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Horror High #2

Cutting Up the Competition

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Amanda Loxx isn’t your stereotypical cheerleader. Her life has never been perfect. Her father is dead, and her mother is a drug addict. Now she is forced to live with her kooky grandma Mimi, who happens to be a former Las Vegas showgirl. Sophomore year is supposed to bring normal back to her life.

We’ve got murder, yes we do! We’ve got murder, how about you?

A string of pranks including a haunting chant sets everyone on alert. Amanda and her friends think it’s just a prank…a copycat looking for attention or a freshman hoping to scare off the competition.

When a cheerleader is found dead and another one attacked, everyone is certain history is set to repeat itself…

215 pages, Kindle Edition

First published May 24, 2016

18 people are currently reading
141 people want to read

About the author

Carissa Ann Lynch

32 books733 followers
Besides my family, my greatest love in life is books. Reading them, writing them, holding them, smelling them…well, you get the idea. I’ve always loved to read, and some of my earliest childhood memories are me, tucked away in my room, lost in a good book. I received a five dollar allowance each week, and I always — always — spent it on books. My love affair with writing started early, but it mostly involved journaling and writing silly poems. Several years ago, I didn’t have a book to read so I decided on a whim to write my own story, something I’d like to read. It turned out to be harder than I thought, but from that point on I was hooked. My first and second books were released by Sarah Book Publishing: This Is Not About Love and Grayson’s Ridge. I’m a total genre-hopper. Basically, I like to write what I like to read: a little bit of everything! I reside in Floyds Knobs, Indiana with my husband, three children, and massive collection of books. I have a degree in psychology and worked as a counselor.

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Displaying 1 - 28 of 29 reviews
Profile Image for Taylor Henderson.
Author 36 books64 followers
June 5, 2016
Cutting Up the Competition is a spectacular sequel to Cheerleading Can Be Murder. The first novel follows Dakota Densford through her freshman year and the events that happen when she tries out for the Harrow High varsity cheerleading squad. The second novel in this thrilling series follows Amanda Loxx, an unforgettable character with so much dimension. I thoroughly enjoyed reading this novel from Amanda's point of view. She is by far one of my favorite character's and her emotions were so raw and real which made for an incredible read. Lynch has a knack for characterization and storytelling. The events in this novel were perfectly spaced and well thought out to keep each chapter exciting and to hep the mystery pan out until the final chapters when we finally find out who the sociopath is. I began guessing from chapter one, using every detail to figure it out, and I was still left gobsmacked when everything unfolded. This second installment to this enthralling series was even better than the first! There is more action, more I could truly see each scene playing out. As a cheerleader myself, I'm a little nervous for next season to begin... Yet I will still be eagerly awaiting the final installment in the Horror High series. I can't wait to see where Lynch takes us next with these characters and this plot line!
Profile Image for J.L. Clayton.
Author 15 books322 followers
August 4, 2017
Boom

We are back, and this time the readers get to see from Amanda's point of view. I loved this story so much and author Lynch wasn't messing around. The first book was a big tease to what really was to come. This book had more action and a lot of blood. Cutting up the competition, literally and the ending was terrifying because stuff like that happens in schools. I as a parent never want to hear the words, gunman on campus. Wonderful job.
Profile Image for Paula Brandon.
1,272 reviews39 followers
April 11, 2020
The first book, Cheerleading Can Be Murder, was a decent if unremarkable throwback to 90s teen thrillers, but this second entry really amps things up, and as a result, is considerably more entertaining! The focus shifts to Amanda Loxx, preparing for another round of cheerleading tryouts. This time, the tryouts are thrown off course by the murder of Genevieve McDermott from the first book. And that's not the end of it - the cheerleaders are once again the targets, this time of a killer!

Fast-paced, a bit silly, but highly enjoyable. Dakota from the first book takes a secondary role, and has somehow become even more immature. But there are some shades of complexity when it comes to Amanda. As we know from the previous book, her father was a criminal who killed several people during a bank robbery, and her mother was a junkie. As her mother comes back into her life, she must learn forgiveness, in regards to both her parents. It did add an extra dimension to the story.

