Tag: young adult thriller

Book Review: The Champions by Kara Thomas

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Mystery
Length: 336 pages
Author: Kara Thomas
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: August 27th, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From the author of The Cheerleaders comes another dark YA thriller set in the same town of Sunnybrook. When a mysterious accident befalls a member of the all-star high school football team, the town’s deadly history stands to repeat itself—and the price of discovering the truth is higher than anyone could imagine.

It was the deaths of five cheerleaders that made the town of Sunnybrook infamous. Eleven years later, the girls’ killer has been brought to justice, and the town just wants to move on. By the time Hadley moves to Sunnybrook, though, the locals are more interested in the Tigers, the high school’s championship-winning football team. The Tigers are Sunnybrook’s homegrown heroes–something positive in a town with so much darkness in its past.

Hadley could care less about football, but shortly after she gets assigned to cover the team’s latest championship bid for the school newspaper, one of the Tigers is poisoned at a party, and almost immediately after, Hadley starts getting strange emails warning her to stay far away from the football team.

It’s becoming clear Sunnybrook’s golden boys have secrets, and after a second player is mysteriously killed, Hadley’s beginning to suspect that someone wants the team to pay for their sins. Or does this new target on the football team have something to do with what happened to the cheerleaders all those years ago?

As an outsider in Sunnybrook, Hadley feels like she’s the only one who can see the present clearly, but it looks like she’s going to have to dig up the darkness of the past to get to the bottom of what’s happening now. Luckily, there are still some Sunnybrook High grads who never left–people who were around eleven years ago—and if she can just convince them to talk, she might be able stop a killer before another Tiger dies.

Thank you GetUnderlined for the gifted copy!

NEW FAVORITE.

This is easily my current favorite Kara Thomas book. I was hooked from this book from the beginning. It’s a complex story with some heavy themes and topics and wow did it hit me with a gut punch as the reveals started coming out.

I really liked the main character, Hadley. I enjoy a thriller book that has a character you don’t feel forced to hate. Hadley didn’t do everything right, but she did try and worked hard to find the truth.

It’s a short audiobook with another fast paced timeline. I love that Thomas writes short books because the story is not bogged down by side quests that don’t fulfill the full plot line. It’s easy to binge read and great for fall.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Mystery
  • Language: low
  • Romance: none
  • Violence: moderate
  • Content Warnings: gang rape, cheating (in school and on people), seizure, hit and run (resulting in a death), domestic violence, hazing, underage drinking

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Book Review: One of Us Is Back (One of Us Is Lying #3) by Karen M. McManus

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Thriller
Length: 368 pages
Author: Karen M. McManus
Publisher: Delacorte
Release Date: July 25th, 2023
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From international bestseller, Karen McManus, comes the explosive third and final thrilling instalment in the acclaimed One of Us… series.

Ever since Simon died in detention, life hasn’t been easy for the Bayview Crew. First the Bayview Four had to prove they weren’t killers. Then a new generation had to outwit a vengeful copycat. Now, it’s beginning again.

At first the mysterious billboard seems like a bad joke: Time for a new game, Bayview. But when a member of the crew disappears, it’s clear this ‘game’ just got serious – and no one understands the rules.

Everyone’s a target. And now that someone unexpected has returned to Bayview, things are starting to get deadly.

Simon was right about secrets – they all come out in the end.

The thing is, Simon was right about secrets-they all come out, eventually. And Bayview has a lot it’s still hiding.

PRETTY GOOD.

At first it took me a bit just to remember everyone and alllll of the things that had happened in the previous books (I did not reread them). Once I had a handle on characters and places I feel like the book settled in a bit better.

I always love multi-POV in thriller type books. Getting to see multiple angles from the cast shed a lot of light on past grievances and what things were happening a little more behind the scenes. I enjoyed all of the characters and seeing where their stories ended up.

The mystery was great. I admit at not catching on to many of the twists. I like that I was kept guessing and not quite sure who would survive until the end of the book. There’s some devastation mixed in with the hope of a better day and I thought things were wrapped up well in those veins.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Thriller
  • Language: some strong
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: gun violence, murder, kidnapping, drugging someone, cheating (side character)

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ARC Book Review: Such Charming Liars by Karen M. McManus

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Mystery
Length: 384 pages
Author: Karen M. McManus
Publisher: Penguin Books
Release Date: August 1st, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

The newest mystery from the author One of Us Is Lying, the Queen of thrillers, Karen M. McManus! When mother-daughter grifters set out on their final job, the heist gets deadly and dangerously personal.

