This was a good addition to The Cheerleaders series! I have read a few of Kara Thomas's books and i have enjoyed all of them! Each book can be read as a standalone but reading both does add to the experience! The characters are likable, flawed and relatable! The book does touch on some heavy topics so I would check out the trigger list before you read! It was good to return to the small town of Sunnybrook and it will be interesting to see where the next book takes us! Thank you Tbr and Beyond Tours, Kara Thomas and Delacorte Press for sharing this book with me!

Happy Tuesday y’all! Today’s my stop on the TBR and Beyond Tours tour for The Champions by Kara Thomas! I really enjoyed the other book I read by Kara Thomas- The Cheerleaders- and since The Champions was set in the same world as The Cheerleaders, I was really excited about giving this one a go! Make sure y’all check out all of the other stops on the tour too.

The Champions 4/5 Stars

Summary from Goodreads: From the author of The Cheerleaders comes another dark YA thriller set in the same town of Sunnybrook. When a mysterious accident befalls a member of the all-star high school football team, the town’s deadly history stands to repeat itself—and the price of discovering the truth is higher than anyone could imagine. It was the deaths of five cheerleaders that made the town of Sunnybrook infamous. Eleven years later, the girls’ killer has been brought to justice, and the town just wants to move on. By the time Hadley moves to Sunnybrook, though, the locals are more interested in the Tigers, the high school’s championship-winning football team. The Tigers are Sunnybrook’s homegrown heroes–something positive in a town with so much darkness in its past. Hadley could care less about football, but shortly after she gets assigned to cover the team’s latest championship bid for the school newspaper, one of the Tigers is poisoned at a party, and almost immediately after, Hadley starts getting strange emails warning her to stay far away from the football team. It’s becoming clear Sunnybrook’s golden boys have secrets, and after a second player is mysteriously killed, Hadley’s beginning to suspect that someone wants the team to pay for their sins. Or does this new target on the football team have something to do with what happened to the cheerleaders all those years ago?As an outsider in Sunnybrook, Hadley feels like she’s the only one who can see the present clearly, but it looks like she’s going to have to dig up the darkness of the past to get to the bottom of what’s happening now. Luckily, there are still some Sunnybrook High grads who never left–people who were around eleven years ago—and if she can just convince them to talk, she might be able stop a killer before another Tiger dies.

Content Warning: sexual assault, bullying, death, cheating, toxic relationships, car accident, abortion

Even though The Champions started off just a little slowly, it picked up really fast and like 3 chapters in, I was so hooked that I didn’t want to stop reading (even though I had meetings and other commitments, like a dog who needed to be walked). Hadley was a really compelling main character. Her backstory felt a little rushed/thrown on the page at some points and I really felt like there was missing information, but it also wasn’t super necessary to the main plot, so it wasn’t a big deal. I liked how her relationship with Peter was written as a friendship turned into just a rivalry turned back into allies to more. The setting confused me a little, not because I didn’t appreciate that we were in upstate NY since that’s where the Cheerleaders took place, but because so many of the football players were going to college to play college football in NC instead of like… PA or OH or any of the other places closer to NY that are good at football (like Penn State, Ohio State, Pitt? There were so many other options besides ECU and Wake Forest…). I did really enjoy that Hadley was getting emails and that’s how everything was tied together. Plot and pacing wise, I thought things were done really well- I was hooked and creeped out but not 100% sure of what had happened until it was fully explained. Overall, I really enjoyed the Champions and I think it’s it’s a great (if not a little heavy, so make sure you check out those content warnings!) thriller/mystery to kick off spooky season! Make sure you grab it today Amazon | Barnes & Noble | IndieBound

Death and danger have come to Sunnybrook again, but this time it's the football players who seem to be the targets.

I'm a big fan of Kara Thomas and always want to get my hands on her newest book. I really liked The Cheerleaders when I read it years ago and could not wait to try The Champions out.

I thought this was a fun, fast read and really enjoyed Hadley's character. I would definitely recommend this one and can't wait to see what Kara comes up with next!

I received an ARC from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.

I remember when I finished The Cheerleaders I sat there for a minute and had to like really think about what I was reading. I don’t think I’d ever been that caught off guard by a thriller. Like ever. But that was a long time ago. So I wasn’t expecting to be caught up like that in this one. But I definitely should have known better.

