I am in charge of the senior library and work with a group of Reading Ambassadors from 16-18 to ensure that our boarding school library is modernised and meets the need of both our senior students and staff. It has been great to have the chance to talk about these books with our seniors and discuss what they want and need on their shelves. I was drawn to his book because I thought it would be something different from the usual school library fare and draw the students in with a tempting storyline and lots to discuss.
This book was a really enjoyable read with strong characters and a real sense of time and place. I enjoyed the ways that it maintained a cracking pace that kept me turning its pages and ensured that I had much to discuss with them after finishing. It was not only a lively and enjoyable novel but had lots of contemporary themes for our book group to pick up and spend hours discussing too.
I think it's important to choose books that interest as well as challenge our students and I can see this book being very popular with students and staff alike; this will be an excellent purchase as it has everything that we look for in a great read - a tempting premise, fantastic characters and a plot that keeps you gripped until you close its final page.

This book is highly triggering. Tread carefully.

That was a truly powerful, visceral and incredible story of sisterly love. Sadie is an unforgettable character, with her love for her sister and strength and determination.

This book, through their relationship, does an excellent job of revealing systemic failures in our country about investigations and parenting. Sadie and Maddie were on their own after their mother left, and Sadie was afraid they would be separated. Why should any teenager ever have to worry about something like that?

I listened to the audiobook of this story, and I truly believe that this production was an unprecedented feat in storytelling. It was artful, with a full and extremely talented cast. It deserved every accolade it ever got. Bravo.

In the interest of honesty, however--I hated the ending though.

I really enjoyed that read.
I found that book hard to read, but so well done. The format was really interesting, mixed between the main character and a podcast hunting down a lost girl. Fast paced novel about difficult subjects.

Sadie was SO GOOD. This novel really stuck with me for a long time after finishing it. It was heartbreaking and sad and intense. I'd especially recommend the audiobook (which is how I ended up reading this) since it was a full cast and is very immersive!

I want to thank NetGalley for a digital copy for an honest review!

Wow! This was a dark, heart pounding and a page turner for sure! This is my first book by Courtney Summers and I could not put this book down.
19 year old Sadie is on the hunt for the person who murdered her younger sister Mattie. She has plans to find him and kill him.
The character of Sadie broke my heart at times. Her mother abandoned her and her sister leaving Sadie to be more of the protector of Mattie. She also struggled with a stutter. I've never read about a character who had a stutter before and it was beautifully done. My twin use to struggle with a stutter and it was so hard to see him get made fun of for it. So, seeing that really touched me. I loved every minute of this book and highly recommend,

Sadie has always had a tough life. Without caring adults to look after her and her younger sister Mattie, Sadie has taken it upon herself to look out for her sibling’s well-being. But when Mattie is killed, Sadie is determined to make the man she knows is responsible, pay for what he did.

West McCray is a reporter who has a podcast. He needs a story and his boss suggests he try to locate Sadie, who has disappeared. A surrogate grandmother enlists West to try to find the girl. As Sadie follows clues to the man she is seeking, West is a couple of steps behind, interviewing the people she has contacted in her quest.

There are many questions that West can’t answer such as why Sadie is looking for a man once associated with her mother. Along the way, secrets are revealed and Sadie’s dogged determination is shown to be undeterred.

This is a powerful story of loss, hardship and revenge at all costs. Reader’s hearts will break at Sadie’s story. She will not be easily forgotten and her tale will leave an imprint.

I don't normally read thrillers, but I was hooked from the very first page here and only enjoyed it more & more. As much as a kind of mystery, it's a heartbreaking story of our reality, that doesn't shy away from the uncomfortable, often plain ugly details.

All those ugly parts suck you in, because it's horrifying but also somehow familiar. And it doesn't let you look away.

The prose is absolutely brilliant, and as beautiful as the story itself can get ugly.

This book!! There aren't enough words to use to say how much I loved this book!! I ended up listening to this on audio and it was the best decision I could have made. The production as A+ and I can't imagine trying to read this one in print. This story didn't break me as much as a typical Courtney Summers book usually does but I was so invested in this story. As always happens in a Summers book, the characters are all messy and flawed and so very real. You want to hug them and shake them all at the same time. Sadie is gritty and real and just so super hard to put down.

Why did I wait so long to read this book?

It's always hardest to read a book that leaves you going 'woah.' Because I'm still IN that book, still caught up and tangled in the narrative. I just want to grab people and shove the book in their hands and say 'read this'.

It's brilliant. It's hard. It's intense. It's painful. It's a book that will leave you different at the end.

This might just be a new favourite sub-genre of mine! I am loving these "pod-cast" style books, especially when enjoyed on audiobook. I loved this story from start to finish, and simply devoured it in a few short hours. I cannot wait to check out more from this author. Final Rating: ALL THE STARS!

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for giving me a free digital copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

This book was amazing! I ended up listening to the audio book as well and it was such a masterful way to tell it! Highly recommend

I reviewed this on both Instagram and good read a, here is my good reads link
https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/34810320

I read Sadie over 6 months ago, and it has stuck with me. Beautiful writing in a unique style. She nailed both grief and the mind of a teenage girl. Perhaps I’ll go read it again.

