Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for providing an earc in exchange for an honest review.

All I have to say is WOW!! Julie Soto truly outdid herself with this one per usual. I was so hooked from the moment I started reading. It had me on my toes the entire time, wondering if there was paranormal activity or truly just guilt manifesting itself. I’m going to need an explanation on that epilogue stat and about 400 more pages of Julian and Jodie…tysm

Wow! I was hooked from the first chapter, couldn’t read this fast enough. Great for fans of Pretty Little Liars and 13 Reasons Why. A haunting story and reminder of how high school really is the most binding yet toughest years of your life.

Thank you NetGalley and Julie Soto for the opportunity to review this ARC

Not really my cup of tea! I loved Julie Soto's previous books but this one just wasn't for me. Would still recommend to others to see if its for them, because I can see why people like it.

I wanted to love this because it came so highly recommended by my friends but.....I just couldn't with these characters lol
The mystery part was great! At times intense and I WAS curious enough to keep going as I really want know "who dun it".
But alas, as the story kept going besides wanting that answer I found myself caring less and less what happened to the character.
NONE of them were likable, AT ALL. There was ZERO chemistry in the tad bit of romance forced into the story and I feel after everything nobody got their just dues. The victim was psycho, the suspects were spoiled high school bullies that cared for no one but themsleves, and the FMC was blinded by a crush of all things, and then there was all that messing with spirits stuff.
Also I'll never understand why girls stick with boys that treat them like crap lol
But yeah, a lot of high school jealousy drama that was over the top and it overroad the mystery plot, sadly. This book just wasnt for me.

The Thrashers is a YA thriller that reminds me of why I love YA so much!
This book is centered around popular/rich high school kids, a clique called "The Thrashers." These high school years are very important to these kids. They are worried about it all- the impression they make on others, what people think about them, fitting in, and cliquing up, all while being so fragile and dealing with their own personal issues, be it domestic or internal.
The Thrashers are the kids everyone wants to either be, be like, or be liked by. Anything other than that simply isn't good enough. And that's what Emily Mills thought, and unfortunately, it led to her unaliving herself. All eyes are on the Thrashers now more than ever, as we uncover what really happened in this "friends" group. Emily's journal is the one major thing that police have to rely on, however, it is soon proven that not even they can trust all that is written in said journal.
I really enjoyed this book. It is a solid 4-star read, with great characters, a great plot, and even better twists. There is a lot going on throughout the story, however, it's all so good that you'd be invested and able to follow through from start to finish. The ending is a little anticlimactic for it to be a cliffhanger, however, the book itself was so good that I didn't mind!
Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, and Julie Soto for this ARC!

The Thrashers follows Jodi Dillon as she wrestles with her friend group’s secrets and deception following the allegations that her and her friends drove a girl to commit suicide. This was a wild ride of read. Soto excels as keeping the pacing up and on my toes. What definitely surprised me was the use of the supernatural and other genres intermixed in this thriller. I think that was a huge factor in my continued interest.

I also enjoyed how nuanced the characters are. Everyone is so human - no one comes off as a caricature. Everyone’s action is motivated well with defensible in their point of views even the victim. Jodi was a wonderful person to lead us through the world as she struggles with her own feelings of being in the periphery due to her socio-economic class, her family history, and her appearance. Even as Jodi learns this the audience comes to realize that everyone can be a villain in a story. Everyone can be susceptible to the “crowd.”

The only set of pull backs come from the conversations that are not fully explored. Whether it’s abuse, the “truth”, classism, these topics deserved some further examination and I truly believed it would enrich the plot beats if they were. All in all, a compelling genre bending tale where no one’s the winner. A tragedy if you will.

The Thrashers is a spooky ya thriller. I enjoyed the paranormal aspect (especially the one part at the end), but the entire time I felt like I was waiting to see if it was really something paranormal, or if the characters were going to have a legit reason why some things happened. I was reading at night during one point and had to stop because I was so spooked! Overall it was an enjoyable book and the ending made it worth it.
Thank you Netgalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC!

The Thrashers 📓🏫🚓💡🚬
5🌟
1🫑

Thank you so much to Wednesday Books for the chance to read and enjoy this free advanced copy!

