Reviews tagging 'Mental illness'

The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas

11 reviews

simmy_books's review against another edition

dark emotional sad fast-paced

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

4.0

I really liked this book and enjoyed the plot, there was a lot of suspects in the book and I loved the red herrings applied in the story as well, every time you thought someone was the actual killer, another secret would be revealed and we were thrown off. I enjoyed all the characters, I felt they made the story even more interesting because they all had something to hide, I liked how they all played a part in the story.

The writing was very easy to follow along and I considered it fast paced, it was written in first person so it made me feel as if I was within the story itself. I like how I was able to continue being entertained and never wanted to put the book down. Very engaging and I highly recommend to readers who want to dabble in murder mysteries. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Alcoholism, Car accident, Death, Physical abuse, Blood, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Addiction, Child abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Child death, Abortion, and Suicide

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

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

aformeracceleratedreader's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

3.5

A little slow at the beginning but once things started happening, it picked up. I wish the whodunnit reveal had a little more oomph but it wasn't the worst. And I wish we knew if the person would actually get charged with the all the things they needed to be charged with. I did enjoy the very last bit with Ginny, I wasn't expecting it. And I liked how Ethan's character turned out. 

I wish we found out about what would happen with Tom and Mike knowing that Tom killed an innocent man. And like besides emotion clouding judgement, why he was so quick to kill an innocent man

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Car accident, Death, Grief, and Child death

Moderate: Pedophilia, Drug use, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Murder, Toxic relationship, Adult/minor relationship, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Rape, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic friendship, and Vomit

Minor: Abortion

kellyreadingbooks's review

emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.5

There were times where I felt super invested in this YA mystery and other times where I felt a little lukewarm. I think it may have been a smidgen too long. But I still really enjoyed this one like I did with Little Monsters as well. I will continue to pick up this author for sure.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicide

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Physical abuse, Mental illness, and Abortion

liez's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense fast-paced

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Infidelity, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Car accident, Mental illness, Adult/minor relationship, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, and Pedophilia

makenna_reads's review against another edition

adventurous dark inspiring mysterious sad tense slow-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicide, Physical abuse, Cursing, Pedophilia, Suicide attempt, Mental illness, Grief, Drug use, Death, Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Car accident, Bullying, Toxic friendship, Murder, Sexual assault, and Pregnancy

nicoleherz's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.75

High school mystery, plot twist, revisiting old trauma

Pretty good story, didn't see this twist coming the way I did with Thomas's other book That Weekend 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Violence, Car accident, Grief, Murder, Mental illness, Death, and Suicide

Moderate: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Gun violence

Minor: Cursing, Blood, Drug use, and Vomit

emilysreadingbooks's review

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Car accident, Child death, Bullying, Grief, Mental illness, and Vomit

Moderate: Infidelity, Murder, Pedophilia, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, and Suicide attempt

Minor: Chronic illness, Death of parent, Drug use, and Mass/school shootings

enmcurrie's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Car accident, Death, Grief, Mental illness, Murder, and Suicidal thoughts

Moderate: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, and Violence

Minor: Drug use