Ok so the characters in this SEEM to be nice, but they were all terrible. I feel like I say this about the adults in YA books, but this is the first time in a long time where I say I didn’t care for any of the teens either. And like, I know this is by design, but geez, all of them were terrible, Even the main character was bad. She was very naiive. She was being a teen detective, but she wasn’t even being careful about it. She basically thought that her shining light on the fact that the players weren’t perfect, she’d get people on her side. As someone who lives in the South, I knew what was coming. People will defend their favorite football team before they defend their sibling.

The mystery itself was a tiny bit predictable. I figured this was going to be something centering around sexual assault, but I think I wanted it to be something more. In every book about football players and they did something terrible, it’s usually something like this. The thing that made it different from all those others was the fact that the mystery KEPT GOING. Even after all the clues about the girls came out, bodies were still piling up. And that was just crazy. In the end I called one part of this mystery, but I missed a whole other side of it.

One thing about Thomas’ books tho, she’s always going to have a crazy ass ending. But this one didn’t have that and I was a little sad. I got myself all ready to make sure I saw it coming this time, but I didn’t even need to be ready. it was a little disappointing. I guess I’ve gotten so used to her books having that last “jump scare” that when there’s not one, it feels weird.

The person she had helping her was just as weird as her. I kept trying to figure out what their problem was. Why was that person so damn mad? They were mad the entire book but it never said why he was so mad. I thought it was just to her at first, but then it was to their family too. Maybe it was their personality. But if it was, it was annoying af lol

I don’t want to say too much because I don’t want to give away any spoilers. But this one isn’t as wild as The Cheerleaders, but it’s still an experience in it’s own way. I want there to be another, like maybe about the band, but I don’t want to send anymore kids to Sunnybrook. Everyone that goes there seems to not come back.

Kara Thomas never misses!

In this sequel to The Cheerleaders, Sunnybrook has made the news again and Hadley, our MC, who moved to Sunnybrook 8 years after the cheerleaders went missing, is assigned to write about the highly popular football team. Only after attending a party, things get out of hand, and one of the teammates is left in a coma.

In the spirit of all things thriller, Hadley receives anonymous messages that lead her to the hidden secrets of the team and is determined to find out what is that they’re hiding. Unlikely friendships form as Hadley tries to figure the case out, unknowingly putting herself in danger. With two victims already hurt and a possibility that she’ll be next, this thriller is twisty and will keep you up all night!

I loved The Cheerleaders, and this book is no different! I highly recommend The Champions to any thriller lover.

It's been awhile since I read The Cheerleaders. I wasn't sure I needed a sequel, but I was still super excited to see one coming out.

I ended up loving The Champions just as much. While this book was a bit extreme with it, I went to one of those football schools. I think it's a small town thing. Everyone loved the players and they definitely got away with things. But nothing like this. Please make sure you read trigger warnings for this one. There is a lot about sexual assault. I liked Hadley a lot. She was the new girl and yet she seemed like the only one who really cared at times. I liked that the plot from The Cheerleaders was brought up, but it wasn't talked about a ton. It felt like a whole new story. I did like that Hadley talked to some of the people from the past. I don't want to go into anymore details. The book is suspenseful at times and the pacing was great. I just enjoyed everything about this one.

I gave this book 5 stars. Kara Thomas continues to be a favorite of mine.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my earc.

I went into this blind. I never read the first book, The Cheerleaders. Even then, this book was so good. I was really intrigued and at the edge of my seat the whole time.

While I enjoyed this story, I felt like Kara Thomas waited way too long to release a sequel to the phenomenal story The Cheerleaders.

THE CHAMPIONS by Kara Thomas is another dark, YA thriller.

When Hadley Daugherty moves to the town of Sunnybrook in New York, she joins the school newspaper and is tasked with interviewing coaches and players while they defend their football championship. High school football rules and Sunnybrook wants to be the town known for THAT rather than be infamous for the deaths of five cheerleaders 11 years ago. The killer was convicted and will spend the rest of his life in jail but there are so many lingering questions from the past.

When one of the current players is poisoned at a party and another is killed, Hadley decides to dig deeper into not only what is happening now but also what happened all those years ago. There are a lot of secrets swirling through the huddles and the snap may not only be with the football. As she continues to dig, she finds graduates from back then and convinces them she tell their stories. She also creates a Snapchat survey that gets teachers, administrators and parents up in arms. Can Hadley find out what happened to the two recent players and in so doing, what really happened all those years ago?

I always enjoy a novel based on the high school years and this was no exception. The fact that the coaches, players and other towns folk we’re hiding secrets was just icing on the cake. I could feel the tension ratcheting up as Hadley uncovered more of those secrets. I will be following Kara Thomas to see where we go next.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for this ARC opportunity. All opinions are my own and given voluntarily.

