The Cheerleaders: A Dark and Twisty Thriller That Will Leave You Breathless

by Kara Thomas

The Cheerleaders is Kara Thomas' edge-of-your-seat thriller about an eerie sequence of seemingly unrelated events that leaves five cheerleaders dead.

'Sharp, brilliantly plotted, and totally engrossing' - Karen McManus, author of One of Us Is Lying

There are no more cheerleaders in the town of Sunnybrook.

First there was the car accident – two girls dead after hitting a tree on a rainy night.

Then the murders happened – two girls were killed by the man next door. The police shot him, so no one will ever know why he did it.

Monica's sister was the last cheerleader to die. After her suicide, Sunnybrook High disbanded the cheer squad. No one wanted to be reminded of the girls they'd lost.

That was five years ago. Now the faculty and students at Sunnybrook High want to remember the lost cheerleaders. But for Monica, it's not that easy. After she discovers the letters in her stepdad's desk, unearths an ancient phone, and meets a strange new friend at school, Monica can't just move on.

There are no more cheerleaders in Sunnybrook, but that doesn't mean anyone else is safe.

• ISBN10: 1529053528
• ISBN13: 9781529053524
• Publish Date: 3 September 2020 (first published 31 July 2018)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Pan Macmillan
• Imprint: Macmillan Children's Books
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 384
• Language: English

Reviews

[kalventure]

⚠️ This is a heavy book that deals with some difficult topics, so please be sure to read my content warnings at the end of my review and make sure you are in the right place before picking this one up.

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I went into The Cheerleaders with no expectations and let me tell you, I was in for a wild ride! I devoured this book in less than 24 hours over the course of two sittings *shakes fist at needing sleep* and my mind ceased to function when I finished it.

"Some people say a curse fell over our town five years ago. What else could explain the tragic deaths of five girls, in three separate incidents, in less than two months?"

Our main character is 17-years-old Monica, the younger sister of one of the cheerleaders who died. Life in the town has, for the most part, moved on as much as one can after a tragedy of this magnitude in a small town. Monica thought the deaths were too close to be unrelated and never believed that her sister committed suicide, and when she finds notes and Jennifer's cellphone in her stepfather's desk, she decides to investigate what really happened.

"I know it wasn't him. Connect the dots."

The Cheerleaders is an intricately plotted mystery that kept me guessing until the very end. I caught onto what happened like a page before Monica figured it out and it was so satisfying to connect the dots with all the breadcrumbs. I think that Thomas did an excellent job with the narrative and how our minds try to fill in gaps. Monica's perspective shows her preconceived notions and how she views everyone so well. The snippets learned through the investigation only muddy the water and made me question literally everyone. But by the end, you will know what really happened to Jennifer and her friends five years ago.

"If you look hard enough, you'll probably find something that makes you wish you hadn't."

Up until the ending, this was a 3.5-4 star read for me because the characters just didn't feel fully fleshed out to me. The investigation definitely is what drives the plot forward and got its hooks into me; the characters felt paper-thin. This isn't a bad thing, but it is a different kind of reading experience than say Sadie where I was invested because of the characters and needed them to be okay. The last 50 or so pages and the ending are what made this a 5-star read for me.

"Pain isn't supposed to teach you anything. It only exists to hurt you."

And then this book went and made me cry by the end of it, so insidious was my adoration for the characters and story that I didn't feel it creeping up on me. While I never really felt a connection to Monica as a character, there are two side characters who are responsible for my tears. Considering the "trust no one" vibes of this book, I won't mention who I realized I loved but feel free to DM me if you want I guess.

Overall, I was really impressed with The Cheerleaders and my copy is sitting on my shelf next to Sadie now. I was fully engrossed by this mystery and devoured the book in a day to find out what happened. This is a book with polarizing reviews. I think a big reason that I loved it is I went in without expectations. I had a vague memory from a friend's review a year and a half ago and that's it. I haven't read the author's other work - although I will be rectifying that as soon as possible - and was just in the mood for this story.

