Sadie by Courtney Summers

Sadie

by Courtney Summers

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.

Courtney Summers has written the breakout book of her career. Sadie is propulsive and harrowing and will keep you riveted until the last page.

Reviewed by lessthelonely on

4 of 5 stars

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So... After what was an incredibly underwhelming "thriller" by Colleen Hoover, here's a book that is, in fact, a thriller. Sadie has been touted as the best book by Courtney Summers by many fellow authors I follow around here on Twitter, and I can totally see why.

I wouldn't be surprised if this is one of the first books to go for this "podcast" premise. Being completely honest, I don't care if it's the first or the last novel who does this and I surely won't entertaining thinking that it has any bearing on "objectively" reviewing this novel. This is a review, of course this is biased to my tastes, so everything is in the realm of subjective. A lot of people enjoyed the last book I reviewed, Verity, which could be considered the closest thing to it being an objectively good book... look where that made me end up.

This was an enjoyable read, though I would say this is missing something that could've make it go beyond enjoyable to be phenomenal. All the ingredients were here, outside of something I really can't name. Maybe a plot twist, maybe a not-so-open ending, maybe just one more layer to the mystery (because this book isn't one to misdirect you: you have a steady pace and it's very enjoyable - I would've enjoyed taking a little swerve).

All and all, though, I did enjoy the book. The main character had a very clear motivation though it's always hard to pull off a character who's supposed to be able to do an imoral thing when the angle you're taking is that doing said imoral thing is almost incapacitating, which is something a lot of books do and it's OK. It can get a little bit dull to see the same internal arguments happen, and they also end up not being that enticing the third time... but I don't hold it against the author for this.

This is a good book. Read it. I would consider it a great baby's first thriller mystery. It's not so deep into the genre that you need to recognize certain tropes and it's structured in a "just one more chapter" way that is sure to keep you going.

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Reading updates

  • Started reading
  • 7 August, 2022: Finished reading
  • 7 August, 2022: Reviewed