Sadie's War by Jayelle Cochran

By Carrie Anne

A blind traumatized teen learns of love and becomes the catalyst for a revolution!

Abandoned by her parents to live on the streets, Sadie never knew kindness without first paying a terrifying price.  The lessons from her childhood fuel a paranoia that makes it impossible to trust anyone, or accept their help.  That all changes when she meets Fester,a young man with his own painful past.  After he saves her from freezing to death, Sadie realizes that she must learn to trust another if she wants to live; a feat easier said than done.

Meanwhile a war is brewing.  For decades the supernaturals have been plotting their revolt against a tyrannical government that exploits them.  After using her own supernatural power against an attacker, Sadie and her friends son find themselves in the government's cross-hairs.  To survive, they are forced to team up with a criminal who has plans for Sadie and wishes to ignite the war.

Will Sadie ever be able to find a way to save herself and those she has come to care for, or will this war destroy more than the government's hold on her kind?  (from Amazon description)

The first in a series, this book spends most of its time with Sadie, and her struggles.  Think of it as an introduction to the revolution.  But if the other books are as good as this one,I'll be there for the whole ride.

Sadie's family has recently turned her out on the streets, with the lessons they've taught her still ringing in her ears:  Kindness is never free; there's always a price to pay.  But she's never been away from home, and she's blind, so she grudgingly accepts help from a group of strangers.  What follows is her story of learning to trust and make a way for herself in this new world.  Unfortunately, this is the frustrating part of the book for me.  It becomes very repetitive reading about her inside struggles.  It reminded me of a soap opera; If I would've skipped a chapter/day of the soap, I really wouldn't have missed much.  I have to say, though, that the repetitive nature of her thinking is very true to life.  I've had thoughts replay in my head over and over, just as she did.  And I know you can't just shut them off and move on.

Her new friends have their own dialect, gutter speak, that I also found very distracting.  Again, I understand it was a necessary part of their character, but a little went a long way.  I'm hoping there will be less of this going forward as we meet new people during the revolution.

All in all, I found Sadie's story to be a very compelling one and I'm anxious to read about the other characters going forward.