One of my favourite books of the year. Perfectly dark and disturbing, yet powerful and encouraging. Reviewed on booktube: https://youtu.be/u3msLQ8KJQc?t=5m53s

This is the first book I’ve read by Courtney Summers and I was quite impressed!  I really like adding Ya novels to my reading every so often and do love when a book can suck me in and make me feel like I’m part of the story.  I was with Sadie this whole book, her emotions were so real, her sadness, the, love for her sister, and her fight for justice against the men who have hurt her & her sister.  Sadie was knowledgeable way beyond her years.  She was more of a mother than her own mother actually was.  These types of stories break my heart and leave me empty when they’re finished.  I just wanted to ereach out and help Sadie throughout this entire book.

Another great thing about this novel was the way it was written.  Courtney uses a podcast theme for half of the story, which was quite unique.  The other half was from Sadie’s point of view.

Overall I give this book 4 Stars.  The characters were well developed and the story grabbed me immediately.  I would definitely recommend it!

Five stars: A raw, unflinching book that takes on molestation. It is tough to read, yet in these times, a must read. Don’t miss the audiobook version. 

Sadie is running away. She has one thing on her mind: to find the man who murdered her younger sister and bring him to justice, even if that means forfeiting everything. She will make this happen, no matter the cost. After Sadie disappears, West McCray, a podcast personality, ends up taking up the case. He chases down the clues, following Sadie’s path. What he finds is disturbing, and it makes him rethink everything as he races to find out what happened to Sadie?
What I Liked:
*Courtney Summers is one of those authors who knows how to grab your emotions and run them through the wringer. I love that her writing is powerful, emotional, brutally honest and raw. This latest book: Sadie is more proof as to how brilliant Ms. Summer’s writing is. In these times of turmoil and trouble as many question the brave survivors who continue to come forward with their stories of sexual abuse, this is a book that should be read and discussed. 
*This book is troubling, at times disturbing, but it drives home the point. Sexual abuse is ugly, and it hurts many people every day, and more often than not, the perpetrators go unpunished. What I loved about this book, was that Ms. Summers never gave the dirty details when it came to the abuse. She danced around the topic, giving troubling clues for the reader to piece together what happened. The book was brilliantly written. It packs a brutal punch. 
*Sadie is one of those characters that you won’t forget. She has had a tough life. Her mother is a neglectful alcoholic, who ignores her. She has a stutter that alienates her, and she comes from the wrong side of the tracks. Worse, she is the victim of sexual assault. She is troubled, determined and forgotten. My heart ached for her, especially as the details of her dark past came to light. I admired her fierce determination and her courage as she attempted to hunt down the man who destroyed her life. I so wanted things to turn out for her. 
*This book takes on the horrific topic of molestation and sexual assault. I applaud Ms. Summers for writing this book, especially in these turbulent times. The way she handled the topic was masterful and brilliant. Instead of laying everything out with all the nasty details, she lets the reader draw their own conclusions, which I think makes it all the more impactful. I am in awe of Ms. Summer’s skills. Read this!
*I loved the format of the book. It isn’t a straightforward narration. You do get Sadie’s view points, which reads like a regular narrative, but then her voice is interspersed with the investigation by West, the podcaster. I loved how the story was uncovered via the podcast, interviews of people, and more. It was masterfully done!
*I cannot recommend the audiobook enough. The audiobook was amazing. I appreciated that it incorporated numerous voices for all the characters. This was one of the best audiobooks I have ever listened to. If you can listen to this one, do it!
And The Not So Much:
*The ending was left open. Again, the reader is left with many clues to attempt to piece together what happened to Sadie in the end. If you are an optimist, there is the tiny sliver of hope that maybe things turned out okay. If you are a pessimist, you will imagine the worst. I don’t know, I liked that Summers left it up to the reader, but then a part of me hated that it was open. 
*There is nothing pretty about this book. It is dark, sad and troubling. It is painful to read this story, and many will avoid it as they don’t want to delve into this horrible subject matter. Don’t read this. 

Sadie is a book that was tough to read, but so important. In this era of #MeToo, it is all the more impactful. Read this, discuss this and share it. Sexual assault and molestation are not topics anyone wants to talk about, but we must. Thank you to Ms. Summers for writing this brutal and raw book. 

