Framed by a true-crime podcast, Sadie is the story of missing 19-year-old Sadie Hunter as she attempts to avenge her younger sister's murder. Despite being a novel, the podcast transcripts that run throughout the book give it a true-crime feel. The pace quickens as the story progresses until it's almost impossible to put down. I found Sadie to be a sympathetic protagonist and the story overall to be incredibly emotional. Sadie was a very enjoyable read.

Last year I stumbled across the hit podcast Serial (yes I was way behind the times) and instantly became hooked on it and many other true crime podcasts so when I read the description for this book I was very intrigued.
I imagine Courtney Summers has listened to her fair share of these podcasts too as the book is split between 2 viewpoints; Sadie who has ran away and is looking for the man who killed her younger sister Mattie and then a podcast called The Girls which is covering the case and the podcast chapters are incredibly authentic. You can almost hear them as you read it.
Of course with the subject matter the book is an incredibly heavy read but oh its a good one!

3.5/5 stars.

I finished this book yesterday, and have still be debating what to write in my review of it.

It's a good book. It's definitely a good book. But.. It's not great, and it's definitely not stellar - at least to me. I was also really highly anticipating this novel, so maybe my expectations were too high. It wouldn't be the first time that's happened, haha.

Sadie is told in alternating view points - her own, and that of West McCray, who works at a radio station and hosts a podcast that is focused on tracking down Sadie and why she's run away. Sadie's sister, Mattie, was murdered about a year prior, and now Sadie has disappeared too. West McCray searches for Sadie, but is always just a couple of steps behind. And truthfully, that's understandable - he came into the game late, and Sadie is a determined girl to accomplish what she's set out for. But the thing is, West eventually figures things out - where Sadie is headed, and what she's searching for. The only thing is, by the time he figures it out.. well, let's just say, Sadie isn't there anymore.

There's a huge cliffhanger ending, which I never really love - totally me being nitpicky and somewhat OCD, but I just like my books to tie up a little better. But what I struggled with most of all was just.. getting into the story. It's a little laggy for me - we know what Sadie is doing the majority of the novel, but hearing it from West's point of view makes it seem as though it's dragging on slowly. Also, there were a few moments of confusion for me where I had to make sure I hadn't missed something key - and I hadn't, but it just felt like things were a little jumbled, almost like the story was going too slowly and then we had to catch up by skimming over (what I felt was) some more important keys to the story.

I enjoyed Sadie. I did. Once I got about halfway through, I was into it and wanted to figure out what was going on every bit as much as the next reader. But for me, that's where it ends - I enjoyed it enough to give it 3.5 stars, but it's not something I'll pick up again or highly recommend to my other friends who are voracious readers like me. That being said, I think Courtney Summers did a nice job with the actual plot, the character development was pretty good, and it was a nice summer read.

Special thanks to NetGalley & publisher for an electronic ARC of this novel, which I received in exchange for an honest review

This book is going to be one of my top books of the year, mark my words! Being obsessed with podcasts made this book right in my wheelhouse. The details and story line were flawless and I am planning a reread ASAP. I will be recommending this to many

Another dark and twisty gem from Courtney Summers with an engaging format. A first purchase for YA collections.

I would love to give this a 3.5 if I could. Summers has an absolutely beautiful way with words, and there were several times throughout this book that I paused to reread a passage because of how lovely it was.

I was drawn to this book right away since a podcast is interwoven into the plot. I love the emerging new media of podcasts and I was interested to see how this translated into a novel. Summers did a good job incorporating the podcast without it being a clunky plot device. The podcast aspect is just a small piece of this novel.

I also loved the character of May Beth Foster, she came alive on the pages.

The reason I am not rating this higher is because because I did not feel like there was enough action to keep the plot progressing and the ending seemed abrupt and left a lot of things unresolved for me as a reader.

Thank you to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for an ARC!

Actual Rating: 3.5 Stars

I don't think I would actively recommend this novel, which is why I didn't round up to 4 stars.

Trigger Warnings: Child Sexual Abuse & Neglect

Okay.

