Sadie by Courtney Summers
Synopsis:
A missing girl on a journey of revenge. A Serial―like podcast following the clues she’s left behind. And an ending you won’t be able to stop talking about.
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.
Before jumping into the review, I highly recommend listening to this on audiobook. With the way that the podcast flows and you have a full cast of characters, it really makes it that much better. Also, Sadie has a stutter so in certain moments you really get her emotions from listening in a way that isn’t possible with just a physical book.
~SPOILER ALERT~
I liked this book more than I expected to.
First I appreciate how realistic the ending is. I hate it but the fact of the matter is, some things never get solved. I would like to think that Sadie survived, but I don’t believe that she did. I am glad that she still got to kill Jack though.
I also feel like Sadie was going to die regardless. Once Mattie died, I don’t think that she felt like she had anything to live for anymore.
I like Sadie. I understand what it’s like to be the oldest and have to raise your siblings. It sucks and it’s hard. I don’t blame her for wanting revenge, I’d probably do the same.
I have mixed feelings about May Beth. Honestly, I get that you hate Claire – that’s totally fair but why the fuck are you withholding information? Trouble or not, if you want her found you need to be honest, especially after you begged this man to help you.
I hate Claire. She’s an awful excuse for a human being and a mother. I don’t mean her addiction. Her addiction is something that she has to fight against and she did that eventually. However, she always treated Sadie like shit, often turned Mattie against her and then fucking abandoned them. Then she had the nerve to tell West that he “wasn’t doing enough” to find Sadie. Bitch, you have no right. You’ve done nothing for her her entire life and then you left.
I don’t have any particular feelings about West. His statement, “girls go missing all the time” was a shit thing to say though. Then again, I guess he isn’t wrong. I know that a lot of people would consider this story “dark” but I disagree. I think that’s actually a privileged view because for some, this is a reflection of their reality. Actually, West is 100% correct, girls do go missing all the damn time.
This is probably something that a lot of people didn’t pay attention to but I appreciate that when West is describing the person that he’s interviewing, he mentions everyone’s race – not just people of color. This is how you’re supposed to do it instead of just assuming most people are white.
The one thing that I can’t get over it, is the fact that Sadie passed the podcast when she was listening to the radio. It makes me wonder what would have happened if she had heard it.
I am still wondering about a few things. Why did Jack kill Mattie? That’s not his M.O. so something must have happened. Where is Sadie’s body? Did anyone ever find her? I guess we’ll never know.
4.5 stars.
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