Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
First of all, I want to start off by acknowledging the devastating fact that, yes, my copy is now waterlogged. I thought it sounded like a good idea to bring it with me to the pool the other week, and well, needless to say… it was not.
Second of all, I think it’s important to make note for anyone planning to read this book that it does deal with some possibly triggering and dark/disturbing themes. Just keep that in mind.
This review, in case you haven't figured out by now, is on ‘Sadie’ by Courtney Summers. I’m still trying to process my overall thoughts on this book. It was an emotional roller coaster for me to say the least.
Going into this book, I did not know much about it. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a review copy from St. Martin’s Press and my first impression upon seeing the cover and learning a bit more about it was that it seemed like it was going to be an interesting read.
While thrillers are one of my favorite genres, I have not read many YA ones. I can honestly say that this book kept my attention the whole time and made me want to find out what happens next. However, I spent a good 90% of it feeling, at times, an overwhelming sense of sadness for these characters.
And I know, that sounds bad, right? But here's the positive. When you’re reading a fiction-based book and the author can make you feel this much through the words on their page, that is the sign of a great author. And after reading'Sadie', I now know Summers is great.
The story follows a girl by the name of, you guessed it, Sadie. She is deep in the aftermath of her little sister’s murder and she is determined to find out what happened to her. So she leaves home and starts a long journey traveling to all sorts of sketchy places trying to track down who she thinks did it.
Meanwhile, others close to her are trying to track her down with the help of a radio host from New York City.
The book is told in dual perspectives – one from Sadie herself recounting her journey – and one from the radio host who creates a podcast following the story.
I found this to be an interesting element, as I have never read a book that was told partly through podcast interviews. At first, I wasn’t sure if I would like it, but the deeper you get into the story, I literally felt like I was listening to the podcast, clicking each episode to listen about what happens next.
I don’t want to go into too much detail, because I honestly feel like this is a book that you should go into without knowing too much, but if I had to describe this book in one word, I think I would go with haunting.
While I do feel I would recommend this book is someone looking for a crime thriller packed full of feeling, I’m not sure that it is one I would reread.
I ended this book and found myself still thinking about these characters hours later. Thrillers always seem to have a way of leaving you feeling something, but this one just kind of left me feeling a little emotionally drained. And the ending was not my favorite.
It's the only real negative I have from the book. It felt a little unresolved to me and left me still wanting to know more about what happened. Some people may enjoy the mystery and how it ends, but myself, personally, I just wanted a little more.
Overall, I think I would give ‘Sadie’ a 4/5. The material was dark, raw, and tough at times, but Summers writing style and the way she just pulled you headfirst into the story was what made it such a captivating read. Just make sure you’re in the right headspace going into it, because you are definitely going to feel something. That’s for sure.