So this novel was somewhat of a heavy read for me. At age 16, Sadie's younger sister, Mattie, gets murdered by a child predator - the same child predator that hunted on Sadie. With Mattie's death, Sadie somehow puts the pieces together and decides to get revenge. The only thing is, Sadie has now been declared missing. The novel is separated into two parts: a podcast in present time trying to follow Sadie's possible steps and Sadie's past point of view.

Before I go on a rant about the things I hated, let me talk about the few things I enjoyed, or rather, felt were accurately represented.

The Pros

1. Sadie has a speech impediment that is described exceptionally well and is consistent throughout the novel. Even better, it's not the sole label to her character. Sadie's stutter provided insight into how some of her character traits were developed. Moreover, responses to her impediment by supporting characters also facilitated in showing how ignorant people are of this disability.

2. This next point is going to drive me insane because I fucking hate that it's true but I still absolutely loath it.

The fact that so many adults knew or suspected that Keith/Darren/Christopher/Jack was a child predator and did nothing to report him because he was only ever a decent person to them. I hate this, I hate this so much but I work in the field with children with trauma-focused behaviors and I hear this shit all the fucking time. There are so many adults who don't report suspicions because they either 1. don't want to get involved with police drama or 2. feel guilty reporting a person who has only ever been nice to them and I CAN'T STAND THAT THIS IS THE WORLD WE LIVE IN BUT IT'S TRUE.

So although I fucking hate that this happened in the book, I respect it because this is the accurate, gritty realty of the world I work in.

*Sigh*

The Cons

1. The writing was a bit awkward. Sadie would sometimes experience flashbacks and the transitions just weren't very good tbh. I often had to go back and make sure I didn't accidentally miss a paragraph or something. Additionally, big reveals (i.e. the arrest of one of the child predators) were often presented as an afterthought. I just didn't understand why this information was given to us in the podcast segments, rather than in Sadie's? It was weird.

2. Stylistic Choices - I didn't care for the podcast sections for the first 50% of this novel. They just served to summarized what we had already gather from Sadie's POV, like... why? Toward the end of the novel the podcast started to pick up but I think that's only because Summers left us hanging with Sadie's point of view - which leads me up to my next point:

3. Cliffhanger. I don't like them. This story has a huge one with a solidly defining tone of finality; meaning we won't ever know what happens because that's just how life is! #YOLO

4. Plot holes - ****SPOILERS AHEAD***** It's never explained how Sadie knew Keith/Darren/Christopher/Jack was the one who murdered Mattie. Sadie seems to just jump to that conclusion on her own and follow her gut instinct when this guy hasn't even been around for <i>years</i> and has been described in the book as having moved on with life and sexually abusing other girls like the scumbag he is. How did Mattie know to contact him? Why did he come back for her when the families he has invaded tend to never hear from him again? Why kill Mattie in such a brutal and public matter when everything about his character yells out discretion (the million fake IDs and low profile)? It just didn't make sense to me. Like, yes I want him deader than dead but please tell me why you came to that conclusion about the murder. Did I miss something? I don't think so. I think it may have just been lazy writing.

That's it!

Maybe I'm too analytical of a reader but I can't help but be disappointed when stories have a great premise but are executed poorly. Sadie had so much potential to be a book that tackled a heavy topic well, but remained kinda... meh. I'm glad I read it, but I know for a fact that I'll never reread it.

**Thank you NetGalley for sending me an arc of this novel! Definitely an interesting read.*

the only thing that disappoints me is that the publisher doesn't have trigger warnings for this book listed anywhere. not on the site, not here on netgalley. this book really needs them. it's dark and haunting and it punches you right in the gut with its rawness and brutality. i would've read it nevertheless but i wish i knew beforehand what was i getting myself into.

