Sadie by Courtney Summers – Book Review

Rating: 4.75/5

Genre: Mystery, thriller, YA

First published: 2018

Author: 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.

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I’d been seeing this book around for some time and had heard some good reviews but for some reason, I wasn’t super tempted by it. But then I saw that the audiobook had a full cast, so I got it and boy am I glad I did. Turns out those good reviews were good for a reason. I definitely recommend it as an audiobook, I think that greatly enhances the experience.

This book was so compelling from start to finish. The story was compelling, the way it was told was compelling, the characters… everything about it just drew me in. We get two perspectives, one is Sadie’s and the other is West McCray’s and they complement one another. It’s almost like we’re following two separate mysteries. One that Sadie is trying to figure out and one that West is trying to figure out. Despite that, I have to say I really wish we got more information about some of the things going on. But at the same time, it would not have been as realistic a book and as good if we did get more information. But I just enjoyed and cared about Sadie’s story so much that I wish I knew more of the details. And throughout the book, you get the sense that that’s West’s desire as well.

I often have problems with thrillers. It’s a genre that I really love. I’ve always loved crime mysteries and thrillers, but they need to be truly compelling. A lot of mystery books are super tropey and, as one of my friends puts it ‘basic bitch thrillers’. And I just get so bored with those. So every time I pick up a thriller, I get nervous. But this book was everything that I love about thrillers.

Also, I really appreciated the rep that we got. Sadie has a stutter and that’s definitely something that I’ve never seen in a book before. I actually worked with someone who had a stutter last year and as a result I got curious about the condition and did a little bit of research into it and it’s something that we actually don’t know much about in terms of what causes it. So being in Sadie’s head was really useful for me. I don’t know if the author has any personal experience with it or she’s just done a lot of research, but I thought the representation was accurate and it helped me understand better what someone with the condition might be going through and all the ways in which people are insensitive or biased because of it. So, I really appreciated that as well.

So yeah, definitely recommend. If you can get the audiobook, I recommend that because the production is great. I feel it really adds to the story. I don’t know what else to say about it. With this kind of books, the less you know going into it, the better, really. Which is why I truncated the synopsis in this review. I didn’t know much more than that going into it and I think that provides the best experience.