WOW. I want to start this review off by saying that I need a cigarette after finishing this book, and I don’t even smoke. Holy moly, that was INTENSE!

Going in, I knew that I loved Julie Soto’s writing, so I was really excited to see how she would approach a YA thriller. I was hooked from the first page, and I could not put this book down (I literally read 30% of it at a concert between acts).

There were twists, there were turns, and there were “OMG” moments that literally kept me from falling asleep at night. I didn’t realize that this book was going to have a paranormal aspect to it, and that really rattled my psyche LOL.

I loved the third-person POV that this book was written in, the friendships between characters, and the parallels between Jodi’s life and her life with The Thrashers. ALSO- can we talk about that epilogue? My jaw was on the FLOOR!

I will say that this book has some incredibly heavy triggers. A good portion of them can be inferred from the synopsis, but if you are a sensitive reader, please move forward with caution.

This book is marketed as YA, and it definitely is YA in terms of graphic content both in aspects of violence and sexual situations, but it falls more into the upper YA category due to its dark and heavy nature.

I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

I haven’t read a YA or a thriller in such a long time so having both of these combined in one book was an absolute pleasure because it was such a fun book to read! This is my first full length novel by this author, I’ve read MANY of her fanfiction writings and they are truly top tier, and I knew this would be just as good as, if not better. And to no surprise, it was. There was a plethora of secrets and a ton of mystery sewn in throughout this book. It kept me guessing the entire time, which I absolutely love about thrillers. It took me a little bit to get into it after the first few chapters but once I did, I was thoroughly sucked into it. I read from chapter 5 on in one sitting.

That epilogue.. SO GOOD! And I really want more. I highly recommend this if you’re looking for an intriguing, easy, filled with mystery, suspense, and something different.

P.s. I would thoroughly enjoy a romance book between Jodi and Julian. PLEASE AND THANK YOU!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the eARC in exchange for an honest review!

I have read very few YA thrillers, not because I don’t like them, but because I just don’t gravitate towards them in my mood reading. With that said, it did take me two tries before getting into it, but when I did, I finished it in one sitting!

I love Julie Soto and everything she has written, and this is no exception. These teenage characters felt so real and Jodi’s high school experience was dynamic and complex. Her shifting feelings and observations were well done.

The Thrashers friend group (reluctantly named by others) had such, at first glance, very cookie cutter roles, which seemed intentional. I enjoyed how I didn’t know what to expect from Zack, Julian, Lucy, and Paige, just like Jodi.

Emily’s death was a big question mark (honestly everything about Emily lol), and while I guessed some of what happened, there were things I didn’t see coming.

While this is not something I would usually pick up on first look, I’m so glad I did.

4 stars

First, I want to thank NetGalley, the author, and the publisher for this arc in exchange for an honest review.
Wow! I don’t read a lot of thrillers nor YA anymore, but after loving Julie Soto’s romance books, I knew I wanted to give this one a try.
And wow, yet again, Julie Soto does not disappoint. This book had me gripped and I did not want to put it down.
The way the mystery and the incidents happening to the characters are interwoven throughout the book really kept me questioning what was happening now and what actually happened in the past.
The characters were all intriguing and easy for me to keep straight in my head. I feel like this is one of the best high school set books that I’ve read a long time.
I also wanted to give a special shout out to the Sacramento setting as someone who lives in NorCal, I love how I knew a lot of the places mentioned in the book.
Finally that epilogue - wow - definitely one last chill for the reader *shudders*

This story is a thrilling and fast-paced YA adventure that truly pulled me in! Jodi Dillon, an outsider connected to an elite high school clique through her childhood friendship with Zack Thrasher, finds herself caught up in a mysterious and dark situation after a girl, eager to join their group, meets an untimely fate. As bizarre events unfold and Emily’s journal unveils hidden secrets, the tension escalates, beautifully blending suspense, drama, and even touches of the supernatural. I was pleasantly surprised by the emotional depth, especially with the heartfelt themes of grief, toxic friendships, and self-discovery. I couldn't put it down and finished it in one sitting. I wholeheartedly recommend it!

Thank you to Wednesday Books, Julie Soto, and NetGalley for this e-arc in exchange for my honest review.