TW: pedophilia, child sexual abuse, mild violence, mentions and descriptions of substance abuse

this book has left me emotionally exhausted and shaken. i was reading it with a very heavy heart and after finishing it i kind of broke down crying. it's an excellent read, courtney's writing is amazing as always (i trust courtney summers with my life let's be real). the review is a mess because i still haven't sorted out my feelings. this is the saddest, the scariest book i've read in months.

the story is told from two alternating perspectives, west mccray's and sadie's, in two different timelines. sadie's on a quest to find her sister's murderer and bring him to justice. west is running a podcast on finding sadie, who is now missing. he tracks sadie's journey, retraces her steps, trying to find her.

i was hooked from the very beginning. sadie's love for her sister made me feel so many things. their mother was very neglectful towards her, and when she left both girls when girls were 13 and 7 years old, sadie practically raised her sister alone. then her sister was taken away from her by the man who had been sadie's terror for a long time and who then disappeared. sadie decided to find the man and avenge her sister. i really loved sadie and her voice. her journey was so incredibly heartbreaking to follow. every new twist, every new detail just punched you right in the face. it's ugly. the book explores feelings of CSA survivor and it's just so damn hard to read. you can't help but feeling angry and devastated, reading about things this girl had to endure.

the ending left me heartbroken. i am not going to spoil it here, but i was very devastated in the end of that particular chapter.

i really don't know how to properly review this book but i can tell you this one thing: it is incredible. it shows the ugly reality of our world. it explores very ugly topics that NEED exploration. things that happen daily, at this very minute, to people we know, to some of us. it's dark, heavy and hard to read. it haunts you after finishing it. i think, that everyone, who is able to, should read this.

I knew this book was going to ruin me before I even read the first page. I could tell from the synopsis. Then I saw the format of the story and knew it was going to kill me dead with feelings. I was not wrong. I don't even know how much I want to say in this review because I want everyone to read this book and have the suspense and the thrill that I had while reading it. But before I accidentally give something away, let's get to the review!

Synopsis (from Goodreads):
A missing girl on a journey of revenge and a Serial-like podcast following the clues she's left behind. 

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 meager 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.

Let's get into the format of the book first. I about died when I realized the book is split up into chapters that are written like a podcast transcript and chapters that are written from Sadie's point of view. I love a good podcast and when Serial first started, I listened to each episode the day they came out. When I started reading the first page and realized it was written like a podcast, I almost fell off the couch with excitement. West McCray is the host of the podcast, The Girls, and originally, doesn't really want this story when his boss gives it to him. But slowly, he starts to see that this is a story that needs to be told. He ends up going to Sadie's hometown of Cold Creek, Colorado where he visits Sadie and Mattie's aunt so he can start to understand what Mattie and Sadie's lives were like and what happened to them. He is a great narrator and lets the story of Sadie come through the people who lived with her and the ones she meets along her journey. His last lines are truly heart-wrenching.

Sadie's point of view is just as brilliant. Sadie is such a strong main character but not in the way most people talk about strong characters. She cries, feels thing intensely, and is scared at times but fights through her fear to try and find the man that killed her sister. She also does her fair share of fighting. And for someone with no investigative/detective experience, she does an amazing job finding clues, asking questions, and figuring out the answers she needs to get to the next step in her journey. I fell in love with Sadie and her story (told through the podcast and in her own words) and became completely invested in whether she succeeded or not (like I said: LOTS OF FEELINGS!).

Courtney Summers did a brilliant job with this book. Her writing is so good I could cry. The podcast/Sadie POV mix, the semi-cliffhanger-y ending, the slow but satisfying way the facts of Sadie and her sister's lives are revealed makes for a compelling, thrilling, and emotional read. If you can't tell from all the praise, I am giving Sadie 5 out of 5 stars. The book doesn't come out until September but you need to get this one on your TBR lists right now!

Sadie by Courtney Summers comes out September 4, 2018.

Thank you, NetGalley and St. Martin's Press/Wednesday Books for this ARC in exchange for my honest review.

Absolute gem of a book. The story didnt have any lulls and is told in two cool varying viewpoints that fill in banks as you go. Love the ending, too. A great read from start to finish that combines Sadie's character development with a suspenseful tale. Thanks NetGalley! #netgalley #sadie

***ARC received for an honest review****

I adore Courtney Summers. And I’m sure you could hear my screams of delight from your house when I was approved for this ARC. I waited a little while before diving into it bc I knew that it would be dark. Ha. I had no idea.