Most of all, it's just a fun, quick read. While the first book was all cheerleading, cheerleading, cheerleading, this one remembered it was supposed to be a thriller too and threw in some suspense and plot twists too. I'm off to read the next one!
Profile Image for Coco.V.
50k reviews128 followers
Want to read
October 31, 2019
🎃 Books 1 & 2 in the series are FREE on Amazon today (10/31/2019)! 🎃
Profile Image for Paula  Phillips.
5,680 reviews341 followers
December 18, 2016
Cheerleading is a deadly sport and if any disagrees they obviously haven't visited or heard the stories of Horror High, oops I mean Harrow High. Last year, a series of strange events occurred where Cheerleaders were placed in danger, and the police arrested the suspect, and she went straight to Juvie. Now a new year is about to begin, and it seems that the killer is still out there and that the mastermind is still at large. Also in Book #2 the killer aka The Sociopath who is what Carissa Ann Lynch has headed up the chapters in which we get to read their POV has taken the getting rid of the cheerleaders to a whole new level - this time with actual Murder. As each cheerleader is targeted with a note and then deadly actions, it seems that this year the Cheerleading squad may be canceled which despite the happenings going on the Cheerleaders aren't keen on this as this year is the State Championships. If you loved Goosebumps growing up and the Point Horror stories, then you will love Carissa Ann Lynch's Horror High Series. I also have to admit; I did not see the ending coming, and now I am looking forward to reading the next book in this series. If you love your mystery/crime/horror and have not yet tried Carissa Ann Lynch, then what are you waiting for? Hop onto Amazon and check out her Horror High and Flocksdale Files series as you will not be disappointed.
Profile Image for Ellie Midwood.
Author 43 books1,164 followers
May 19, 2016
After reading “Cheerleading Can Be Murder” I couldn’t wait to get my hands on the sequel, and wow, it blew my mind away! This new entry, this time told from a different girl, Amanda’s point of view, is even darker, grittier and more dangerous than the first book in the series. The Sociopath is still out there, and this time she’s not playing games.
As soon as a dead cheerleader is discovered in a bathroom stall, I was on the edge of my seat, waiting for the next strike of the cheerleading-obsessed Sociopath. Together with Amanda I kept trying to guess, who might be behind the threatening cheers and cut up body parts, left as a warning. But the story takes even a more unexpected twist, which made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up: could a former best friend be the dreaded, sick killer?
“Cutting Up the Competition” is a fabulous, fast-paced and gripping read, which will make you bite your nails like it made me. But another great thing about Carissa’s writing is that her books also deal with very important social themes, like fitting in a new environment, drug addiction, child-parent relationships and many more, which will definitely resonate with many readers. Now, can I please give it ten stars instead of just five big fat ones?
Profile Image for Megan | A Page to Turn.
662 reviews22 followers
July 15, 2016
DUDES!

I'm not sure how Carissa isn't writing major best sellers these days! Man, does she know how to tell you a story AND keep secrets from you until the very end of a book! Holy crapola!

Okay... so second book in the series. Usually the second book is a little mediocre compared to the first, and this one was so NOT! It was just as amazing, just as quick but steady paced and just as compelling and mysterious! Carissa is a freaking rockstar writer!

This book, while part of the same series, is told from majority Amanda Loxx's POV. She's returning for another year at Harrow High (Horror High)... and things get interesting once again in the drama surrounding the cheer leading team tryouts! Death, murder, missing girls... it's all so dramatic but addictive! I kept thinking I knew how "the sociopath" was but never could pin it down... all of my predictions were wrong! Someone is out to exact revenge again on these girls and things get super ugly!

