*Thanks to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.* '"And it begins, as so many stories do, with a dead girl." What is there not to love about a beginning like that? Sadie' is a haunting novel about the novel's namesake, Sadie who leaves her small American town of Cold Creek to find revenge and redemption. The novel is told partially via the character of West McCray who is creating a podcast series on small, forgotten towns of America. Sadie is a carefully constructed, imperfect character, who talks with a lisp, can't forgive her mother and loved her baby sister Mattie dearly. At times, I found the plot jumped around a little bit and there were many characters of whom to keep track. However, the haunting beauty of the writing made up for this, which is why I gave it 4 stars.

Sadie Hunter, a 19-year-old girl, disappears after her 13-year-old sister is murdered. The girls’ surrogate grandmother contacts West McCray, an NPR-like radio host, to find her. Sadie, by Courtney Summers, flips between the script of McCray’s resulting podcast series and the POV of Sadie herself as she follows clues to track down the person she believes killed Mattie.
This is a dark story with few slivers of light to break the tension. You experience Sadie’s hungry, desperate, furious mindset firsthand. West McCray doesn’t want to get involved. “Girls go missing all the time.” But his producer pushes him, and soon he’s too involved to turn back. Sadie went through heavy things as a little girl. Be prepared for strong mentions of substance abuse (by mom) and parental abandonment. Child molestation is a heavy theme throughout. (Sadie is a survivor, and much of her actions are driven by her anger.)  Sadie intends to murder Mattie’s killer when she finds him. Along the way, her singular focus puts her into dangerous situations, made worse by her constant starving state and lack of sleep that affects her judgment and reactions. A scene when she goes “undercover” as a new teen in a town where she has a lead offers a view of the kind of popular teen she might have been if everything and everyone in her life wasn’t so messed up. In that short moment, she makes friends, but hours later destiny throws her another horrifying curveball.
There are many heartbreaking aspects of this story, but the idea that the sisters could have been saved if only someone had listened to Sadie when she was a young girl and taken her seriously is one that will keep readers up at night.
Sadie is a powerful book that teens who enjoyed Thirteen Reasons Why could get into easily. It doesn’t have a pat ending, and discerning readers may notice that some of the conclusions McCray reaches don’t line up with Sadie’s, which leaves the armchair detectives among us to draw their own answers. These moments help alleviate the few times it feels that McCray’s sections are repeating Sadie’s, especially as he gets closer to tracking her down.

Hello, fellow readers! It's been a while, but I'm back with another review, this one being on Sadie by Courtney Summers. While I haven't read any of Courtney Summer's other books, as soon as I heard about this one at the latest TeensRead event, I knew I wanted to read it. It's kind of surprising, since I'm not a huge fan of thrillers, what with me questioning every decision the protagonist makes, but this one seemed different. Possibly because of the podcast element. And I wasn't wrong.
First of all, I loved the chapters alternating between Sadie's POV and the podcast transcript. There was just so much story in both. For instance, as one chapter ends, the next POV would carry on seamlessly. The podcast would fill readers in on anything Sadie might have left out in her narration and vice versa. Plus, the storytelling elements for both of these POVs were superb.
Then there were the characters. These were fleshed-out people whose story cannot be contained in a single novel, but the author did an outstanding job in giving readers a glimpse. What I'm trying to say is that the author gives us characters that aren't good or bad - with the exception of some - but have their own story to tell alongside Sadie's. And for most of these characters, you feel some level of empathy for them. Especially Sadie. As I've said before, a lot of time when I try to read thriller or mystery, I find myself constantly questioning the protagonist and their motivations. Not this time. I understood exactly why Sadie was doing what she was doing and empathized with her throughout the entire novel.
Well, that's all I have to say about this novel for now. If you're into true crime podcasts, Macmillan made a fake one for Sadie called The Girls (the name of the podcast in the novel). The first episode is available right now, too! As for the novel, I honestly would recommend this to anyone who likes to read thriller or mystery; it gets you questioning the sad truths about missing girls and how people shouldn't simply fit them into a stereotype just to make it easier. Fair warning though: the ending will leave you with more questions than answers. And for those of you are interested, Sadie comes out on September 4th, 2018.

