When I do review I hate to give away any information that would ruin the book for anyone else. I’m vague and not very specific in the details. I hate giving away anything. Of course when I write the review for my use I explain a lot that is in the story. With this book I will have to be vague, there is so much that is intertwined that to give a little bit away would ruin it.
I love a good mystery and I would put this in the category of a mystery. The story is about a young girl trying to solve the brutal murders of a group of cheerleaders which in turn led to her older sister committing suicide. There are a lot of threads that intertwine in this book and it wraps up in a wonderful awe moment ending.
When a book makes you think back on the story and the events that led to the ending you know that you found yourself a new favorite book.

I’ll be honest, my eyes are drawn to covers and their art immediately. A good cover can sell me on a book and this cover did just that. I loved the simplicity yet creepiness to it and immediately was reading the summary to see if it was something that I would want to request to read and it definitlley was!

This book had me captivated from the start. “Connect the dots”. There’s something missing and I definitely had to keep reading to find out what that was. The cheerleader deaths all seemed fishy and connected from the start. Monica’s intuition leads her to explore these deaths and with the help of Ginny, they are quite the detectives which is more to say of her actual police stepfather, Tom. Monica’s family really got under my skin but it only added to the urgency of figuring out the mystery of the cheerleaders’ deaths.

This was a page turner and wasn’t very predictable at least for me. New information and “connecting the dots” wasn’t so easy for me. When I once thought I had made a connection, I was very wrong. The ending was twisted in more than one way and I was very shocked to to the end.

Although this is considered Young Adult (YA), the book was very mature and is recommended this for any age range. I don’t feel like a book should be !usted as YA solely due to the main characters’ ages. The teenage dilemmas that occur in the book are easy to understand through a teenaver’s eyes.

Another reason for my high rating and appreciation to the book is how all information given is important. Everything comes full circle and there is no information given that isn’t important to the story conclusion as there is nothing worse than reading a book and wondering why 50 pages was even relevant.

I highly recommend The Cheerleaders. It’s shocking, twisted, and full of drama the entire read!

This was a good quick read! The characters felt real and you could connect with many of the issues that were occurring in the storyline.

When a group of girls , all being cheerleaders at the same high school die within a short time of each other it definitely causes questions and most of the adults don't seem to want to provide answers. Monica and Jen are sisters and Jen is the last to pass away of an apparent suicide, but is that what really happened? Monica is set to find out what really happened to her sister as well as Jen's friend that were gone before they should have. There are so many secrets and just enough players to keep the story moving at a great rhythm. The plot has twists and kind of leads you to think a certain way then it'll have you questioning that. I didn't figure out the ending well ahead of time so that is a major plus!

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for the opportunity to read this advanced eCopy in exchange for my honest review

This was the first book I have read by Kara Thomas and I was instantly hooked. The Cheerleaders is a true crime type novel where Monica, the main character, is working to solve the mystery of what happened to her dead sister and four other cheerleaders who were murdered.

I liked the structure of the novel in that there are chapters where you get to hear from the other characters' perspectives, which helps to further deepen the aspect of mystery. I found myself often looking forward to these flashback chapters or chapters told from a different perspective in order to try and solve the mystery. Although the novel was fast paced, I did have a little bit of trouble keeping track of some of the characters and their story lines (specifically Ginny and her father). This could very well just be a reflection on myself as a reader and my desire to read as quickly as possible because I was hooked. Even though this is a novel I most likely will not be able to adopt in my curriculum, it is certainly one I would keep in my classroom library as I can see this novel appealing to many of my students.

Monica is a member of her school's dance team. She turns amateur detective as the five year anniversary of her sister Jen's suicide --and four of her sister's cheerleader friends' deaths approach. Monica is convinced that the case-closed-and-shut ending five years before isn't the full truth. So, she sets out to solve it with her new friend Ginny. Monica's sleuthing isn't easy, though. She has to hurt those she cares about, and she has to examine her own memories and emotions more than is comfortable for her.

The Cheerleaders is a decent true crime mystery. Fans of the genre will enjoy it, but I felt bored. Too often, I found myself unable to remember details or characters as they came up again later on in the story. And it's not like I read it over several months and couldn't remember as time chipped away at that short-term memory, but I read it over several days and usually don't have too much of a problem keeping up with details in a story. It just didn't captivate my attention the way that I expected it to, and I'm not sure why. Maybe the cold open on post-abortion Monica? How her mother was supposed to be a more important character the way that Monica talked/narrated about her, but I just couldn't get a handle on her? How there were definite parallels between Monica drifting away from her friends and hanging out with outsider Ginny like Jen was drifting away from Susan and Juliana and spending more time with loner Ethan? But then the parallel didn't come full circle? (Or maybe it did, and I had just stopped paying attention by that point in the book?)

Either way, The Cheerleaders will appeal to readers who want grit with their mystery.

Thank you netgalley for the ARC provided. This is my first book by this author. The story was interesting however it was unbelievable. I didn’t connect to any of the characters and I disliked Monica the most. She told more lies than truths. The ending was anticlimactic. The book had a lot of loose ends and unanswered questions. I’m disappointed.