For all of Kat’s life, it’s just been her and her mother, Jamie—except for the forty-eight hours when Jamie was married and Kat had a stepbrother, Liam. That all ended in an epic divorce, and Kat and Liam haven’t spoken since.

Now Jamie is a jewel thief trying to go straight, but she has one last job—at billionaire Ross Sutherland’s birthday party. And Kat has figured out a way to tag along. What Kat doesn’t know, though, is that there are two surprise guests at the dazzling Sutherland compound that weekend. The last two people she wants to run into. Liam and his father—a serial scammer who has his sights set on Ross Sutherland’s youngest daughter.

Kat and Liam are on a collision course to disaster, and when a Sutherland dies, they realize they might actually be in the killer’s crosshairs themselves. Somehow Kat and Liam are the new targets, and they can’t trust anyone—except each other.

Or can they? Because if there’s one thing both Kat and Liam know, it’s how to lie. They learned from the best.

Thank you GetUnderlined for the gifted ARC.

TWISTY.

I enjoyed this one a lot! I’ve been up and down with McManus books, but this was a hit. I liked the premise and was curious to watch things unfold. I really liked the two main characters and how they handled everything and worked together. There’s even a small sub-plot romance that was sweet too.

A little slow of a start to feeling very engaged with what was going to happen next. The second half was filled with some good twists and I really enjoyed how it ended too. It’s entertaining and kept my attention.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Mystery
  • Language: low
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: moderate
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: gun violence, murder, stealing, domestic abuse (recounted), brief scene of attempted suicide

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ARC Book Review: The Reappearance of Rachel Price by Holly Jackson

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Rating: ★★★★
Audience: YA Mystery/Thriller
Length: 448 pages
Author: Holly Jackson
Publisher: Delacorte Press
Release Date: April 2nd, 2024
Image & Other Reviews on: Goodreads

BOOK SUMMARY:

From the author of the multimillion bestselling A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder series and Five Survive comes a new true-crime fueled mystery thriller about a girl determined to uncover the shocking truth about her missing mother while filming a documentary on the unsolved case.

Lights. Camera. Lies.

18-year-old Bel has lived her whole life in the shadow of her mom’s mysterious disappearance. Sixteen years ago, Rachel Price vanished and young Bel was the only witness, but she has no memory of it. Rachel is gone, long presumed dead, and Bel wishes everyone would just move on.

But the case is dragged up from the past when the Price family agree to a true crime documentary. Bel can’t wait for filming to end, for life to go back to normal. And then the impossible happens. Rachel Price reappears, and life will never be normal again.

Rachel has an unbelievable story about what happened to her. Unbelievable, because Bel isn’t sure it’s real. If Rachel is lying, then where has she been all this time? And – could she be dangerous? With the cameras still rolling, Bel must uncover the truth about her mother, and find out why Rachel Price really came back from the dead . . .

From world-renowned author Holly Jackson comes a mind-blowing masterpiece about one girl’s search for the truth, and the terror in finding out who your family really is.

Thank you GetUnderlined #GetUnderlinedPartner for the free book.

PRETTY TWISTED.

The first almost 100 pages of this is kind of a slog, prepare now, keep going, the book gets infinitely better. Once things got going though I found myself devouring the pages trying to figure out what had happened to Rachel Price. I found it full of good twists and turns. It’s that right level of corrupt without feeling like too much for me but also bringing all of the atmospheric vibes I love about a good thriller.

I loved that Bel landed in this gray zone about her choices and working to uncover the truth. I was absolutely following her into every snuck away moment and confrontation. She might come off as an unlikeable character, but I liked her plenty. I also really liked how messed up this family was. It worked for the plot and showcased a lot of morality choices that will leave you thoughts.

Holly Jackson is easily one of my favorite thriller authors and this was another great read for me. Unhealthy characters, an enigma of a plot and a few moments where my jaw was hanging open.

Overall audience notes:

  • YA Thriller
  • Language: low-moderate
  • Romance: kisses
  • Violence: moderate-high
  • Trigger/Content Warnings: murder, attempted murder, kidnapping, imprisonment

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