Thank you for allowing me to review this book. I am giving my rating based on my own personal opinion and not that of any other party.

While I was not able to read this book before publication, it was still high on my list and I am so glad I was able to check this one off the TBR! The Thrashers by Julie Soto is a full throttle story that keeps you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. I listened via audiobook and the narration was on point and made it difficult to hit pause. Jodi, our main character, told the story of The Thrashers. You’re either in or you’re out, but sometimes it’s hard to tell which side is right.

I will always be a fan of Julie Soto! This was such a good YA thriller! I really enjoyed the whole book and read it way too quickly! It had my page by page! Highly recommend this one!

I finally had the chance to read this !!!

Thrashers by Julie Soto is moody, messy, and surprisingly emotional in between all the drama and secrets.

The story follows Jodi, who’s part of this elite, borderline-toxic girl group and slowly starts realizing things aren’t adding up after a classmate suddenly dies on prom night. There’s a diary. There are lies. There’s a slow unraveling of memory and loyalty that I really liked.

The tension builds well, and the themes — grief, guilt, power dynamics — actually really hit. That said, some of the plot twists felt familiar if you’ve read a lot of thrillers (I am also really good at guessing), and the supernatural-ish elements didn’t always feel fully necessary, but they added to the atmosphere.

Honestly I flew through it. Definitely recommend if you’re in the mood for something twisty, layered, and a little dark!.

💙⋆˙⟡ YA Thriller
💙⋆˙⟡ Paranormal Elements
💙⋆˙⟡ Betrayal and Revenge
💙⋆˙⟡ Cliques and Drama

⋆˙⟡ ♡ thank you Wednesday books and Net Galley for the ARC

Honestly, this was such a fun and exciting read. Not my usual genre at all, but it was the perfect little palate cleanser. I flew through it and really liked Julie Soto’s writing style. Definitely makes me want to pick up more of her stuff.

This just feels basic and boring. Like so many other things I’ve read before. I couldn’t get into it 🤷🏻‍♀️

4.5 / 5 🌟
0.5 / 5 spicy 🌶️ (very much YA, reference to acts without going into detail)
🎧 narrator was good!


If you binged 13 Reasons Why on Netflix, then you will LOVE The Thrashers by Julie Soto

Emily Mills is desperate to become a Thrasher, the popular clique at her new high school. When she is found dead on Prom night, the truth emerges on the events that leading up to her death, and who may be involved. The story follows the 5 Thrashers- Jodi, Paige, Lucy, Zack, and Julian, told from the POV of Jodi Dillon and as the story unfolds, you learn truth isn’t always reality and there’s a fine line between innocence and guilt.

There is so much angst throughout the book and you really do shift your views as the truth emerges.


I had a hard time putting this book down, it was entirely captivating. While it’s labeled as YA, there is so much depth to the writing, coverage of heavy topics (see the trigger warnings below) , and angsty twisty thriller with a little romance and a little paranormal that it is very enjoyable for adult readers too.

That ending 🤯🤯🤯 the distance makes sense now

Was anyone else hoping for a HEA between Jodi and Julian? I feel like there’s room for a sequel, the college years

Big thanks to NetGalley for an eARC, all views are my own

Trigger warnings

(Below)



- statutory rape (reference to, no actual description)
- parent abuse
- alcoholic parent
- teen drinking and drug use
- teen suicide
- high school bullying

This book was a lot of fun. The female characters names Jodi/Paige/Lucy were hard to keep straight, and Paige and Lucy's characters just completely blended togethe. Jodi's journey was very interesting. Julian's was too. The epilogue left me with so many questions. All in all, a fun read.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that this is YA; it is dark, twisty and perfect for spooky season.

Welcome to the Thrashers, the elite friend group at New Helvetia High.
They’re everything everyone wants to be.
Jodi Dillon was never meant to be one of them. Julian, Lucy, Paige, and the infamous Zack Thrasher are rich, sophisticated, and love attention. Jodi feels out of place, but Zack’s her childhood best friend, so she’s in.
Then Emily Mills, who desperately wanted to be a Thrasher, dies―and the whispers about the Thrashers begin. As Emily’s journal surfaces, detectives close in, and Jodi faces an impossible choice: betray her friends or protect herself.
But as eerie messages and strange occurrences escalate, it becomes clear―Emily isn’t done with them yet.


While this took a minute to get into holy moly when we hit the gas pedal we didn’t stop. I questioned everything and everyone. I couldn’t turn the pages fast enough. I put this off for so long due to the hype but man I regret doing that. This will be perfect for fall tbrs but please check trigger warnings and it contains heavy themes of bullying and suicide

The night I died was supposed to be my prom night.”

Holy crow! This young adult thriller was an absolute emotional roller coaster ride! It all started with Emily Mills’s suicide on prom night and raises so many thought provoking questions about friendship and being excluded, bullying, mental health, and so much more. When Emily’s journal surfaces, allegations that she had been bullied by a popular clique known as The Thrashers start circulating. This story had me completely hooked from the beginning and the paranormal aspects only enhanced the mystery and suspense. I won’t lie and say that the main characters were perfect or even nice at all times . It was interesting that each of them felt insecure about their place in the group in different ways. We often don’t realize that everyone else feels those same insecurities underneath it all. There were so many plot twists and surprises that kept me guessing all the way through, and some things I saw coming, but happened differently than I expected. The character development was incredible and I really did love the friendships and how they ultimately had each other’s backs, for the most part. I, also, enjoyed that while I felt truly bad for Emily at several points, she wasn’t portrayed as being wholly perfect or innocent. This was the first book by Julie Soto that I’ve ever read but it will definitely not be my last.

