#no reason!!! no reason whatsoever!!!!! literally could've just told the truth!!!!!!

[mwagneto]

the only thing i hate more than ppl who lie is ppl who lie in a way that forces you to go along with it like ohhhmy fucking god do whatever the fuck you want if it's only yourself you're embarrassing but why would you bring ME into this. lord

[naivethekooks]

11/30/20

the cheerleaders

CW: death, murder, suicide, abortion, sexual assault, statutory rape, substance abuse

this review will have spoilers

ignoring yesterday's late night half ass attempt at a review, heres the cheerleaders! ignore my zoom meeting in the back of that photo lmao.

book: the cheerleaders by kara thomas

synopsis (from goodreads):

there are no more cheerleaders in the town of sunnybrook. first there was the car accident—two girls gone after hitting a tree on a rainy night. not long after, the murders happened. those two girls were killed by the man next door. the police shot him, so no one will ever know why he did it. monica’s sister was the last cheerleader to die. after her suicide, sunnybrook high disbanded the cheer squad. no one wanted to be reminded of the girls they lost. that was five years ago. now the faculty and students at sunnybrook high want to remember the lost cheerleaders. but for monica, it’s not that easy. she just wants to forget. only, monica’s world is starting to unravel. there are the letters in her stepdad’s desk, an unearthed, years-old cell phone, a strange new friend at school. . . . whatever happened five years ago isn’t over. some people in town know more than they’re saying. and somehow monica is at the center of it all. there are no more cheerleaders in sunnybrook, but that doesn’t mean anyone else is safe.

let's take a look at our characters. since the chapters mainly focused on monica's POV with the occasional flashback to jen and a short ginny POV, those are the three i'll discuss.

monica-YA authors have a kink for making their main characters treat their best friends like shit dont they? i mean, monica didnt do anything too terrible but she did kinda ice them out and didn't clue them in on anything. if anyone read my review for what to say next, dont worry, monica is far less bitchy than that main character. there was one annoying moment though where one of her friends was complaining, and monica was like "i really wanted to tell her there were starving kids in Africa right now and to get over it" which was funny because later on in the book jen literally has a moment where her and ethan discuss how stupid it is to say stuff like that. but monica saying that really pissed me off. so to challenge that, i have this quote from perks of being a wallflower "and even if somebody has it much worse, that doesn't really change the fact that you have what you have" overall i liked her, she could be boring but she was smart and her interactions with others seemed normal enough for a teen. just a plain girl, 7/10

jen-jen's POV was interesting, those few chapters cleared up a lot. like if someone would give monica certain info i doubted, it would then be confirmed within jen's chapters. she was a troubled girl, and yeah i know everyone hates snitches but she shouldve at least told her best friend the reason she hated carly. the fact that julianna wanted to tell her and she just ignored her but then expected julianna to go out of her way to find her? what bullshit. and she was so afraid of losing her friends but made no effort whatsoever to hang on to them. i didnt really feel any of her story resonate with me. im 14 so i mean i can relate to the whole hiding your emotions and feeling like theres no one to vent to, but jen's feelings didnt really put me in my feels??? not sure how to word it. couldnt relate, 5/10

ginny-this bitch is sketchy as fuck. especially after that painful last chapter i had to endure. the fact that she kept her mouth shut about two girls dying to protect her dad yet turned it around to seem like she was doing something good??? and monica was constantly going on and on about how sweet and polite she was like...yeah, because she has shit to hide. i'm glad monica found out the truth though. i'm not at all blaming ginny for her dad being an asshole but she couldve at least done something about it. to go to such lengths to uncover the cheerleader mystery and simultaneously be hiding the death of two cheerleaders from everyone? nope, i dont trust it 4/10

plot-i dont typically go for mysteries when finding something to read but the ending really did throw me for a loop. my one complaint is the step dad though who's name is currently escaping me. for a majority of the book he seemed to very obviously be hiding something and then in one page it's all cleared up just to make the story move along faster. i think his name was tom?? well, tom is not a good guy and if he gets fired, he deserves it. if his step daughter and her creepy friend can solve a five year old murder, tom clearly could've done it. i dont know who in their right mind even let him be involved in the case when he was so closely tied to it, considering he was literally the step father to one of the girls. but aside from him and his involvement suddenly doing a 180, this was a really good mystery! i didnt really care to find out who did it, but there were no continuity errors or anything and i was surprised to learn about brandon. 8/10

writing-not much to comment on, good writing. 9/10

overall-i couldve skipped out on buying this and just checked it out at my local library. actually no, my library didnt have it. but my point is that it's a fun read, not really something worth spending money on though. 7/10

link to purchase