Review: The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas

Title: The Cheerleaders Written by: Kara Thomas Published: July 31, 2018 by Delacorte Press (Random House) (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: 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.

I had really like Kara Thomas' two previous mysteries so I was excited to read this next one. I wanted to read it when it first came out but I didn't have a copy so I put a hold on the audiobook from the library. And honestly I forgot all about it until the hold came in. I needed an audio so I decided to give it a try. And while it was a good mystery, it didn't quite blow me away like I was hoping.

One thing I did like about this book was the plot development of the mystery. I am a big fan of mysteries and I am always looking for a YA mystery that isn't predictable and still has clues to solve. I like when a mystery brings everything together in the end for a big reveal which is exactly what this book did. There were a lot of moving parts and I wasn't exactly sure how they could have been connected but then by the end, everything lined up so nicely. I usually can figure out what happened in a mystery but this one surprised me a little bit. I knew one main aspect but how that played into the larger story I didn't quite know. But I do feel like the reveal could have been a little more exciting. From a procedural standpoint it was interesting but from an emotional standpoint I didn't quite feel it. After I finished reading the book I was talking to my friend Michelle and we actually came up with a really cool way we wish it would have ended. It's not that this wasn't a good mystery, it just could have been more emotional.

But I think maybe part of what the book was missing was thrilling pacing and high stake. It took a really long time for the book to get exciting. I'm with slower pacing if it ends with an exciting ending so I let that go in this book but the more I sit with it, the less okay with it I am. The book definitely had a cold case vibe to it, which is fine, but because of that the main character felt a little bit removed from the story. She wanted to figure out what happened but it didn't have any direct consequences on her life through most of the book. It's not that I wanted a body count and a threat of her being attacked but I just needed some higher stakes than I wanted to figure this out.

The other thing that I think impacted this was the characterization. I didn't really connect completely with the characters here. Monica was a fine main character and I liked her a lot in the beginning. She has to make a really tough decision in the first chapter and it definitely ways a lot on her throughout the book, but this didn't really connect to the larger story in the way I had hoped. She was a sympathetic character but I didn't quite get the empathy for her that is required for a character-driven mystery. I have read some mysteries like this, including a few recent ones, that I think accomplished this must better.

A lot of this book was really hit or miss for me. The best example of that was the setting. Kara Thomas does a great job establishing small town settings for her books. She does such a great job of establishing the interconnectedness of not only the people in the town but the people from nearby. That's perfect for mysteries because when everyone knows everyone's business it's easy to find clues and information for a mystery. But my problem for this book is that I couldn't quite place where this town was. The town they lived in was in Eastern New York State but the nearby towns were in Eastern Massachusetts. A person who isn't from there probably wouldn't even notice that but I did and it threw me out of the book completely. It's just a weird personal thing that was an issue for me.

All in all I thought this was an okay mystery. It had a lot of promise and some parts that I really enjoyed but it was mostly just an okay read for me.

I give The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas 8 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Borrow. I am honestly glad I snagged this from the library instead of buying a copy. It's not that it's a bad mystery, it's just one of those books to maybe pick up on your next library haul.

Have you read The Cheerleaders? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

Waiting on Wednesday: The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas

A weekly meme hosted by Breaking the Spine

Title: The Cheerleaders Published: July 31, 2018 by Delacorte (Random House) (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: 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.

Why I'm Waiting:

I have read Thomas' first two YA mysteries and they were both really good. I loved the way they unfolded, laying out clues, and then hit us with a surprising twist. They're also really love the way that she creates atmospheric settings and think they make the perfect tone for mysteries. All that just makes me really interested in reading another of her mysteries

But even if I wasn't interested in reading another book by this author I would still want to read this book. First of all there is a really interesting mystery here. I am so intrigued about what happened to the cheerleaders in this town and why. I feel like there is definitely going to be a really dark story here which I am all about. It sounds really fantastic.

I love ready mysteries in the summer, they are my perfect beach reads. I can't wait to read this one. I'm hoping to get approved for an e-ARC of this one on Netgalley. I'm excited for my beach trips now that I am back in Rhode Island. This will absolutely a book I bring with me.

What about you? What are you waiting for this Wednesday? Are you waiting on The Cheerleaders along with me? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!

