Vengeance is mine: a "Sadie" review
I have yet to really listen to a podcast. Considering how popular this medium has become, I feel bad for not getting into them. But it's awesome to see how much content is available: news, true crime, and even comedy. So it's no surprise that novels would want to get in on the fun, and Courtney Summers saw that opportunity in her newest release, drawing in an adult crossover audience with a podcast transcript format and a blurb by the author of a popular thriller (a pseudonym; the real name behind that novel has recently received flack for pathologically lying).
I haven't read a Summers book before this one, but I've heard a lot of really good things about her work. This was an excellent start to her arsenal. Sadie is propulsive, a journey that wills its reader to listen close and witness the absolute ferocity of this young woman's journey of revenge. It's not for the light of heart (potential trigger warnings do abound in this piece), but there are absolutely visceral characters, a heartbreaking climax, and an unforgettable story that takes the idea of missing girls, close-knit sisters, and small-town gossip and turns it all on its head to cut to the very bone. Although sometimes recursive and simplistic when it comes to its writing, Summers has done an excellent job of getting to the absolute thrill true crime brings while also revealing the real experiences beyond the oftentimes serialized stories filtered through our earbuds. It's worth a read.
West McCray has a brand new podcast: The Girls. A portrait on small town Cold Creek, Colorado exposes something much darker at its core: the death of Mattie Southern. A thirteen-year-old girl who lived with her older sister and surrogate grandmother, Mattie was a vivacious teen associated with those who wanted bigger things, brighter futures than the endless monotony of small town life. She wanted to track down her absent mother, no matter how much her sister refused. But her murder quickly shook up the town, leaving countless unanswered questions in its wake. A year passes, West thinking that perhaps this will only stay as part of the podcast he normally produces and nothing more. But the surrogate grandmother, May Beth Foster, calls in and reports that Mattie's older sister, Sadie, has been missing for several months. She can't take another dead girl. West volunteers to investigate, and what follows is a harrowing investigation, one where West feels like he's constantly one step behind.
Meanwhile, Sadie's side to the story isn't left alone. A first-person narrative coincides with the podcast transcript, a vengeful road trip where Sadie knows the person behind Mattie's death: one of her mother's many ex-boyfriends, the one she was with the longest that everyone loved. But Sadie knows he's hiding a massive secret, one that she was affected by and Mattie almost was, and she's not going to let him get away with all that he's done. Now that she knows the extent of the darkness lurking in his heart, this means war.
Sadie's journey takes her from small towns to sprawling suburbs, and what she finds is shocking and unfortunately true to so many experiences out there. Will she be able to make it to her sister's killer? Or will she be the next notch on his belt?
This novel is an absolutely compelling read. I found myself unable to put it down; both the podcast soundbites and Sadie's perspective were invigorating and heart-wrenching. To see West slowly trickling behind Sadie's quest made me root for the both of them even more, and I loved seeing the people Sadie met mirrored in West's narrative, how different or similar they seemed than through the eyes of a nineteen-year-old girl. Plus, from what I listened to in the audiobook, a full cast shares in both parts, creating one of the most immersive experiences I have ever been a part of. The Girls podcast feels as real as something you'd be able to stream off of Spotify, which is incredible.
Summers also tackles a very difficult subject that happens behind closed doors to so many kids (especially young women) that make up horror stories that pop up now and again on the news: pedophilia. Those who have experienced sexual assault at a young age will need to be careful with this material, as Summers spares no emotional or graphic detail at parts. But this unflinching look at the depraved sexuality lurking underneath supposedly perfect people is palpable and excellently executed, especially with the knowledge that Summers has dealt with this material before. Her experience with crafting this sensitive topic shows, and she makes it cut with every word of Sadie's righteous wrath, every thought that underlies her stuttering.
Sadie has so much refreshing diversity and great characters on top of its invigorating mystery. From Sadie's speech disorder, several people identifying as queer, and all kinds of personalities, privileged city to trailer park folk, the narrative comes alive with everyone. There's even a boy named Javi that Sadie fancies falling in love with if her circumstances were better. Some readers may groan and roll their eyes because why is teenage romance getting in the way of their thriller? But this brief glimmer of hope is another showcasing of that energy among everyone people meet in life, those who are dangerous and those who are wonderful, those we never want to see again and those we want to keep around, linger in our imaginations until time has run out.
However, there were some minor issues that I had. As I mentioned before, Summers' writing does tend to feel repetitive at points when it's not reaching deep into the recesses of that emotional core. Words are recursive, and things just lack the depth that seems to lie underneath what they're saying. These moments are minor, though, and don't detract from the power of the narrative. The way this novel is supposed to make you feel and the heartbreaking adventure it takes you on is what matters most.
Older readers looking for a perfect teen crossover or those craving an experimental thriller should definitely pick Sadie up. Summers pulls all the punches necessary to show every harrowing breath, every horrifying flashback, and every rage-fueled explosion in crisp detail to create a thriller worth reading. Its ensemble of voices all come together to show the story of a missing girl, but it's the missing girl herself who has the most weight in this tale. It's quite a powerful read that shouldn't be missed.