*3.5 stars

I feel like I’m in the minority here. I liked this book, really and truly, I did. I’d even say that I liked it very much, I just didn’t love it as much as everyone else did. Again Goodreads, please create a half-star rating system.

This was raw and brutal and intens. I cared about Sadie so, so, cared about how damn heartbreaking her situation is, how heartbreaking her whole life experience has been. I was watching this poor, desperate girl gather these few little scraps of kindness from strangers, and hoping desperately that things would look up for her even when I knew they weren’t going to. Summers kept me guessing, kept me hoping, right up to the last second.

The podcast sections honestly were interesting, and I liked how the book tried to get us to think about the ethics of true crime podcasts/podcast journalism. I liked what the book was trying to do, and it worked in that sense, but I just couldn’t really get into them as much as I could Sadie’s sections. Some of it boils down to personal taste, since I’m not a huge fan of books written in alternate media (letters, podcasts, the works), but the rest was that the podcast sections just weren't as engaging as Sadie's sections and a lot of the time we were just revisiting information we already knew from Sadie's chapters.

I definitely want to read more of Summers's books though, maybe in physical next time. I listened to the audiobook mostly while doing chores at school during exam season, which I realise isn’t totally fair to the book, especially as someone who much prefers physical books and usually just does audiobooks for rereads when I need something to enjoy during the gruelling months of school where I don't have time for personal reading otherwise.