This book made me cry!!!
This book had so many sensitive topic told in a way of a podcast. It was new way of reading this story for me. And I definitely enjoyed it. The most foucsed issue is of missing girl and what happens to them and the story just made me feel so sad for the characters, I could feel their pain to.
The story was good. It had a sort of mystery. The ending was ,I don't know what to say. It just got me.

Dark book but nicely written. Told through the eyes of Sadie. Book was very well written and a excellent read. I found myself rushing through things to get back to this book. I kept thinking this would make a good movie as I was reading. Thanks to NetGalley, the author and the publisher for the ARC of this book. Although I received the book in this manner, it did not affect my opinion of this book nor my review.

One of the best books I read this year.
I loved the podcast style, it was so fun and original. I literally couldn't put it down once I started. I loved Sadie as a character with all my heart and I was so amazed that author made her so sympathetic and so badass at the same time. Other characters were also great and even if they appeared for a bit they felt fleshed out.
This book broke my heart into pieces and made me sob so hard I needed to take a little break before finishing it.
I usually hate open endings but this one completely fit the story and me love it even more (if that's even possible).

Incredibly timely, this book was amazing start to finish. The set-up of the first chapter alone got me hooked. I loved the podcast aspect and will be checking out the audio-version of this book in the near future.

I finished Sadie in two sittings and the only reason there was a break in between was because I had to stop for service.

Sadie tells the story of a girl who goes hunting for justice after the death of her sister. But the thing is, this story is told through Sadie’s point of view and via a podcast about her life (with no ads woohoo)

I found that to be a surprisingly effective narrative style – Sadie gives you what is happening in the moment. The podcast gives you the background on what is happening and how others perceive the situation. One balances out the other to create a story that has depth and is pretty fast-paced. Plus, I could totally hear the podcast in my head – it mimics the true crime podcasts very well.

If there’s one person who never really comes to life in this book, it’s West McCray, the narrator and creator of the podcast. But I think that’s appropriate, because ultimately, this story is about Sadie and the people around her. About her and her love for her sister.

Sadie, on the other hand, was fantastic. I got a good sense of her from the start, and I admire how she does her best to do what’s right for her sister, despite her limitations. I can only wish her a happy ending.

Speaking of the ending, it’s one of those that manage to be open but have a sense of ending about them. I can’t really say more because that would be a spoiler, but while one big question remained, I also felt like the story had run its course.

If you’re a fan of podcasts and great YA, you definitely have to pick it up. There are some themes that may not be appropriate for younger readers, so maybe don’t give this to lower secondary and under unless you’re sure they can handle it.

Disclaimer: I got a free copy of this book from the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for a free and honest review.

Summers does a fantastic job of bringing the evil side of humanity to light in a way that is real and authentic in this book. The story is told in the format of half-podcast and half-novel, which I actually really enjoyed, and delves into far darker subject matter than I was expecting. Although the book is classified as YA, it doesn’t seem juvenile in any way. I loved the characters. Sadie was one that I could really connect with and I look for that in a great story. I did have a hard time with the subject matter though. I tend to shy away from books that are too dark and I wasn’t really prepared for where this book was going. The other thing I didn’t really like was how open ended the ending was. I like a concrete ending, not one where I can imagine things. Other than that it’s a great read and I would recommend checking it out if it sounds interesting to you!

I was really excited to score this book during my Yallwest experience and was doubly excited because this book because one of the most buzzed about book for this fall. I was also highly anticipating it because I’m a huge fan of Courtney Summers and have enjoyed her previous novels. In terms of the thriller aspect, this book did not disappoint!

This was also an extremely easy to read novel since half of the book was written in this screenwrite-like style aka it felt like a play with mostly dialogues. So because of that, I literally flew through this book and managed to finish it within a few hours.

I also especially enjoyed the characters specifically Sadie herself because there were just so much emotion involved with her love for her sister, Mattie, and her desperation to bring the killer to justice. And even though there were times when I, as the reader, was confused as to why she was going about it in a certain way, it only added to the anticipation and the thriller aspect of the book.