Fun read but problematic bits have this at a 2 for me. Kids who like murder mysteries will like it. I wanted more parental info at the end too.

"I am a victim, whether or not I feel like one."

I'm a bit torn as to whether or not this book was 3.5 stars or 4, so we'll split it at 3.8.

Don't get me wrong I enjoyed this book, but I figured out the killer - and I usually don't. I'm pretty bad at seeing what is right in front of me. <spoiler> But I knew at about 40% or so, that Brandon was a seemingly superfluous character. Why mention Monica's pregnancy, or fling with Brandon? It played no real part in the story. So I figured out that he must have played some role in the cheerleaders deaths. </spoiler> I was however glad that my original suspect turned out to be innocent.

This book deals with some heavy hitting topics ranging from abortion, to student teacher relationships, and a few things in between. The book starts out with Monica dealing with the consequences of her summer fling. When she does some snooping around her step dads office she comes across some letters and a phone that lead her to believe there is something more to her sisters death, and maybe even of her sisters friends.

She chooses to not involve her old friends, and makes a new friend a long the way. With the help of Ginny, Monica digs into the past to find out just exactly what happened to her sister. Its a quick read that shouldn't take even the slowest of readers more than a cumulative day, and thoroughly enjoyable even with its predictability.

I did not see the ending coming on this one but I can’t decide if it’s because it was so well-written or because it just didn’t seem plausible.

This is my one of my favorite genres and I enjoyed the book; however, there were a lot of characters to sift through and at times, I had a difficult time keeping them straight.

I enjoyed that some chapters were told from other characters’ points of view.

All in all, a fairly solid read. If 1/2 stars were a thing, this one would have been 3 1/2 for me. I liked it, but can’t rate it as high as my favorite 4-star reads.

Thank you, Netgalley and Random House Children’s, for providing me with an advance copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I loved both of Kara Thomas’s previous books so I went into this one with pretty high expectations and I wasn’t disappointed. I still have some questions though about some of the story, but overall it was a very satisfying read that was very hard to put down.

Monica is a very easy character to like, she has dealt with a lot in her life and she has become tough because of it. She does make mistakes, and some of them were quite huge. Like having an affair with an older man and having to deal with the consequences from that, such as his being the new soccer coach at her school. Her sister’s suicide also weighs heavily on her, and her mother and stepdad won’t discuss it with her. The five year anniversary is the breaking point for her, and she becomes determined to find out some answers. Her journey into what really happened has many twists and turns and lots of suspects, but ultimately she comes face to face with what really happened and it is quite frightening.

Ginny, Monica’s new friend, is also a very interesting character. She is a little bit quirky, but likable. I often wondered why she was so willing to help Monica find out the truth, and was quite surprised at the end when we find out a bit of her past. That was a twist I didn’t see coming. Ginny is a survivor and a good influence on Monica.

Most of the book is told from Monica’s point of view, but we get some glimpses of her sister’s last few days in short chapters from her perspective. Jen’s perspective didn’t shed a whole lot of light on the murders and accident, but she did offer a way for us to learn what was going on in the girl’s lives before everything that happened to them. I wanted a little bit more from Jen, I didn’t think we got a complete picture of why she committed suicide, but that was the only flaw in the story.

Another riveting and fast paced thriller that will keep you reading and wanting more. If you haven’t read any books from Kara Thomas, pick one up, and then plan on spending many hours not being able to put it down.

Can you solve the mystery first in this story about five cheerleaders who all died within 1 month of each other five years ago? Two in a car accident, two at the hands of a murderer, and one by suicide. Are the deaths related? Is it possible the same killer caused all five deaths? Monica, the younger sister of the one who committed suicide is determined to find out what really happened along with her new friend Ginny who may have a few of her own secrets.
Give this book to anyone looking for a dark suspense or mystery story. There's nothing too graphic in here, but there are mentions of inappropriate sexual situations and underage partying.
This book was provided to me for free through Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

Riverdale meets Veronica Mars was the perfect description of this book and it absolutely delivered. I was on the edge of my seat as the story played out and the ending was nicely satisfying.

Page-turning mystery!

5 cheerleaders in a small town die, in 3 separate incidents, within a month’s time. Is it a coincidence or is there something sinister going on in the town of Sunnybrook?

“Some people say a curse fell over our town five years ago.”

The Cheerleaders is a compulsively readable YA mystery with a strong, intelligent female lead.

When Monica Rayburn finds her sister’s phone hidden in her stepfather's desk, she begins searching for clues about what might have led her sister, Jen, to commit suicide 5 years ago. No one in Monica’s family likes to talk about what happened to Jen, so she begins to look for answers on her own. As she begins to put the pieces together, not only does Jen’s death seem suspect, she realizes something is off about the deaths of 4 other cheerleaders.

Told primarily from Monica’s POV, as she finds clues about the deaths of the girls, perspective shifts to Jen in the weeks that lead up to her death. Monica’s character is dynamic; she’s appropriately angsty but at the same time sincere. I thought Thomas did a good job of painting a realistic picture of a high school junior struggling to find out who she is and what she stands for, while at the same time capturing small-town dynamics.