I loved the Cheerleaders and was so excited to be able to read its sequel. I really enjoy Kara Thomas’ writing style, especially for young adult mysteries. I liked the character of Hadley and was cheering for her. She made some frustrating decisions, but these were decisions consistent with her age, and overall she was a really likable protagonist. I found the ending surprising and unexpected.

Eleven years after the deaths of five cheerleaders, Hadley, one of the few people in the town who aren’t obsessed with the champion High School football team, is assigned to write about them as a school paper. As a result, she happens to be there when one gets poisoned, leading her to investigate what happened to them.

Do you want to sit down on a comfy couch and just read a book in one sitting? Well, friend, this will be the book! Or shall I say ✨MASTERPIECE ✨ lol

This is the sequel to Cheerleaders that I read last year that left my jaw on the floor and this one did the same thing! The only reason I gave it a 4 out of 5 is because the ending for me wasn’t the strongest in my opinion I feel like there was a little something something that was missing.

Thank you NetGalley for the advanced readers copy in exchange for my honest review! It was honestly great!

Someone is trying to kill players on the reigning championship football team in Sunnybrook - but is the killer closer to home than they think?

The Champions is a late sequel to The Cheerleaders, following up years after five cheerleaders in Sunnybrook died from varying causes.

I found this one slower throughout than The Cheerleaders. I liked Hadley and Peter as characters, but the plot just took too long to get moving for me. I wish we saw more conflict happen especially in the middle. But, the ending was powerful and things wrapped up really nicely.

I’d give this 3 stars. Thanks to NetGalley and Random House Children’s for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review!

I am such a big fan of Kara Thomas's books!! She is one of my favorite authors, specifically in the ya thriller genre. I literally read this in one sitting!! It reminded me of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder in the best way possible.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the arc.

Read and enjoyed The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas, as well as other books by her, so I was looking forward to this! This is a spinoff, not really a sequel, of The Cheerleaders and set in the same town, Sunnybrook. Here we follow Hadley, who is the only person in town not interested in the school's football team but is covering the team for the school's newspaper. When one of the players is poisoned at a party, Hadley starts digging deeper into the football team, even though someone is leaving her notes to stay away..

I enjoyed this book and will contiune to read Kara Thomas books in the future.

If you loved The Cheerleaders you’ll love The Champions.

Being from Texas, Friday Night Lights state, and being an educator, I felt this book.

Working in a department (the library) that is less and less and less funded EVERY YEAR while watching a department (athletics but mainly football because other sports have to clean the stadium after home games to earn their part of the athletic budget ie tennis, cross country, etc.) budget grow EVERY YEAR is disheartening. It makes this story and the characters actions seem so real. I 100% see this actually happening in real life and it’s terrifying actually. I mean I hope not on the level of murder but still. Graduating HS in the early 2000s athletes were held to a higher standard. You acted right and treated people right because if it got back to your coach that didn’t there were consequences. Today we treat them like they can’t do wrong and they should be catered to and put on a pedestal. So I would not be 100% shocked to see them given test scores, allowed to treat girls badly, incidents being covered up, etc.

And to top it off my small town team never wins but yet we keep putting more money into them and treating the players like gods.

Sorry!! Soap box moment. I’m done. I loved the book and kind could go for a follow up once Peter and Hadley finish the real story and possible see some other justice served to those who deserve it?

Thank you NetGalley and the Publisher for a chance to read and review.

Having read Kara Thomas’s “The Cheerleaders,” I was excited when I saw she had another book set in the same town. Entitled “The Champions” it is not necessarily a sequel, but some of the characters from “The Cheerleaders” do make appearances.

Eleven years after the events of “The Cheerleaders” Sunnybrook no longer has cheerleaders, but they do have a championship-winning football team. Hadley is a reporter for the school’s newspaper and is trying to become the editor. She gets assigned the story of the football team’s latest championship bid and soon after begins to get messages warning her about the football team.

After one of the players is poisoned at a party and Hadley begins to investigate why, another player is killed. As the book progresses, Hadley (and the reader) are left wondering if the events happening in present day are somehow related to what happened eleven years ago.

While the ending does explain what happened, it felt a little abrupt and open-ended. Overall, I recommend this book. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my ARC.

Who doesn't love a good football scandal? It's Sunnybrook High School and Hadley's mom is the superintendent. Hadley has aspirations to attend Columbia as a journalism major as she's always been editor-in-chief of her high school paper. But when tragedy strikes at a high school party and a student ends up in the ER, fingers are pointed at everyone and students clam up, unwilling to implicate anyone. But of course this is bigger than just an "accident" at a party as no one has the same answers! It's a great YA novel that kept me guessing until the bitter end!
Thanks to NetGalley for this ARC!

