This book was so good. It discusses a topic I don’t see a lot. How toxic female friendship can be and how far you’ll go to have it.

First of all, thank you so much to Penguin Teen for sending me an ARC of this truly remarkable book. The way Krischer depicts teen-girl drama is like nothing I’ve read before. So often girls in literature and film are depicted to be “besties” who have secret handshakes and when they fight it ends in a day or two but the brutal honesty within the pages of this book was so refreshing to finally see. The Falling Girls follows Shade and her best friend Jadis, two best friends that share everything from clothes to deodorant. But when Shade joins the cheer team everything changes. Being a part of the team means Shade will be with the insufferable trio, the Chloe’s, who rule the squad, and soon she starts to even fall in with them. Soon Jadis can barely recognize her best friend and things start to fall apart. Then when one of the cheerleaders mysteriously dies at the school dance and Shade starts to suspect Jadis had something to do with it their friendship strains even more. This book was more relatable than anything else I’ve ever read and it was such a beautiful experience. With all of this being said though, the one thing keeping it from being a five-star was its ending. Overall I loved the way it was written I just found it very predictable although I will still be recommending it to everyone I talk to. This was also one of the fastest-paced books I’ve read. It was over 300 pages and I read it in about 2 days, one of which I had school. Authenticity within teen girl friendships is so important, especially where many girls, including myself, think that they’re the only ones going through it.

Shade and Jadis have been best friends since like forever. Jadis is one of the high school's cheerleaders, who furthermore exist of three other main characters in this book, the three Chloe's, who are more or less the queen bees of the cheerleading squad. Shade joins the squad, and she loves it. She loves the hard work and determination it takes, and it changes her as a person. But everything changes when at a prom one of the three Chloe's dies under mysterious circumstances, and everyone is witness to it when she falls on the floor. Was she just unwell because of a natural cause, or was it something else? Shade discovers that she and the other Chloe's used something before the party, and that someone might have some reasons for taking Chloe Orbach down, but who? Shade is determined to get to the bottom of her death..
At first I found this story taking off slowly. Beside all the cheerleading stuff that is known from many other books and movies, nothing really happened that keeps you entertained as a reader. It took to the middle of the book for a turning point in the action, when one of the three Chloe's died all of a sudden, which was quite unexpected. You would expect a thrilling detective, sleuthing kind of story from then on, as Shade wanted to find out who was behind it, but somehow it didn't felt that way, as it truly lacked an entertaining tension bow that made it more interesting to read. It all cobbled on with cheerleading stuff and just random things untill at some point Shade found out who was behind it in a strange way, and shortly after, the story ended. Overall, I found this story not very interesting or entertaining. It just doesn't have something that makes it stand out.

This story tackled grief and loss in an interesting and empowering way while it was not my favorite storyline overall due to a differing genre from my typical reads it was a good book and story despite my typical interests.

I absolutely enjoyed reading this. It is so interesting, so fast paced and just a fun read altogether. The plot in this was very interesting as it talks about friendship, trust and family. Reading this made me realise how important it is to always be true to yourself and be honest.

This book explores a toxic and overly dependent female friendship in high school. It was highly enjoyable even though the characters weren't likable. There was plenty of tension and gets dark at times. The mystery of what happened to one of the cheerleaders definitely kept me reaching for the next page.

This was a dark YA book set in the world of cheerleading. Shade decides to join the squad even though her best friend Jadis would not approve. When one of the cheerleaders dies, Shade wonders if Jadis had something to do with her death. I thought this book was a sad look at the dark side of female friendships. It includes self administered tattoos and drugs.

Another AMAZING book by Krischer. I think she is one of the most important voices of our time right now bringing things to light in a realistic and relatable manner even if they are uncomfortable for the reader at times. I can't wait to see what she has coming up next.

This is a great book for fans of Kara Thomas and Jessica Goodman. It takes high school mean girls to the extreme and deftly explores how high school friendships can become toxic.

Shade and Jadis are best friends who share everything, so when Shade joins the cheerleading team and starts to make friends with the three Chloes on the team, she becomes almost unrecognizable too Jadis. This causes some tension with Shade, an when one of the Chloes ends up dead, Shade is determined to get to the bottom of it because she’s worried Jadis might be involved.

I love a book that highlights the dark side of predominantly female sports/female friendships and this book was such a wild ride. This book really showed the fine line between friendship and obsession in the most captivating way. It’s dark but I could not put this one down from the moment I started it. YA thriller fans, here you go, you need to read this one.

Thanks to Penguin Teen and NetGalley for the advanced copy.

I adored everything about this book, from the suspense to the teenage drama to mean girls friendships to the genuine friendships. This book got high school friendships right.

