“Sharp, brilliantly plotted, and totally engrossing.”–KAREN M. MCMANUS, New York Times bestselling author of One of Us Is Lying“A crafty, dark, and disturbing story.”–KATHLEEN GLASGOW, New York Times bestselling author of Girl In Pieces “A little bit Riverdale and a little bit Veronica Mars.”–RILEY SAGER, bestselling author of Final GirlsA Goodreads Best Young Adult Book of the Year Nominee… bestselling author of Final Girls
A Goodreads Best Young Adult Book of the Year Nominee
From the author of The Darkest Corners and Little Monsters comes an all-new edge-of-your-seat thriller set in upstate New York about an eerie sequence of seemingly unrelated events that leaves five cheerleaders dead.
There are no more cheerleaders in the town of Sunnybrook.
First there was the car accident–two girls dead after hitting a tree on a rainy night. Not long after, the murders happened. Those two girls were killed by the man next door. The police shot him, so no one will ever know his reasons. Monica’s sister was the last cheerleader to die. After her suicide, Sunnybrook High disbanded the cheer squad. No one wanted to be reminded of the girls they’d lost.
That was five years ago. Now the faculty and students at Sunnybrook High want to remember the lost cheerleaders. But for Monica, it’s not that easy. She just wants to forget.
Only, Monica’s world is starting to unravel. There are the letters in her stepdad’s desk, an unearthed, years-old cell phone, a strange new friend at school. . . . Whatever happened five years ago isn’t over. Some people in town know more than they’re saying. And somehow, Monica is at the center of it all.
There are no more cheerleaders in Sunnybrook, but that doesn’t mean anyone else is safe.
More Praise for Kara Thomas:
”Gripping from start to finish . . . with twists that left me shocked.”–VICTORIA AVEYARD, #1 New York Times bestselling author of Red Queen
”You’ll be up all night tearing through the pages.”–BUSTLE
“This deliciously deceptive thriller…is a must-have.”–SLJ
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A little bit Riverdale and a little bit Veronica Mars, The Cheerleaders is a twisty page-turner that will have you doubting every character you meet — and everything you think you know.
Holy shit! I didn’t see that coming!! It took me around three weeks to finish The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas, but that doesn’t accurately convey how enthralled I was was with the story. In fact, the reason why I took so long to read it, outside of the fact that I read the hardback, was because I wanted to savor the story and not want to miss any detail so I can figure out who the killer was.
Spoiler alert, I still didn’t figure it out. I took my time and I analyzed the story and I just knew that I had it figured out. The Cheerleaders had me questioning every characters motives and what was truly going on in their heads because it seems as if everyone has something to hide.
One thing that I particularly enjoyed about The Cheerleaders was getting a flashback to Jen’s point of view, Moninca’s sister. I loved being able to get in her head space and to see how things actually played out versus the hearsay that Monica was able to uncover on her own.
The story is a candid portrayal of grief and how everyone deals with or avoids the truth so they don’t have to suffer. On the surface The Cheerleaders is about about girl trying to find out truly happened to her sister and her friends. If you take a closer in depth look you realized that this particular story was so much.
The Cheerleaders is a visceral tale that will haunt me for books and years to come!
Sharp, brilliantly plotted, and totally engrossing. Every time I thought I had it figured out, the story twisted again. Kara Thomas should teach a master class in suspense.
I couldn’t put it down! It kept me interested even after I turned the last page.
“The Cheerleaders” had an interesting premise and hooked me from the beginning. The mystery and Monica’s detective skills had me trying to piece together the clues while she did. There were also times where we flashbacked to Jennifer 5 years in the past to give some more details of the story. I enjoyed Kara Thomas’ writing of this story and the rise it took me on!
Firstly, I really enjoyed this book. I’m really enjoying reading YA mystery thrillers and this is one of the better ones that I have read! The concept is intriguing straight away. I love it when a book presents to me a mystery and then tells me that more people may know the truth than you first think.
