The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas | Book Review

There are no more Cheerleaders in the town of Sunnybrook.

First there was the car accident – two girls gone 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 why he did it. Monica’s sister was the last cheerleader to die. After her suicide, after her suicide Sunnybrook High disbanded the cheer squad. No one wanted to be reminded of the girls they 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 step dad’s desk, an unearthed, years-old cell phone, a strange new friend at school…Whatever happened five years ago isn’t over.

There are no more cheerleaders in Sunnybrook, but that does not mean anyone else is safe.

Trigger Warning: Suicide, Bullying, Harassment, Murder

Monica: Protagonist, Sunnybrook High’s student.
Jennifer: Monica’s Sister;

Plot

The story was absolutely thrilling and mysterious. I was hooked from the very beginning. The action, drama and suspense unravels themselves slowly as the story proceeds. I loved the pace of the book. It was one hell of a storyline, I was dragged inside Sunnybrook while reading it. It was quite visual for me, I could absolutely imagine everything. It was my first YA thriller ( I haven’t read any thriller for a while now).

Writting & Theme

Kara’s writing style was lucid and the story flowed real smooth. There were a lot of dialogues, just as the way I like it. I really love books with dialogues and less description which it was. And, there was not a single chapter where there was not any suspense – thriller that was promised for this book and was delivered.

Characters

I absolutely loved Monica’s wit. She was really practical when she planned things out. I loved the fact that she never jumped to conclusion and waited for things to pan out infront of her. She was brave and her character arc was amazing. I loved her relationship with Ginny. However, it would have been better if she had some meaningful connection with the girl who was made her best friend. Anyway, it was typical high school drama thing – where the main character and her best friend have a fall out. There were a lot of characters introduced, that was a bit confusing, but as the story dragged on I finally could get the hang of it. Even with a lot of characters, there relationships were plain and simple to storyline. There was no confusion in relating one another.

I loved how Tom and Monica’s Mom tried to protect Monica from the events and how they were always vigilant yet kind. I did not like Monica’s mom for a time while she was ignoring her daughter and the moment she opened up about everything in the end was the need of the hour at that point.

The characters are really mysterious and have their own stories which you will also get to know when you read. There is no gaps in the storyline.

Mystery & Thrill

Well, there is a lot to say when it comes to the Thrill and Mystery element of the novel. Since, I read this genre after a long time, I found it absolutely thrilling. I would now say that there was a lot of Mystery rather than the thrill. This Mystery will be the main driving force to read the novel. I will tell you one thing that, there is a severe plot-twist in the end and you will never be able to figure that out.

Overall

– Brilliantly fast paced and thrilling.
Read if you loved: Pretty Little Liars show or Agatha Christie books

• “Everyone goes through shit, and there’s always someone somewhere who has it worse. It doesn’t make what you’re feeling any less real or any less shitty.”
• “But after a while, searching for the answers felt like grasping around in the dark. At some point, you have to choose to live in the light.”
• “If you look hard enough, you’ll probably find something that makes you wish you hadn’t.”
• “Pain isn’t supposed to teach you anything. It only exists to hurt you.”
• “You can’t believe everything you hear, though. “
• “Chaos is waiting for me.”