Reviews tagging 'Death of parent'

The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas

11 reviews

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

abbeyroad1410's review against another edition

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-paced

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

3.25

Starting this review on a positive note, The Cheerleaders tackles serious topics very well. One of the best decisions Kara Thomas makes in this book is not revealing exactly how Jen died. When you compare this to other books advertised to teens that cover the same issues (such as 13 Reasons Why), it is clear what a responsible decision this is. 
Speaking of Jen, she deserved more chapters from her perspective. Monica is a good lead and serves her purpose of moving along the plot, but Jen is a far more dynamic character in the few chapters we get of her. Jen and Ethan's friendship is well-written and they provide a complex and compelling storyline (though I wish Ethan's motivations were clarified more.) 
The message of this story seems to be that most things in life are tangentially connected, though how connected they are may not be clear. The ending to this book perfectly encapsulates this idea that nearly everything is intertwined. Additionally, Kara Thomas makes sure not to convolute the plot to the point that the connections are blurry at best.
My biggest complaint about this novel is the multitude of characters with names which leads to an abundance of confusion. I couldn't remember who characters like Varney or Bethany's mom were when I got to chapters with them, sending me on a wild goose chase to find out their importance.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Suicidal thoughts, Injury/Injury detail, Car accident, Death of parent, Abortion, Child abuse, Death, and Adult/minor relationship

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

t1k1_bab3r's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious 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? It's complicated

3.5

This book was amazing! The first half of the book however, took me ages to get through, nearly 2 weeks, and I didn’t have much ambition to read it, however the second half took me two days to read.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death

Moderate: Alcohol, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Murder, and Suicide

Minor: Death of parent

goodnightngo's review against another edition

3.0

Solid book yet again. I liked the imagery of describing the main character’s surroundings.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Alcoholism, Death of parent, Drug use, Gun violence, Vomit, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Physical abuse, Addiction, Blood, Bullying, Cursing, Death, Grief, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Domestic abuse, Eating disorder, and Pedophilia

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

lorie336's review against another edition

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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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death and Death

Moderate: Car accident, Gore, Grief, Murder, Suicidal thoughts, and Violence

Minor: Abortion, Adult/minor relationship, Blood, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Pedophilia, Suicide, and Vomit

gabyngaway's review

dark emotional mysterious tense medium-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? No

3.0

A fun murder mystery with twists at every turn. Satisfying ending with everything revealed. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Car accident, Death, Child death, Murder, Abortion, Pedophilia, Vomit, and Rape

Moderate: Drug use

Minor: Death of parent

In the very beginning of the book, the main character is going through a medical abortion. She is 15 and the father of the child is in his late 20s and works at the school.

the father of the child also has a history of dating other underage girls

junefish's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense fast-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

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Drug use, Grief, Murder, and Alcoholism

Moderate: Abortion, Car accident, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Toxic relationship, Violence, and Vomit

Minor: Cancer, Death of parent, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Stalking, Suicide attempt, Terminal illness, and Child abuse

the pedophilia is with underage teenagers (not small children)