If I were to sum up Sadie in two words, they’d be intense and brutal.
Disclaimer: This book is dark and bleak. If you’re familiar with Summers’ previous works, you know that she stays true to the story; Summers doesn’t do unrealistic happy endings. Instead, Summers’ talent has always been, and shines through in Sadie. It deals with unsettling topics in an unflinchingly real manner and might be one of the most impactful YA reads of 2018.
Sadie follows the story of one dead girl, one missing girl, and a quest for revenge. Nineteen-year-old Sadie is determined to find who she believes to be her younger sister Maddie’s killer. With few clues to go on, she decides to embark on a journey to find him and make him pay for what he did.
Sadie alternates between chapters from Sadie’s perspective, following her as she tracks down a man who has perfected the art of disappearing, and West McCray’s true crime radio show transcript called The Girls trying to find Sadie by following the little information the police offer. This compelling narrative drives up the anticipation and feeling of dread to almost unbearable heights at times. I had actual goosebumps crawling up my skin, both terrified and riveted by Sadie’s arduous journey. I found myself begging West McCray to find more clues. For him to be faster, to analyse quicker, or to just get to Sadie before someone else does.
Sadie’s chapters are fast-paced and detail her shaking people down for clues to the killer’s whereabouts and the grimy secrets she finds along the way. As for McCray, his investigations try to get the truth out of the people Sadie met along the way. Between the two perspectives, I was completely riveted. It’s impossible to put the book down once you’ve passed a certain moment in the novel because, much like West voices everyone’s ultimate fear in his podcast, “I can’t take another dead girl.”
Not everyone will like Sadie, but I was entranced by her. A young girl who had to grow up way too fast to look after her younger sister, who tried her best to make Mattie’s life great, was so relatable. Someone who’s never had the opportunity to be or do more, who worked relentless hours while going to school just to put a roof over her sister’s head. Someone who had to deal with others thinking she’s stupid because she has a stutter. A girl who put her sister above all else, even when that sister resented her for it.
If you read the synopsis, you might think this is solely a story revolving around revenge—but it’s so much more than that. This story encapsulates a lot including children taking on way too much responsibility, neglectful parents, and the realities of poverty. Then there’s the dark underbelly to sisterhood, the unsettling realisation that monsters rarely look like monsters, and the cruel reminder that children are not as safe as you might hope.
Underneath it all, however, is a running theme of love. Sadie’s love for Maddie that wasn’t enough, the love of a mother who could not measure up, the love that blinds us to the people we let into our homes and into our children’s lives. Sadie might leave her town to find the killer of her sister—but she also tries to come to terms with her own past, guilt about what she could have done differently, and the person she’s become because of it.
Ultimately, Summers doesn’t offer so much an ending as a resolution to Sadie’s story. It’s realistic because, much like in real life cases, closure is never just instantaneously given. It is an arduous process, and Summers reflects this throughout the book and in her ending.
Sadie isn’t your typical YA book and it’s a hard book to read. It haunts you in these tiny ways. It’s been a while since I finished it, and there are still moments when Sadie pops in my head. But that’s also what makes it stand out—whether you like it or not, you won’t forget this one for a good while.
Perfect for fans of true crime podcasts, a little show called Eyewitness, or gritty YA mysteries. If you’re after an absolutely gruelling, heartrending read, Sadie will stay with you long after you close the book. This title contains child abuse, sexual abuse and assault, violence, child abduction, child death, and paedophilia.
Sadie is available from Amazon, Book Depository, and other good book retailers.
Will you be checking out Sadie? Or have you already read it? Tell us in the comments below!
Synopsis | 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 meagre 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.
