Review: “The Cheerleaders”

Yo! Teenagers today are living live I couldn’t even FATHOM when I was a lowercase B. Seriously, how do they find time to infuse that much drama into their day-to-day? Are y’all OK?

Let’s go ahead and start with a CONTENT WARNING. Kara Thomas’ “The Cheerleaders” might be a young adult novel, but it deals with some seriously mature topics, including murder, suicide and abortion. The kids in this story most definitely are not alright.

At the center of Thomas’ novel is high schooler Monica, who is struggling with current emotional trauma that rips open the wound made by her sister’s apparent suicide five years earlier as well as the deaths of her sister’s four closest friends – all cheerleaders. Things only get more confusing and emotionally raw when Monica discovers the man who was blamed for the murder of two of the cheerleaders might have been innocent and that she might be in danger if the real killer finds out she knows the truth.

Confused? Yeah, I know. It’s a lot to grasp for a teen thriller, but it’s not as convoluted as I’m likely making it sound.

The story is told mostly from Monica’s perspective, with occasional flashbacks to her sister, Jenn’s, point of view. Surprisingly, I dig this approach because it helps piece the mysterious puzzle together and shows how similar yet vastly different Monica and Jean are.

One thing I wasn’t so keen on was the predictability of the progression of the story. I know, I know. I’m one of those people who’s always trying to figure out the plot twist before the big reveal. But I know I’m not the only one who saw the ending coming fore I hit the halfway point of the novel.

All in all, “The Cheerleaders” is a decent, fun read … especially if you’re looking for a distraction everyday life.

3 out of 5 stars

Review: “How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse”

Have you ever asked yourself why more fairytales don’t take place in space … in the future?! It is a conundrum that has haunted me for AGES! But! K.Eason is here to answer our prayers. OK … maybe just my prayers.

The Rory Thorne of “How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse” is the princess of the Thorne Consortium, a sort of space kingdom that observes many traditional Earthly customs … including the inviting of fairies to royal christenings. This, dear reader, is when all hell breaks loose.

Rory is “blessed” by her 13 fairy godmothers and granted gifts that some find … off-putting. But this is overshadowed by an assassination plot that kills Rory’s father and the ruler of a neighboring kingdom. This kicks off a series of events in which our princess must save herself from unwanted betrothals, plots for power grabs and an evil regent hell-bent on breaking Rory. And Rory very likely will destroy galactic peace by upsetting this particular apple cart. You know, normal teenage princess stuff.

The sassy, definitely biased, narrator hooked me in the first few pages of this book, which is written as a historical archive. But you can definitely tell who the unnamed historian is rooting for.

The thing that really propelled this story for me was the masterful blend of magic, fantasy, fairytales and sci-fi. Seriously, this book is all of my fav genres wrapped up in a whipsmart story.

Obviously, I wasn’t super into the romantic plot seeds planted between Rory and Jaed, who just happens to be the evil regent’s youngest son. Can’t a girl save her home and family and wreck the universe without having to find a boyfriend? I understand the purpose of this plot point, but I’m not convinced the story would suffer without it.

I also felt as though some of the characters were a bit underdeveloped. But since this is the first book in a series (WOOOOHOOOO!), I think that might be addressed in the sequel: “How the Multiverse Got Its Revenge.”

I definitely recommend diving into “How Rory Thorne Destroyed the Multiverse,” especially if you (like me) love a story in which the princess saves herself.

5 stars