Aren't cheerleaders sweet? If you read that and thought, "not so much, actually," then this might be the book for you. Addy Hanlon, our main character, has always been Beth's best friend. Beth calls the shots and Addy carries them out, on the squad and off. Now that they're seniors, they rule the school, right?
When a new coach arrives, things start to turn in a different direction. Coach French seems to be from a cool, adult world, and starts to draw Addy and the others into her personal circle of friendship. However, her expectations for the girls are pretty high and Beth, unsettled by Coach's new regime, starts to wage a vicious campaign against her. When a suicide rocks the community, the police focus on Coach French and the cheerleading squad. Question is: just who is really involved, and why?
I found this book to be a taut pageturner. I didn't really like Addy too much, or Beth, but it's like watching a car wreck on tv: you're repulsed, but at the same time, you can't look away. I don't have any personal experience with cheerleaders; my high school had a pretty small squad and they were no big deal. However, I know that cheerleading has become a seriously competitive sport, so it was interesting to read the descriptions of how the girls in this book were learning the different skills, and how dangerous some of the moves were. I think that's the thing that makes the book really interesting: the underlying sense of danger and unease that runs beneath the surface of the story.
I picked this up because I'm curious about Megan Abbott's newest book, You Will Know Me, which has been getting a lot of advance praise. I don't know if I would have picked it up, otherwise, but it made for an entertaining read.
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