Review: The Cheerleaders

The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Five years ago, five cheearleaders died in Sunnybrook.

Two were in a terrible car accident.

Two were brutally murdered.

And the last, distraught over the loss of so many friends in such a short time, killed herself.

The high school no longer has cheerleaders.

Monica is almost seventeen, a member of the dance team. Dreading the fifth anniversary, because of the reminders. The fifth cheerleader was her older sister.

This year is tough for Monica for many reasons. She and her boyfriend broke up because he left for college; she had a hot, secret summer romance with an older guy at her summer job that had consequences. She's feeling a bit disconnected from her friends, in part because of the secrets she kept from them.

And now -- Monica's discovered her sister's phone. And the questions she couldn't ask five years ago, the questions she didn't know to ask, are suddenly all around her.

What really happened five years ago? Did her sister really kill herself? Is there a murderer still out there?

I love Monica's investigation, in part because at time it is sloppy and doesn't always make sense, which makes sense for a teenager who isn't a detective. It's more intuitive; it's not realizing the questions to ask, the roads to follow, because she's not used to doing this.

As a reader, I had figured out certain things earlier than Monica, but that's because this isn't my first mystery. If someone is introduced into a book . . . well, there's going to be a reason for it. It's not just side candy.

Well worth the read; and I look forward to reading more of the author's mysteries.






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