But, I'm getting ahead of myself.
First, if the title of this blog post didn't clue you in - I'm going to be giving ALL the spoilers. ALL OF THEM. There's no way for me to talk about this book, my disappointment in this book, without talking about the ending.
Also, trigger warnings for childhood sexual abuse. I wouldn't describe it as graphic, but it is upsetting which...of course it is. Now, on to my rant...
Sadie Hunter has been on her own since the day she was born to a drug addicted mother. When she's six, Mom gets pregnant again, giving birth to Mattie. Sadie adores Mattie. She's the kind of golden child that everyone dotes on. Mom favors Mattie and neglects Sadie (for reasons) but that doesn't mean she's a competent mother to Mattie either - so Sadie, already struggling with a severe stutter that Mom refused to get her help for, is raising herself and Mattie with some help from a kindly grandmother figure who lives in the trailer next door. Then, one day, Mom abandons them for parts unknown, Mattie is found dead in a field, and Sadie takes off to find the man she knows is responsible.
Sadie takes off without word, worrying the kindly grandmother figure next door who can't deal with "another dead girl." Entering stage left is a NPR-style journalist, West McCray, who overhears the story of Sadie and Mattie and decides to work the angle of the missing Sadie into a podcast called "The Girls."
The audio book is a multi-narrator extravaganza and the book is broken up between chapters from Sadie's point of view, to podcast chapters of West reconstructing Sadie's trail months after the fact. It's clever, engrossing, and if you're a fan of true crime podcasts you will likely love it. I cannot recommend the audio production highly enough. I'm normally not wild about multi-narrator (thank you erotic romance for killing that for me...) audio books, but wow. This one is great. A+ all the way around.
So where did it all go horribly wrong? The ending. You've got a 19-year-old girl on a vigilante mission to find the guy who sexually abused her as a kid (one of Mom's horrible boyfriends, because, of course), and finds a nest of snakes everywhere she goes. This guy had blown back into town right before Mattie's murder, so Sadie KNOWS (again, for reasons) that he's the guy, he has to die, and she's going to be the one to kill him. So what happens?
She finds The Bad Guy. And then we're back to the podcast. What we know? The Bad Guy came home disheveled and dirty telling his new girlfriend he just had to sleep. She finds him about 24 hours later, dead from a knife wound in his side that became infected. What happened to Sadie? Did she get away? Did he bury her somewhere?
WE NEVER FIND OUT!!!!!! She's still missing at the end of the book. Great, the bad guy is dead. Huzzah. BUT WHAT THE HECK HAPPENED TO OUR MAIN PROTAGONIST?!?!??!!?!?!?!?
Will there be a sequel? Oh who the heck knows at the this point. I DON'T FIND OUT WHAT HAPPENS TO SADIE AND NOW I WANT TO SMASH THINGS AND THROAT PUNCH EVERYBODY!!!!!!
So what started out as an engrossing read, a YA thriller that I would have killed for when I was a teen, turns into WTFBBQ JUST HAPPENED AND I HATE EVERYBODY!
This is a genre book. Genre = readers want a g-d ending. This open-ended garbage needs to die in a fiery pit the heat of a thousand blazing suns.
Yeah, I'm a tinch annoyed.
Final Grade = D
26 comments:
That is just so wrong, I'm not surprised you are so annoyed, I'd be spitting.
Sounds like the author is trying to pull off an unsophisticated Margaret Atwood ending like Handmaids Tale. Course HT scared the crap out of me at 16 when I had to read it for English class & maybe that was her end game. Sounds like a new book the schools can add to literature class & ruinthe hope of reading something hopeful.
Jazz: The closer I got to the end I was like, "Wow, there's not a lot of time left she better not...." And, of course, she did. So highly annoyed.
Cindy: Ever since I finished it I've been wondering if I'd feel differently if I was a teen reader. I mean, I read A Knight in Shining Armor by Jude Deveraux as a teen and LOVED the ending. Had I read that book, for the first time, as an adult? I'd probably want to chuck it up against a wall.
The ending didn't bother me on this one, although I would have loved a scene where a mysterious teen is glimpsed sneaking into her grandma's trailer at the very end.
I thought the podcast angle was handled really well. I read a British psychological thriller recently where the "podcast" section was exactly like the rest of the book except the author added some lame internet-style comments at the end of each chapter.
I have been thinking a lot about A Knight In Shining Armor in the past few years, precisely because how my feelings about genre romance have changed. My memories of Douglass have always been mixed (always too much the willing victim/doormat for me, still deserves better than she got), and I honestly don't think I would finish the book today, but if I did? Yeah, that ending.
