A fantastic return to a world I deeply missed! The characters are just as razor sharp and engaging as before, and the mystery pulled me in from the beginning. Kara Thomas can do no wrong and The Champions is not to be missed! My students will love this.

I read this without reading The Cheerleaders, the first book in this series, but I will definitely go and read it now. This was a thrilling read, perfect for fans of Karen McManus and Holly Jackson.

In this solid but not exceptional YA mystery Kara Thomas revisits Sunnybrook High, where the events of The Cheerleaders (2018) took place 11 years ago,

Aspiring journalist high school senior Hadley has been asked to write about the school’s two-time state championship-winning football team. But an anonymous emailer tells her to stay away from the team for her own good and, shortly afterwards, one of the football players collapses at a party and ends up in a coma. Hadley’s investigative instincts are on full alert because she’d overheard a teammate shouting “You’re going to fuck up everything” to this player.

The action moves along as Hadley uncovers some dark secrets from the past and, in the process, riles up the whole football-mad community by threatening the untouchable status of the team.

While this was a decent enough YA mystery, I felt it lacked the author’s usual exemplary world-building of a tight-knit working class community, instead focusing on a not particularly well-worked through look at the effect of the past tragedy on a few families. I had a few other gripes as well:

There are so many characters and so many connections to the previous spate of murders that I got a bit lost in who was who and what their connections were with a) the football team and b) the dead cheerleaders. And the cheerleader plot isn’t actually relevant to this one, so I’m not quite sure why the author decided to revisit the scene instead of starting afresh, which might have been a whole lot less confusing.

Though many of the students have been sitting on secrets for years, all of a sudden they decide to start spilling everything to Hadley, despite her being a self-professed “quiet girl” and a newcomer to the school. Of course, this moves the plot along swiftly, but it just seems to come in a bunch of information dumps.

Finally, the denouement - [that footballer players had raped a dance team girl at a party, been abusive to their girlfriends, and had cheated on tests with the help of teachers and coaches - does not seem to be a particularly original conclusion. I mean, other than Friday Night Lights, when haven’t fictional football teams done this? (hide spoiler)]

So, a wobbly 3 stars for The Champions, and a strong recommendation to read the author’s previous YA mysteries, particularly Little Monsters (2017).

Thanks to Delacorte and Netgalley for the digital review copy.

Kara Thomas is one of go to thriller authors to recommend and I LOVED The Cheerleaders. When I found out that there would be a sequel I was so excited. I really enjoyed The Champions! It was a solid follow up to one of my favorite books. I recognized a lot of names from The Cheerleaders which added to the small town feeling of the town- really everyone was connected. The premise was compelling and honestly felt like something that could happen.

Trigger Warnings: Rape, bullying, harrassment

This absolutely ate. Mother never disappoints

To be completely fair, I barely remember anything from The Cheerleaders--I remember a major reveal and I remember I was truly gagged while reading it, but the details are fuzzy at best. However, The Champions can be read separately, but it does have spoilers for The Cheerleaders. The Champions follows Hadley, newly arrived in Sunnybrook, as she works to uncover what's going on with the football team. When one player is poisoned at a party, and another is subsequently killed, Hadley wants answers. But she keeps getting warned to leave it be by a mysterious email account. Unwilling to let it go, will Hadley be able to uncover the dark secrets of the Sunnybrook football team? Or will she pay the price for trying to dig up what's been buried?

I loved this. It has the signature darkness of Kara Thomas books, with care handled to sensitive issues. I had no idea who did it until the end, and I found the characters interesting. Hadley definitely has some parallels to Monica, and it was nice to see Monica make an appearance, older and well adjusted now.

Bottom line: I would read Kara Thomas's grocery list.

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review!:)

I haven't yet read The Cheerleaders, the first book from this universe, but I will for sure go and read it now. This was a great thrilling read, perfect for the upcoming spooky season! The perfect read for fans of Karen McManus and Holly Jackson. A definite add to my HS library.

