Sadie is the 2018 Edgar Award winner from Courtney Summers, a critically acclaimed Canadian author of several novels for young adults, including Cracked Up to Be, All the Rage and Sadie. The innovative audiobook is an Earphones Award winner and features more than thirty voices, including acclaimed narrators Rebecca Solar and Dan Bittner.
Sadie’s life has been anything but easy. Three years ago, her drug-addicted single mother abandoned her and her younger sister, Maddie. Since then, she’s been raising her sister, Maddie, in an isolated small town, trying to keep their heads above water. When a postcard arrives from their mother in LA with no return address, Maddie’s overjoyed and plans to go find her. Shortly after Maddie leaves, she is found murdered, and Sadie’s entire world crumbles. After an inconclusive police investigation, Sadie is determined to bring her sister’s killer to justice and hits the road with only a few clues. Five months later, Sadie’s abandoned car and belongings are found on the side of a road, but she’s nowhere to be found. At the same time, West McCray, a radio personality working on a segment about small-town America, overhears Sadie’s story and becomes obsessed with finding her. He then begins recording his own podcast as he tracks Sadie’s journey, desperately trying to figure out what happened and hoping to find her before it’s too late. From town to town, he interviews people who encountered Sadie, only to learn that her situation became more dire and dangerous with each passing day!
This sensational audiobook was the winner of the 2019 Audie Award for Young Adult Audiobook. The story is completely captivating from start to finish. The novel alternates between transcripts of West’s podcast and Sadie’s first-person account of her investigation. This format keeps listeners constantly engaged, especially with the 5-month gap between the two perspectives, which adds suspense to the story. Similar to some of Summers’ other novels, the book deals with the dark subject matter of sexual assault and the mistreatment of girls and women by predatory men. Consequently, this novel doesn’t fit the mould of a typical YA narrative and is suitable for both YA and adult audiences. It should be noted that Summers does not go into any detail about the abuse that takes place before or during the events of the book; the events are present, but they happen off-page. Instead, her writing efforts focus on the toll these events have on the victims. The podcast element of the story, at first, may seem a bit distracting from Sadie’s personal storytelling, but it greatly builds in intensity and intrigue as the story progresses. By the end, West’s perspective becomes as important and captivating as Sadie’s.
The audiobook features more than thirty voices, but the vast majority of the narration is done by powerhouse narrators Rebecca Soler and Dan Bittner. Rebecca delivers an entirely convincing and engrossing performance of Sadie, drawing in listeners with a gritty performance full of emotion and defiance. Dan Bittner’s performance of West is entirely different, but no less impressive. He masterfully shifts his performance as the story progresses, increasing the drama and tension as West becomes more emotionally invested in finding Sadie. By the end, Bittner’s portrayal of West is much more expressive and vulnerable, just as West’s life has somewhat unravelled and he’s looking towards new beginnings. Although audiobook production has evolved in the six years since this production, this audiobook still stands up with the best today in both production quality and narrative delivery. If you’re a fan of suspense, mysteries, or strong, bad-ass female leads, don’t give this one a second thought—it’s one you won’t soon forget!
