This was a very unique book. The chapters alternate between Sadie’s perspective in first person and a podcast by West McCray. I listened to the audio book which made the podcast chapters even better.
It did take some time for me to get into the book. I didn’t really like the sound and pronunciation of Sadie’s narrator. But as soon as I got used to the voice, I couldn’t wait to find out what happened to Sadie.
Sadie, a nineteen year old, disappears after her sister Mattie is murdered. She knows who murdered her sister and is out to get vengeance. West McCray is the reporter who tries to find Sadie a few months later. I was eagerly looking forward to when their story lines would intersect and Sadie is found.
Sadie has a stutter which would make us think that she is a shy and timid person. But as the book progresses, she turns out to be such a strong and resilient character. The book is a bit dark with Sadie’s mother Claire being a drug addict and alcoholic. Claire doesn’t care about Sadie and brings home one boyfriend after the other. One of them is Keith who is a pedophile. Summers writing is so good that even though there are no graphic details, some sentences make you cringe. It makes you want to hold on to Sadie and give her a big hug as no one else seems to care about her or know what she’s going through.
Towards the end, at first I felt that I did not get a closure on Sadie. But in the last chapter West McCray says a few words which surprised me and made me rethink. It was the perfect ending to this book. By perfect, I don’t mean everything turned out to be “happily ever after”.
The book left me haunted and heartbroken. Because whether we like it or not, these things are happening all around us right now. Makes us think a lot about how much we take our life for granted.
My Rating is 4⭐/5.
