Unfortunately, at the beginning of the book, we learn that the girl Sadie has always tried hardest to protect – Mattie – is long dead. Sadie’s past is filled with trauma, yet she refuses to be a victim – she will also fight tooth and nail to ensure that the other girls in her life do not become victims either. I won’t lie, listening to her journey was at times difficult, but her story was so compelling you can’t help but hang on to the ending – all the time hoping it will be a happy one. Sadie the character is a force of nature, she radiates strength and the story is propelled by her rage. Sadie also has a stutter, and this was portrayed very well on the audiobook. The voice actors are incredible, especially Sadie’s narrator, who did an excellent job conveying her intensity and emotion.

The other half of the book, told in alternate chapters, follows Sadie as she tracks down a man she knew as Keith. Half of the book features a fictional crime podcast, The Girls, as presenter Wes McCrae follows the trail of the missing Sadie Hunter – who disappeared after the murder of her younger sister, Mattie. The audio production of Sadie was incredible and a perfect medium for this story, if you can access it, I highly recommend listening rather than reading to this book. It delivers a powerful and unapologetic tale about a girl who’s hellbent on regaining control and exacting justice. I could not resist picking up this title as soon as it popped up on my Audible recommendations: a full cast of 30+ voice actors take on a revenge story, framed as a true crime podcast? Yes, please. As if that impressive blurb wasn’t enough, Sadie went on to trump every single one of my expectations.

Sadie courtney summers audiobook