Sadie by Courtney Summers
Published by: Wednesday Books on September 4th, 2018
Genre: YA, Mystery, Suspense, Thriller, Realistic Fiction
Pages: 308
Format: Hardcover
Source: Purchased

Goodreads | Amazon | BookDepository | Indigo

Summary (from Goodreads): 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.

Review: I had heard that it was great to listen to the audiobook while reading this and I definitely recommend that! Throughout the book there is sections with podcasts elements following the disappearance of Sadie and the host interviews family members and citizens that have come across her. There was even little ads/sponsorship mentions for MacMillan publishing which was a great addition to make it more realistic. Being an avid listener of true crime podcasts I really liked this aspect.

I loved the format of how the podcast elements were interspersed. We get the perspective of the podcast that talks about each new clue on the whereabouts of Sadie and phone interviews of whomever was in contact with her or spotted her surrounding that clue. Each character had their own voice. Then you get Sadie’s perspective about that clue, why she talked with the people she did and her side of the story about what happened at each location.

Sadie’s narration at times was dislikeable but her spontaneous aggression was understandable. Sadie raised her little sister Mattie after her drug-addict mom left them in the trailer park. Now that Mattie had been found murdered, Sadie is doing everything in her power to find who she believes is the alleged killer.

I don’t want to give much on the plot as I find it’s best to just jump right in to the story and follow Sadie’s journey.

Trigger Warnings: sexual abuse and paedophilia

I didn’t realize that Summers is a Canadian author and coupled with her writing I want to pick up whatever else she has published and will publish in the future.

Rating:

FOLLOW ME

• Goodreads
• Instagram (@shelvesofspines)
• Twitter (@shelvesofspines)
• Bloglovin’