“How do you forgive the people who are supposed to protect you? Sometimes I don’t know what I miss more; everything I’ve lost or everything I never had”
Wow. Sadie is a heartbreaking, emotional, dark, disturbing read. But yet I couldn’t put it down. After Sadie’s sister is found dead she goes on a journey to pay revenge on the killer. Along the way you discover secrets and heartaches of the life Sadie has had to live. I feel that I’ll be thinking about this book for awhile. It’s heartbreaking to know that while this story is fiction, it is truth for a lot of kids in this world. 
Thank you NetGalley for giving me the opportunity to read and review Sadie by Courtney Summers. I look forward to reading other books by this author.
Disclaimer: child abuse, language

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for an advanced read in exchange for this review.

Sadie has lived a hard life – raising her sister, Mattie, while trying to keep her head above water.  When Mattie is found dead, Sadie is determined to bring Mattie’s killer to justice.

I had a hard time with this one.  I struggled to connect with Sadie, and the book is hard to read.  The book jumps around from past to present.  There’s also a podcast that is thrown into the chapters to track Sadie.  I tried.  I really did.  It seems that so many people liked this book, and I wish I could have been one of them.

SADIE by Courtney Summers is a book that had me sitting on the edge of my seat, holding my breath and praying that this fictional girl, Sadie, makes it out alive.

"But imagine having to live every day knowing the person who killed your sister is breathing the air she can't, filling his lungs with it, tasting its sweetness. Imagine him knowing the steady weight of the earth under his feet while her body is buried six feet below it". 

Sadie Hunter raised her sister Mattie from a young age due to her mother's addictions. Raising a sibling causes children to really grow up, and that happens extremely fast. Although their mother Claire ends up leaving, Mattie believes the sun rises and sets with her, and dreams of going to L.A. to reunite with her. When Mattie is murdered and the trail leads no where, Sadie sets off on a rampage to find the killer, and will do whatever it takes to destroy him. However, now Sadie is missing, and it's another trail leading to no where.

This book is told half by a podcast host, West McCray (and has many guests such as Mae, the woman who watched over the girls) and other people who knew t them at some point along the way. West is utterly obsessed with finding Mattie's killer, and desperately wants to find out what happened to Sadie. The podcast part is not overwhelming or overdone, and it works really well to add some dimension into the story. The other half of the story is spoken by Sadie, who struggles with overcoming grief, trying to get revenge, pushing through social interaction with a speech impediment and clawing her way through life.

This story gave me high anxiety. It's definitely dark, and I found it very raw. It's heartbreaking, jaw dropping and thrilling. It wasn't graphic -- there was definitely some points that are censored, but I will say it has TW for pedophilia and abuse.

Bottom line, without giving too much away, this story is about the strength of sister's bond and what we're willing to do when someone has hurt a member of our family. It's about growing up without your mother and having the strength to go on. Being strong enough to raise a sibling. 

What I loved: the struggles Sadie went through and being able to overcome, well, basically anything. Her stubbornness and drive. The writing in this was excellent and the plot moved along nicely.

What I didn't love: the fact that it gave me anxiety (not in a good way), but thankfully it was a quick read. I'm actually struggling to come up with anything else I didn't like.

Iv only read one book by Courtney Summers before, but I was so impressed I wooed to read all her books.. slowly. Because after that first book I felt a little sick, a little punch in the stomach that I need to recover from before embarking on a new one. She writes dark and crazy realistic, Its like watching a film, the characters and surroundings are so realistic and well drawn out. 

It started slow and I wasnt sure about the way its written as a podcast but it turned out to be the best possible way to read this. I was actually reading a podcast, where the mystery of the missing girl was still a mystery, while at the same time getting to know what actually happened to her.

Loved it.

Sadie by Courtney Summers is a young adult mystery that is done in a bit of a different format than normal. The story is told by alternating between a podcast and then chapters told from Sadie’s point of view.

Sadie is a teen that hasn’t had the best of lives. With an addict mother and no idea who her father is Sadie has raised herself and her younger sister Mattie. Sadie was only a child herself when Mattie was born but she did everything she could to make her sister’s life better than her own.

The girls mother left the two on their own and Sadie tried the best she could but Mattie one day took off and that was the last Sadie saw of her. When Mattie was found dead it rocked Sadie’s world and shortly after she took off herself. Hearing about the girls West McCray starts up a podcast hoping to find the truth to their story.

I’m not one that listens to podcasts so it did take me a minute to get used to the style of this book but once it got going of course the story was one that was quite compelling. Sadie is a character that is functioning on the mentality that she has nothing left to lose after her sister was murdered so it’s safe to say following her kept me on edge wondering how far she would go. This darker trip Sadie took is also one that you can’t help but feel for her as she’s only a girl herself and she have been just being a kid so prepare for an emotional ride with this one.

