Blog Tour Review: Sadie by Courtney Summers

I'm thrilled to be part of the blog tour for the book Sadie.  I'd seen some good buzz about the book, so when offered the chance to participate I jumped at it!

About the Book

Title: Sadie
Author: Courtney Summers
Copy Obtained: From publisher in exchange for honest review

Courtney Summers is already known for her well written and dark young adult novels, earning rave starred trade reviews on every book. With a fierce and independent female lead, SADIE (September 4, 2018; Wednesday Books) continues in this vein told in part as a podcast, similar to Serial, about a missing girl determined to avenge her sister’s death. A propulsive and harrowing read that will keep you riveted until the last page, Courtney Summers has written the breakout book of her career. 

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.

Advanced praise for SADIE:

"SADIE is an electrifying, high-stakes road trip—a gripping thriller with a true—crime podcast edge. Clear your schedule. You're not going anywhere until you've reached the end." —Stephanie Perkins, New York Times bestselling author of There's Someone Inside Your House and Anna and the French Kiss

"A haunting, gut-wrenching, and relentlessly compelling read. SADIE grabs you and won't let you go until you've borne witness."—Veronica Roth, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Carve the Mark and The Divergent series

“We love a good podcast mystery, so we are here for this fall 2018 release from Wednesday Books.” – RT Book Reviews

About the Author
COURTNEY SUMMERS lives and writes in Canada. She is the author of What Goes Around, This is Not a Test, Fall for Anything, Some Girls Are, Cracked Up to Be, Please Remain Calm, and All the Rage.

One sentence review: Wow what a ride!

Best for readers who: 15+, like books that slowly unravel the whole story, are ok with mature themes

Best Stick-with-You Image: The old house Sadie enters and finds something.  Really found it a turning point in the story.

Library Thoughts: As much as I liked the book, it isn't a book I'd put in the middle school library.  The content is a bit more mature.  I would put it in a high school library. 

Honestly I really really didn't like Sadie (the character not the book) at first.  I found her so pulled into herself that I felt like I couldn't connect to her or her story.  But over the first fourth of the book, I slowly grew to like her and her toughness.  I liked her because she chose to not sit around and do nothing.  Instead, she did what she felt she needed to do and pulled a lot of strength from deep-down.  By the end, I loved her and felt a ton for her!

Over-all that's how I felt about the book as a whole.  At first, I wasn't sure about it.  I struggled reading the podcast parts (more on those later!).  I just wanted Sadie's part of the story.  But as the story went along I realized that I had to hear/read the podcast part because they created a fuller story.  The podcast rounded Sadie out.  It made her more 3-dimensional.  It also made me feel for her more because I knew that what she thought wasn't always the truth, and it was sad that she didn't know it! 

I loved how this story unraveled.  It came in bits and pieces to the characters outside of Sadie.  She of course, knew the full truth of what she was doing and why.  But watching the others slowly put the puzzle together was amazing.  Very well done.  So many little bits you think are gone show up later and bring the whole plot more depth.  They all clicked nicely into place.

The ending - It was a wow one for me.  I'm still struggling with it.  I'll leave it at that! I will warn you that the book covers some topics I didn't realize would be there - so heavier topics.  The ending was part of that.  I don't want to give anything away, so I'll leave it at that.  

About the podcast portions of the book - I didn't know they were actually going to make some of the podcasts from the book.  I found them a while into the book.  So glad I found them because they helped pull me into the book even more!  There are parts of the podcasts that are stilted because it's acted not real, but for me listening to them helped me read them better in the book!  Here's the link if you want to check them out. The Girls Podcast I strongly suggest listening to them.

In all, I really enjoyed the book! It does pull you in, and you need to know what happens.  I felt for Sadie - for all the characters really.  I wanted peace for her.