I was so excited when I saw The Cheerleaders was getting a sequel. And it is a sequel, despite anyone telling you this can function as a standalone. This gives so much payoff from characters/conflicts from The Cheerleaders, I loved how interconnected everything was. It made me wish I did a reread before picking this one up. Kara Thomas once again strikes hot with an uber-readable and engrossing mystery set within a high school. Loved it, would happily recommend the duology.

I read this book when it first came out and after re reading it I still completely love it!!

There have been a lot of focus on the cheerleaders. First an accident, then a murder, and finally a suicide. 5 cheerleaders in total have recently passed and now with all the trauma, they have disbanded the squad. This story follows one of the cheerleaders’ sister Monica, who starts to unravel the past.

So many twists I love it!! The best YA thriller! I will always recommend to my students

Kara Thomas does it again with her sequel to THE CHEERLEADERS. THE CHAMPIONS picks up shortly a few years after the first book left off and revisits characters in the latest adventure.

Fans of THE CHEERLEADERS will greatly enjoy this story. It gives a fresh story with nods to the previous book but in a way that freshens the reader’s memory if it’s been a few years between reads.

THE CHAMPIONS has plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader engaged. A definite must read.

If you enjoyed The Cheerleaders, you’ll definitely want to read its companion, The Champions. Much like its predecessor, you think you’re here to just solve a mystery, but there is so much more beneath the surface. This is a story of toxic sports culture, abuse in many forms and a town that still hasn’t fully learned its lesson from its tragic past. I thought Hadley was an interesting narrator. I loved her interactions with Peter (yes, THAT Peter!) and the way they worked together to get to the bottom of the story. It might not be a true sequel, but I HIGHLY recommend reading The Cheerleaders first to get the full effect and see familiar faces pop up. This was one where I really wasn’t sure where it was going until it hit me and boy, was it done well. It will make you mad because stories like this happen all too often in our world and still nothing happens to change it. The tension was incredible and that was probably my favorite thing about this book. It was a slower build, but a steady one and you could just feel it in the pages. Very happy to have read this one!
CW: rape, sexual assault, violence, underage drinking, bullying, gun violence, murder

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

Dark and twisty companion to Thomas's The Cheerleaders!

Set years after the events of The Cheerleaders, we are back at Sunnybrook High with a whole new set of characters - each with their own dramas, secrets and motives - that will keep you guessing until the end. There are ties to The Cheerleaders, but The Champions can definitely stand on its own and is a true companion to the original.

TRIGGER WARNING: there is discussion of a sexual assault that takes place prior to the main events of the story. It is not detailed on the page, but is discussed by several characters. The reactions of several other characters are within the stereotype of 'boys will be boys' and 'she asked for it' and could definitely be a trigger to SA survivors.

I really loved The Cheerleaders which was the first book I read of Kara Thomas's. Going back to Sunnybrook with The Champions is like visiting an old friend.

This book is a great follow-up to “The Cheerleaders,” with familiar faces and new characters. The story is interesting and keeps you guessing. I liked how the author explored a different side of Sunnybrook.

If you enjoy YA mysteries, definitely check this one out. I highly recommend.

A seemingly innocent school news story about the high school football team spirals into a closer look at the team and what secrets they are hiding. This story grabbed me from the beginning and I didn't want to put it down. I will definitely be checking out her other books.

Kara Thomas does it again! No shock, we are brought back to Sunnybrook following the Cheerleaders several years later for a new story, but not short on the twists and turns. I finished this in 2 sittings, and it was lightening speed!! I absolutely love her writing, I’ve read all her books (her adult thrillers are magical as well) and this is great to get you out of a rut. I don’t think you have to read The Cheerleaders to read this one but I still reccomend her whole backlist because all her books are amazing.
Out 8/27!! Thank you @karathomaswrites @netgalley @randomhousechildrens for the ARC!

3.75 rounded up

This follow up to The Cheerleaders is twisted and a bit dark. It's a return to Sunnybrook, this time with Hadley as the main character investigating what is going on with the football team after one player is poisoned. While I enjoyed the mystery of it, this reads like what someone thinks a typical high school is like with jocks getting away with everything from cheating to sexual assault. It was also really repetitive, with Hadley repeating what one person told her to another multiple times. I liked the appearance of characters from The Cheerleaders; it was interesting to see how their lives looked years after the first book. The conclusion was a little lackluster, but the story was overall interesting.

Thank you to NetGalley and publisher for the opportunity to read and review.

This book was quite enyojable. From one event, there are so many especulations and theories, and it leads to so many secrets and revelations. I really liked the main character, and to re-visit the town of Sunnybrook. Congratulations to Kara, and thank you to NetGalley and Random House Children's for this book!

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this arc!

What a good book! I didn’t realize it was a 2nd in a series but I still really enjoyed this book. Great writing style. Twisty turner at its best! I really liked the characters and they had great chemistry!

“The Champions” by Kara Thomas was a good read. I liked the true crime feel of the book, trying to figure out what was going on in the town of Stoneybrook. The book didn’t take long to finish and didn’t drag anything out. I would definitely recommend to a friend to read.

3.5⭐️ I really enjoyed this book! I loved seeing characters from the cheerleaders in this book play an important role. fast-paced, and kept me guessing who was behind everything. very grateful that I was able to receive an arc of this book!

