Welcome to My 31 Days Of Thrills And Chills 2026! I’m so excited to do it again. I’ll be sharing reviews and lots of extra spooky stuff every day leading up to Halloween. I hope you’ll join me!
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I’m sharing all kinds of books, movies, and other spooky stuff for every day in October. Gots to get those scares on for the 31st!
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Killing Sadie
By Rachel Peterson
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Genre: YA / Thriller / Mystery
MY REVIEW
We start out knowing Sadie was murdered. We know that her boyfriend, Ben, killed Mason, the guy who stabbed her to death. And we know that her twin sister, Jayne, and her best friend, Liz, witnessed it. What we don’t know is why.
I didn’t mind when the story started after the fact. I enjoyed the flashbacks of the before, night of, and the day after. And I enjoyed the multiple points of view from the witnesses. It all worked very well for me. I easily visualized the scenes, like watching a limited TV series. Usually I can determine the why fairly early. I thought I had. But then I thought, nope, it can’t be that obvious. So, I settled in and just let things reveal themselves.
My favorite thing was the investigator. She was much more clever than I’d at first thought. She knew what questions to ask and when to ask them.
And I enjoyed the way the story was laid out, shifting between the day before the murder, the day of the murder and the day after. The author did it well, keeping the story flowing smoothly. She did it just as well when shifting between characters.
This was very much a character driven story for me. As the acts unfolded I learned, through the different points of view, who the witnesses really were. Lots of insecurity disguised as toughness. Many secrets and lies. And, what was hidden. What made them defensive.
The ending was good, though I still had questions. That’s often a good thing and keeps me watching for the author’s next book.
4 STARS
Thanks so much to Simon Pulse and the author for a complimentary copy. My review is voluntarily given.
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Synopsis
Perfect for fans of How to Survive Your Murder and Dead Girls Can’t Tell Secrets, this young adult thriller unspools the truth behind a tragic murder through multiple unreliable narrators who all have secrets to keep.
Here’s what we do know: there was another infamous barn party at the McClain family farm last night, and things went horribly wrong. By the end of the night, there were two dead bodies in the old barn: seventeen-year-old Sadie Cooper and her killer, Mason Vreeland. The murder was heartbreakingly witnessed by Sadie’s twin sister, Jayne, and Sadie died in her arms. Mason was killed by Sadie’s boyfriend, Ben, in an attempt to save Sadie.
Aside from figuring out Mason’s motive, it should be an open and shut case.
But it’s not.
The story unfolds just after the murders, and Jayne, Ben, and Sadie’s best friend, Liz, are telling the cops what transpired at the party and the events leading up to it. But little details don’t match. And those little details start to add up to big discrepancies. But who’s lying, and why?
The shocking truth is revealed in the third act, when the POV shifts to victim Sadie herself, in the days leading up to the party. Witness exactly what happened—and see if you can piece it all together. Because poor Sadie totally missed what was right in front of her.
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RACHEL PETERSON graduated from Miami University of Ohio with a degree in English and
creative writing. Born and raised in Ohio, she started her career in advertising before
spending nearly a decade in New York City as a marketing executive for technology
companies. An avid traveler, Rachel now splits her time between Manhattan and the
Midwest, where she lives with her husband Ken, their dog Olive, and horse Hope.
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