I LOVED THIS BOOK. I am a sucker for paranormal mysteries and I have adored anything written by Julie. I loved all of the characters and was absolutely giggling like a school girl for Julian. I cannot wait to see if anything else is written in this universe. Regardless, I would love to see more like this in the future!

“Welcome to the Thrashers, the elite friend group at New Helvetia High. They’re everything everyone wants to be.”

Whew, what a ride! It was worth every minute. This was a great YA read and am very grateful to have been given access to it. Thank you NetGalley, author, and publisher for this copy!

I loved this! It kept me on the edge of my seat until the very end, Julie Soto's first YA novel held my attention the same as her adult books. Jodi is a complex main character who constantly questions her environment and the people around her, but maybe she's questioning the wrong things? I love a high school story where there's no 'good' character. If you like high school mysteries/thrillers this is a must read

What a ride! I was soooo into this when I was reading! There were so many twists and turns I was not expecting! It’s giving teen drama (think Pretty Little Liars vibes) with a sprinkle of paranormal! Truly gripping and so fun!

3.5 stars. The Thrashers is a gripping YA thriller that kept me guessing until the very end! I thought it was such a fun and twisty read. I was constantly questioning who to trust and where to point the finger! It felt very reminiscent of 13 Reasons Why.

That said, the pacing of the book was a bit off for me. I was immediately intrigued by the premise, but I wasn’t as gripped throughout the middle of the book as I wanted to be. There were a few plot holes and some details that felt either unnecessary or never fully tied back into the story. But once I hit the last 20% of the book, I was completely hooked and couldn’t stop reading!

Overall, this was a fun read that kept me on my toes!

4⭐️

wow, “the thrashers” was such a fun and twisty read! i really enjoyed myself and found the story to be so addicting that i couldn’t put the book down.

we follow the thrashers, a group of five popular high school students who are accused of potentially being involved in a student’s (who had recently entered their circle) death. we meet jodi, zack, lucy, paige, and julian - but the narrative is mostly focused on jodi. ironically enough - and i absolutely thought it was clever writing - the character who died, emily, also had a main focus on this particular group. through the investigation, it’s jodi who really tries to find out what’s really happened.

nothing is more entertaining than YA drama and this was so juicy and addicting to read! it felt like a mix of euphoria and pretty little liars wrapped into one with the friend dynamics and the impending drama coming at you left and right. i really enjoyed “the thrashers.” i also loved the fact that this book was based in sacramento! it’s not often you see a book set there and with it being so close to home, i appreciated the references and thought that was neat.

thank you to wednesday books for the e-ARC, all opinions are my own.

Whoa the teens are gonna love this one!

This is part murder mystery, part psychological spiral. Atmospheric and emotionally taut, this novel explores how far people will go to protect their image and how haunting secrets can be, especially when they come wrapped in friendship and fame. Jodi is a compelling narrator, vulnerable, perceptive, and stuck in a moral maze where every turn is dangerous.

Think One of Us Is Lying meets Pretty Little Liars. Would highly recommend. This cuts to heart of the metaphor and showcases drama in a compelling way that the teens will love.

You’re either in or you’re out.

Wanting to be a part of the elite friend group is all too common. To keep it simple, I didn’t expect this from Julie Soto. I’ve loved her romance novels and this was different for me. However, different in a GOOD way. She made the twists and turns in this book enjoyable. I had a great time reading this and look forward to buying a physical copy.

I’ve loved Julie Soto since her fanfiction days, so seeing her step into the thriller genre with The Thrashers is an absolute thrill. This book has everything—supernatural elements, high school glamour, heart-pounding drama, and the kind of magnetic characters that make you wish you could be part of their world. Jodi is a standout protagonist because she’s not perfect—she’s messy, emotional, and achingly real as she tries to find her place among her dazzling friends Paige, Lucy, Julian, and Zack. Her desire to be seen and accepted is so relatable, especially for anyone who’s ever felt on the outside looking in. Soto’s writing is bold, sharp, and filled with emotional depth. I would read this again and again and again.

First and foremost I received an e-arc from NetGalley.

Now…. I think my brain is still processing this story. So much happened with so much detail. I could literally see it in my head like it was a movie. The Thrashers is a suspenseful and somewhat spooky thriller that I could not put down. I needed to know what happened to who and why….
Read it and find out for yourself because I’m not telling you. Just know that it’s worth it.

Can’t say much other than MAY 6TH GET THIS BOOK! My mind is blown. Julie you clever clever woman. I seriously am so shocked by this entire thing. There was never a dull moment! I am pretty sure she just wrote a memoir or something of Jodi because this felt so real. Maybe it’s my age but I relate to these characters so closely. The realness of being nice to someone no matter what, keep it off media. It’s such a dangerous place to let out harsh words towards others because it can easily be pinned back. Also the epilogue had me SHOOOOOOOOOOK!!!! I loved all of the characters. I could not guess the ending AT ALL and it just kept spinning and spinning with what seemed like no end for these poor kids. They couldn’t catch a break and it made for such a thrilling read. So good, one of my favorite thrillers ever.