In this book, we revisit the town of Sunnybrook eleven years after the death of five cheerleaders. The town is still healing and football is still the thing that rules the school and the town. Hadley, an aspiring journalist, is given the task of covering the football team's upcoming season for the school newspaper. After the sudden poisoning of a fellow student and star football player, Hadley begins to receive ominous messages from an anonymous source warning her to leave the story alone. As Hadley investigates the poisoning and the deaths that follow, she will have to dig deep into the town's history and her courage. This is a riveting tale of school politics and teen angst that will keep you on your toes and leave you wanting more.

Hadley and her family have just moved to Sunnybrook, infamous for the deaths of five cheerleaders years ago. The killer was eventually brought to justice, and Sunnybrook has finally been able to move on. However, now the town’s focus has shifted to the football team, who won the state championships two years in a row.

When an accident befalls a member of the football team, shortly after Hadley is assigned to cover the team for the newspaper. She starts getting strange emails warning her to stay away from the football team. When a second player is mysteriously killed, Hadley begins to wonder what dark secrets the team is hiding. In order to get to the bottom of it, Hadley has to delve into Sunnybrook’s dark past.

Thanks to Delacorte and NetGalley for an advanced copy of The Champions by Kara Thomas to review! It has honestly been a while since I read The Cheerleaders, but I didn’t have too much trouble jumping into this sequel. Though I wouldn’t recommend reading this one first, as there are definitely spoilers for the first book in this one. And you might miss the importance of some of the side characters without the background context.

While I don’t think this book was as well executed as the first book, it’s still got a great mystery at the core. In true Kara Thomas style, there are twists and turns thrown in throughout, making you guess what you know. This one does get a bit dark, so be warned if rape/sexual assault is a trigger for you because there is a pretty in-depth description of it in this book.

The cast of characters, while maybe not the most likable at times, are interesting to read about and really help drive the overall mystery forward. This book isn’t as tense as The Cheerleaders, but there are still moments of panic. As usual, Thomas utlizes cliffhangers to keep up the pace and keep you reading. Especially in the second half of the book.

Though this isn’t Thomas’s best book, if you enjoy mystery/thrillers in general, you’ll still enjoy this one! Especially if you loved the first book.

Loved loved loved! It was the perfect follow up to The Cheerleaders. The feel was the exact same reading through The Champions and I loved how the two flowed together. I always appreciate when characters from the first book are sprinkled into the second with perfect character development.

I loved the cheerleaders, so I was so excited to get my hands on this!

Hadley recently moved to Sunnybrook and works for the school newspaper. She’s gunning for editor in chief and is doing an article on the school’s beloved football team. She knows the town’s history, but there may be more to it than she thinks. Soon, she’s getting threatening messages from someone telling her to stay far away from the team. She doesn’t listen until someone ends up in a coma. Hadley has to put her journalism skills to good use and find out who’s behind the mayhem before history repeats itself.

Hadley was a great addition to the Sunnybrook world. Unfortunately, this one did move a little slow for me and I found myself not only a bit bored, but confused from time to time. However, after the muddled middle, it got exciting again at the end. I did love how Monica made an appearance and how the stories were connected.

Check the trigger warnings on this if you have them-it deals with some heavy stuff.

Overall, I did enjoy this and loved that it had the same feel of the Cheerleaders. This is a great YA mystery!

When they taught “show, don’t tell” in writing school, Kara was absent that day, maybe counting her money from the popular YA book THE CHEERLEADERS (this is a sequel.). In this book, Hadley, the main character gets essentially all her information from stories from other people. It gets a bit dull.

So, anyway, it’s eleven years after the events of the first book and Hadley is a new girl in town, a new student at the high school and her mom is the superintendent of schools. Sunnybrook is now all about their championship football team. Hadley is not a football fan but is assigned to cover the team for the school newspaper.

Then a player is poisoned at a party, Hadley starts getting emails telling her to stay away from the football team (please. Who gets emails anymore?). Then even more bad stuff happens. Is this related to what became of the cheerleaders? Who better than a high school newspaper reporter to uncover the truth, I ask you?

So, besides the issues listed above, the cast of characters got a bit confusing. I had trouble telling some of the football players apart, and also some of the people in the same family.

Oh, and as a Southerner should I be offended that though the book is set on Long Island all the kids playing college ball were going to Southern schools? It’s just us gauche idiots who like football? Well, that checks out, I guess.

“‘It’s so stupid. They humiliated me, they hurt me, and I still wanted them to LIKE me,’” oh, honey. Welcome to being a teenager.

This is not a book for older people to enjoy, but perhaps younger people will find something to like here. Athletics are prized over all….hopefully kids will see that’s no way to run a school. Or a college. Or a society.

4.5/5 stars. Rated up. *READ THE CHEERLEADERS FIRST*
A haunted/cursed town where bad things keep happening. Loved the amateur sleuth vibes.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the chance to read this ARC for my honest review.

I have not read The Cheerleaders but can't wait to now that I have read this.

This was well done for a YA thriller/mystery, and I only guessed a small piece of the mystery, which is pretty good!

I enjoyed the writing style, the characters, and the mystery aspects of this book.