Side note, I also LOVED that Flocksdale was mentioned! Love that series as well and to know that Harrow Hill is close by just gave this book a huge jump on the creep factor scale! Ha!
Profile Image for Chelsi Tauscher.
Author 11 books27 followers
May 28, 2016
This is the 6th book by Carissa I have read. She is talented and has a way of pulling you into whatever she is writing about at that time. She could write a book about watching paint dry and make it witty, original, and entertaining.

This book wasn't about watching paint dry. Amanda Loxx is ready to start her sophomore year as a veteran cheerleader for the Harrow High Dragons. The summer was filled with some threats from who was thought to be a copy cat from freshman year. Thins take off with a bang from the get go.

Another 5 star read from Carissa!
Profile Image for April Wood.
Author 4 books64 followers
September 13, 2016
After reading Cheerleading Can Be Murder, Book I of Carissa Ann Lynch’s Horror High Series, I was eager to read Book II, Cutting Up The Competition. I found this novel to be just as thrilling and mysterious as the first!

Amanda Loxx is a sophmore at Harrow High and she is eager to make the cheerleading squad — unfortunately, someone else is eager too… eager enough to kill for it.

But, the killer is already locked away in juvenile hall… right? Is it a copycat terrorizing the teens? Or was the wrong girl sent away?

Cutting Up The Competition, Horror High II, by Carissa Ann Lynch, is a fast paced, murder mystery that will keep you guessing until the very end!

I loved all the creeptastic chants and the clever plot twists. I loved how Amanda wasn’t your stereotypical cheerleader — her mother was a drug addict and her father was dead. Carissa Ann Lynch really brought Amanda Loxx alive with her complex backstory.

But now, I’m left to wonder, will there be another story? Gosh, I hope so.

I’ve said it before but I’ll say it again: I love this author’s writing style. Whether it be a story about a creepy town called Flocksdale, or a killer roaming the halls of Harrow High, she always has me lost in her worlds! I highly recommend the Horror High series to fans of mystery and suspense!

Go Dragons!
Profile Image for Wendi Wilson.
Author 30 books334 followers
May 30, 2016
I have read several of Carissa Ann Lynch's books and loved every one of them, including Cheerleading Can Be Murder, so I couldn't wait to get my greedy little hands on Cutting Up the Competition. It didn't disappoint. I read it in two sittings, navigating the twists and turns, trying to decide for myself who the sociopath is before the reveal. Truth time- I'm never right. Ever. That's why I love Carissa's stories so much! From the Flocksdale Files to the Horror High series, she keeps me guessing til the very end. She lets me think I am right for a while, but it's a clever manipulation and I'm not. I love her ingenuity in creating fake trails of breadcrumbs for me to follow, only to find at the end I was on the wrong path.
I loved delving deeper into Amanda's character, learning more of her backstory and personality traits. The way she handled an impossible situation was stellar. Though, I have to admit, I was a little disappointed with Dakota's behavior. I know she's a teenage girl with teenage hormones and personality traits- it's almost as if she was written too realistically and I was fed up with her temper tantrums by the end. The main focus of the story was Amanda and Dakota was almost a background character, so it didn't detract too much from my enjoyment of the story.
The addition of Winter, Jordan, and Lauren to the cast of characters was refreshing and only helped to increase the number of suspects. I suspected each of them at least once in my round robin of possible sociopaths.
All in all, excellent book, stellar writing, thrilling storyline and great cast of characters. Five very enthusiastic stars!
Profile Image for Kevin Hatt.
Author 9 books27 followers
October 8, 2016
Having read Author Lynch’s previous books, I was confident that I would enjoy this latest one, and as always, I was not disappointed. Seldom in any series is the second book better than the first, and when the first book is first class, it is highly unlikely; however, Cutting Up The Competition manages it, which is an achievement of gargantuan proportions.
Involving the same characters as the previous book—Cheerleading Can Be Murder—this story is narrated by a different character, which gives the reader a major treat, in that seeing the situations from different personalities and viewpoints draws one into the story, becoming a part of it.
The tale is cleverly crafted and uses the first book as a launch-pad for this hugely impres-sive festival of intrigue and horror. There is never a dull moment, and the reader is constantly wondering who the perpetrator is, making mind-changes continual.
Another impressive element to this book is how close the reader gets to the characters. With this book being told by Amanda, and the previous one by Dakota, we see the other characters differently, as well as the narrators, which really takes one there.
The plot works beautifully and the characters gel. It’s well-written. It’s addictive. Moreo-ver, it leaves one hoping that there will be another in the series. With all boxes ticked, the writer can do no more whatsoever.
I would most certainly not hesitate in recommending this book/series to anyone who reads.
Profile Image for Chell.
144 reviews
August 13, 2016
It used to be a town called Flocksdale. Bad things happened here. Did the evil seep into Harrow Hill? I wondered, parking the car in front of the gate.