I received a copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. All opinions are my own, and I was not compensated for this review. 
Posted@Rainy Day Ramblings.

Courtney Summers has done it again. Sadie might be my favorite of her novels to date and not because I love the title but she has created multi-layered, interesting characters and a dark and twisty plot that kept me turning pages. The podcast format worked perfectly here. It's a book I've thought about long after I finished. 4-5 stars - Highly recommended!

WHOA! This is my first Courtney Summers book and i could not tear myself away form this story! This book hit me right in the feels. I loved the character development and how Sadie really grew through the book. You see and feel everything she does as she goes through so much pain and anguish. Excellent writing!

Sadie is a revenge story told in alternating chapters. Chapters either follow Sadie, a girl on the hunt for the man that ruined her childhood and took her sister’s life, or a transcript from a podcast following Sadie’s track as they try to find her and interview people that have encountered her on her hunt. 

This is such a unique read and I think it is best experienced on audiobook where you will get the full effect of the story. The audiobook has a full cast of characters that stutter along with Sadie and give you the podcast experience. The audiobook also really helps to keep the wide variety of characters straight. Keeping all of the characters apart and remembering everyone was my biggest concern while reading so the audiobook was a lifesaver.

Thank you Netgalley and the publisher for this e-Arc in exchange for an honest review.

I was super excited when I got approved to read this book, especially after reading her previous books which I loved. I didn’t love this one as much as her previous books but I did love to hate it. It was so heartbreaking, so gut wrenching, so raw, so emotionally compelling. 

Sadie is a 19 year old, whose sister is found murdered and she subsequently vows to murder the man who killed her sister. West McCray is a radio personality who hears about this turn of events and creates a podcast around this case. This novel is told in alternating viewpoints- from Sadie’s POV and the podcast, which was quite a different form of storytelling. Gave the story major vibes. 

That ending though! I’m the sort of reader who relishes happy endings so this left me feeling quite hollow after. 

Would totally recommend it for a YA that’s a little bit different to the norm.

A brave, determined, and fiercely independent young adult on a journey to locate and kill her sister's murderer is the primary narrator in Sadie by Courtney Summers. The format of the novel engages readers with alternating "podcast" chapters involving the investigative journalist assigned to outline his attempts to find the missing Sadie. A good blend of mystery/suspense fiction that will provoke much discussion.

I was not pulled into this book. The characters all seemed very two-dimensional to me, and I couldn't relate to any of them. The writing style was annoying to me, and I ended up not finishing. Could have been really good, just didn't make the mark for me.

*I received a digital copy of this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review*

I normally don't read thrillers, but when you combine podcasts, intrigue, and a very realistic heroine then you have my complete attention. Told from two perspectives, Sadie follows the titular character on her journey to avenge her sister's death and West, a podcaster who doesn't want to hear about another dead girl. This book was a page-turner from the beginning. Summers's characters leap off the page. I felt like Sadie could have been someone I knew in real life, and I rooted for her throughout the whole story.

Creative format, good storytelling, interesting until the very last page. . I loved the podcast within the book.  This is probably one of the darker young adult novels I’ve read, but in an authentic and meaningful way.  I highly recommend

This is a hard-hitting, raw and emotional book. And, I absolutely loved it.

It is a riveting story about love, loss and revenge. 
But most of all, it's about the power of a sister's love.

The story “...begins, as so many stories do, with a dead girl.” A layered tale, the podcast by West McCray and Sadie’s personal account, sweeps you up and takes you on a journey as West pieces together Sadie’s revenge-driven voyage. West McCray summarizes the gist of the story in the second episode of the podcast:

“...two girls...Mattie Southern and Sadie Hunter. Mattie was murdered, her body left just outside her hometown of Cold Creek, Colorado. Sadie is missing...The girls’ surrogate grandmother, May Beth Foster, has enlisted my help in finding Sadie and bringing her home.”


Sadie is the full package--round, dynamic characters, a quest/overcoming the monster driven plot, and a dire tone that keeps the reader guessing.

The format of the book, the podcast mixed with Sadie’s narrative, added to the flavor and was well executed. The author’s language and style were so appealing, I had to pick up another book of hers to read.

