Sadie

Sadie
by Courtney Summers
Wednesday Books, 2018. 311 pgs. Young Adult Fiction.

Sadie was always more of a mom to Mattie than an older sister and when Mattie is found dead in the woods, Sadie’s entire world crumbles. She decides to hunt down the man who she thinks did it—her mom’s ex-boyfriend, Keith. This book is told in alternating perspectives between Sadie’s first person narrative and a podcast called The Girls hosted by West McCray.

I love true crime podcasts so I thought this book would be right up my alley with the podcast element. The reader can choose to either listen to the actual podcast or just read the podcast’s transcript in the book, which is what I did. This book was so much heavier than I anticipated and deals with hard topics including drug addiction, sexual abuse, and pedophilia. The podcast element is interesting and creates the opportunity for a third person narrative that keeps the suspense alive. I would recommend this book for others who enjoy true crime podcasts as long as they don’t mind the difficult content.

AU