BOOK OF THE MONTH REVIEW: The Cheerleaders

October 2018 Book of the Month: The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas
Published: July 31, 2018

Episode Two: The Cheerleaders

[WORDS ABOUT WORDS THEME]

ANNOUNCER: This review is brought to you by Words About Words. We would like to thank the Get Underlined booth for providing us with Advanced Readers Copies at Yallwest.

BREE: Thank you for tuning in! Today we will be discussing our October pick, The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas.

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TREE: So what did you think of your first Kara Thomas novel?

BREE: Unfortunately, I was underwhelmed quite a bit. I mean, with how much hype you had about Little Monsters, I was kind of expecting a high-suspense thrill ride, you know?

TREE: Little Monsters was a book that stuck with me. The Cheerleaders was an enjoyable read, but has not stuck with me in the same way. I saw some meh reviews beforehand, so I went in with normal-ish expectations.

BREE: Ah, I see. I wish I had seen some of those reviews. I guess we just have to do a little more research into the thriller genre next time.

TREE: Yeah, but at the same time I like knowing very little going into books…which leads to me reading some really bad books…

BREE: Exactly. I mean The Cheerleaders did have quite a lot of build-up and suspense in the last 50 pages, so all was not lost.

TREE: I agree about the last 50 pages. It wasn’t until then that I was invested in the story.  But, it was entertaining enough that I was able to read in one day.

BREE: See, I think that’s what my issue was. I read it over the span of 2 weeks, so the little amount of suspense there was in the book, kept breaking every time I set the book down.

TREE: In addition to the lack of suspense, I would also say it was not that eerie or scary. I was home alone for most of my time reading this and I was fine.

BREE: So, far it seems like we’ve been ragging on this book quite a bit, but I swear there were things I liked about the book. [laughs]

TREE: For sure, I definitely enjoyed my time reading this, I mean otherwise I wouldn’t have finished it in a day. I really appreciated that she wrapped everything up at the end.

BREE: Yes! I hate when authors leave loose ends. It’s actually one of my pet peeves about books. I also like that the formatting in the arc was mostly finalized and the text messages were apparent, and not mixed in with the text.

TREE: Yeah this was a really good ARC, formatting wise. Worth the hour wait in the sun??

BREE: [laughs] I mean, I enjoyed it well enough, but I can say I’m glad I didn’t spend $20 on the hardcover.

TREE: I’d agree with that [laughs].

BREE: Before we wrap up and discus our ratings, I would like to say that Kara Thomas is very good at misleading you with her plotlines. You’re never quite sure what’s going to happen. For example, all throughout this book I was correctly guessing subplots, but not once did I ever guess what was going to happen next in the actual plotline.

TREE: She does write a good mystery. I was never quite sure where she was going to take us. I would recommend this book for someone who is looking for a lighter thriller; this would be a good place to start.

BREE: So, shall we wrap up then?

TREE: Overall, I enjoyed my time reading this and am glad I read it, but it wasn’t as great as I was hoping it would be. I do want to say, I was slightly annoyed, but also LOLing, at the Friends reference. I gave it 3.5/5 stars.

BREE: Yeah, I agree. I think the ending was the best part for me, other than that it was only an okay read. So, I’d also have to give it a 3.5/5 stars.

TREE: That’s all the time we have for today. Thanks so much for listening!

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ANNOUNCER: Thanks for tuning in for this review of The Cheerleaders by Kara Thomas.

TREE: Make sure to tune in next month when we review City of Ghosts by Victoria Schwab.

BREE: Now, why does that name sound so familiar?

TREE: She’s has written a ton of fantasy novels, but I believe this is her first middle grade novel.

BREE: So, we’re expecting lots of ghosts then?

TREE: You’ll have to tune in to find out…

xoxo, Bree & Tree