Sunnybrook is back in the news. What is happening to their championship football team? There are exploding coaches, plenty of peer tutoring, and too much partying. 🏈

It has been more than five years since The Cheerleaders, and I was thrilled to see this sequel on NetGalley. There's a new girl on the newspaper staff. Hadley Daugherty finds herself at a bit of a disadvantage, but her reporter instincts are spot on. This is her second year on the newspaper staff and as a senior she is gunning for Chief Editor. When her first assignment is the iconic Sunnybrook football team, she realizes there is more than meets the eye. As the narrative progresses, there is girl drama, danger, and a red herring or two. Do not fear! Monica and Gabby are back as supporting characters. Could not get through this one without their contributions to the search for truth.

Thank you to Random House Children's and NetGalley for a DRC in exchange for an honest review.

I'm really into those Wreck Your Life tales that happen before you even graduate high school. There's something about that high school murder mystery with its completely unlikable characters, the plethora of bad choices, and the rampant underage drinking that makes for a great read.
Thank you for the ARC

Thanks to Netgalley and Random House for a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

I read The Cheerleaders when it came out in 2018, and was so excited to see another story in the universe. The two are standalone, but The Champions does reference characters from the Cheerleaders (it also gives a good TLDR on why these characters are important, which honestly could be really fun if you haven’t read The Cheerleaders).

The Champions picks up at the beginning of the school year for Hadley Daugherty. She’s transferred to Sunnybrook towards the end of high school and doesn’t feel a solid connection to much anything except the school paper. While writing a story about the two time champion football team (currently aiming for a three peat), she starts to hear odd comments and receive vaguely threatening anonymous emails from someone called SportsFan. When a party goes painfully wrong and a star player ends up in a coma, Hadley makes it her job to find the truth.

The Champions follows a very similar format to The Cheerleaders, and is a classic whodunnit thriller. Honestly I was so interested in where the story was going and who was responsible for what I couldn’t put it down. It’s an easy read that’s worth it, the payoff continues until the very end.

Major CWs on this book for: rape and domestic violence. There are also references to statutory rape, suicide, murder, drug addiction, and probably more that I’m forgetting.

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing an advance copy in exchange for honest feedback

I personally enjoyed how this book tied in with the first one, seamlessly continuing the storyline, while also offering new and unique plot twists that kept it fresh. The plot was engaging and moved at a brisk pace, making it an easy and enjoyable read. You should definitely check it out when it releases on August 27th! If you enjoy a good young adult thriller, this one is for you.

This was such a great read! When students are being killed again, H wonders if it may be connected to the killings 15 years ago.

This book was a great follow up to the Cheerleaders being told eleven years after the events of the cheerleaders. This book focuses on the dark side of high school football. This book deals with some heavy topics so just make sure to check the trigger warnings before hand. It was exciting to return to Sunnybrook. Overall this was a gripping thriller that I could not wait to finish. Would recommend this for sure.

The Cheerleaders is my favorite YA Mystery/Thriller, so it’s no surprise I had to get my hands on this one. This gave me some Pretty Little Liars vibes with the anonymous emails being sent to Hadley. Naturally with Hadley being an aspiring journalist, I knew she would put the pieces together. As an outsider, Hadley is learning about the connections the characters in this book had with the characters in The Cheerleaders.

Some of the characters weren’t all that likable, but I still found their stories relevant to move the plot forward. I didn’t know who to trust, and with Hadley not being an insider, it was even easier from her perspective to question everyone. When all was revealed, I was angry. The town of Sunnybrook is no stranger to secrets, so I was not surprised at what was covered up. Overall, I did enjoy this one.

A fantastic return to a world I deeply missed! The characters are just as razor sharp and engaging as before, and the mystery pulled me in from the beginning. Kara Thomas can do no wrong and The Champions is not to be missed! My students will love this.