Once again I'm in awe of Carissa she is an extremely talented writer !!! I have read all of her books and every single one is amazing , captivating and just great .

I love how this series has the Flocksdale files creep in slowly . It makes me feel like I'm in on a secret that no one else is in on and I love it. So excited for the next book !!!
Profile Image for Donna.
1,626 reviews33 followers
August 30, 2016
This book is fast paced and will grab your attention immediately. It picks up the following school year from book 1. They thought the events of last year were over but they were wrong. The cheerleaders are scared as they try to figure out who is targeting them for a 2nd year in a row. The twists and turns keep you guessing all the way to the end. Will there be a book 3? The author certainly left room for another one. If she does write a book 3, I will be waiting in line to get a copy. This series is definitely worth a read.
Profile Image for Fiona  Cooke Hogan.
89 reviews13 followers
September 6, 2016
Real page turner, riveting YA thriller!

Amanda Loxx is still coming to terms with her past - her bank-robber father's death and her mother's addiction. Living with her grandmother, she attends Harrow High and hopes to make the cheerleading team along with her new friends Sydney and Dakota. When last year's stalking of one of her friends turns to murder, terror stalks the locker rooms and no one is safe. Amanda is forced to face her own demons and help find the killer or watch her friends being picked off one by one. A thrilling, well written story.
Profile Image for Keara.
115 reviews2 followers
May 24, 2016
The title + the cover = instant one click!!

Addicted to this series!! CAL has quickly become one of my favorite authors.

Thrilling suspense with high school angst. Every time I start to think I know who it is... BAM!!! She hits you with another twist!! The story gets deeper, and relationships get tested in the best of high school drama. It's cut throat cheerleader competition and a killer cutting cheerleader throats!! And such a poetically twisted psychopath!! I love it!!!
GOOOO DRAGONS!!
Profile Image for Lauren Delancey.
21 reviews
May 28, 2016
Back to back I have read these books. I must say I'm addicted and finished the second book to this gripping series in a matter of hours. Carissa has had me hooked ever since Flocksdale Files and the beauty of her writing and books continues on in this enchanting cheerleading series! I am ready for the third book to be out. I highly recommend this book! It had me so into it I couldn't put it down for anything!
Profile Image for Dermot Davis.
Author 16 books50 followers
June 22, 2016
When someone in the high school (known as Horror High and for very good reason) begins stalking some of the girls and chanting what pretty much amounts to death threats, everyone thinks that it is a prank. Until there's a murder and the story escalates to such a fast-page read that it's hard not to stop reading it all in one sitting. Amanda is such a great character and tries to follow the clues to uncover the mystery of who is literally, cutting up the cheer-leading team.
Profile Image for Paula Genereau.
3,077 reviews39 followers
May 24, 2016
Oh my!!! I love this book. Carissa rocked it once again. I've been hooked to this series so far. Can't wait to see if there's more.

Profile Image for Marsha  Bernabe.
390 reviews4 followers
May 24, 2016
High school got spookier

High school was always creepy, competition was fierce. Now it's deadly!

