when you think there might be a jumpscare? The majority of the time I was reading this book, I felt that way, but not because of some sudden actions that might happen, it was because I was nervous about the revelation of Sadie and Mattie's real story.

Sadie was the perfect lead character for this book. She was not a perfect person but all her flaws are the reasons that she is a perfectly-written character. She is one of the most layered characters I had ever read; all the intense feelings she felt and all of the things she did made her seem very real and human. And although some of the things she did were morally questionable, I could understand why she did all those things. She's also a character with a stutter, which is a  representation that I rarely see in the books I had read. And since I read this book by listening to the audiobook, it was much easier for me to see Sadie and understand the frustration and anger she felt. I was frustrated for her when she had something so important to say but people made fun of her and didn't take her seriously just because she stuttered. But what really amazed me was the fact that even with her stutter, whenever she finished her sentence, it was not just relief that I felt but also how every word that came out from her mouth was powerful. Sadie felt so intensely and man, the audiobook really managed to portray her intenseness, I could feel it in the actress's voice.

In this book, Sadie pointed again and again that her story wasn't a love story but I think it is. Everything that Sadie did in this book was out of her love for Mattie and you can see her love even from other characters' perspectives. She was so angry and bitter in this book and she had every right to be. My heart broke again and again for Sadie and Mattie because I could see how much love is in this book and I wanted both of them to be okay and happy but I knew it wouldn't happen.

I stood over her crib and listened to her breathing, watching the rise and fall of her tiny chest. I pressed my palm against it and felt myself through her. She was breathing, alive. And I was too.

The ending of the book left me speechless. Courtney Summers wrote this story very beautifully and I believe no one will ever finish this book without having a mark in their hearts; it was a one-of-a-kind and very powerful story.

On the audiobook:

This was my first audiobook and although my experience of listening to audiobooks isn't much yet, I personally think this will be the best audiobook I'll ever listen to. The format was so cool and the production value is off the scales, I kid you not. The chapters of this book were divided into two: Sadie's point of view and a podcast by West McCray. Each character had a different voice actor and all the voice actors portrayed their characters perfectly. There were also ambient noises in almost every scene (sounds of the radio, a door creaking, birds chirping etc.) which made experiencing this story much more impactful.

Everywhere I go on the internet, people had been talking again and again about how good the audiobook for this book is and before I listened to this, I was like "yeah, that's cool" but now that I had listened to more than one audiobook, I really appreciate the production of this audiobook. I highly recommend you to read this book in an audio format if you're interested. You can register for Audible today and listen to the audiobook for this for free for the first month (yes, I registered for Audible just to listen to this book). It will be worth it!

Recommended for: Everyone who enjoys mystery, podcast (especially crime podcast), sisterly love and a story that makes you think and reflect.