I have mixed reviews on this one. I wished I had enjoyed it more. I loved the premise. I loved the concept of the same town ten years later. I was just frustrated by the results.
1) why did the people.just tell the main character everything? They have been keeping secrets for years and just spill to her.
2) The excitement or interesting parts seems to happen off the page, and it's just just summaries of those events.
3) I understand that it addresses important aspects of society as a female, but the amount of times that the word 'rape' is used was too many for me. That sounds like I am cold, but it got to a stage of extreme discomfort where I honestly didn't care how the book ended.

The town of sunnybrook has its history for high school murders, this book follows the cheerleaders by Kara Thomas years later. Hadley is a strong willed girl bound to write the best possible article about the champions the sunnybrook tiger football team. Hadley begins receiving messages to stay away from the football team and the murders begin, the twist in this book was great. I never saw the killer coming and the reasoning behind everything they have done. Overall a well written quick mystery. Kara Thomas always knows how to leave you wanting more.

As the 2nd book or a companion book to Cheerleaders, I think it was well written and thrilling. Hadley is new to Sunnybrook High School and through rumors is slowly learning about the secrets of the school and town. She starts to think that there are some suspicious activity among the football players and secrets after an anonymous message online. Against better judgement, she attends her first party because a boy is crushing on her, but the night ends with a tragic visit to the ER and Logan in a coma.

Hadley soon learns the strings the football coaches pull and the solidarity and secrecy of the team. She slowly uncovers truths. She sends out an anonymous survey to teachers about students cheating and pressure to pass players, but it back fires and people send more hate than the truth because everyone loves the 2 time champion football team.

Champions weaves in a few of our favorites from Cheerleaders with Peter, Monica’s brother being a main character and helping Hadley. Ginny Cordero is now teaching at Sunnybrook high and few other names are cousins or younger siblings of characters in the first book.

For Fans Of: One of Us is Lying, A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder
Rating: 🌕🌕🌕🌕🌘
Genre: YA Thriller
Violence: 🔪
TG: Bullying, Assault (off-page)

Synopsis: Sequel to 2018’s The Cheerleaders. Hadley could care less about football. But she’ll do an article on the championship team if it will secure her place as Editor-in-Chief and her shot at Columbia. But when she starts receiving strange emails warning her away, and one of the players is poisoned at a party, Hadley realizes there’s more at stake than the next game.

Thoughts: I was 100% sure I knew the secret at the heart of the book...and was disappointed by its simplicity. But first impressions proved deceiving. This story weaves together disparate threads to create a satisfying mystery appealing for both its entertainment value & its relevance. Through Hadley’s investigation, readers confront questions about the culture of complicity within schools, perpetuated by political hierarchies. One that accords benefits to members of certain groups and shields them from consequences, while other students pay the price and are penalized by an unlevel playing field. In this book, teens will find well-drawn characters familiar to them and events which resonate with their own experience. Older readers will recognize the tumult of high school and be reminded of the vital role of—and potential for harm by—adults during this fraught transitional period. This page-turning, thought-provoking read will echo in your mind for days to come.

Thank you to Delacorte Press & NetGalley for the gifted copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

Wowza what a wild ride. I loved all of the twists and turns. The story was so thrilling and I liked the nods to the original.

When Hadley moves to town, Sunnybrook has turned its attention from tragic deaths to winning football. Hadley focuses on winning the job as editor of the Sunnybrook High newspaper. She has no interest in football, yet gets the assignment of covering the team. As she begins to follow them, she enters a new sphere of popularity, while getting anonymous threats. Hadley can only count on one person’s true feelings about her. Her rival on the school newspaper hates her.
Having so many characters makes them run together. I feel like I’m the one who started at a new high school, and it’s tricky to just keep up with everyone’s name.
This isn’t just about solving a crime. It’s also about uncovering the awful things done to hush it up. I hoped for a twist like The Cheerleaders (and maybe a body count to match), but this is a different kind of novel. It’s honest and subtle and almost cynical. No one but Kara Thomas can write such a winning story while tackling all this in a YA novel.
It would be a crime to spoil a masterpiece like The Cheerleaders, so I recommend reading that book first.

