Sadie

TW: childhood sexual abuse and molestation

Summers, Courtney. Sadie. Wednesday Books, 2018.

Sadie has disappeared. After raising herself and her sister in spite of her mother's drug and alcohol addictions, Sadie hits her breaking point when her mother disappears and her sister is murdered. Sadie is convinced she knows who did it, and she's on her way to find that person and get her revenge.

This book is told in the form of eight episodes of a podcast a la Serial and will likely be fantastic as an audiobook. I will agree with other reviewers that the conclusion was quite obvious to me from the beginning, but that did not diminish my enjoyment of the story itself. Sadie and I have quite a lot in common - older sisters born to single parents, abused by a man who took advantage of our mothers and threatened to abuse our sisters if we told, etc. The infrequent flashbacks that Sadie experiences were not triggering to me but may be to other survivors. I enjoyed this book the way I often enjoy episodes of Criminal Minds: we may already know what the conclusion is, but it's the journey and the explanation of the motivation behind the actions, which made up the bulk of the story, that was so fascinating. This one will definitely be popular with teen patrons.

Recommended for: teens, fans of thrillers or procedural crime shows
Red Flags: drug abuse, alcohol abuse, language, sexual abuse/molestation, murder
Overall Rating: 5/5 stars

Read-Alikes: I Am Still Alive by Kate Alice Marshall, Mind Games by Kiersten White, The Night She Disappeared by April Henry

I received a complimentary copy of this book through Netgalley for the purpose of review.