Initial thoughts: holy fucking shit. I am going to need a whole lotta minutes to process.

Content warnings: abortion, child endangerment, death, depictions of grief, domestic violence, prescription drug abuse, statutory rape, suicide, thoughts of suicide
Representation: none

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[Sam@WLABB]

Another solid Kara Thomas book. My relationship with Monica got off to a slow start, but I did like and care about her by the end of the book, and was happy to see her get some closure. I thought Thomas did a nice job with the conclusion. Though I suspected parts of it, there were also parts I didn't see coming.

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[Bianca]

2019 Popsugar Reading Challenge
22. ‪A book with an item of clothing on the cover‬

— About a girl trying to uncover the truth behind the mysterious deaths of five cheerleaders. It was a pretty enjoyable read. Just wasn’t as thrilling or as impactful as I hoped it would be

[Nessa Luna]

I haven't been listening to this for a while and I realised I just couldn't be bothered anymore, so yeah I am going to DNF this book.

[girlinthepages]

I'm always proclaiming my love of thrillers, yet it feels so rarely do I find YA thrillers that don't leave me feeling disappointed. They're often predictable, unbelievable, or over dramatic and lack the ominous feeling that I crave when diving into a thriller. When I heard about The Cheerleaders, I was immediately struck by how simple (and unsettling) the cover was, so I decided to add it to my TBR, hoping it might stand out. I'm happy to report that it did indeed stand out and proved to be an unsettling and surprising story that left my thriller craving self satisfied.

The Cheerleaders follows protagonist Monica who is the little sister of one of five cheerleaders who died suddenly several years before. So many of the girls died within quick succession of each other that the cheerleading squad at their school was eventually disbanded. While everyone else seems content to move on, Monica is struck by nagging suspicions as the anniversary of her sister's death approaches.

What immediately stood out to me about The Cheerleaders was the atmosphere. The narrative is never straight forwardly scary, however it definitely has that ominous, everything-is-fine-but-obviously-something-sinister-is-going-on-under-the-surface-in-the-suburbs vibe to it. There was a scene where Monica goes into an unfinished, perpetually under construction home across the street from hers and realizes the view from the abandoned home looks straight into her family's kitchen *shudders.* Even though nothing happened in that house, the possibility of it was creepy enough.

Monica, of course, decides to take matters into her own hands and she was actually pretty competent, with the exception of some cringe worthy text conversations (seriously, when interrogating potential murder suspects do not open with "Hi my name is___.") I liked that she was suspicious of everyone but wasn't too quick to condemn them, and she was critical without being over the top paranoid, especially when the evidence was looking bad for some of the people closest to her.

“You can’t believe everything you hear, though. Girls are always whittling little weapons to stab each other with.” - Kindle Edition, Location 1799

The narrative also jumped back to her sister's POVs during some points, and it was interesting to see some of the parallelism between Jennifer's life and friend group and Monica's as well (and the ominous observation that it seemed like history may be repeating itself in some ways). The story also made it clear that both sisters were dealing with some pretty heavy emotional stuff without hitting readers over the head with it, and it dealt with some issues that you don't often see in YA novels that I was impressed that Thomas integrated, especially so early on in the story.

Now, to the important part- the whodunnit element of the mystery. Did I see it coming? Not until it was almost right in front of my face. I knew it wasn't going to be some of the obvious, initial suspects, but I was impressed by how cleverly Thomas hid the true culprit in plain sight throughout the entire course of the story. The twist held a great balance of being believable without being predictable (I hate when the culprit is either super obvious or ends up being someone we've never even met before). Also, THAT EPILOGUE. (I love some morally grey characters).

Overall: The Cheerleaders may have a simple cover or a silly sounding premise, but it's a surprisingly unsettling, surprising, well crafted mystery. I will definitely be checking out more of Kara Thomas' work!This review was originally posted on Girl in the Pages