Reviews with content warning for Drug use - The Cheerleaders

Reviews tagging 'Drug use'

The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas

30 reviews

readsandrants's review against another edition

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dark medium-paced

3.5

I feel nauseous after listening to that last scene.

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anna_mayes's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad medium-paced

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

4.5

The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️💫

“But after a while, searching for answers felt like grasping around in the dark. At some point you have to choose to live in the light.”

I also loved this book! There were a few minor editing issues, but I was able to overlook them due to the well thought out plot. Jen and Ginny are fairly realistic teenage girls. I try not to think about whether or not the story is realistic or the police procedure is accurate, but I liked how Kara Thomas included typical teenage drama like practices, tests, and friendship problems. The twist was somewhat unexpected and enjoyable. I wish I had maybe one more chapter, but I always say that I could use more!

I recommend this for anyone who loved A Good Girls Guide To Murder!

CW: Suicide, Murder, Drug Use, Drunk Driving

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emilysreadingbooks's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

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mengzhenreads's review

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dark mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.5

Overall, this was a very enjoyable YA mystery-thriller, and I definitely had a lot of fun with trying to figure out what exactly happened and how all the pieces fell together. I liked that the main character made mistakes, and wasn't necessarily a like-able person, which just made the whole experience really fun to read about. I also thought that many of the sensitive or controversial topics were handled in a way that was realistic and felt very believable, which you don't always see with YA books.

However, what kept me from giving this book 4 stars was that the actual mystery was fairly predictable, and I don't think that this book was particularly original in its concept and plot. This is a great book if you're a YA mystery-thriller fan who's on the lookout for more content regardless of how stereotypical or predictable it might be or if you're new to these types of books and haven't yet become fully familiar with many of the tropes that YA mystery authors use in their books.

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enmcurrie's review against another edition

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dark mysterious sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
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

This book has such an intriguing plot line. I even found out it was loosely based on real events and that just makes it more interesting. There is so much you can do with a plot about 5 cheerleaders from the same school dying in a similar proximity of each other. It’s a tough concept to do justice and that reflects a little bit in this book.

I thought it was a great mystery, I’ve read way worse. I actually quite enjoyed this book and almost read it in one sitting. It was so interesting to try and find out how each of the cheerleaders really died. I also loved how it included Monica (one of the cheerleader’s sisters) coming to terms with the fact that her sister (Jen) really did commit suicide, since Monica couldn’t imagine her sister, with a seemingly perfect life, wanting to leave the world. There were little snippets of Jen’s perspective sprinkled in the book, which I think really added to the novel, as the reader ended up getting some information before Monica did. It helped with the understanding. Jen’s storyline was beautiful in a sense, but of course heart wrenchingly sad.

The only problems I had with this book are as follows:

- Too many characters, too much going on
- Too many unanswered questions at the end (as a result of too many characters and individual storylines)
- Ginny. (if u know u know)

I felt like way too much was happening with this book, and I know that’s quite a challenge when you’re reading about 5 deaths all at once, however, there were so many little storylines to try to understand and connect dots with, I feel like less would have been more. Because there were so many characters and storylines taking up pages, the end of the book left me with so many unanswered questions about each of the deaths. It did make the plot drag on and get a bit slow a couple of times in the middle. I knew what had happened to them obviously but I wanted more intricate details. I really wanted a stronger sense of the aftermath, it felt a little lazy to say the murder case would open again and “move slowly”. Not saying I need to know everyone’s exact fate, but it would have been interesting to see how it played out and how much more got uncovered about the cheerleaders and their deaths. I wanted to know more.

Ginny. Don’t even get me started on her. I won’t spoil the book but let’s just say, people that withhold information out of their own selfish feelings and needs are pieces of scum. I always got annoying vibes from her and I was right, which I usually am ;). She was by far my least favourite character. Actually scratch that, she was my second to least favourite since Brandon is legit a pedophile, but anyways.

I know this book is getting mixed reviews but honestly if you love a good mystery I say go for it ! It was a good and intriguing read, just missed the mark on a couple of occasions.

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kaylaaa's review against another edition

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dark emotional mysterious sad tense fast-paced

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

4.0

I liked this mystery. It was a little predictable but putting the pieces together is fun. Loved the ending chapter.

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lorie336's review

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dark emotional mysterious sad 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

5.0

I am a sucker for school drama especially when it deals with cheerleaders or popular kids and this was everything I wanted. Five years ago five cheerleaders die in three different scenarios and five years later the younger sister of one of the cheerleaders looks into what happened and if they were all connected. I love how you didn't know who killed these girls until the end, although the one I knew was the truth and that's really sad. Great thrill ride and love the character of Ginny.

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