I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.

This book may or may not have broke my heart. This story was heart-racing in the sense that the story is unfolding so slowly, we as the audience know more than the podcast narrator, West McCray and it gave me so many conflicting emotions. Exasperation since he was only two steps behind Sadie, sadness for what Sadie went through and was going through currently, fear for how things would turn out in the end. Sadie's guilt, her contemplation, her drive to make things right, to get closure; my heart officially broke. Yet as the story goes along, we see all of the people involved had a hand in the death of Mattie and Sadie's disappearance. All of these people making mistakes... and Summer's somehow manages to humanize them. You don't forgive them, but you understand and at times, sympathize with them. And I wasn't expecting to feel much for West. He's an outsider looking for answers, I was expecting to have a bit of disconnect. Yet, I sympathized with him. Him and his husband have a daughter of their own, yet that's not his motivation in doing this podcast. In fact, he doesn't want to do it at all. Ignorance is bliss, girls go missing all the time, but the closer he gets to the truth, the more he knows he can't back out. And when the ending happened, I won't say I'm not heartbroken. It manages to give answers while leaving so many questions. But it's realistic. Not all stories have closure or a happy ending and for that, I respect how the book wrapped up.

Absolutely loved the pacing of this book. It will be an easy sell to teens/young adults. One of my favorites of the year!

I was drawn to this book because it uses the format of a podcast, The Girls, which focuses on the case of a missing young woman, Sadie Hunter. (Sounds so promising, right?!) Sadie disappeared shortly after the murder of her little sister, Mattie Southern. Sadie alternates between the podcast series and Sadie's POV. I wasn't sure if the podcast idea would work, but this book really delivers an excellent story told through these alternating approaches. Some of the subject matter is quite tough, though, as Sadie has been let down by most of the adults she encountered during her young life. I won't say more, as it is best to go into this book without too many details. 

Thanks to NetGalley, the author, and Wednesday Books for an opportunity to read an advance copy in exchange for a review.

I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. 

While this book is classified as YA, it deals with some really heavy topics. The format is very fresh - following both Sadie and a podcast that chronicles her story. The storytelling is very well done and I enjoyed the alternating narrators. Some other reviewers pointed out that not everything added up and that some aspects seemed a bit too convenient. That didn’t necessarily bother me, but I did think the book could have been longer. I debated giving this 4 vs. 5 stars, and ultimately went with 5 because of the characters, the format, and that it never felt liked it dragged. I would say that I would like to read more from this author, but because of the heavy subject matter, I think I’ll take a breather before diving back in.

This book was amazing!! It was well crafted with breathless pacing and spot on characterization. This book is going to be huge and I'm telling literally everyone about it!

Podcasts are all the rage and I was intrigued by the way this book was structured a la Serial. However, I had a hard time connecting with the character of Sadie. I didn’t get a warm fuzzy feeling about her relationship with her sister Maddie, and how Sadie initially knew a key point of info in the book. Plus the book would sometimes jump back and forth between present day and past within the same paragraph which was confusing. I know A LOT of people love this one, so check it out for yourself and see what you think.

A dead body. A missing girl. A sister looking for revenge. Courtney Summers has done it again with masterful storytelling. I've been a fan since Cracked Up to Be and she gets better and better with every new book. Toggling between a true crime podcast transcript and Sadie's first person narrative, readers are pulled into a gritty, page turning thriller. But this story is much more than a thriller - it's about girls and the violence that can happen to them, it's about how we as a society consume these stories about missing girls and dead bodies, and it's about so much more. Hands down, one of my favorite reads this year.

This book was powerful. That's a word I almost never use, because I feel like it is deadened from overuse. But this book points out how even when you think you understand the commonalities of every story of ever missing or dead girl, their individuality matters.

The book veers between transcripts of a true crime podcast telling the story of missing Sadie and Sadie's actual story. Sadie's honorary grandmother May Beth fills in the outlines of Sadie's life: born to a drug addict at a young age, no known father, with a mother who couldn't and wouldn't take care of her, Sadie's whole life was her younger sister, Mattie. Mattie was recently murdered, and now Sadie has run off. It would be easy to write Sadie off as just another runaway, but May Beth needs to find her because she "can't take another dead girl". As the reporter, Wes McCray, starts tracking down and interviewing the people Sadie meets along the road, it becomes clear that she's on the road for a reason - and she's determined to track down someone specific. Sadie is vulnerable and broken and strong and powerful and as the story ricochets to its inevitable end, I was captivated and saddened.