What an intense YA book! I love the twist and turns that had me at the edge of my seat. Love love loved the ending, I was honestly shook! The character of Sadie is so well written that I felt her jumping out of the pages. A captivating book that will have you speechless.

I knew that Sadie by Courtney Summers would be an emotional, hard-hitting book to read but I had no idea how dark it would go. Courtney Summers didn't hold back with this story about revenge. The structure of the novel, with the script of a true crime podcast reminiscent of Serial was an interesting addition to the story but it's Sadie and her life story practically raising her sister Mattie and when Mattie found dead, Sadie goes on the cross country trip of revenge to hunt down her sister's killer. It was thrilling, gripping and utterly harrowing. Courtney Summers is a really impressive author.

I took me awhile to write this review because I needed time to process this book. This book was not an easy read but it was a page turner that I could not put down. The balance between the true crime podcast and Sadie's perspective really keeps glued to the page. I thought it was well written, had strong character development and an interesting plot. This is YA with broader appeal and the writing and depth of character will make it an intriguing read for adults. This is not as easy book content wise but each of the characters stories and challenges are stories worth hearing.

Thank you for this copy.

‘People don't change. They just get better at hiding who they really are.’

I absolutely loved this book and still think about it, even when I read it a long long time ago. The story is heart breaking, the characters are remarkable and the writing style is brilliant.

If the ending didn’t frustrate me so much I would’ve given 5 stars.

This novel reads like a true crime story. From the podcast transcript to the plot itself, this book will grip readers from the very beginning. A murder, a missing girl, and a revenge plot are just the tips of what this story has to offer; the writing the style and the character development will keep readers engaged throughout Sadie's journey. Mystery like this is often not featured in the YA genre, and Summers did a great job of crafting a story that will appear to audiences of all ages.

The premise sounds really cool, but this was one that just did not work for me unfortunately :( I think this is the first Courtney Summers book that I have not enjoyed, and that makes me incredibly sad.

I grew up watching crime shows.

At my house, Thursday nights were reserved for another episode of Law & Order: SVU. Fridays, there was Dateline. Countless others played across my television screen over the years, but those two have always stuck out for me. The former, because I remember when I stopped watching it. I was just entering high school and every time I watched it, I started to feel uncomfortable. I began to realize how easily I could be one of the women in those stories. Dateline remains memorable because I still occasionally watch it, often relaying the shocking details in conversations later on, discussing all the terrible and horrific things that happened in the episode. Usually, these terrible and horrific things happen to women.

I've been wanting to read Sadie since before it had a title. I remember reading the rights announcement years ago and immediately texted my best friend about it. When I had the opportunity to read an early copy, thanks to a generous friend of mine, I jumped at the chance. I had waited all these years and I didn't want to wait a single moment longer.

Sadie isn't Dateline.

There are a number of reasons that Sadie doesn't fall into the same category as Dateline. But, one of the main difference, for me at least, was that in all my years of watching Dateline, it never once made me question my consumption of violence.

Sadie did that on page seven.

Sadie opens with West McCray on his podcast "The Girls" and we're introduced to Sadie's story, and that of her late sister Mattie's. As he is setting the scene of Mattie's death, West states that the "gruesome details...will not be a part of this show." I remember reaching that moment and pausing, thinking to myself "wait...they won't?" I had been bracing myself to read them, part of me anticipating just how horrible it was going to be. He continues, explaining that "its violence and brutality do not exist for your entertainment." It was like a slap in the face. Because wasn't that what I was just doing? Waiting for the violent death of a girl to be part of my entertainment. Anticipating its brutality in some sort of grim excitement?

It's hard to admit that you've been part of, and perpetuated, a system that uses violence against women as entertainment.

I thought I knew better.

I didn't.

Sadie made me question my role in this commodification of violence in just one. single. line. That's the power of a novel like this. I don't know what it says about me that it took a fictional portrayal of violence for me to truly question my role in this commodification. Maybe it's because I've always been able to see myself, see the world, more clearly in books. Maybe it's because I looked externally at how others viewed violence as entertainment, and didn't turn the lens on myself. Maybe it's because I never really had to think about it. In the end, it doesn't matter. In the end, this book reminded me of how insidious our society's obsession with dead girls, with violence can be. Even though I have talked openly and repeatedly about this obsession, I can still be a part of the system that perpetuates it. It was a sobering reminder that my learning is never done.

After I read Sadie, it took me a full week to talk to anyone about it. It wasn't because of this internal revelation, but rather, because I felt my words were not enough. I still don't think they are. I feel lucky yo have been able to read Courtney Summers books for so many years. To grow with them as a reader and a person. To have had them there for me to learn from.

I want to say Sadie is one of the best books I've ever read (and it is) but it's more than that. Sadie is compelling. It is devastating. It is unforgettable. It is unforgettable.

Sade is in stores September 4th, and you can pre-order it at any of the fine retailers below. I hope you do.

I grew up watching crime shows. I still watch them. But, I'll look at them through a new lens now. And I have Sadie, and Courtney Summers, to thank for that.

- Ciara (at Midnight)