I was so excited when I saw The Cheerleaders was getting a sequel. And it is a sequel, despite anyone telling you this can function as a standalone. This gives so much payoff from characters/conflicts from The Cheerleaders, I loved how interconnected everything was. It made me wish I did a reread before picking this one up. Kara Thomas once again strikes hot with an uber-readable and engrossing mystery set within a high school. Loved it, would happily recommend the duology.

I read this book when it first came out and after re reading it I still completely love it!!

There have been a lot of focus on the cheerleaders. First an accident, then a murder, and finally a suicide. 5 cheerleaders in total have recently passed and now with all the trauma, they have disbanded the squad. This story follows one of the cheerleaders’ sister Monica, who starts to unravel the past.

So many twists I love it!! The best YA thriller! I will always recommend to my students

Kara Thomas does it again with her sequel to THE CHEERLEADERS. THE CHAMPIONS picks up shortly a few years after the first book left off and revisits characters in the latest adventure.

Fans of THE CHEERLEADERS will greatly enjoy this story. It gives a fresh story with nods to the previous book but in a way that freshens the reader’s memory if it’s been a few years between reads.

THE CHAMPIONS has plenty of twists and turns to keep the reader engaged. A definite must read.

If you enjoyed The Cheerleaders, you’ll definitely want to read its companion, The Champions. Much like its predecessor, you think you’re here to just solve a mystery, but there is so much more beneath the surface. This is a story of toxic sports culture, abuse in many forms and a town that still hasn’t fully learned its lesson from its tragic past. I thought Hadley was an interesting narrator. I loved her interactions with Peter (yes, THAT Peter!) and the way they worked together to get to the bottom of the story. It might not be a true sequel, but I HIGHLY recommend reading The Cheerleaders first to get the full effect and see familiar faces pop up. This was one where I really wasn’t sure where it was going until it hit me and boy, was it done well. It will make you mad because stories like this happen all too often in our world and still nothing happens to change it. The tension was incredible and that was probably my favorite thing about this book. It was a slower build, but a steady one and you could just feel it in the pages. Very happy to have read this one!
CW: rape, sexual assault, violence, underage drinking, bullying, gun violence, murder

Thank you to NetGalley and Delacorte Press for an advanced digital reader’s copy in exchange for an honest review.

Dark and twisty companion to Thomas's The Cheerleaders!

Set years after the events of The Cheerleaders, we are back at Sunnybrook High with a whole new set of characters - each with their own dramas, secrets and motives - that will keep you guessing until the end. There are ties to The Cheerleaders, but The Champions can definitely stand on its own and is a true companion to the original.

TRIGGER WARNING: there is discussion of a sexual assault that takes place prior to the main events of the story. It is not detailed on the page, but is discussed by several characters. The reactions of several other characters are within the stereotype of 'boys will be boys' and 'she asked for it' and could definitely be a trigger to SA survivors.

I really loved The Cheerleaders which was the first book I read of Kara Thomas's. Going back to Sunnybrook with The Champions is like visiting an old friend.

This book is a great follow-up to “The Cheerleaders,” with familiar faces and new characters. The story is interesting and keeps you guessing. I liked how the author explored a different side of Sunnybrook.

If you enjoy YA mysteries, definitely check this one out. I highly recommend.

A seemingly innocent school news story about the high school football team spirals into a closer look at the team and what secrets they are hiding. This story grabbed me from the beginning and I didn't want to put it down. I will definitely be checking out her other books.

Kara Thomas does it again! No shock, we are brought back to Sunnybrook following the Cheerleaders several years later for a new story, but not short on the twists and turns. I finished this in 2 sittings, and it was lightening speed!! I absolutely love her writing, I’ve read all her books (her adult thrillers are magical as well) and this is great to get you out of a rut. I don’t think you have to read The Cheerleaders to read this one but I still reccomend her whole backlist because all her books are amazing.
Out 8/27!! Thank you @karathomaswrites @netgalley @randomhousechildrens for the ARC!