I wasn't surprised by the pedophilia plotline, but something doesn't have to be surprising to be moving.

A heartwrenching tale about a girl on the hunt for her sisters killer. Delivered, outstandingly, in dual perspective: the first being a podcast format and the second coming from Sadie herself.  There are many things that make me proud to be Canadian, Courtney Summers being nearly at the top of that list. #1 free health care, #2 Courtney Summers. She is a true master of her craft. Her flawless writing style and story development draw you in immediately and will never let you go. All of her characters will remain cozy in your heart forever. Sadie is no exception. In Sadie, Summers crafts a small but in-depth character cast. Each character adds their own valuable puzzle piece to this dark and mysterious story. 

Sadie is a sad story. It's about a girl seeking vengeance for her dead sister. Sadie's pain bleeds from the pages and you will be left heartbroken for her. Summers surely captures the emotional tone of this novel. Sadie is also about a journalist that is willing to go to the ends of the earth to find out what happened to her and to Mattie. To give Sadie a voice and to tell her story. In a way, it's a triumphant story.

Courtney Summers has done it again; but really, I had no doubt whatsoever! You can always count on her stories to wrap their pages around you and never let go.

When I read the blurb to Sadie, I instantly put in on my TBR. Thanks to Netgalley and St. Martin press, I was able to read an advanced copy.

Sadie had me hooked from the start. I really enjoyed the way the story was written and the way Courtney pulled you into the story with her words. Page after page, I was on the edge of my seat trying to figure out where Sadie is and what she went through. This book touched some deep issues that may be triggers for some. My heart broke for Sadie. While I wanted to go inside the book and give her a hug, I also want to stand by her side and help her seek her revenge. 

As much I as enjoyed Sadie, it left me with so many unanswered questions. I know that's probably the whole point of the book but I want some answers! ;) I started this book with the question, Where is Sadie? I also ended the book with the same question, Where is Sadie?! But like the real world, sometimes we don't get the answers to the questions pondering in our minds.

I would definitely recommend Sadie to any of my friends. This was my first book from Courtney Summers and I'm really looking forward to her future books! I'm also one-clicking her other book now too!

Thank you to NetGalley for allowing me to read Sadie, by Courtney Summers. This book was sad, but a realistic view of children deserted by their parents, abused by people they trusted, and loss of innocence. Sadie and Mattie’s mother abandoned them one day, leaving them to wonder what they did wrong to make her leave. When Mattie, a young teen, receives a postcard from her mother in LA, she runs away to find her, but  tragedy strikes. Her older sister, Sadie, leaves home to search for answers about Mattie and their mother, discovering ugly truths about life and human nature. Not everything is as it seems.

Sadie by Courtney Summers was a hard book for me to put down. Truth be told, it was the first of book of Courtney Summers that I've read and I really enjoyed it (that might not be the right word)... I really felt this book. The heartache, the love, Sadie's need to know the truth and exact her revenge... her resilience. I felt it all. I cheered for her when she found a good lead and cringed when she did something so teenage-ish, putting herself in danger, yet I understood. This book got to me.


And the story goes...

Raised in the middle of nowhere to a drunk and drug addict teen mom, Sadie and her younger sister, Mattie, never had an easy life. But oh how Sadie loved her little sister and took care of her the best she could, especially after her mother ran off and left them to fend for themselves. Sadie did what she could, but when her sister is murdered after running away in search of her mother; Sadie's whole life is destroyed.

A year after Mattie's death, Sadie disappears, determined to bring her sisters killer to justice. When West McCray, a true crime radio/podcast host doing a story on small, forgotten towns, overhears someone talking about the missing girl, he starts podcast, The Girls, to find out what happened to Sadie and her sister. Through the podcast, West follows the clues of Sadie's journey, interviewing the people she met along the way, hoping to find her at the end. But will what he discovers lead him to Sadie before it's to late??


My thoughts...


Sadie is a book is really about strength, resilience, and a sister's love and need for revenge that will ultimately bring her to the brink of self-destruction. I couldn't put it down. I needed to know. I felt like I was along for the ride, both from Sadie's perspective and West's.
This book will make you feel Sadie's sorrow and her desire to serve justice on her sister's killer. Pick it up September 4 to find out what happened to Sadie!


Special thanks to #netgalley and #StMartinsPress for the #arc for my honest review.