I read this without reading The Cheerleaders, the first book in this series, but I will definitely go and read it now. This was a thrilling read, perfect for fans of Karen McManus and Holly Jackson.

In this solid but not exceptional YA mystery Kara Thomas revisits Sunnybrook High, where the events of The Cheerleaders (2018) took place 11 years ago,

Aspiring journalist high school senior Hadley has been asked to write about the school’s two-time state championship-winning football team. But an anonymous emailer tells her to stay away from the team for her own good and, shortly afterwards, one of the football players collapses at a party and ends up in a coma. Hadley’s investigative instincts are on full alert because she’d overheard a teammate shouting “You’re going to fuck up everything” to this player.

The action moves along as Hadley uncovers some dark secrets from the past and, in the process, riles up the whole football-mad community by threatening the untouchable status of the team.

While this was a decent enough YA mystery, I felt it lacked the author’s usual exemplary world-building of a tight-knit working class community, instead focusing on a not particularly well-worked through look at the effect of the past tragedy on a few families. I had a few other gripes as well:

There are so many characters and so many connections to the previous spate of murders that I got a bit lost in who was who and what their connections were with a) the football team and b) the dead cheerleaders. And the cheerleader plot isn’t actually relevant to this one, so I’m not quite sure why the author decided to revisit the scene instead of starting afresh, which might have been a whole lot less confusing.

Though many of the students have been sitting on secrets for years, all of a sudden they decide to start spilling everything to Hadley, despite her being a self-professed “quiet girl” and a newcomer to the school. Of course, this moves the plot along swiftly, but it just seems to come in a bunch of information dumps.

Finally, the denouement - [that footballer players had raped a dance team girl at a party, been abusive to their girlfriends, and had cheated on tests with the help of teachers and coaches - does not seem to be a particularly original conclusion. I mean, other than Friday Night Lights, when haven’t fictional football teams done this? (hide spoiler)]

So, a wobbly 3 stars for The Champions, and a strong recommendation to read the author’s previous YA mysteries, particularly Little Monsters (2017).

Thanks to Delacorte and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

Kara Thomas is one of go to thriller authors to recommend and I LOVED The Cheerleaders. When I found out that there would be a sequel I was so excited. I really enjoyed The Champions! It was a solid follow up to one of my favorite books. I recognized a lot of names from The Cheerleaders which added to the small town feeling of the town- really everyone was connected. The premise was compelling and honestly felt like something that could happen.

Trigger Warnings: Rape, bullying, harrassment

This absolutely ate. Mother never disappoints

To be completely fair, I barely remember anything from The Cheerleaders--I remember a major reveal and I remember I was truly gagged while reading it, but the details are fuzzy at best. However, The Champions can be read separately, but it does have spoilers for The Cheerleaders. The Champions follows Hadley, newly arrived in Sunnybrook, as she works to uncover what's going on with the football team. When one player is poisoned at a party, and another is subsequently killed, Hadley wants answers. But she keeps getting warned to leave it be by a mysterious email account. Unwilling to let it go, will Hadley be able to uncover the dark secrets of the Sunnybrook football team? Or will she pay the price for trying to dig up what's been buried?

I loved this. It has the signature darkness of Kara Thomas books, with care handled to sensitive issues. I had no idea who did it until the end, and I found the characters interesting. Hadley definitely has some parallels to Monica, and it was nice to see Monica make an appearance, older and well adjusted now.

Bottom line: I would read Kara Thomas's grocery list.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review!:)

I haven't yet read The Cheerleaders, the first book from this universe, but I will for sure go and read it now. This was a great thrilling read, perfect for the upcoming spooky season! The perfect read for fans of Karen McManus and Holly Jackson. A definite add to my HS library.

