3 Stars
Nearly everyone I know has given this off-the-charts marks . . . which is why I avoided it until this point. I’ve read a few Summers’ books now and, despite rating them all fairly high, I always feel like the missing link after finishing. Same was the case here. I think my problem is twofold:
1. I have no heart. The thing is, I’m not sure the author has one either (and no, I don’t mean that as an insult). While Summers presents material that draws emotions out of readers, she doesn’t present it in an emotional manner to me. Since I don’t fire on all cylinders I feel a sense of detachment when reading her characters. I believe other readers have an abundance of feelings/empathy that they can project onto a story when it’s lacking and never feel that void. Sadie probably would have earned more stars from me if it had focused solely on the podcast transcription and not included the narrative by Sadie herself; and
2. Summers’ books seem to ride the coattails of the latest trend. That’s not to say she can’t spin a yarn, because I’ve blown through all of her books I’ve picked up. There just comes a point where things are a little too coinky-dinky. I could ignore This Is Not A Test, because errrrrybody was writing zombies – maybe I could do the same with the “mean girls” trend and Some Girls Are. I steered clear of the rapey All the Rage 100% and never looked back after my bestie read it wrong because I didn’t want to get in that line for fangirls to kick my ass along with hers. Now revenge stories are the new black and here Summers is with her own spin. If she’s an “anything you can do I can do better” type of gal, she certainly puts her money where her mouth is because her stories are good. I just wish she’d come up with a fresh idea . . . .
1. I have no heart. The thing is, I’m not sure the author has one either (and no, I don’t mean that as an insult). While Summers presents material that draws emotions out of readers, she doesn’t present it in an emotional manner to me. Since I don’t fire on all cylinders I feel a sense of detachment when reading her characters. I believe other readers have an abundance of feelings/empathy that they can project onto a story when it’s lacking and never feel that void. Sadie probably would have earned more stars from me if it had focused solely on the podcast transcription and not included the narrative by Sadie herself; and
2. Summers’ books seem to ride the coattails of the latest trend. That’s not to say she can’t spin a yarn, because I’ve blown through all of her books I’ve picked up. There just comes a point where things are a little too coinky-dinky. I could ignore This Is Not A Test, because errrrrybody was writing zombies – maybe I could do the same with the “mean girls” trend and Some Girls Are. I steered clear of the rapey All the Rage 100% and never looked back after my bestie read it wrong because I didn’t want to get in that line for fangirls to kick my ass along with hers. Now revenge stories are the new black and here Summers is with her own spin. If she’s an “anything you can do I can do better” type of gal, she certainly puts her money where her mouth is because her stories are good. I just wish she’d come up with a fresh idea . . . .
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