Sadie by Courtney Summers

Sadie by Courtney Summers
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press and Wednesday Books for the advance reader copy Sadie by Courtney Summers in exchange for an honest review. Summers’ Some Girls Are and Cracked Up To Be were always being passed around and constantly checked out by students. Sadie is a compelling, tense novel detailing Sadie’s self-hatred for failing to keep her sister safe. After her sister, Mattie, is murdered, the reader follows this tense mystery from Sadie’s point-of-view and through a podcast, The Girls, narrated by famed journalist, West McCray, as he searches for Sadie. I could not put this book down; Sadie’s life is hell; her mother is drug addicted and derelict. Sadie has a severe stutter and suffers from abuse; I rooted for her as she used her wits to follow clues. Mattie was the center of Sadie’s life and when her mother takes off; Sadie takes over the care of her little sister. With the police no help, and an absent mother, will Sadie find her sister’s murderer? Will McCray find Sadie? Courtney Summers has written an explosive, riveting novel.

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Far From the Tree by Robing Benway

Far from the Tree by Robin Benway
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I read and loved Emmie & Oliver by Robin Benway but Far From the Tree was such a moving read (Listen) and I just loved Julia Whelan's voices (especially her tone for the men) in this raw, sad, very emotional audiobook! I fell in love with the three teens who were put up for adoption by the same mother and they now search and find each other. Each chapter is told by each teen, Maya, Grace and Joaquin - the reader comes to know their thoughts, hopes, and fears (I just kept rooting for them). Maya and Grace have been adopted by loving families, but Joaquin, the oldest, has been in the foster care system his whole life. I ached for Joaquin as his own self hatred threatened any kind of happiness for him. He has foster parents, Mark & Linda who want to adopt him and a girlfriend, Birdie, he broke up with, because he felt he could never give her what she deserved. As I listened to this book, my heart ached and I was so afraid the ending would be awful, bleak and if it was, I was really going to cry even more!!! Without giving away too much, everyone needs to read this book- family, friendship, and yes, even therapy is realistically dealt with and the result is an award winner, that speaks volumes about the fierceness of family, the depth of friendship, and the love that binds (and grows) for Brothers and Sisters (bio kids & adopted kids) .

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