I ENJOYED…
☂️
The Falling Girls is about Shade and Jadis, best friends since forever, until Shade decides to try out for the cheerleader team. While Shade attempts to follow her gut and her dream of being a flyer on the team, she tries to maintain her friendship with Jadis and build new, tentative ones with the three Chloes, heads of the cheerleading team.
Shade was a compelling main character to follow. She feels, deep in her soul, that she needs to try this brand new thing even if it shatters her life-long friendship and it’s a tough position to be in. I felt for her from the very beginning, wanting her to do what was best for her, but also wanting for her friendships to be more healthy, too. Lost into her own relationships, she’s losing her sense of identity, herself in the process and I loved her growth as the story goes on, slowly fighting and finding her own sense of self, too.
The highlight of The Falling Girls certainly is the way it explores relationships and especially friendships. In this story, it’s all-consuming, co-dependant female friendships, borderline on toxic. It’s when you mean everything to each other, when you can destroy each other just as hardly as you can love each other. When the relationship is in jeopardy, the fall-out is so hard to watch. Raw and emotional: that’s what you get and what you feel with The Falling Girls. It’s messy and intense to read and I couldn’t put it down.
At the heart of The Falling Girls is a mystery, too, one of a death they can’t quite figure out. I found the suspense riveting and I found my mind churning at the possibilities, wondering who could have done it.

OVERALL
☂️
The Falling Girls is a riveting story about all-consuming friendships. I was hooked right from the start and loved the mystery of it all. 200% recommending this to fans of thrillers and especially to fans of stories about friendships.

Thank you Penguin Teen and Netgalley for an arc. Here is my honest review.

The Falling Girls felt like an honest portrayal of friendships and how toxic they can become. Even though the mysterious death of a certain cheerleader is the premise of this book, it mainly deals with codependent friendships and the lengths one will go to when they feel threatened.

Sometimes friendships in books can come off as one dimensional and fake. But the ones here were complicated; the author kept the ugliness that many friendships have.

Overall I give this book 4 1/2 stars and can’t wait to read other works from this author.

I liked this book a lot! The authors book always hit great in my opinion! Cant wait for more from Hayley Krischer

oh my gosh this is amazing! imaging having an obsessive best friend in high school who would KILL for you! this was such a dark take on ‘best friends’ in high school and delving into it. highly recommend!

Shade and Jadis are inseparable best friends for as long as they both can remember. When Shade joins the cheerleading squad, Jadis feels left behind. Then one of the cheerleaders dies under mysterious circumstances and Shade isn't convinced that Jadis wasn't behind it.

This story about a complicated, toxic relationship was super fun and highly addictive. The story was fast-paced, drama-filled, and had me turning the pages non-stop. The exploration of the obsessive female friendship was interesting, and I enjoyed learning more about Shade and Jadis as the story progressed. I think that the plot was entertaining and definitely kept me hooked throughout the entire thing. I also really loved the cheerleading stunts in this, I enjoyed the descriptions and the athleticism described by the author when it comes to cheerleading. I listened to this on audio, and I think that the narrator did a really great job with these characters' voices.

An extremely thrilling book about the power of friendship and jealousy, there were so many things that I was not expecting to see.

I was provided an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I liked the premise, but this book fell flat for me overall. The main character was somewhat hard to connect with. The dialogue didn't feel natural and real for most of the time. I'm not really sure what the entire point of the book was. I felt it was predictable.
I liked that the book revolved entirely around women and their relationships to and with each other.

The Falling Girls scrutinizes the powerful, all-consuming, ever-evolving relationship between teenage girls, aka best friends - how far they'll go for each other and how dark they'll go when they feel betrayed. While these relationships can be healthy, there's a fine line between close friendship and obsession. This is the story of what can happen when that line is crossed.

Thank you NetGalley and Penguin books for an e-copy in exchange for an honest review!

Falling Girls is about teenage girls, their friendships, the extremities they are willing to go to for each other and the lines they are willing to cross for sisterhood.

I love that Hayley Krischer wrote a book on this because sisterhood is real, especially in your teenage years, your girl friends have a huge influence on one's personality. With twists and a murder, the mystery was well-written till the reveal and it was a thrilling read.

As Shade enters the cheer-leading squad, the real story begins as she starts to discover the dark depths of sisterhood, as the insufferable Chloe's feels a crack in their friendship and their deeply buried contempt and resentment starts pouring out. The book also addresses toxic friendships, and that it is important to distance yourself despite how much you love them.

Their elaborate practices and the hard-work they put in their routines built my interest in cheer-leading and it definitely makes me think that cheer-leading is a sport for real!