Sadie is a page-turner and addictive book that fans of murder/mystery podcasts will get lost in. I read the ebook but highly recommend the audiobook for the full podcast-feel reading experience.

This book was a emotional punch to the gut and I cannot put into words how much it has left me in an emotional wreck. I was on an emotional roller coaster ride that I both wanted to get off and keep going simultaneously.

I would recommend reading this book with tissues. If you can I would also recommend listening to this one audiobook.  It has multiple voice actors for the podcast part that make it so realistic. Considering the topic it makes it even more chilling because you could be listening to a real podcast about a girl missing and the attempt to find them and what can be found along the way. Because we all know....

"Girls go missing all the time....."

Remarkable. Incredible. Chilling. Heart-wrenching.

This audiobook was AMAZING!!!

I should start from the beginning: I received this book as an ARC, but when I found out that the book was partially formatted like a podcast I had to listen to the audiobook. Sine I love audiobooks, and I also have listened to my share of podcasts, so I knew that the audiobook would be vastly different from any other audiobooks I've ever listened to. In other words this book was meant to be an audiobook. It's incredibly formatted, perfectly executed and addicting in the very best way.

Sadie was an incredible novel that surprised the heck out of me.

The writing was fascinating, on point, and the story on its own will stay with me for a very long time, especially the ending. The format of the book was absolutely unique, and unapologetically original - that alone should be a reason to pick up this book.

Sadie's voice was distinctive and incredibly honest, and she stayed true to herself throughout the entire book. She was a character that carried a burden that nobody should have been forced to carry. It was so very easy to emphasize with her. She was emotionally closed off but also very tough, and she had only one goal in mind. Whatever the outcome, she was on a mission and I have to respect that. I just wish she would have allowed herself to ask for help. 

Sadie's story was heart wrenchingly raw and chilling. And thanks to the author's original voice the entire book was refreshingly different. For one thing Sadie felt like a true crime report, including interviews of witnesses and research.  It also felt partly like a diary. But combined they told an incredible story about a young girl's harrowing journey.

I still can't believe how well this book was written, and how amazingly different the format was. Ultimately the hype around this book is well deserved. Not only is the writing superb, the story was fantastically plotted, and the execution something that is rarely accomplished. But the ending was what made this book an unforgettable experience. 

With this in mind, I can't wait to see what the author comes up with next.

I REALLY enjoyed this book. I enjoyed Sadie's parts more than the podcast parts. I don't love the screenplay format- but it did not take away from the story. I would not call this a "thriller" and I wouldn't have known it was YA if it wasn't labeled as such. Without giving away too much, Sadie's sister has been murdered. She goes looking to avenge her death. Sadie is a tough fierce character. There is some pedophilia in this book- just as a warning. I thought it was well written and it definitely kept me turning the pages. I would recommend to high school readers. While the material is dark, it is literary and relevant.

I was a little nervous about reading this book as I read reviews that mentioned how much it dealt with sexual abuse as I have a really low threshold for being able to read things like that. Details about those experiences really undo me.

Anyway, after my Q&A with Courtney Summers in which she talked about her reasons for writing this book, I wanted to try to read it anyway, and I’m honestly glad I did.

I feel like I’ve said this before, but I have so much respect for Summers and her commitment to be a voice for young women who are often forgotten. Lots of times stories like this, about missing girls, sensationalize the details of the disappearance. I’ve read books where I felt like the author almost revels in constructing the details of torture and graphic abuse.

You won’t find those gory details in Sadie. And you might think that would steal some of the horror or power of the story, but honestly, it doesn’t. Instead, it keeps the story focused on what matters: the humanity of the characters, the fact that they are so much more than abuse victims.

And that humanity coupled with the raw, high-intensity emotional responses of the characters punched straight into me as I read the darkest parts of the story. I felt horror at what happened to Sadie and the other victims of abuse. But I didn’t have to endure the details of what happened to them in order to feel that horror. Sharing in Sadie’s brokenness and horror were powerful enough, especially in the hands of a writer like Courtney Summers. Y’all, she is a force.

Sadie is probably not for everyone. It’s got some rough language, and it’s definitely a dark story. But it does remind us that these things happen to girls way too often. And that way too often we forget them once the glow of the news headlines dims. I’ll remember this one for a long time.