On the other hand, not knowing what happens to the actual protagonist at the end of a book? That would totally merit cursing the author to hell. I read genre for a reason, and betrayal is the one sure way to get me to not only never read the author again, but to let everyone know why.
(I hold grudges about books for, basically, ever. Do NOT mess with my reading.)
Spinster: The podcast angle was so well done in this book - and it's perfection on the audio version. I'm sure we're in for a slew of copycats now that won't get it nearly as right. And OMG - I WOULD HAVE LOVED YOUR ENDING!!!
AL: It was definitely a letdown. From a genre standpoint, is Mattie avenged? Sure. But it's not particularly satisfying and to have no answer to "What happened to our main protagonist?" is wrong on just about every level there is when you're talking genre.
I read AKISA as a teen and yeah, at the time that ending did everything for me. But now I'm a cranky old lady and would probably want to burn everything down LOL
I am glad I was not the only person unhappy with the ending. The book was haunting enough without wondering for weeks on end, what happened to Sadie?
Lisa: It was such a haunting book and so well done...until the ending. Ugh. The more I think about it the angrier I get. While Mattie is avenged, not getting resolution on what happened to Sadie is evidence of the "universe not being righted." It's hard for me to be pleased with the villain being vanquished when our avenger is left twisting in the breeze.
This is YA though, and it's been a big success. I'm wondering if we're going to be in for a future sequel....
THANK YOU!!! I just finished it. I have been dying to share my reaction with someone else who’d read it. You nailed it.
When Kieth/ Darren/ Christopher died, I was like YESS! Take that you son of a gun!
But as you said, what happened to Sadie?
I *think* she died, right? Her last words are that he hit her with - was it a board? - and she recognized the hit and blood belatedly. We never hear anything else from her. If she hadn't been killed by that or soon after, wouldn't she show up somehow? Or the author leave even the slightest clue that she is somewhere else hidden after her stabbing of him? I think he killed her with that hit and/or whatever he did afterward. That was weird though because he wasn't a killer. Not until then. To kill someone with a board would be a deeper level of brutality than we knew him to have. On the other hand, she'd just stabbed him badly. I think he killed her in the house. You???
Omg. It’s like nobody listened to the same book I did… Yes there was an ending, the ending is that we get to hear the whole story in her words... We may not know how she survives, but we know she lives because we get to hear her story in her own words. This ending really seems to irritate people, particularly (but not only or all...) men. And that’s a good thing, because the story should irritate you. It should break your heart, but if it doesn’t it should at least irritate you. You shouldn’t have a clean ending – – because Sadie is a real person and real people don’t get those. And isn’t that the main thing? Sadie is not just another dead girl. Also Sadie IS just another dead girl because we are dying all the time. Men don’t seem to care, because it’s not something that they have to be afraid of. Not personally. If men get jumped, it’s to take their stuff, not their soul. Please spend a little bit of the time you spent caring for this fictional woman, spend a fraction of that time helping the real souls who wear her face and her name.
Yikes...that came out more sanctimoniously than respectfully. I was working out what it I was that I felt as I typed...and completely overlooked the patronizing tone. Sorry. In your head plz switch the you’s to “I” and “we.” Wd love to read any rxns or responses
Hi! I just wanted to make note that I thought "Sadie" was great. I mean, I get how you are mad with the ending but I don't think the book would be half as good if we knew what happened to Sadie at the end. The whole book is about Sadie's journey and her past and how she's struggled physically and mentally. I, for one, am not mad that I didn't know what happened to Sadie. I was rather glad, for it added onto the mystery of her journey. If I knew what happened to Sadie I think I would rate the book as a D rather than a B+. Not every book is supposed to be spelled out for you in every way and this one particularly leaves you wondering about what could happen to Sadie instead of what did happen to her. This is one of my favorite books and I'd love to read more from Courtney Summers.
Even with the ending, I still loved this book. Loved the writing and the contrasting points of view between Sadie and the podccast. Worth the read, especially if you know there is no closure.
Good point!
