Sadie

by Courtney Summers

[Sam@WLABB]

I always like to throw back to my days as a high school teacher, and do the "three adjectives you would use to describe" thing. For this book: Sad, dark, and grim. Despite the fact that this is WAY outside of my comfort zone, I could not stop flipping the pages. I needed to find out what happened to The Girls, and Summers did a magnificent job telling their story.

• Pro: Summers masterfully crafted the character of Sadie. I didn't really like her, but I felt so much for her. Here was a young woman, who lost her childhood due to abuse and an absent parent, but she was still able to find love in her heart, and pretty much gave it all to her sister. She was layers upon layers of complicated, and it was amazing the way Summers slowly peeled them away.

• Pro: The format of this story was brilliant. It alternated between Sadie's first person narration and transcripts of The Girls podcast. It wasn't only the fact that the format was interesting, it was also used so well. We saw things first through Sadie's eyes, and then got a whole new perspective via the podcast, which sometimes added more clarity or more confusion about the events leading up to Sadie's disappearance.

• Pro: This book incorporated several topics, including addiction, sexual abuse, and poverty. Summers did not tiptoe around the topics, nor did not shy away from the ugly parts of it all. She painted a heartbreaking portrait, and I appreciated her approach, because it felt real and left me with a lot to think about.

• Con: Although I felt it fit the whole tone and feel of the book, I would have liked a little more from the ending.

• Pro: One character I did really enjoy was West McCray. I loved his voice and the humanity he showed as he searched for Sadie. There were a lot of shady people in this story, and having him around kept a little light in the story for me.

• Pro: The writing really stood out for me, as far as this book goes. In addition to well crafted characters and a fabulous format, Summers deftly created mood and tension. She had my emotions right where she wanted them at every point in this book.

• Pro: It was incredible how invested I was in this story. I wanted justice, I wanted revenge, I wanted Sadie to be found, and my emotions rose and fell with each victory and defeat along the way.

Overall: Sadie was not an easy read, but it was powerful, heart wrenching, and painful in the best way.

*ARC provided in exchange for an honest review.

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