"The Thrashers" is a dark and addictive YA thriller set at New Helvetia High. The story follows Jodi Dillon, a girl who’s never really felt like she fits in, even though she’s part of an exclusive clique known as the Thrashers, led by Zack, a rich kid with everything going for him, with a personality that captives everyone.

When Emily Mills, desperate to join their group, dies on prom night, everything changes. Her diary comes to light, casting suspicion on the Thrashers and forcing Jodi to confront unsettling truths. Told through her perspective, the book blends chilling supernatural touches with the heavy weight of guilt, leaving you questioning what’s real and what’s imagined.

The epilogue gave us a “mic drop” conclusion that left me both breathless and wanting more. If there’s a book two, I would absolutely binge read it like I did this one!

This was SO good!!! I seriously flew through this and could not put it down! It kept me guessing till the end and that epilogue had me like 😲. 10/10 recommend, this is one of the best thrillers/mysteries I’ve ever read! 4.5⭐️

This was a fun read that kept me engaged and had me hooked. It had quite a few twists and I did not see all of them coming. I will definitely recommend it to my students!

Julie Soto does it again with a romance that’s equal parts swoony and full of heart. The Thrashers has that perfect mix of tension, chemistry, and emotional pull that kept me hooked the whole way through. The banter is sharp, the romance feels earned, and the characters had me rooting for them from the start.

It’s fun, a little angsty in the best way, and gave me exactly what I wanted from a Julie Soto book. A solid 4-star read that left me smiling and a little sad to turn the last page.

This book was like Gossip Girl on steroids, and with a creepy twist. I ate it up! The characters were awful in the best way!

If you’re seeking a YA mystery that delves into the paranormal, brimming with doubts and lies, where the angst is simply chef’s kiss and concludes with a heartbreaking, “what-could-have-been-if-only” twist, then Julie Soto’s book is the perfect read for you. Prepare to be captivated and yearning for more.

The depth of this book is staggering, and I can’t recommend it enough because you must experience it firsthand.

One small detail about the ending still bothers me, particularly considering how it could have altered the fate of one of the characters.

Julie Soto is basically a unicorn author—she can hop genres like nobody’s business, and every single time she delivers something fresh and addictive. The Thrashers is no exception.

I’m a complete sucker for a YA thriller/mystery, and this one immediately jumped onto my favorites list. From page one it grabs you, pulls you into the glittery, toxic world of the Thrashers, and refuses to let go. It’s clever, twisty, and oh-so-dramatic in the best way. The characters are layered and messy (seriously, messy), the relationships are complicated, and every chapter keeps you guessing about who you can really trust.

On top of all the intrigue and suspense, Soto doesn’t shy away from weaving in deeper themes—bullying, toxic friendships, abuse, and the dangers of losing yourself to the crowd. It’s very much a “be careful who you surround yourself with” kind of story, and that hit home for me in a way that made the book feel more than just a thriller.

My only complaint? There’s a tiny thread that wasn’t tied up, and now my brain is buzzing with questions. (Julie, if you see this, pls send help—or a sequel!! 👀).

All in all, this book is sharp, suspenseful, and ridiculously bingeable. If you love YA thrillers with drama, secrets, and a dash of the eerie, The Thrashers needs to be on your TBR immediately.

The Thrashers pulled me in right from the start. Julie Soto really knows how to write charged banter and complex dynamics, and this book delivers both in spades. The characters felt messy but real, and while some moments were frustrating, they added to the authenticity of the story. it doesn’t shy away from flawed characters making frustrating choices. The tension between the characters simmers on every page, sometimes spilling over into angst-filled confrontations that had me glued to the book.

The Thrashers are an elite and entitled group of friends (or are they?) who everyone wants to be friends with. Emily Mills, who desperately wanted to be a Thrasher is found dead and her journal may contain information that shows exactly who the Thrashers really are.
While I found the idea of the name “the Thrashers” kind of cheesy, bullies come in many different forms; these bullies just happened to be named after a boy that everyone seems to idolize. This book has heavy topics with a lot of twists and turns along with some paranormal aspects.
⚠️ please check TW⚠️

Thank you to St. Martin's Press for this e-ARC of The Thrashers by Julie Soto in exchange for an honest review. I'm really glad to see contemporary mystery and thriller still has its moments, and it's not just the same three authors over and over. However, as much as I wanted to like this book, I couldn't. The best way I could compare this writing style is to Lynn Painter but wannabe edgier, as Lynn Painter's YA protagonists are on the quirkier side. The Thrashers are the "cool kids" and they're this elite group, but I think where Julie Soto fails is that none of them are engaging. It feels like she's trying to slot them in for a CW show. I believe Julie Soto has a background in screenwriting, so it makes sense that I can visually imagine this more as a show than as a book because it lacks a lot of the immersion that you would expect from a mystery/thriller book. From the first chapter, it felt a little clunky, like someone observed teenagers without putting in the work to really understand the innerworkings of their mind, instead just formulating a "Gen Z" image of them that they hoped their YA audience would look at and say, "Hey! That's familiar to me". The plot twist was okay, but since I didn't get invested in the characters, I felt like I didn't really care.