The Cheerleaders is a dark, traditional mystery that uses social media to enable Monica to gain a glimpse into her sister’s life before her death. This a tension-packed read filled with some inappropriate and creepy characters. I figured out some events early on, but I didn’t know the why of what happened. The ending felt a little a rushed and the final chapter had me groaning. For me, this would have been stronger if some loose ends remained unsolved. With that being said, I still recommend to those who love a good mystery!
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I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and Random House Children's/Delacorte Press in exchange for an honest review.

I could not put this down. Amazing twists and turns!!! Characters started the action going right away, and I couldn't wait to see what would happen next.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher and author for an ARC copy of the book. As always, an honest review.

My rating is actually 3.5 stars, but since there aren't half stars I always round up.

The Cheerleaders is a fun, yet dark young adult novel that captivated me from beginning to end. In the span of a few weeks, 5 girls from the local high school cheerleading team were dead. Murders, accidents, suicides, but is that what really happened?

The book quickly drew me in and held my attention throughout. I absolutely flew through this quick read. Definitely something you could read and still comprehend while tired or in a noisy place. I also enjoyed that the narrator is one of the dead girls' younger sisters. Monica and her friend Ginny were likable and smart, making the story work well. I find that if I don't connect with the main characters or at least understand their motives, I rarely enjoy the book. Not an issue at all in The Cheerleaders.

However the plot trope of teenagers trying to solve a crime that the police can't or got wrong has been done a lot. It's easy to overlook in this book, but it's worth noting. Also, every characters has a distinct role in solving the mystery. Which in theory sounds great, but left me feeling as if certain characters were just being used for what they could bring to the solving the mystery, instead of actual relationships or character development.

Overall, The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas is worth a read in my opinion. Fun, serious, with a mystery that will keep you turning the pages. Perfect for those hot summer days when you want to escape into a book for awhile.

Well, I enjoyed this but it started to get blah toward the end. I had fun trying to figure out what was going on and I did enjoy this but it was just okay. Fun quick read but don't expect it to be amazing.

Thanks to NetGalley and Random House for a digital ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Five of the Sunnybrook High cheerleaders mysteriously and eerily died within days of each other five years ago. Colleen and Bethany died in a horrific car accident. A few days later, Susan and Juliana were murdered at a sleepover. Last was Jennifer, who committed suicide soon after the deaths of her teammates. The cheerleading squad was disbanded after the tragedies, and Sunnybrook High hasn’t had one since.

Monica Rayburn, Jennifer’s younger sister, was in middle school at the time of the deaths, but was great,y affected by the loss of her sister. Now a junior at Sunnybrook, she is on the dance team, which takes up most of her time, but her life takes a different turn when she starts looking into the deaths of the cheerleaders. Did the girls really die in a freak, random fashion, or are the deaths connected? Monica is determined to find out what happened to her sister and the other girls, no matter what the cost.

Reading Kara Thomas’ The Cheerleaders is like peeling away the layers of an onion. The protagonist, Monica, doesn’t believe her sister died by suicide, nor that the deaths of the other girls are coincidental ... and she is going to get to the bottom of this mystery. Readers are taken on the hunt as Monica uncovers clues, and tracks down people who were in her sister’s life, much like a modern day Nancy Drew. Intermingled with the suspense are vignettes on self-worth and friendship, making The Cheerleaders more than just a teenage thriller.

If The Cheerleaders has a fault, it lies within the last quarter of the book. Things begin happening at a rapid pace, leaving the reader puzzling over how they got to this point. Furthermore, not wanting to make the book longer in order to investigate these plot points, Thomas lets the characters explain them away, which is a personal pet peeve of mine. Lastly, Jennifer is brought to life through flashbacks, and we get a first-hand glimpse into the weeks leading up to the deaths of the cheerleaders. However, we don’t really get a clear, detailed picture of her emotional state at the time, and the waters there are left kind of murky about her perpetuated suicide.

In all, The Cheerleaders is a well-written psychological thriller for young readers, which will also appeal to adult readers who don’t mind going without the tightly woven twists and turns and heart-stopping revelations that are often worked into adult suspense.

A quick and easy read for psychological thriller fans. Following the mysterious deaths of a group of cheerleaders, the sister of one of the cheerleaders tries to solve the murders as the fifth anniversary of their death approaches. Thomas does try to interweave a lot of different elements into the story and it is pretty predictable, but still kept me engaged until the end.

This was an absorbing "junky" teen novel that kept my attention. There were a few problematic parts but overall it was a great distraction read, not too heavy, not too twisty, nicely predictable, and no emotional investments.

This book kept me on my toes and guessing. The multiple distractions and multiple deaths kept me interested the entire time. The story also had a lot of depth for a YA murder mystery. Many of the characters discuss how to move on after a tragedy. It also reflects on the idea that good people may do bad things in life. I want to recommend it to all of my high school students to read. I worry about the backlash from parents about the main character recovering from an abortion in the first ten pages of the book. It's after the fact and discussing the feelings of the choice, but I think I'll have to recommend to select students. I would absolutely recommend to all of my adult friends.