Book Review: The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas

I always thought that I’d like thriller novels but I always found that a lot of the adult books just had plots that…were kinda meh to me. So the recent influx on YA thrillers have been amazing because I’m absolutely loving it.

I was lucky enough to receive an ARC of this through the publisher and NetGalley!

The Cheerleaders came out a few years ago in the US but will be coming out in September in the UK. It follows a girl called Monica, the younger sister of one of five cheerleaders who died in a single week 5 years before. On the anniversary, Monica stumbles across something that belonged to her sister and now she has begun to wonder if everything that she has been told about that time is true or if someone else was involved.

This book was incredibly dark and difficult. I have to give trigger warnings for domestic abuse, suicide, abortion, pedophilia, alcoholism, drug abuse and there may even be a few other things I can’t think of off the top of my head. Basically, this isn’t a light read so bear that in mind before you pick this book up.

But if you do feel okay to deal with those topics? Pick this book up, seriously.

I could barely put this book down. It wasn’t perfect but it was so easy to get through and every time I did I just wanted to keep reading. Most of the time I can guess who the killer is in a thriller novel. But this time? I didn’t. Even though looking back I can see the hints that were there, I didn’t catch them. This was a thriller that was actually intriguing and I love that.

There are flashbacks to Jennifer; the older system in the time up to her death and it was very clear that she wasn’t in a great place mentally. And that made it so hard read because you can see the build up and that actually hurt to read. And that’s good. So good.

I could have done with a little more detail when certain things were figured out. It felt like a few more things could have tied up but overall it was a very good read.

I really enjoyed this book and would definitely recommend picking it up.

4/5 Stars

Buy Links:

Amazon UK | Waterstones