I have mixed reviews on this one. I wished I had enjoyed it more. I loved the premise. I loved the concept of the same town ten years later. I was just frustrated by the results.
1) why did the people.just tell the main character everything? They have been keeping secrets for years and just spill to her.
2) The excitement or interesting parts seems to happen off the page, and it's just just summaries of those events.
3) I understand that it addresses important aspects of society as a female, but the amount of times that the word 'rape' is used was too many for me. That sounds like I am cold, but it got to a stage of extreme discomfort where I honestly didn't care how the book ended.

The town of sunnybrook has its history for high school murders, this book follows the cheerleaders by Kara Thomas years later. Hadley is a strong willed girl bound to write the best possible article about the champions the sunnybrook tiger football team. Hadley begins receiving messages to stay away from the football team and the murders begin, the twist in this book was great. I never saw the killer coming and the reasoning behind everything they have done. Overall a well written quick mystery. Kara Thomas always knows how to leave you wanting more.

As the 2nd book or a companion book to Cheerleaders, I think it was well written and thrilling. Hadley is new to Sunnybrook High School and through rumors is slowly learning about the secrets of the school and town. She starts to think that there are some suspicious activity among the football players and secrets after an anonymous message online. Against better judgement, she attends her first party because a boy is crushing on her, but the night ends with a tragic visit to the ER and Logan in a coma.

Hadley soon learns the strings the football coaches pull and the solidarity and secrecy of the team. She slowly uncovers truths. She sends out an anonymous survey to teachers about students cheating and pressure to pass players, but it back fires and people send more hate than the truth because everyone loves the 2 time champion football team.

Champions weaves in a few of our favorites from Cheerleaders with Peter, Monica’s brother being a main character and helping Hadley. Ginny Cordero is now teaching at Sunnybrook high and few other names are cousins or younger siblings of characters in the first book.

For Fans Of: One of Us is Lying, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
Rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌘
Genre: YA Thriller
Violence: 🔪
TG: Bullying, Assault (off-page)

Synopsis: Sequel to 2018’s The Cheerleaders. Hadley could care less about football. But she’ll do an article on the championship team if it will secure her place as Editor-in-Chief and her shot at Columbia. But when she starts receiving strange emails warning her away, and one of the players is poisoned at a party, Hadley realizes there’s more at stake than the next game.

Thoughts: I was 100% sure I knew the secret at the heart of the book...and was disappointed by its simplicity. But first impressions proved deceiving. This story weaves together disparate threads to create a satisfying mystery appealing for both its entertainment value & its relevance. Through Hadley’s investigation, readers confront questions about the culture of complicity within schools, perpetuated by political hierarchies. One that accords benefits to members of certain groups and shields them from consequences, while other students pay the price and are penalized by an unlevel playing field. In this book, teens will find well-drawn characters familiar to them and events which resonate with their own experience. Older readers will recognize the tumult of high school and be reminded of the vital role of—and potential for harm by—adults during this fraught transitional period. This page-turning, thought-provoking read will echo in your mind for days to come.

Thank you to Delacorte Press & NetGalley for the gifted copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wowza what a wild ride. I loved all of the twists and turns. The story was so thrilling and I liked the nods to the original.

When Hadley moves to town, Sunnybrook has turned its attention from tragic deaths to winning football. Hadley focuses on winning the job as editor of the Sunnybrook High newspaper. She has no interest in football, yet gets the assignment of covering the team. As she begins to follow them, she enters a new sphere of popularity, while getting anonymous threats. Hadley can only count on one person’s true feelings about her. Her rival on the school newspaper hates her.
Having so many characters makes them run together. I feel like I’m the one who started at a new high school, and it’s tricky to just keep up with everyone’s name.
This isn’t just about solving a crime. It’s also about uncovering the awful things done to hush it up. I hoped for a twist like The Cheerleaders (and maybe a body count to match), but this is a different kind of novel. It’s honest and subtle and almost cynical. No one but Kara Thomas can write such a winning story while tackling all this in a YA novel.
It would be a crime to spoil a masterpiece like The Cheerleaders, so I recommend reading that book first.