Will You Love The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas?
Will You Love The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas? The premise sounds like campy horror, but what was this YA mystery like, and will you enjoy it? Updated to add: there’s a sequel to The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas coming in fall 2024!
The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas was published on July 31, 2018 by Delacorte Press
Will You Love The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas?
The Cheerleaders wasn’t quite what I expected – with that cover and the “all the cheerleaders are dead” concept, I went in expecting campy horror.
But underneath the cool premise, The Cheerleaders was a pretty straightforward murder mystery. I love mysteries so did enjoy it overall.
Monica’s sister Jen committed suicide five years before — right around the time that four of Jen’s fellow cheerleaders also died (two in a car accident and two by murder.) When Monica finds evidence suggesting that all the deaths could be connected, she decides to get to the bottom of what happened.
Monica pretty much goes around talking to a bunch of people and eventually unravels the case.
The Cheerleaders does a pretty good job of getting around the suspension of disbelief issues that go along with an amateur detective (and a teenage one at that.) Monica’s stepdad is a police officer, which helps her gain inside information. But she does plenty of sleuthing on her own and there are plenty of suspects. Not only is Monica she still mourning her sister, the book starts with her recovering from an abortion. Nobody knows about this except her mom, so as she investigates she is trying to hide her own situation from everyone around her.
If you like whodunnits, then definitely give this a try.
There’s a sequel to The Cheerleaders! The Champions comes out in October 2024:
You can also try this book by Kara Thomas:
I saw that sequel. I did like this book, and Thomas’ young adult mystery/thrillers in general. The Darkest Corners was the first of her books I read, and I still remember how she kept the reveals coming until the very last page.
I think that was my favorite of her books!