Courtney Summers’ well-written murder mystery is a modern take on the genre. Following the sister of a missing girl and the journalist trying to find her, Sadie’s format is unique, if a little confusing at times. The chapters written from Sadie’s perspective are in first person, but every second chapter is written as a script for a podcast. While this choice shows the narrative in the broader context of all the young girls that go missing in the world, in this novel the podcast chapters detract from the main narrative. With the title Sadie, the reader expects the book to focus on the girl, not on the reluctant reporter assigned to her case. The change in format can be jarring, and it makes the reader wonder if whether the narrative would have worked better asan actual podcast.
However, the two perspectives create a sense of urgency and further mystery as the reader waits for them to finally intersect or at least catch up with each other. The journalist is always one step behind Sadie, but he also knows things that she doesn’t, which quickens the pace of the plot as it develops. Summers carefully chooses what information each character knows, complete with lies and misunderstandings, so that the puzzle comes together slowly and reveals more mysteries as it goes.
Sadie is a unique protagonist in that she has a stutter, a trait that is usually used to show a timid or weak character. Sadie is far from this, and her stutter is portrayed with accuracy and depth, detailing how it impacts her everyday life. While Sadie’s physical voice is an obstacle for her, her internal voice as a narrator is powerful and strong. What makes Sadie such a compelling narrative is the use of two uniquely unreliable narrators.
Sadie knows the most about her sister, the girl who went missing, but she is young and was kept in the dark about a lot of things. On top of this, she is biased in who she believes is responsible and is single-minded in seeking revenge. The journalist, despite his investigative skills, is limited by what his interviewees are willing to tell him. These two conflicting storylines make for a thrilling and exciting mystery.
With the arrival of the new Netflix series, now is a perfect time to sink your teeth into Lemony Snicket’s A Series of Unfortunate Events. This series is unique and one of my favourites; Snicket’s narration is satirical, morbid and hilarious all at once, and although he will warn you many times that the books …
Jakob Wegelius’ middle-grade novel The Murderer’s Ape tells the story of Sally Jones, an anthropomorphic gorilla working closely with a man known as ‘The Chief.’ Together, the two journey all around the coastlines and rivers of Europe and its surrounding areas aboard a grand sailing ship known as the Hudson Queen. When a midnight expedition …
‘The Gilded Ones’, an action-packed new fantasy series from début author Namina Forna, follows the story of a young female named Deka, who lives in the West-African-inspired society of Otera, in which women live to be of service to men, and their roles in everyday life are grounded in misogyny. For Deka, reaching a certain …
Melina Marchetta’s coming-of-age novel is a refreshingly mature young adult adventure that captures the feeling on the crux of growing up and watching all that was familiar with the world shift into something new. On the Jellicoe Road transports the reader to a world caught between the dreams of childhood and the horrors of reality, …
Skulduggery Pleasant – Playing with Fire is the second novel in Derek Landy’s Skulduggery Pleasant series. Following on from the events of the first novel (if you have not read the first novel, or do not want spoilers, please STOP reading right now), the novel picks up a few months after Skulduggery and Valkyrie defeated …
The absolutely electrifying Australian crime novel ‘The Tell’ by Martin Chatterton weaves a wickedly satisfying tale of Raze Tanic, an upper-class Sydney student whose family-run an illustrious crime ring in the heart of the Australian city. Raze has everything he could ever want, except the relationship with his father, who has been jailed in a …
Book Review – Sadie by Courtney Summers
However, the two perspectives create a sense of urgency and further mystery as the reader waits for them to finally intersect or at least catch up with each other. The journalist is always one step behind Sadie, but he also knows things that she doesn’t, which quickens the pace of the plot as it develops. Summers carefully chooses what information each character knows, complete with lies and misunderstandings, so that the puzzle comes together slowly and reveals more mysteries as it goes.
Sadie is a unique protagonist in that she has a stutter, a trait that is usually used to show a timid or weak character. Sadie is far from this, and her stutter is portrayed with accuracy and depth, detailing how it impacts her everyday life. While Sadie’s physical voice is an obstacle for her, her internal voice as a narrator is powerful and strong. What makes Sadie such a compelling narrative is the use of two uniquely unreliable narrators.
Sadie knows the most about her sister, the girl who went missing, but she is young and was kept in the dark about a lot of things. On top of this, she is biased in who she believes is responsible and is single-minded in seeking revenge. The journalist, despite his investigative skills, is limited by what his interviewees are willing to tell him. These two conflicting storylines make for a thrilling and exciting mystery.
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