Fabulous new book, just don't read this book in the dark!
Profile Image for Melanie.
2,073 reviews96 followers
June 26, 2016
Review to follow 3.5 stars
Profile Image for Camille Taylor.
Author 44 books46 followers
July 26, 2016
Another great read by Ms Lynch. Full of twists and red herrings until the very end.

I can't believe I have to wait until November for the next book.
Profile Image for Edie Walls.
1,121 reviews9 followers
February 13, 2023
Bro I love these terrible books. This takes place a year after the first which means that our friend the sociopath did literally nothing for an entire year, then randomly started prank calling the girls that summer. I love it. It makes no sense.

Amanda is our lead in this book and thank goodness because Dakota is as awful as ever. I'm shocked she has any friends at all with the way that she treats the two that she has. The plot of this one jumps off much more quickly than the previous book with a dead girl in the locker room, but that just leads to the revelation that this is the worst high school in the world omg. They don't cancel school after they find a dead body on campus, and after the (spoilers) deadly school shooting at the end, their prom is still held as scheduled. Terrible stuff.

I enjoyed Winter, and I assume she's going to be the lead in the next book because poor Sydney has always gotten the short end of the stick, but I will say that the prom scene at the end reads so strongly as an Amanda x Winter endgame that I was honestly shocked that it didn't go there. Guess we can't have gay people in our high school murder books.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Joe Pranaitis.
Author 23 books87 followers
July 23, 2017
In this followup to Cheerleading can be murder Author Carissa Lynch brings us into the life of Amanda Loxx who is trying out for the squad for a second year but on the first day of her second year everything begins to spiral out of control as one of the girls is murdered. At one point Amanda thinks that it's her friend Sydney that is doing all of the killing and harassing but to calm herself she goes to the graveyard in a town that was once called Flocksdale where she wonders if the evil from that town seeped into Harrow. I highly recommend that you pick this book up you won't be disappointed at all. I am looking forward to book 3 in the series and I know that this was originally supposed to be a four book series so we might see that sometime later on?     
Profile Image for Deborah.
449 reviews
August 15, 2017
Ok

Very much aimed at a younger teenage reader but still an ok read & not a cliffhanger ending this time
Profile Image for Nicole.
537 reviews
November 22, 2016
Cutting up the competition is book 2 in Carissa Ann Lynchs horror high series.

Carissa steps up the drama, conflict and danger in this instalment as once again, a sociopath is on the loos at Harrow High. This time going as far as murder and attempted murder all the while pulling strings and pointing fingers everywhere else.

Once again, Carissas writing style is awesome and pulls you in, gets a grip and doesn't let go til the end. There is enough happening here, that is sure to keep you guessing and entertained right til the very end.

I'm intrigued to see where it all leads in the next book.
Profile Image for J.L. Clayton.
Author 15 books322 followers
August 4, 2017
We are back, and this time the readers get to see from Amanda's point of view. I loved this story so much and author Lynch wasn't messing around. The first book was a big tease to what really was to come. This book had more action and a lot of blood. Cutting up the competition, literally and the ending was terrifying because stuff like that happens in schools. I as a parent never want to hear the words, gunman on campus. Wonderful job.
2,617 reviews25 followers
November 20, 2016
this was another awesome book of yours i read! i now kinda get what was going on . guess it helps to read first book not the third one first. talk about one messed up chick that wanted to be a cheerleader.i still dont get how she talked the one girl into killing the others.i hope to read more of your books in the future. thanks for giving me a chance to read this book!
Profile Image for Lorraine.
487 reviews45 followers
April 1, 2017
Horror High Series: Books 1-3

An easy to read, enjoyable and entertaining series.
A fast-paced mystery with plenty of twists, suspense and chills.

The author descriptive writing took me back to my school days, the friendships, cliques and betrayals.

The characters are a well-written mix of angst, risk-taking, conflict and hormones... typical and believable teens.

Each book is written from a different cheerleaders point of view, as well from 'The Sociopath'
Displaying 1 - 28 of 29 reviews

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