About My Book Reviews

Sunday, November 22, 2020

Sadie by Courtney Summers

 Title: Sadie

Author: Courtney Summers

Published: 2018

Genre: Crime Fiction

Grade Level: Young Adult

-Trigger Warning: child sexual abuse, grief, addiction, violence

-Movie Rating: R

-Features: Dysphemia (Stuttering)

 

Audiobook:

Read by: Rebecca Soler, Fred Berman, and full cast

Length: 7hrs 57 min

Recommend: Yes

         -The main voice actors were good, the others not so much

-Sometimes there was weird background noises to simulate real world surroundings

 Blurb (from goodreads):

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.

 

My Scores:

Writing Style: Solid

I follow Emily May on goodreads, who rarely gives out five stars. So when May gave five stars to this crime novel, I had to find out why.

The internal dialogue of the MC, Sadie, is quite impactful. Her voice is strong, unique, and engaging. Sometimes her voice switches from first person to third person. Once I figured out it was a way to show the character’s disassociation, I really apricated it.

The other POV’s weren’t as impressive, but they were able to build suspense and create a powerful, heart-wrenching climax to the plot.   


Characters: Memorable

It’s impossible not to love Sadie. She’s been abused, neglected, and scoffed at for her entire life. Her only bright spot in the world was her little sister, Maddie, who was taken from Sadie's life in the most brutal way possible. The entire time I was reading the book I just wanted to give Sadie a hug!

Sadie is also very unique because, despite having a clever mind, people think of her as slow because of her stutter. I can’t seem recall any other fictional main characters with a stutter, which is sad because I think people need more exposure to dysphemia.

 

Plot: Absolute Page Turner

The plot is a classic revenge story, but this book does have a unique twist at the end. As previously mentioned, the other characters aren’t necessarily memorable, but they served to build the plot remarkably well. It made for a very impactful read.


Overall: Enjoyable

This novel hits you hard! Sadie steals your heart from the very onset of the novel and never lets go. Plus, I love that the MC has a speech disability that colors her world view. The plot twist at the end is heart-wrenching and remarkably clever. While I can’t say that I’m obsessed with the book, I can say that it was a very enjoyable read.

 

Goodreads Rating: 4 out of 5 stars


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