Five years ago Monica's sister, Jen, who was a cheerleader, committed suicide after two of her friends were killed in a car accident and two other friends (all cheerleaders) were murdered during a sleepover that Jen was supposed to be attending.
Monica is not convinced these tragedies were unrelated. And she can't believe her sister committed suicide. And, Monica's stepfather is a cop who killed the man that supposedly murdered the two girls. There is no longer a cheer team at the school, but Monica is on the dance team.
Her doubts drive her to start keeping secrets from her friends as she begins to investigate these incidents on her own. She also makes friends with a new dance team member, Ginny, who is a bit of an outcast. Ginny jumps right in to help Monica figure out the truth.
There are secrets. Some red herrings. Lots of potential suspects. Are the deaths connected? Monica is pretty clever, but she also gets lucky a few times. When I began the story, I was thinking this was going to be a teenie-bopper, fluffy mystery filled with high school drama. But as the story unfolds, it becomes quite complex and really held my interest. I didn't solve the crime until Monica did, and that is always a positive.
The characters don't have a great deal of depth, but the pacing makes up for it. Teens who are interested in a plot-driven mystery that has quite a few surprises will enjoy The Cheerleaders. There aren't enough quality teen mysteries, and I'm happy to recommend this one.
Published by Delacorte, July 31, 2018
eARC obtained from NetGalley
384 pages
Rating: 4/5
I like the sound of this one so will add it to my list of books to get a hold of, thank you!
ReplyDeleteI love that YA murder mysteries are more and more becoming a thing. I'm definitely going to read this one!
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