I think the author did a fantastic job in keeping the reader on the edge of their seats in anticipation to what comes next. This was especially true during the alternating POVs between Sadie and the radio host, West McCray because Sadie was set in the past whereas West’s side was set in the present. So as West continued with the search, things start to become slowly revealed to us as well. It was just done really, really well.

For me, the most disappointing aspect was the ending because it was just so open-ended. For those who know me and have read my previous reviews, I always prefer endings with a more definite tone to it. Unfortunately, this was very much left in the air and it’s up to the readers to interpret what really happened. So for me, there is always that “maybe” going on.

Overall, if you enjoy thrillers then definitely check this out because in terms of that particular aspect, this book was done extremely well. I can definitely see why this book is so buzzed about.

Holy crap, this book. This was a definite difficult read, but it was so amazing as well. I loved the writing style of this book. It was written half in podcast form with the voice of West McCray, who has his own serial true crime podcast. And then the other half was told in Sadie’s narrative. I really loved how this book captured the story that was being told. It was amazing and it was heartbreaking.

I really loved the fact that this story was basically a mystery within a mystery. And it was just so different from so many YA books that I’m craving more books written like this. It really fascinates me when books are told in mixed media. And it honestly made me love the book even more.

I do have to mention that there are some tough subjects within this book that can be very triggering. It’s a sad story, I’m not going to lie. But it’s a story that is so worth reading. If you can handle the triggering subject matter, I highly recommend that you read this book!

***
"Sadie" is a book that will, and should, prompt a lot of reflective writing. On the face of it, the book is a pop culture-influenced YA book with a more modern Katniss-esque heroine; the presentation is through the trendy lens of a true crime podcast alongside point of view chapters from the characters. But the real takeaway from the book is about something much bigger. "Sadie" is about violence against women and our refusal to give women their identity. Sadie's story starts with a familiar story: A mother with addiction issues, abandonment, a girl too young put into the role of surrogate mother for her sister. When Sadie's little sister is murdered, however, Sadie goes out to find justice on her behalf. As Sadie gets closer to final chapters, we, through the podcast detailing her case, move closer to finding out her resolution, too. While Sadie is driven by her sister and clearly sublimates her own needs to her sister's, the book pushes her character to the fore (even to the point of giving the book her name, not her sister's).

What's good: Without a doubt, Sadie herself. Her love for her sister, her angst at her own choices, feels very real. This young woman, in pain but still trying to help the world, is a hero we've all seen in the world around us.

What's iffier: The book is a bit choppy at the start. It took me a bit before suddenly I felt the momentum of the book take over, and then the pages started flipping themselves. In addition, some will have issues with the ending, which may not be wholly satisfactory to some readers. (For others, like me, it will beg for discussion.)

Note for those in need of cautions: This book does include child sexual abuse in addition to murder.

Wow. Wow. Wow. If Courtney Summers hadn't cemented her place as one of my favorite authors before, she has now. I don't care what she writes: she's freaking amazing. This one was kind of a departure from her other works because it's more of a mystery but it is no less spectacular.

Sadie has had a hard life. Her mother is a drug addict and the one bright spot was her younger sister Mattie. Mattie is killed when she is thirteen years old and naturally, Sadie is devastated. Sadie was more than a sister to Mattie. She was a surrogate mother. She lived for Mattie and for taking care of her. Not long after Mattie is killed, Sadie sets off to hunt for her sister's killer. Then Sadie's car and belongings are found by the side of the road and she disappeared without a trace. Sadie and Mattie's kind of sort of surrogate grandmother, Mary Kay, enlists the help of West McCray, a radio personality, to help track Sadie down.

This book was a roller coaster of emotions and suspense. The book goes back and forth between Sadie's POV and her feelings about Mattie and tracking down her killer to West McCray and his podcast about Sadie and Mattie. McCray's chapters involve a lot of interviews and talking to the audience and I wasn't sure about the format at first but I grew into it. And even though the format for his chapters was a bit distant from Sadie's narrative, I still felt all the emotion of a guy who followed a story he didn't want to begin with. Through his interviews, I was able to get a sense of who Sadie was before Mattie's death and some of the events that Sadie was too distant to tell anyone about. It seemed like McCray was right on Sadie's trail and I wanted him to find her SO BADLY. I don't want to give away what happens, but I just didn't feel right about where the story was headed. This story was just so tragic and heartbreaking. Yes, I cried at the end. It was just so sad. This is a heavy book, I won't lie. It will stay with you long after you finish it. Only Courtney Summers can get into a teenage girl's head so thoroughly. I just loved this book.

