The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas
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Released July 31, 2018
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There are no more cheerleaders in the town of Sunnybrook.
First there was the car accident—two girls gone after hitting a tree on a rainy night. Not long after, the murders happened. Those 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 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. She just wants to forget. Only, Monica’s world is starting to unravel. There are the letters in her stepdad’s desk, an unearthed, years-old cell phone, a strange new friend at school. . . . Whatever happened five years ago isn’t over. Some people in town know more than they’re saying. And somehow Monica is at the center of it all.
There are no more cheerleaders in Sunnybrook, but that doesn’t mean anyone else is safe.
I received this book for free in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Holy shit! I didn’t see that coming!! It took me around three weeks to finish The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas, but that doesn’t accurately convey how enthralled I was was with the story. In fact, the reason why I took so long to read it, outside of the fact that I read the hardback, was because I wanted to savor the story and not want to miss any detail so I can figure out who the killer was.
Spoiler alert, I still didn’t figure it out. I took my time and I analyzed the story and I just knew that I had it figured out. The Cheerleaders had me questioning every characters motives and what was truly going on in their heads because it seems as if everyone has something to hide.
One thing that I particularly enjoyed about The Cheerleaders was getting a flashback to Jen’s point of view, Monica’s sister. I loved being able to get in her head space and to see how things actually played out versus the hearsay that Monica was able to uncover on her own.
The story is a candid portrayal of grief and how everyone deals with or avoids the truth so they don’t have to suffer. On the surface The Cheerleaders is about about girl trying to find out truly happened to her sister and her friends. If you take a closer in depth look you realized that this particular story was so much.
The Cheerleaders is a visceral tale that will haunt me for books and years to come! If you love YA murder mysteries, make sure you check out Pretty Dead Girls and One of Us is Lying.