Eleven years after The Cheerleaders, Hadley is investigating her high school's football team after receiving emails to stay away from the team since they aren't her biggest fan. I enjoyed her budding friendship with Peter (Hadley's once school journalist nemesis) as they worked together to figure out what past certain football players were trying to hide. I liked how Hadley's journey impacted her to the point where she lost the most important thing to her, but she didn't let it stop her on her discovery for truth and justice. Thank you NetGalley for an ARC.

I am going to make a Brave Yet Controversial statement(TM): A Good Girl's Guide To Murder is a good book, but I don't know why readers hype up Holly Jackson when Kara Thomas books are RIGHT HERE, not totally jumping the shark as the stories progress!

Hadley didn't live in Sunnybrook when the cheerleaders died, but she knows all about the dark legacy that haunts the town, even after the killer's been caught. Now, the town distances itself from the tragedies by focusing on their next crowning achievement: The dominant Tigers football team. Hadley doesn't pay mind to the team, but when she's assigned to cover them for the school paper, she begins to realize that there's something strange going on. With players that will do anything to win and coaches willing to destroy lives to do the same, it's not long until there are victims in their wake and an anonymous person warning Hadley not to get too close.

Hadley finds herself teaming up with Peter— her nemesis and competition for newspaper editor, who also happens to be the stepbrother of Monica, The Cheerleaders’ protagonist. Can they work their way through the corrupt system to reveal the truth or will they fall victim themselves?

Taking place several years after the events of The Cheerleaders, The Champions reintroduces the town of Sunnybrook with an almost entirely new cast of characters. Thankfully, they're all unique and interesting (regardless of whether or not they're likable!) As a relatively new addition to a small town and the Superintendent's daughter, Hadley provides an outside perspective on the people of Sunnybrook and their issues. She knows about what happened to the cheerleaders, but she wasn't there as it unraveled. She knows— and even likes some of— the guys on the football team, but they haven't been inextricably connected since preschool. It really helps balance out the narrative.

The secondary characters also bring a ton of life to the story. Kara Thomas does a great job of showing the various “shades” of the football players, their coaches, and their supporters, creating some conflicting emotions. Some are awful, sure, but others feel like a charming friend to Hadley. It can't all be bad if they're part of the team, right?

Peter is a subdued but intriguing partner in crime. He's charming, but not in a smarmy, outrageous way. The romantic tension between Hadley and Peter is definitely felt throughout, but I appreciate that it's never the centerpiece of the story and doesn't take away from the tension of the mystery. 

It's also great to see Monica and Ginny from The Cheerleaders and catch up with them! BUT the connection to the original book is not super strong. If you've never read The Cheerleaders, you can read The Champions without missing a beat. The original Sunnybrook novel is more mentioned in passing, tying back to a few minor moments that don't dictate the plot in any way and it perfectly understandable without the full backstory.

This isn't my top Kara Thomas book (that award goes to The Darkest Corners,) but she consistently delivers great mystery thrillers that actually feel like they COULD happen in any small town. And someday, isn't a deliciously tense and plausible mystery thriller all you need?

This is probably Kara Thomas’s best book to date, though I’ll warn that this needs some serious trigger warnings, as it deals with a lot of heavy material that may be too much for the younger end of the YA audience.

I think the subject of rape and privilege as it relates to male athletes was handled pretty well here, and Thomas built a story around that which makes the tougher material justifiable. It doesn’t feel like it’s there just to create something salacious to increase interest.

Still, I wish we got more books about high school sports that deal with the kinds of problems kids are far more likely to encounter. While any rape is one too many, this situation (Especially when you tack on the murders) is, thankfully, very rare.

I wish authors would write about things like coaches who push athletes to take risks that cause injuries, who play favorites, who pit kids against each other in an unhealthy way. Or how about unhealthy rivalries between teammates or between one sport and another. Or how about the way that boys teams often get more precedence, praise, and funding even when the girls teams are more successful?

These are more likely to be the stressful situations kids find themselves in when participating in high school sports, and I think that matters. I’m certainly not opposed to tossing in a murder to spice things up because that’s what sells. Still, I wish we saw more of this, and Thomas seems like someone who “gets” the world of high school sports well enough to be the person who (hopefully) tackles something like that in the future.

That said, I’ll repeat that I think she did a good job dealing with much heavier if far less common stuff here, and the pacing and complexity of the story were notably good.