Reviews tagging 'Grief'

The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas

36 reviews

taliatalksbooks's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas was filled with heavy topics I wasn’t expecting when I first started the book, but I feel like it handled the topics it took on well. None of the issues it addressed felt overwhelming or overblown, it withheld information in a way that made these topics more digestible and allowed the characters to grow from them at their own paces. Speaking of pacing, I thought that this book was well paced and moved easily through the story. I was nervous there were a lot of moving parts, but I think it was handled pretty well overall. There were a few loose ends that I felt didn’t get fully resolved, but they were small compared to the bigger picture. Overall, this YA mystery was really entertaining and is definitely worth adding to your TBR.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Blood, Murder, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Drug use, Child death, Car accident, Abortion, and Suicide

jackieyvette's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

This book started out good, the story building was well done and the main character got fleshed out very quickly, but then it kind of fizzled out pretty quickly in the last 1/3 of the book. I feel like the ending was an easy out seeing as they built almost every character as shady boots, but there was very obviously one who was THEE worst. 

Brandon was a bad guy from the very beginning when we found out he was 27 hooking up/impregnated a high school girl. So, all you reviewers saying "I knew he gave a weird vibe/there was something strange about him from the beginning", uh yeah I sure hope you did seeing as the book opens with him being a PEDOPHILE!

It's also pretty obvious that the stepdad, Tom, needs to be fired immediately for not doing his job correctly AT ALL THE ENTIRE BOOK! He also gave volcano vibes, like he was one bad thing away from totally exploding. And he's a cop. Enough said. 

And lastly, slay Ginny.

Crying score: Heavy topics so yeah. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Toxic friendship, Car accident, Drug use, Murder, Death, Grief, Toxic relationship, Child death, Drug abuse, Suicide, Pedophilia, Abortion, and Adult/minor relationship

writeasiread's review against another edition

sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix

4.0

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Content Warnings

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Car accident, Abortion, Murder, Death, and Suicide

sof_wants2read's review against another edition

challenging emotional mysterious sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide

Moderate: Grief

Minor: Murder and Abortion

ebony1ouise's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Drug abuse, Rape, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Blood, Addiction, Mental illness, Abandonment, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Child death, Abortion, Body horror, Death, Grief, Child abuse, Bullying, Death of parent, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Murder, Pedophilia, Self harm, Sexual harassment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Drug use, Physical abuse, Infidelity, and Suicide attempt

savreads28's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Murder, Suicide, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death of parent, Mental illness, Medical content, Self harm, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Suicidal thoughts, Addiction, Blood, Cancer, Car accident, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Drug use, Gore, Grief, Mass/school shootings, Pregnancy, Police brutality, and Pedophilia

ashes_book_cave's review against another edition

dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Grief, Pedophilia, Death, Murder, and Violence

Moderate: Abortion, Domestic abuse, Toxic friendship, Car accident, Alcohol, and Suicide

Minor: Vomit

bobbeym's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Car accident, Murder, Grief, Death, Alcoholism, Alcohol, and Adult/minor relationship

Minor: Suicide, Rape, Pedophilia, Abortion, and Suicide attempt

aprillikestoread's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I loved the book it constantly had my attention. There was so many plot twists and cliffhangers! And I kept thinking how great a movie this book could be. And it was good because it wasn’t written as only scary or mysterious, real life aspects and perspectives were sprinkled in 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death, Car accident, and Murder

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship and Grief

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, and Suicide

unreadbass's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

a super easy read, i was able to read it in less than a day. it went super fast and was easy to keep track of the storyline. i will admit, i did have trouble differentiating the friends of the two sisters, but i loved the way the story switched between time periods. super addictive

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Car accident, Death, Grief, Murder, Pregnancy, and Suicide