ARC Review: Little Monsters by Kara Thomas

Title: Little Monsters Written by: Kara Thomas Published: July 25, 2017 by Delacorte Press (Random House) (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: For fans of Pretty Little Liars, Little Monsters is a new psychological thriller, from the author of The Darkest Corners, about appearances versus reality and the power of manipulation amongst teenage girls. Kacey is the new girl in Broken Falls. When she moved in with her father, she stepped into a brand-new life. A life with a stepbrother, a stepmother, and strangest of all, an adoring younger half sister. Kacey’s new life is eerily charming compared with the wild highs and lows of the old one she lived with her volatile mother. And everyone is so nice in Broken Falls—she’s even been welcomed into a tight new circle of friends. Bailey and Jade invite her to do everything with them. Which is why it’s so odd when they start acting distant. And when they don’t invite her to the biggest party of the year, it doesn’t exactly feel like an accident. But Kacey will never be able to ask, because Bailey never makes it home from that party. Suddenly, Broken Falls doesn’t seem so welcoming after all—especially once everyone starts looking to the new girl for answers. Kacey is about to learn some very important lessons: Sometimes appearances can be deceiving. Sometimes when you’re the new girl, you shouldn’t trust anyone.

*** I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley and ALA in exchange for an honest review. This fact has not changed my opinion. ***

Little Monsters was a pretty good mystery. I read a lot of YA mysteries and I am always looking for one what is going to shock and amaze me. And I have to say, that was not this book. But it was entertaining and interesting.

As far as the mystery goes, it was good. I prefer a mystery that is solvable. One that takes it's time to unfold throughout the book and then when you finally get to the big reveal you are surprised and satisfied but not totally shocked. Little Monsters was a little bit of both those things. For one, I solved about half of the mystery. There was one aspect that I figured out almost immediately but I didn't figure out why until the very end. That is a good mystery for me. But there was another element that felt totally out of left field. I think this could have been a really fantastic mystery if it had didn't have that part. Or if that part had more of a build up. There was just too much focus on other elements.

But I will say, this book was really well paced. I'm constantly saying how basically every book I read lately has a slow beginning and then an overly-thrilling ending. But not Little Monsters. I hooked me pretty early and kept me engaged until the very end. It also steadily built to an interesting climax. It took me only a few days to read this book and I even read it over a very busy weekend full of parties and trips to waterparks. Only a book that I was really enjoying would have captured my interest at a time like that.

The other thing that captured my interesting was the setting and atmosphere of this book. I thought the author did a really good job of setting the scene. It had a really good small town feel to it. I love mysteries that are like that, ones like Fargo and Twin Peaks. And the cool thing to about this town is that it had a history and urban legends that added to the atmosphere. I thought the stuff with the Red Woman was really interesting and added a great atmosphere to the book. To be entirely honest I would have liked some more of The Red Woman.

But what I didn't like about this book was the characters. I feel like that is something crutially important in a good mystery. I usually prefer unlikable characters, ones who are odious and complex so you question their motives and actions. That is of course a personal preference, but I do still think you have to connect with the characters and I didn't here. I think maybe there was an attempt to make them unlikable. I mean they did have a Mean Girls/frenemy kind of vibe to them which I appreciated. But for the most part they weren't very memorable. The attempt to make them mysterious kind of made them bland to me. The most interesting character was Bailey who was only around in flashbacks. I wish that I had just connected with the characters a little bit more and they had been more complex.

But on the whole this was a pretty good mystery. It had a great atmosphere and a plot that kept me hooked from beginning to end. It wasn't perfect but it was thoroughly entertaining. It's not the next great YA mystery in my opinion but it is one that is worth the read.

I give Little Monsters by Kara Thomas 8 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Borrow. I would definitely recommend it to fans of YA Mysteries. It was a pretty interesting read with a good mystery. If you liked The Darkest Corners I would check this one out as well.

Have you read Little Monsters? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY BREADING!