This was a great YA thriller, which follows 19-year-old Sadie, who sets out to find her sister’s killer. This book is gritty and heart wrenching, and deals with some very heavy topics. I loved the way it was told by alternating between Sadie’s perspective and a podcast, and after reading some other reviews, it is obvious that I need to check out the audiobook!

Sadie is a gripping YA mystery that'll break your heart. It is haunting and sad. The ending was a bit disappointing but it was also apt. Definitely a great read, this one.

This is the book that got me out an almost four month reading slump. Before reading this I had no desire to pick up any kind of book and I was convinced my blogging days were over. Then, everyone on Twitter was talking about how amazing the audiobook was and because I'm the kind of person that has to be in on what everyone else is talking about I decided to listen to it and wow, am I glad I did. It's devastating, heartbreaking and it made me cry. A lot.

Listening to this via audiobook made it seem so real. It really feels like you're listening to a true crime podcast. It was put together SO well! I had to remind myself that it was a fictional case. The podcast element in general was so cool.

I loved how complex and flawed Sadie was as a character. She mad a lot of impulse decisions but they weren't for no reason? Yes, she obviously could have handled things better but I fully understood her motives especially as more and more was revealed. I found myself relating to her character a lot. My home life wasn't physically abusive as hers, but I was always a parent to my younger siblings, so I really connected with that. It was good to see some representation for stuttering too because I don't think that's something that's ever really talked about. 

West McCray's involvement in the story was great too, he was one of my favourite parts. He wasn't just a "voice" telling a podcast. He was a really fleshed out character. The way he started off with "girls go missing all the time" and then evolved to "I can’t take another dead girl" (which, is such a HARD HITTING statement and such a reflection on the current state of society) and how much he grew to care for Sadie and her family and the case in general. 

The small town atmosphere was done brilliantly too and it was another thing I found myself really relating to. The characters and the settings really bring it to life.

Courtney Summers never seems to shy away from confronting subjects and that's why I want to read all her works. The other book I've read by her was All the Rage and it was so heartbreaking. I think she does a great job of handling all the subject matters in a really respectful, but realistic way. Nothing is glamourised or used for shock value.  Nothing is sugarcoated though so please don't get into this if you're sensitive to any of the trigger warnings. 

The ending. I loved it. Unpopular opinion time. I know everyone talks about how much they love this book "but the ending". Maybe it's because I have such a love for open endings because I just love the whole intrigue aspect and not fully knowing something is very unnerving. I really don't think there could have been any other way for this book to end? Having everything tied up in a neat bow would have gone against everything the book was trying to tell.

I really enjoyed the narrative structure of this book, although I think West McCray as a character was a bit flat. The other characters in this book, including and especially Sadie, were interesting and had at least a little bit of complexity. I liked the ambiguity of the ending. Sadie's quest to revenge her sister (and herself), and to protect other vulnerable girls from abuse, was very moving. I thought it was well paced, gripping, and unpredictable. I think that the podcast angle will be interesting to many readers, although maybe not to the target YA audience. However, I don't think it will drive them away either. I think this is an important and compelling read. I very much enjoyed it and I thank NetGalley, Courtney Summers, and the publisher for the review copy I received.

An abandoned, one room schoolhouse sits three miles outside of Cold Creek, taken by fire. The roof is caved in and what's left of the walls are charred. It sits next to an Apple orchard. The body of Maddie Southern was discovered between the burning schoolhouse and the Apple orchard just out of sight. She's been missing for three days earlier and she was found there dead. She was only thirteen years old. Mattie left behind a nineteen year old sister, Sadie, a surrogate grandmother, May Beth, and her mother, Claire, but Claire has been out of the picture for awhile.

Claire left when Sadie was sixteen which meant Mattie was ten. She was a habitual drug user, and left her children for this reason.