<b>”I live in a place that’s only good for leaving, is all that needs to be said about it, and I don’t let myself look back.”</b>

There are a million triggers in this thing. The only way it’s manageable is the unique storytelling - which gives us another perspective and just enough distance so we’re not smothered.

Sadie’s sister is killed. And Sadie goes looking for the man who did it. Months later an radio producer creates a show where he goes looking for Sadie - bc now she’s missing.

<b>”A body might not always be beautiful, but a body can be a beautiful deception. I’m stronger than I look.”</b>

Short, tight and painful - it was everything I’ve expected from Summers. Right up through that ending. My heart hurts. And I’m glad i read this one when it was daylight. Courtney Summers remains a must-read. This book is another weapon in her arsenal of brilliant destruction.

<b>”But here’s the thing I tell myself to dull the sharp edges of everything that’s surely left to come: The worst has already happened.”</b>

<a href="http://www.alleskelle.com/"><img src="https://s3.amazonaws.com/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/hostedimages/1471716947r/20097901.jpg?v=1471716951482"width="400"></a>

So, so good. This one checks all my boxes. Fans of true crime podcasts will not want to miss this one. Summers has crafted a top-notch mystery/thriller that will keep readers turning the pages late into the night. Highly recommended.

This was a story about a girl on mission of vengeance. Sadie is out to find the man who stole her innocence and murdered her sister. In alternating chapters the host of a podcast is trying to follow Sadie's journey based on the clues she leaves behind. The story moves along quickly, however, the ending is a bit disappointing. I also think this would be a much better audio book than reading it. I think the podcast portions would come across better hearing them than reading it on paper or e-reader. Summers writing style and view on gender elevates this book to four stars for me.

Thank you to Netgalley for the ARC.

This book is written in a style I am not used to. Podcast style is not the greatest but I learned to live with it. Courtney Summers has such an interesting perspective on gender roles, girls, so many complex ideas.

She made me think twice about everything in my life. I love Sadie and I love this book. It is ridiculously good and high on my list of favorites.

Summers writing style is just so, so good. The two narratives in this book were done perfectly. I was initially a little turned off by the idea of a book written in a podcast style, but the way she did it was wonderful. There are a lot of hard subjects covered in this book, but as usual the way Summer's writes about them makes it great. While you may think the story is about hate or revenge it really is about a sister's love. I could go on for days about how great this book was but really just read it, no review can do it justice.

Courtney Summers once again hits it out of the park with another searing look at the way girls are treated in society. It's thoughtful, passionate, mysterious and just plain bloody good.

First of all, thank you to Wednesday Books and NetGalley for sending me an advanced reader copy! This is my first ARC from NetGalley and I am so honored that it is Courtney Summers upcoming novel.

I picked up my first Courtney Summers book in 2008 when I was fifteen. Unbeknownst to me it was her debut, Cracked Up to Be, and I will admit the beautiful cover is what drew me in. Needless to say, I fell in love with Summers raw storytelling and beautiful use of words. I have followed her publications throughout the years and have loved every single one. Sadie is definitely not an exception. I think this is her best work yet!

Summers is not shy to genre bend as she did with her release of a zombie thriller, This is Not a Test, in 2012. I will argue she has done it again as Sadie is like nothing she has written before. While the overall voice and dark tones are classic Summers, the formatting and pacing is a new and well executed take on contemporary young adult fiction. The shifting point of view and the podcast formatting is definitely a unique way to tell a story and I am glad Summers chose to tell Sadie’s story this way.

I have never read a book where the narrator has a speech impediment and before reading Sadie I could not guess how a stutter would translate on the page. Summers managed to successfully write a character with a speech impediment and creatively used dialogue to express it. I could not imagine Sadie without her difficulty forming words and expressing herself. As a reader you can feel her frustration as she attempts to communicate throughout this dangerous mission she is on.

