Sadie by Courtney Summers is about the adventure of Sadie Hunter searching for her sister’s killer. She’s desperate to find the murderer and plans to kill him once she does. The novel alternates between the perspectives of Sadie on the run and West McCray, a journalist chasing her for his podcast, The Girls. Whether listened to as an audiobook or read with a physical copy, the story is unmatched. It’s raw, captivating and unlike any book found on the shelves.
The main character, Sadie, is a 19-year-old girl who cares for her younger sister, Mattie, because of their drug-addicted mother’s unreliability. Because Sadie was more of a parent than a sibling, Mattie’s death is something she’ll never recover from. Sadie is the only person aware of who killed Mattie and deals with her grief the only way she knows how: plotting the killer’s demise.
The killer has taken on many names but was known to Sadie and her family as Darren Marshall. He was once her mother’s boyfriend and abused Sadie when she was younger. When he tried to victimize Mattie, the mother threw him out of their home. Sadie eventually learns that Darren has gone through many families like her own (single mothers who work at bars and have young daughters) and that she’s not the only one he’s abused. She vows to kill him, not only to avenge her family but to prevent this from happening to any other innocent girls. Once she begins the search, she leaves without warning. From then on, Sadie is considered a “missing girl.”
Unbeknownst to Sadie, journalist West McCray is hot on her trail. He turns his investigation of her disappearance into the first season of his podcast, The Girls. He begins by interviewing the few prominent people still left in her life. Soon after, he finds clues about where she’s been, though he’s always a few steps behind. He even considers scrapping his entire story, but West is too involved to back out of the investigation once his leads run dry. He’s almost as determined to find Sadie as she is to find Darren.
On every page, it’s easy to understand and relate to Sadie’s emotions. Even if you haven’t struggled with immense grief (or tried to commit murder), the way she’s portrayed is so human that every reader can relate to her suffering in some way. Periodically, Sadie has flashbacks to her moments with Mattie. Some are more positive than others, but no matter if it’s a good or bad memory, she still longs for more time with her sister. She knows she can’t regain lost time through murder, but believes it may take away some pain.
During her journey to find Darren, she goes from stranger to stranger, all in hopes of being a step closer to the killer. Unfortunately, she’s underestimated whenever she meets these new people because of her stutter. Her mission requires her to threaten others and do dangerous tasks to get the information she needs, but her stutter makes others perceive her as less intimidating. Despite others’ perceptions, she’s deadly when necessary, and many individuals who try to take advantage of her may end up fighting a losing battle.
Sadie is the only young adult book with a stuttering main character and a plot that isn’t centered around this trait. It goes beyond Sadie’s condition and makes the book about her struggle with grief rather than one of a disability. Not only does the book have casual representation that’s rare for YA books, but the writing style is extraordinary. When readers experience the world through Sadie’s eyes, they can easily understand her emotional reactions, especially after the loss of her sister. One heart-wrenching quote that Sadie says is, “Sometimes, I don’t know what I miss more; everything I’ve lost or everything I never had.”
Despite this book’s many strengths, there is one caveat. It deals with mature topics such as murder, pedophilia, parental neglect, sexual abuse and drug abuse, which may be triggering to readers. If readers have struggled with any of these subjects, this may not be the book for them.
When reading Sadie, every page is an experience that you’ll never find in another YA book. It mixes so many plot points that the combination created is very unique and hard to replicate. If you want to read a book that will leave you breathless, longing for more pages and with a new perspective on life, Sadie is the book for you.