After Mattie's death, Sadie comes up missing, her car is found abandoned, thousand of miles away with all her belongings found inside of it. Eddie's grandmother, May Beth Foster has enlisted, West McCrays help in finding Sadie. He does this with a serialized podcast on the search of Sadie.

This is a gripping YA mystery and thriller. It did not seem to me that I was reading a young adult book. It was so well done. If you haven't read this because it's a young adult book, you might want too because I don't think you would notice. It is a dark story, but not too dark.

The layout of the book is half podcasts and the other half is a story. I think the audio book would be better than the book, since it has podcasts in it. At first when I started the book, I didn't think I would like the layout of the book with the podcasts, but I was very surprised. I ended up loving reading them. They were so gripping and suspenseful, which kept me turning the pages on the search for Sadie. I was immediately drawn into the story straight from the beginning and couldn't put it down.

At first I didn't like the ending because it was one of those imaginary endings, where you imagine how it ended the way you want it to end. I thought it was a perfect ending because since it is a young adult book I think it would be a very dark and disturbing ending and this way they can decide how they want it to end.

I loved the characters. Sadie will always be a memorable character and I just loved her. May Beth, the grandmother was a loveable character too. Claire and several other characters were very unlikable characters to me. Claire was a terrible mother and just had too many excuses.

This was a Traveling Sister Read and I think we all enjoyed it. This book made a great group read discussion. I loved reading this with them.

I want to thank Netgalley, St. Martin's Press and Courtney Summers for the copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Actual rating: 3.75 / 5

I heard great things about Sadie before it came out, so naturally I was anxiously waiting to get my hands on this lovely looking novel. And while it’s not the best thriller/mystery I’ve read, it’s definitely one of the better books in the YA thriller/mystery domain.

I love how this novel is titled after the main character, Sadie, because truthfully this whole story is about her — even if it feels like it’s about her murdered sister, Mattie. It’s about Sadie’s determination to find the man who killed her sister and assaulted her when they were young children. Honestly, that guy gave me the creeps; he was downright nasty. I don’t understand people who do stuff like that to children (or anyone, for that matter).

The pacing of this story was done well — divided between interviews and narration — everything flowed effortlessly, which made it difficult for me to stop reading. Truthfully, I hated putting this book down; I needed to know what was going on.

Some negatives, because all books have those, are that I wasn’t fond West (the interviewer guy who is looking for Sadie). But if you asked me why I didn’t like him, I couldn’t tell you. He felt bland? It’s hard to pinpoint, but I felt no connection to his character and found his sections slower than Sadie’s.

Additionally, the ending of the novel irritated me — I don’t like not knowing things, so it took away from the whole book, because I had a feeling Summers was going to end Sadie’s story the way she did. I wish it could have been a little more original, since it felt like the “easy” way to end the novel. But this is purely my opinion; others may disagree.

Overall, I enjoyed this story as much as I hoped I would! And while I wish West’s chapters were more like Sadies and that I could have connected to him more, it didn’t take too much away from the thrill of the story. Sadie is a great read for those who love YA, mystery, and/or thrillers.
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This book was well-written and engaging, but I definitely felt worse about myself and humanity as a whole after I finished reading it, so I am arbitrarily knocking it down a star

