Sunnybrook isn't your typical idyllic small town, and The Cheerleaders isn't your typical "rah-rah" high school story. If your teen is looking for a lighthearted mystery where the biggest stakes are a stolen mascot, keep moving. Kara Thomas writes for the crowd that grew up on Riverdale but wants something with more grit and fewer musical numbers. This is a story built on the bones of five dead girls, and it treats that weight with a seriousness that sets it apart from fluffier genre entries.
The "Dead Girl" trope with teeth
The premise sounds like a slasher flick: five cheerleaders die in a string of accidents, murders, and a suicide, leading the school to disband the squad entirely. But five years later, when the town tries to "honor" them with a memorial, the protagonist, Monica, starts pulling at threads that unravel the official story.
What makes this work is Monica herself. She isn't a plucky girl detective; she’s cynical, grieving, and messy. The book leans heavily into the psychological toll of being the "one who stayed behind." If your kid is just starting to explore thriller books for teens, this is a high-bar entry point. It’s fast-paced and punchy, but it expects the reader to handle some genuinely uncomfortable truths about how communities protect "important" men and silence "difficult" girls.
Where the friction lies
We need to talk about the "mature" in this mature YA label. This isn't just about the body count. The plot involves a predatory relationship between an adult and a student, mentions of abortion, and a very frank look at suicide. These aren't background noise; they are the engine of the mystery.
Parents often worry about "dark" books, but the reality is that many teens use these stories to process real-world anxieties. Thomas doesn't sensationalize the statutory rape or the violence; she frames them as the systemic failures they are. If your teen has already blazed through Jennifer Lynn Barnes’s series—like Killer Instinct—they will find the tone here familiar, though perhaps a bit more grounded in reality and a bit less "FBI procedural."
If they liked One of Us Is Lying
This is the natural next step for the Karen M. McManus fanbase. It has that same "everyone is a suspect" energy, but the atmosphere is much gloomier. While some YA mysteries feel like they take place in a vacuum, The Cheerleaders captures the specific claustrophobia of a town that is tired of grieving and just wants everyone to shut up and move on.
If your teen is a fan of Natasha Preston’s work, specifically the "secrets in the woods" vibe of The Lake, they’ll appreciate how Thomas handles the setting. Sunnybrook feels like a character itself—one that’s hiding a lot of ugly history under a coat of school spirit. It’s a solid 4.3-star experience for a reason: it delivers exactly the kind of "stay up until 2:00 AM" momentum that thriller fans crave without feeling like it’s insulting their intelligence.
