Welcome to my stop on the blog tour for The Champions by Kara Thomas. This tour is being hosted by TBR and Beyond Tours.
The Champions by Kara Thomas
Genre: Young Adult Thriller
Publishing Date: August 27, 2024
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.
Content Warning: sexual assault, bullying, death, cheating, toxic relationships, car accident, abortion
Book Links:
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/205181079
Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0593379977
Barnes & Noble: https://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/the-champions-kara-thomas/1144624036?ean=9780593379974
IndieBound: https://bookshop.org/p/books/the-champions-kara-thomas/21036785
It’s been awhile since I read The Cheerleaders. I wasn’t sure I needed a sequel, but I was still super excited to see one coming out.
I ended up loving The Champions just as much. While this book was a bit extreme with it, I went to one of those football schools. I think it’s a small town thing. Everyone loved the players and they definitely got away with things. But nothing like this. Please make sure you read trigger warnings for this one. There is a lot about sexual assault. I liked Hadley a lot. She was the new girl and yet she seemed like the only one who really cared at times. I liked that the plot from The Cheerleaders was brought up, but it wasn’t talked about a ton. It felt like a whole new story. I did like that Hadley talked to some of the people from the past. I don’t want to go into anymore details. The book is suspenseful at times and the pacing was great. I just enjoyed everything about this one.
I gave this book 5 stars. Kara Thomas continues to be a favorite of mine.
Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for my earc.
Kara is the author of The Darkest Corners, Little Monsters, and The Cheerleaders. She is also the author of the Prep School Confidential series from St. Martin’s Griffin under the pen name Kara Taylor.
Kara has written for Warner Brothers Television and currently writes full-time on Long Island, where she lives with her husband and rescue cat.
Author Links:
Website: https://www.kara-thomas.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karathomaswrites/
Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/14047408
Follow The Tour:
TOUR SCHEDULE
September 16th
Bookish In Bed – 15 Reactions While Reading The Champions
Nerd Girl Loves Books – Promotional Post
September 17th
Avni Reads – Review
September 18th
Confessions of a YA Reader – Review
September 19th
Dana Loves Books – Review
September 20th
The Clever Reader – Top 5 Reasons to Read The Champions
Gemma’s Bookshelf – Review
September 21st
Review Thick And Thin – Review, Favorite Quotes
September 22nd
Twirling Book Princess – Promotional Post
One More Exclamation – Top 5 Reasons to Read The Champions
September 16th
booksandsnapshots – Review
tatbookshelf – Review
acourtofspinesnpages – Promotional Post
janeinsd – Content Creator’s Choice
September 17th
bookdemonio – Promotional Post
pawsitivelybookish – Creative Post: Little Free Library Drop
sam_readerofbooks – Favorite Quotes, Promotional Post
avnireads – Content Creator’s Choice
September 18th
thepageladies – Review
library_teacher – Promotional Post
stevenreads – Review
September 19th
nissa_the.bookworm – Top 5 Reasons to Read The Champions
meghenslittlelibrary – Promotional Post
onemused – Promotional Post
dana.loves.books – Content Creator’s Choice
September 20th
bookishlifeofkels – Promotional Post
kennedysbookcorner_ – Review
thecleverreader – Content Creator’s Choice
September 21st
ninebookishlives – Promotional Post
callistoscalling – Top 5 Reasons to Read The Champions
pagesforpaige – Review
review_thick_and_thin – Content Creator’s Choice
September 22nd
tbrandbeyond – Promotional Post
shygirlbooksnsnacks – Top 5 Reasons to Read The Champions
wanderingintopages – Review, Mood Board
onemoreexclamation – Content Creator’s Choice