100% agree
Hello! I just finished the same audio recording you did and I found this page because I freaking googled what happened to Sadie from the book Sadie. I totally agree I really like the audio production, im a slut for a good audiobook and I devoured this one in a day. But when the music kicked in and it was like “this has been produced by blah blah blah” I was like wtf. And im kinda mad too. But on the other hand I feel like now it’s up to me to decide what happened to her. I can be realistic and say that last blow that was described was a final blow and he killed her and dumbed her body and died after cuz they caught or whatever (I know they’re hole in that theory but whatever) or I can be idealistic and think she survived. But as I type this I get mad again cuz that fight scene between them would’ve been soooo good!!! Okay this is really long already but I have to say what I think happened. I think somehow she woke up and taught him but he killed her becuase after the blow she would’ve been knocked out but she hadn’t given him the knife blow that would kill him so they have to fight. But I can honeslty think that she survived cuz if she did then she would’ve gone back home right? I also think it’s dumb we didn’t get an ending cuz idk I was really hoping she’d go back and scoop up that hottie guy from Montgomery. Anyway sorry this is long but I had to put it somewhere. Thanks for reading.
Hello! I just finished the same audio recording you did and I found this page because I freaking googled what happened to Sadie from the book Sadie. I totally agree I really like the audio production, im a slut for a good audiobook and I devoured this one in a day. But when the music kicked in and it was like “this has been produced by blah blah blah” I was like wtf. And im kinda mad too. But on the other hand I feel like now it’s up to me to decide what happened to her. I can be realistic and say that last blow that was described was a final blow and he killed her and dumbed her body and died after cuz they caught or whatever (I know they’re hole in that theory but whatever) or I can be idealistic and think she survived. But as I type this I get mad again cuz that fight scene between them would’ve been soooo good!!! Okay this is really long already but I have to say what I think happened. I think somehow she woke up and taught him but he killed her becuase after the blow she would’ve been knocked out but she hadn’t given him the knife blow that would kill him so they have to fight. But I can honeslty think that she survived cuz if she did then she would’ve gone back home right? I also think it’s dumb we didn’t get an ending cuz idk I was really hoping she’d go back and scoop up that hottie guy from Montgomery. Anyway sorry this is long but I had to put it somewhere. Thanks for reading.
maybe he moved the body/ got rid of it somewhere?? it's very possible considering he came home so dirty and tired
i just finished reading this book too and i completely agree abt the open ended ending.. i just wish they told s wat actually happened to sadie in the end it needed tat ending but it was a great thriller murder mystery book
I loved this book so much but I am so mad at the eniding. like you cant just leave us hanging there like this. I know the wont but I really want and sequal to sadie that they find her in and maybe she even gets with the girl she got in the car with (I forgot her name.)
P.S. dont get in cars with strangers, expecially semi trucks.
The thing is... That's not a happy story and it's not about happy endings. A kid just died, lots of girls had been violated. Everything we know is that Sadie did what she wanted. She never talked about surviving, or about the future, everything she wanted was kill Keith. And i think she did it.
I just finished the audiobook and came here from a google search for "what happened to Sadie?" I think since the author's goal.was to mirror life, this too mirrors reality.
When girls and women go missing we always secretly hope that they are living some amazing life somewhere. The reality often is that that they are never found and sadly their lives came to a sudden and violent halt not long after their disappearance
Just finished the audiobook, here are my thoughts. Before I get into the ending, one question is how did Jack (Keith, Darren) pay for things. It said he always bought Clair what she needed and he financially supported her ha it's but it also said he didn't have a job so where is the money coming from. Just a question.
And about the end, poetic, but very frustrating. A few things I want to know before I can finalize my personal idea of how Sadies life goes from there. How far was the car from Amanda's house. We know it wasn't where Sadie left it, but where was it, in both relation to Amanda's house and the bar Amanda works at. If it was miles away that means we missed a lot, where if it was only a couple miles could have ended real fast from when we last heard from Sadie. Also I want to find the spot again where they describe her abandoned car. Also it doesn't make a whole lot of sense that they found her car way before a lot of other things.
My ideas were that she could have maybe stabbed Jack in reflex to being hit on the head. He then killed her and drove her out to some spot from there and later died as we know. Another idea was that he brought her as she was into the car and she woke up whole laying in the back of the car, but then two questions how did she have her knife at that point and why was it in the left side because the most obvious and easy access angle would be the right. So that one is basically a no. Another thing that could have happened, saying she loved, he hits her and keeps running as he was, she later wakes up, somehow finds him and stabs him. Idk about that one, doesn't seem probable that she would find him. So we could.also spin that one with she stabbed him as a reflex when he hit her and then he kept running. That would.explain the dirty and tired, and also give her time to wake up come to, then get in her car, drive until her car ran out of gas and from there make her way with some things from her car and any cash she had. Once again need to listen to the car description again. Anyway these are my thoughts, still pondering.
I appreciate your thoughts, and I would love to go with 100% she lives. But she is telling us her story as it happens. Emphasis as it happens. Not after it happens. We are hearing her love time, stream of consciousness.
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