The Cheerleaders also deals with some pretty heavy topics, and is not the light read I had expected it to be from the cover. There was so much within the book that was both realistic and relatable; I really found myself connecting with both Monica and her sister throughout.
It was a super easy read and I found myself not wanting to put this down as I just had to know what happened next! So many YA mystery stories can be cheesy, but this one was honestly the complete opposite.
Thank you to both Macmillan Childrens Books and NetGalley for my copy of this title.
I personally loved this book. Right in the beginning it was a little slow for my taste but once we knew all the important stuff it was like BANG! The action continued through the rest of the book.
Years ago the town of Sunnybrook was shaken up by the untimely death of five HS cheerleaders from the same squad within weeks from each other.
Now a junior in HS, the sister of the girl who committed suicide, is desperate to find answers and determine whether or not the deaths were related and if there’s more to them than an accident, an open and shut murder case and an isolated suicide.
This was my first read by the author and a really nice one. I liked the storyline, the whole murder mystery led by a 16 year-old somehow mirroring her sister’s last months of life and was enthralled by Monica and Ginnie’s relentless pursue of the truth. I enjoyed the way the author depicted Monica’s struggle with her own coming of age while dealing with her sister’s death and the aftermath that looms over the town even five years after the incidents.
Bottom line, if you like YA and a little mystery in your reading, you are bound to enjoy reading about The Cheerleaders.
A crafty, dark, and disturbing story, but in Thomas’s masterful book, the real crime is how dangerous it is to grow up female. The Cheerleaders is a riveting read.
As a grim five-year anniversary approaches in a small NY town—five cheerleaders dead in three separate incidents—the sister of one of the dead girls finds that questions beget more questions, and danger is very much alive.
If you fell hard and fast like I did for Kara Thomas’s 2016 and 2017 novels (THE DARKEST CORNERS and LITTLE MONSTERS), or if you simply have grabby hands for your next favorite YA thriller, THE CHEERLEADERS needs to rocket to the top of your summer reading list. There’s a multi-layered mystery that spans two timelines, teens making hard and sometimes bad choices and growing as people, great character relationships, cheerleading and dance team (obv!), and a “ripped from the headlines” premise that drew me right in. After spending two years myself in the next town over from Dryden, NY—the real-life town whose string of grim murders and crime had a hand in inspiring Thomas’s Sunnybrook, NY—I knew I needed to dive right into this world. THE CHEERLEADERS rocked me in the best way, and I’m still reeling.
Kara Thomas’s mysteries are like wild roller-coasters, but instead of clicking to a stop at the end, they twist and loop one more time. Five cheerleaders die within a month. Freakish tragedy or methodical elimination? Why spoil it? Read it for yourself.
Five cheerleaders. all dead within a month. Two died in an awful car accident, two were murdered and one committed suicide. Due to the tragedies, the school no longer have a cheer squad but five years later, the school decides to hold a memorial in honor of the five girls. The announcement of the memorial causes Monica, the little sister of one the dead cheerleaders, to rethink what she knows about the deaths. Was the accident a true accident? Did the murder suspect actually kill the girls? Was her sister Jen’s suicide actually murder? With new information, notes and an old cellphone turning up, Monica isn’t sure of anything anymore and embarks on her own investigation, with help from a unlikely partner.
Having read Thomas’s other books, I had some expectations and I was not disappointed. The main character, Monica, wasn’t what I was expecting but it worked with this story. Monica was clearly depressed and was going through a tough time but was able to get the answers she was seeking. In Monica, we have a protagonist that is both strong and vulnerable. In my opinion, her grief and other troubles make her more relatable especially in current times, where there’s so much turmoil and grief.
The pace of the story was just right. Nothing seemed rushed nor did anything seem slow and/or dragged out. With every new piece of information learned, the more twists the stories take. I actually thought the story was going to go one way but was surprised by the ending revelations. I honestly thought the ending was going to be something else. The ending did wrap up loose ends without being “too neat” and I’m glad I got the chance to read it.