I have seen other reviewers compare Sadie as a combination of Are You Sleeping by Kathleen Barber and The Female of the Species by Mindy McGinnis which is a very accurate comparison. However, I believe that compared to Are You Sleeping, the podcast formatting in Sadie was easier to navigate and worked really well with the pacing of the story.

This story leaves the reader with some questions answered and some new questions barely formed before the final lines are read. The ending is slightly open ended and up to interpretation. This normally drives me crazy, but with this story it works perfectly as it is gritty and extremely realistic.

You don’t finish Sadie after the last page. This book sits with you. It kept me up until almost three in the morning after I finished reading trying to process it. I still cannot stop thinking about it. It was a beautiful read from one of my all time favorite Y.A. authors and I highly recommend you pick up a copy.

Sadie will be released on September 4, 2018 by Wednesday Books.

Absolutely amazing. I love a story about sisters and the tragic nathrenof this one really hit me hard. I’ve been thinking about the ending ever since I finished.

One girl dead, another missing. Who gets to tell their story? Told in alternating chapters between Sadie’s narration and the true crime podcast investigating her disappearance, Sadie weaves a high stakes story of murder and revenge with an examination of violence against women and girls, and how and when society lets their stories be told. Sadie will have you holding your breath until the last page, and thinking about it for weeks afterward.

I’ve been a Courtney Summers superfan since Some Girls Are, and I think this is her best yet. I have this weird sense of English-teachery pride for how much she’s grown over the past (almost) decade. Yes, I know that I had absolutely nothing to do with her books getting steadily better, but it’s been a real pleasure to sit here on the sidelines and root her on while rabidly reading them all. Her books have always been brutally honest, tightly written, and engrossing, but this one transcends the rest. It’s that rare mix of writing so beautiful and true that it’s painful AND perfect pacing AND a compelling plot AND a thought-provoking theme. And not only does it have ALL of that – this one is formatted in a way that I’ve honestly never seen before.

The story unfolds through a mix of podcast transcripts from “The Girls” (a true-crime investigation type show a la “Serial”) and first person narration from Sadie, a teenage girl on a mission to find the man who hurt her sister, Mattie. At a very young age, Sadie took over almost complete responsibility for Mattie from their drug-addicted mother – a responsibility that she never saw as a burden. Rather, Mattie was Sadie’s entire world. Sadie took on the role of caregiver, disciplinarian, and even scapegoat – whatever Mattie needed her to be. When Mattie was murdered in a field outside their small trailer and the case went cold soon after, Sadie lost all direction in life except one: the trail left by her sister’s killer. She becomes so devoted to this goal that she foregoes food, sleep, and personal safety as she ricochets from place to place, single-mindedly tracking the killer’s movements.

Meanwhile, Sadie and Mattie’s story attracts the attention of West McCray, an NPR-ish radio host who begins following simple leads in the case and can’t seem to stop. We as readers get to essentially become omniscient spectators as we see Sadie ruthlessly track her prey and hear West follow…always too slow and many steps behind.

This mode of storytelling really brought home the futility of West’s search for me – although Sadie’s chapters kept me on the edge of my seat, always hoping that she would come through unscathed, I knew that there would be no happy ending for her. Indeed, upon coming to the final pages of this book, I purposely slowed down because I thought irrationally that maybe, somehow, if I slowed down then someone would get to Sadie in time and help her. I think that I jabbed my kindle at least three times trying to get to another page before I realized that the story was just…over.

What reverberates the most in this book are the stifled howls of girls who are in desperate situations but who know that no one is coming to save them. Courtney Summers paints a bleak but realistic picture of the world here: a world that’s really just an elaborate and painful obstacle course of trauma for girls. There comes a time when all of it is simply too much to carry.

This book is an excellent recommendation for someone who enjoyed The Female of the Species or Allegedly or even One of Us is Lying, and I can’t wait to book-talk the heck out of it in the library next year. My students are clamoring for twisty mysteries, and I think that this has the potential to be a real commercial success for Courtney Summers.