ARC Review: The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas

Title: The Darkest Corners Written by: Kara Thomas Published: April 19, 2016 by Delacorte (Random House) (Amazon / Goodreads) Synopsis: The Darkest Corners is a psychological thriller about the lies little girls tell, and the deadly truths those lies become.  There are ghosts around every corner in Fayette, Pennsylvania. Tessa left when she was nine and has been trying ever since not to think about it after what happened there that last summer. Memories of things so dark will burn themselves into your mind if you let them.  Callie never left. She moved to another house, so she doesn’t have to walk those same halls, but then Callie always was the stronger one. She can handle staring into the faces of her demons—and if she parties hard enough, maybe one day they’ll disappear for good.  Tessa and Callie have never talked about what they saw that night. After the trial, Callie drifted and Tessa moved, and childhood friends just have a way of losing touch.  But ever since she left, Tessa has had questions. Things have never quite added up. And now she has to go back to Fayette—to Wyatt Stokes, sitting on death row; to Lori Cawley, Callie’s dead cousin; and to the one other person who may be hiding the truth.  Only the closer Tessa gets to the truth, the closer she gets to a killer—and this time, it won’t be so easy to run away.

*** I received an advance copy of this book from the publisher via Netgalley. This fact has not changed my opinion. ***

You guys know me and my mysteries. I'm always on the search for a good YA thriller that I can't solve. I found one! The Darkest Corners is a great read full of action, mystery, and complex characters with interesting back stories. I really, really enjoyed it.

No seriously, this was an amazing mystery. As a friend recently pointed out to me, I'm a mystery snob. And because of that I'm always looking for a complex YA mystery that I can't solve and I totally found that here. I solved some elements but it definitely caught me off guard in the best possible way. I'm hard to impress sometimes with mysteries and this definitely impressed me. But that being said, when it was all said and done I wondered if it was in fact solvable. I like to figure things out with the characters not have them tell me the answers (one of the reasons I don't like Sherlock Holmes). Here we were searching for clues together but for the big elements of the book there wasn't many hints. Or if there was, I totally missed it focusing on something else. And in that case, well done.

But in general this book was well-plotted and paced despite being a really complicated story. It took me on a thrilling ride with multiple twists and reveals. There were definitely moments of high energy where I was nervous about what was going to happen next. As the book reached its climax I was so anxious. It all really built to a thrilling conclusion that had me so entertained along the way. In fact, there were two separate mysteries here. I kept waiting for them to be connected and they weren't. It was just big reveal after big reveal which made for big surprises and a really complex conclusion. So one was resolved and just when I was coming to terms with that, things would pick up as the second one kicked in a took me for another ride. It's sometimes problematic for me when that happens, I prefer one big exciting conclusion, but here it kind of worked. It all made for an interesting and action-packed narrative with a complex mystery.

The other really interesting thing about this book, for me, was the setting. For one thing I love small town settings. Having grown up in a small town myself, I understand that feeling of being trapped there and wanting desperately to get out. I also understand the fact that you are in everyone else's business. That good news travels fast, and bad news even faster. I think the author definitely captured that here and it added an interesting dimension to the book with the main character having gotten out and then being pulled back into the world. But I was mostly looking forward to the setting of this book because it takes place in Western Pennsylvania where I live. And while the town names are not actual towns, it felt familiar which was fun and scary when you're reading about trying to figure out who a serial killer is.

I also really liked the characters here. The main character of Tessa was a good protagonist. She's not your typically plucky teen detective but that made her refreshing. I liked that she would sometimes stumble into clues or find herself following dead ends. But what she had going for her was her dedication to finding the truth and I was invested in finding it with her. There were also some great relationships here, like with Tessa and her family. That was such an interesting dynamic that was explored a lot throughout the book. But I think the best relationship was between Tessa and Callie. They went through so much together when they were kids and it was great seeing them rekindle their friendship. Plus I gotta say, I'm really glad that there was no romance here. There very easily could have been with a few male characters but there wasn't. It just goes to prove my point, romance is superfluous to a good story.

On the whole, The Darkest Corners is a fantastic read and a great debut. It had everything I love in a YA thriller, plenty of action, a well-plotted narrative, a mystery I couldn't solve, and complex characters with complicated relationships. And while there were some elements that may have been overly complicated it was an engaging story and a book I couldn't put down.

I give The Darkest Corners by Kara Thomas 9 out of 10 stars

Buy/Borrow/Bypass: Buy/Borrow. This is definitely a must read for mystery fans. It's got a great complex true crime kind of feel as it deals the consequences of the criminal justice system and has a mystery that will keep you guessing. And if you are looking to try something within the genre I would suggest borrowing this one. It's really complex but it does have some great clues along the way.

Have you read The Darkest Corners? What did you think? Leave me a comment with your thoughts. Thanks for stopping by and HAPPY READING!