4.5 stars. If Julie Soto hadn't already cemented herself as an auto-buy author for me (she has), this would have sealed the deal. I'm not generally a mystery/thriller reader, but was excited to read this because of how much I enjoy Julie's writing and I wasn't disappointed. The Thrashers was just as compulsively readable as her contemporary romances, once the story got going I couldn't put it down. Jodi's dedication to her friends, but her fears about her place in that friend group was something I found so relatable. The way paranormal aspects were woven in added another great and interesting layer to the story. I sincerely hope, this gets the follow up that Julie's said she has for this book.

Holy hell what a trip this book has been. This was probably my top thriller for this year and we’re only in May.

The story, the characters, it was all so chilling. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time!

Julie Soto excels once again in her writing! I can't recommend her more to anyone needing a good romance (and now YA) novel!

I went into this book 100% blind, I've love everything by Julie Soto, so I had no plans to learn anything about this book - just that I HAD to have it and I would read it no matter what lol . I am not a thriller or mystery reader, it's not my usual jam, but wow, this one had me on my toes.

For a YA Thriller, was this the best thriller possible? How would I know, I don't read thrillers, but it was enough to keep me on my toes the entire time. It's a fun world that Julie Soto's created that would convert me to YA thrillers completely. I could not put the book down, I devoured and powered through this book. It was the kind of book that you canceled plans for because you just had to know what happened next.

I absolutely loved this book and am planning on suggesting it to everyone!

4 stars

“It’s called getting Thrashed. they’re the Thrashers, and what they do is they choose someone to take under their wing, hang out with, cheat off their homework—whatever, and then they Thrash them.”[…]
“It means they ruin them. dump them in the garbage, publicly humiliate them. It happened to me freshman year.”

the author stepped away from her predilected genre to explore darker terrain, and what a ride it was. she traded romance for a thriller pulsing with unease, where every page felt like a dare, every revelation more chilling than the last.

set against the backdrop of a high school shadowed by cruelty, we follow a group of friends who were accused of a pattern of tormenting their peers—a ritual that became infamously known as “being Thrashed.” the story orbits around the aftermath of a classmate’s apparent suicide, a tragedy that refuses to stay buried.

narrated solely through Jodi’s perspective and interspersed with haunting diary entries, the structure itself felt like a slow unraveling. it was refreshing, almost intimate, how the limited point of view mirrored the fog of memory and guilt.

what starts as a mystery quickly veers into murkier territory: a blend of the paranormal and the psychological, where reality warps and truths are never quite what they seem. the pace was electric, the plot laced with jaw-dropping twists that left me reeling. just when i thought i had pieced the puzzle together, the final twist knocked the air out of me.

i closed the book with my pulse still racing, caught between horror and awe. whatever genre she chooses next, i’ll be there, waiting—because this proved she can do it all.

many thanks to the publisher for the arc.

Wow! I don’t even know how to feel right now after the epilogue 💀💀💀 YA thriller is not my typical go to genre but I loved Julie Soto’s romance books so I thought I’d give this a try. This book had me on edge and literally on the edge of my seat the whole time. I just had to keep reading to find out what had happened and what was going to happen. It was so well written that it kept me entertained even though I got a little spooked a few times 😊

For the Forget Me Not readers - I loved the rose garden connection between the books!!!

I'm completely obsessed with this book and with Julie Soto.

The Thrashers is Julie's first YA book, and a thriller, totally deviating from her previous steamy adult romances that I've loved. I tend to hesitate reading YA and I don't know why because I always enjoy it!

The Thrashers are a group of high school students who everyone wants to be a part of. Jodi Dillon somehow managed to be part of the group although she's pretty sure it's only because she has been best friends with Zack Thrasher, the group's namesake, since first grade. When classmate and Thrasher-wannabe Emily Mills commits suicide, the Thrashers find themselves in the middle of the investigation and Jodi has to decide whether to protect herself or betray her friends.

This is such a well-written story. The pacing was fantastic and the character development was so well done. This story has a touch of supernatural elements which I really think enhanced the story overall and made things more tense and a little spooky.

There are definitely some triggers for this story, including suicide, physical abuse, substance abuse, underage drinking, and others, so if you are sensitive to any of those, please look up trigger warnings before diving in.

A big thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the digital ARC. My review is honest and voluntary.

The drama! The suspense! The twists! I am completely obsessed with this and I promise you will be too. Lots of twisty games and not being sure who to trust made this such a thrilling, fast read.

I am pretty in awe of Julie Soto’s ability to write so many different genres: first romance, now YA thrillers, and I think I saw her fantasy debut in the not-so-distant future as well. She manages to tackle each, finding her niche within them, and I think she deserves kudos for that alone— it’s pretty remarkable.

As for The Thrashers, Soto’s young adult thriller debut, I don’t know why, but I chose to go into this one blind, and I think that helped me to enjoy it even more. I had zero idea that it involved the paranormal, and I really enjoyed that aspect. I must admit that a few times I found myself confused between the ghostly present and the actual past; however, I was able to work past that and just go along for the ride. And what a ride it is! This book is fast-paced and enthralling— I had no idea where it was going or what would happen next. There were fun twists and turns that kept me guessing and also made this story incredibly easy to binge.

Read if you like:
▪️paranormal thrillers
▪️fast paced reads
▪️ensemble casts
▪️friendship gone awry
▪️Kara Thomas

📆 Pubs: May 6, 2025

Thank you Wednesday Books for the advanced copy.