This was quite a gripping story, that for once I felt like reading more slowly than I usually do, perhaps because I kept dreading the next “Sadie” chapter, not knowing where it would take me… or, rather, suspecting where it would, and not wanting to see whether I was right or not. Why I do that to myself, I have no idea.

The mixed format, alternating between Sadie’s first point of view and the script of a podcast about her and her sister Mattie, worked pretty well for me. I’m usually a good enough audience for those novels that play with different formats, and this one wasn’t of the kind that tries too hard or think it’s so much more clever than it really is. “The Girls” is reminiscent of a true crime narration, and Sadie’s parallel narration puts everything back into perspective every time, adding heart to the more neutral tone of the podcast (although West McCray, the podcast’s “narrator”, is fairly involved—in fact, I’d say his involvement is similar to what I was feeling: he, too, wants and doesn’t want to know what he’s going to find).

Sadie’s story is both touching and sad. Here’s a girl who doesn’t have much—her mother’s an addict, she stutters and people make fun of her because of that, she doesn’t have friends, or money, or prospects… the kind of person that, too often, no one would really care about, because she’s not important enough, or was “looking for it”, or whatever similar tripe. She has a fierce love for her younger sister Mattie, and what happens to the latter devastates her to the point of taking her to the road in search of the truth.

In a way, the double narration is part of her life, too: while West keeps searching, there’s always that feeling that he’s not doing enough, not going fast enough, not digging deep enough, and you want to tell him “hurry up, we’re nearing the end of the book, find her before…”. After the abuse she’s suffered, you want someone to take care of her, not the way her surrogate grandmother did (Mae was her support as she was growing up), but as support in what she’s doing now, in her current odyssey as a girl become an adult much too soon, and who’s trying to right a wrong (and save other people) even if it means suffering so much herself. Because Sadie could’ve given up any time, turned back any time, and she doesn’t: it’s not only about Mattie, but about the others, too.

Conclusion: A slow read for me, as it was kind of painful and I kept dreading turning the page… but that’s also what made it a good book. Scary, creepy, horrifying, for the worst monsters are the ones who look human… but definitely a good book.

I’ve been looking forward to Courtney Summers’s next book since I finished All the Rage, and it was worth the wait. (Thanks to NetGalley, I even got to read it a little bit early.) At first, I thought the podcast angle was gimmicky and a crutch Summers’s writing doesn’t need, but it didn’t take long to grow on me. The contrasts between it and Sadie’s chapters were really effective. Like All the Rage, this one is dark, hard to read, really powerful and engaging...and makes me want to go back and read the rest of her books.

THIS FUCKING BOOK. It tore my heart to shreds. I can't stop thinking about it. 

Straight up, Sadie is about the sexual abuse of children. Weaving between two narrators (a podcast host and our Kill Bill-ish hero / survivor, Sadie), this is a story of survival, revenge, and the stories we tell about Dead Girls. Sadie's first person narration seamlessly splices in memories of conversations with her abuser, sometimes making it hard to tell what is past and what is currently happening, but there are no actual depictions of sexual violence against children, which is something I really appreciate about this book; in fact, when we learn of the horrific murder of Sadie's 13 year old sister in the opening pages, the podcast narrator tells us that he won't be telling us the gruesome details. And even with the two narrators sparing us the details, the dread I felt reading this was palpable. Even without the stomach-turning clinical details that we so often see in these types of Dead Girl stories, Courtney Summers was able to build a stifling atmosphere that made me absolutely sick with dread. 

Sadie as a character was quick to violence and careless with her safety; I never knew her well enough, but I wished over and over for her success and safety. I kept thinking Please let her kill this fucker and get home safe. But then about halfway through the book I had a thought: is home really safe? She had glimpses of what her life could have been like, could still be outside of her poverty-ridden hometown, and I just wanted her to drop everything and pursue that feeling -- forget her mission, move to Denver, and get a girlfriend (or boyfriend).

It is violent, yes, I had to put down the book a few times to settle myself. It was both beautiful and agonizing, and even though it took me only a few days to read, this book is by no means an easy read. But, yes, this book. Read it. And then listen to the podcast.