Sadie is a fast paced contemporary story about a girl on a mission and the pod-cast host trying to find her. Told in alternating chapters following Sadie in first person and following Wes in a pod-cast interview format. When Wes McCray is in a small town in Colorado recording an episode for a pod-cast show, he hears about a 13-year-old girl named Mattie being murdered. He returns to New York and a few months later in October, Wes gets a call about Mattie’s older sister, Sadie, who has been missing been since June. A neighbor who is like a grandmother to both girls wants Wes to help find Sadie. Sadie’s car was found abandoned thousands of miles from home and Wes tries to figure what led Sadie to that place. Wes goes through Sadie’s past by interviewing people she knew and attempting to follow her route. Rewind back to June, Sadie is trying to find and kill the man, Keith, that she knows murdered her sister. She has a picture of him and tells everyone he is her dad. She gathers clues from people leading her to his current location. As she tracks him down, she uncovers many long buried secrets about Keith and the people he knew. Can Sadie get to Keith and avenge her sister? Can Wes find Sadie?
This story has a fast pace and great characters. The dual narrative keeps the pace quick and keeps you wanting to read more. Some secrets were too conveniently and easily revealed, like when Sadie just happened to be parked outside the house when a bad man drove out to his hiding spot. Sadie was a well-written character. She was tough, determined, and did not let her stutter stop her, but she could do some stupid things. Due to the pod-cast format, you do not learn a lot about Wes. The story does not have any racy scenes and does not have romance. The story does not have descriptions of rape, child molestation, and murder, but those topics do drive the plot. The ending wraps up the story, but leaves some questions unanswered. The cover is not the best, but the book is great. I liked this book and will check out others by the author. Fans of mysteries and thrillers would like this book. I received a digital copy from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Initial Thoughts: "Courtney Summers' novels are always hard-hitting, emotionally brutal dives into the harsh realities young women face. I started Sadie expecting nothing less but hoping for a powerful revenge story as well - the type that would fit into my current reading mood. While Sadie does cover yet another darkly emotional aspect of being a woman in a man's world, it does not quite quench my thirst for violence or provide me satisfaction in wrongs made right. If I were of a more normal mindset, this novel would hit all the right chords. Sadie's story is powerful and necessary because her childhood experiences at the hands of her mother's boyfriend happen more often than we would like to acknowledge. Ms. Summers treats the topic with the decency it requires, shedding light on this painful subject without delving into gratuitous details that serve no purpose other than to disgust and sensationalize the truth. Still, I cannot help but feel disappointed upon finishing it because it is not the type of novel that helps me feel better right now. Instead, it reminds me of the work we still need to do to protect our daughters. My reaction is not the fault of the novel or Ms. Summers but purely due to my current emotional and mental state."

Now: Guys, I feel somewhat guilty that I could not love Sadie more than I did. After all, it is a heartbreaking story that with beautiful writing. The problem is that the story reminds me of the immigrant children ripped from their families by our government. It reminds me of the #metoo movement and what Dr. Ford experienced when she tried to come forward publically with her story of abuse. These reminders hurt and fuel my rage that there are people who believe Dr. Ford lied under oath but Judge Kavanaugh did not, that our government seems to be turning its back on the very tenets of our country and becoming more and more like 1930s Germany than is ever acceptable. I read to escape. I don't want reminders of the very things I cannot ignore in real life. Everything that happens in Sadie is essential and worthy of so much discussion. It is critical because as the narrator points out in the very beginning, girls run away all the time. Sadie is an attempt to open up the dialogue about why girls run away.  I know all this in my mind and admire what Ms. Summers achieves with her story. While I recognize all this, I cannot change how my heart feels when I think about the book. The simple fact is I wanted a story with a lot more justice obtained by the heroine than what I got with an ending that may not be realistic but at least would be satisfying. Sadie is not that novel.

3.5/5 stars

The half-star is because the audiobook version of Saide is the best I've ever heard! There are multiple actors, sound effects, and more. It definitely listens like more of a radio show/podcast than a book, which is on-point since half of the story *is* a podcast.

Sadie is a 19 year-old girl who has a got-out-of-town, junkie single mom and a 6-years-her-junior sister Mattie. Except, Mattie recently was found dead just outside of town. Sadie is convinced she knows who did it, and she is skips town to find him. It's not an easy search, but she is determined, even if her stutter doesn't make it easy interrogate people.

Sadie (the books) tells two points of view of the same mystery: what happened to Sadie? The chapters happen slightly out-of-time with one another until they match up and one pulls ahead. Half of the chapters are narrated by Sadie as she goes about searching for a man who was her mom's former boyfriend and who lived with them. Sadie and Mattie knew him as Keith, but others know him by Darren-- or Christopher or Jack. Obviously, there's something fishy going on. The other half is narrated by Wes McCray, podcast creator of The Girls, a show where we tells the story of Sadie and why/how she's missing. Part of his chapters are straight podcast transliteration and other parts are his interviews with witnesses and phone calls with his producer/boss.

The ending is 100% open-ended. It can be frustrating, but lends verisimilitude as so many missing person cases are unsolved.