Reviews with content warning for Pedophilia - Sadie

I initially picked this book up to read as my entry for Colorado in a personal Read Across America challenge involving reading one book set in every state. I picked Sadie because I didn’t want to read Stephen King, which I thought would be too dark for me. I really had no idea what I was getting myself into though, because Sadie is probably just as dark, but deals with real life horrors instead of fantastical ones.
I will say I did not enjoy this book, because how does anyone enjoy books with the kind of topics addressed here? But despite the difficulty I had with many of the topics addressed, this book still definitely left an impact.

Enjoyment: 2.5
Emotional impact: 4.5
Educational value: 5
=4 stars

Content Warnings

meeklovestoread's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

I feel so bad for giving this book a 3.5/5. It wasn't a bad book by any means but I just didn't really feel much towards it while I was reading it. I felt for Sadie, I really did. But I honestly couldn't connect to her as a character or anyone else for that matter, so much so, that I found myself enjoying the mixed media POV more than hers. I figured out the "mystery" aspects to this story earlier on so yay me for that, but no yay to what actually transpires in this book because it really hurts my heart to know that stuff like this actually happens to people in real life. Like this story could be real! Which, in turn, made my stomach churn to read at times. Considering the book is YA it doesn't go into detail about these heinous crimes but it does tell you what's up. I'd say, for me, the story didn't pick until the 80% mark. Overall, it was a fine read, but nothing really speculator. The ending was inconclusive and I got the bonus content version and things are still left unresolved which was so annoying because there were a few questions left unanswered.

Like what happened to Sadie? We went through this entire book looking at her looking for Keith/Darren/Jack and we don't even get to see their confrontation?! It's just assumed that her stab wound killed him. And it's just assumed that Keith/Darren/Jack killed Mattie because it's never said for sure. And if he did, why? What did he have to gain by doing that? Also, we never find out what happens to Sadie even in the bonus chapter. So annoying! And not the way I wanted it to end, But whatever. Oh and also, that bit of Sadie indirectly leading Mattie to her death was such an unnecessary detail. Sadie literally never brings it up or even alludes to that in her POV.

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lias_library22's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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annathechaoticreader's review

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dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I thought it was a fantastic book, definitely one of my favourite young adult books. It was intense, thought provoking, with deeply flawed and complex characters that felt very distinct and human. It’s going to be a hard thriller to top for me! She not only told the story of fictional Sadie and Mattie but also the story of so many missing/murdered girls. On top of being a great read, its an important one that I would recommend to y/a and adult readers!

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teetea's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging emotional hopeful mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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megold12's review

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challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot

5.0

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sofiesreadingworld's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

This one completely broke my heart. First book I dedicatedly listened to while walking to and from work. Beautifully written and told, finally understand how to get more reading in while doing other things like walking and ironing in my case.
Never thought a stutter could be so well represented in an audiobook, but then again, that's more logical than in written form. I enjoyed this thourougly.

Hoped Sadie would be okay untill the very last words...

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michellewords's review

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Wow! This book was a production and I mean that in the most positive and literal way.
I have been randomly selecting my current reads by random drawing: one audiobook and one physical book. I drew this one for the audiobook and I think it was more fate than a random drawing because audiobook is THE way to read this book (or at least partially-according to other reviews)
This book has a very interesting format that lends itself perfectly to the story it tells.
It's broken into two different timelines and POV for the story. There's Sadie's story from the past and her search for her sister's killer for some food, old fashioned revenge. The second part intertwined is told through a true crime podcast narrated by a compelling detective type (McCray) as he tries to solve the murder of Mattie/find missing Sadie.
McMillan Publishing put together the podcast sections like a literal true crime podcast on the audiobook including a theme song, sponsors, and different vocals for every interview. It is such an incredible way to produce this book on a bigger scale.
This book has my name written all over it: mystery, kind detective procedural, podcast, incredible narrators, and a strong female protagonist. Be still my heart.
So it's no surprise that I loved this book. I don't think I would have loved it the same if I read the physical copy because of how the structure of the book was. In fact, I think I probably wouldn't rate it quite so high. I'm impressed that the author essentially wrote both a novel and a script.
I really don't know what else to say. It's fantastic and I highly recommend the audiobook.

TW: pedophilia, SA, language, violence

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