Man, oh where to even begin. Julie Soto has truly delivered a masterpiece in this story - I feel like she truly branched out and this new genre and wow this one is gripping! It pulls you in and just the journey through how complex teenage life is...

One of my favorite shows has been Pretty Little Liars since it first came out - I absolutely binged the show and then immediately downloaded all of the books (my first kindle books!) and read them all. So mix that with 13 Reasons Why and you'll absolutely be entranced by this book. I started this book in the afternoon and was not able to go to bed until I finished this book! I loved the thrill from this book, and just the touch of paranormal that is in this one... so, so, so well done.

This book was different for me.
Jodi befriends Emily. Emily wants to be part the of the "it" group if you will. She passes away and it seems that the ghost of her is haunting every one of them except for Jodi. They want to know the truth of Emily's death and why things kept happening.
I enjoyed the story and wanted to read until the end. Thank you netgalley for the opportunity.

Imagine a cross between a good girls guide to murder and pretty little liars….

This was ADDICTING. like omg. I think this might be my favorite by Julie (which is amazing bc this is YA?)

I could not put this down. I needed to know EVERYTHING. I didn’t know who was doing what, who we were rooting for, who was innocent (if any?)… this was amazing.

I described the process of reading this book as "I feel like I'm fifteen and can't put it down."
That's high praise these days because my attention span is shot. But this book gripped me from the beginning and refused to let go. I finished it in a day.

The main character, Jodi, is caught up in a group of people that outsiders have dubbed 'The Thrashers.' Zack Thrasher, son of a prominent lawyer and guy who is nice to anyone who adores him, is the ringleader of the group. He brings people into his web leaving the close friends to accept them or reject them.

I found certain aspects of this novel so well-described that it brought back trauma from my own high school days. The possessiveness of your friends, knowing that you don't quite fit into the group, having someone in the friend group actively disliking you even though others insist they don't see what you're seeing. In every high school, there's always a couple of magnetic boys that everyone loves because he makes them feel seen, feel special. It rang so true that people could get swept up in that to the point of near-fanaticism about him.

Emily Mills sure felt that way for a while and she ended up dead. Dead in the bathroom on prom night while the group of friends were enjoying their time in a limo. The way the guilt over Emily's death manifests in each person was fascinating to read. I really enjoyed the "bullying" aspect of the novel because it is incredibly hard sometimes to draw a clear line between what's harassment, bullying, or just setting boundaries with someone who can't draw their own.

I won't spoil anything except that <spoiler> I need more Jodi and Julian. The simmering, slow-burn aspect to their relationship was fantastic and the scene with the paint was perfect. I heard through the grapevine that there might be a sequel to this and I've got my fingers crossed that it's true. </spoiler>

The manipulation, jealousy, loneliness, etc. radiated out of this novel in the best way. I was always on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next and who I could trust. I highly highly recommend this book to anyone looking for a YA-that-doesn't-quite-feel-like-YA thriller.

Thank you to the publishers and NetGalley for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest review.

Julie Soto, I will be seeking out the rest of your books. I've been sleeping on you.

Loved this! I've not read Julie Soto before, but I'm sure to pick up her books moving forward! This was so much more entertaining than I was expecting. All the characters were well written with distinct voices. I absolutely binged this book.

Julie Soto is one of my favorite authors, point blank. Full stop. So I get a little nervous when author's go outside of the genre I know for them. But that was foolish. FOOLISH. Because of course Julie can write anything she wants and absolutely nail it. I love her so freaking much. This book was fantastic, of course and I feel so lucky to have gotten this ARC. I love her thrashy children, I love this book, I just...I LOVE JULIE SOTO!!

Julie Soto weaves a very intricate mystery with this tale that kept me completely engrossed and very stressed the entire length of the book, that I finished in a single night. The main character Jodi and her friend group are being accused with bullying a girl into suicide, a crime Jodi believes they are innocent of, but as the story unfolds, readers get to see every messy detail of this complicated friend group. Each character in the friend group is beautifully fleshed out, and they continually shocked me. The jerk ended up melting my heart. The heart-throb make me want to gag, and the ghost ended up with the most potent presence. This story is haunting, thrilling, and it will stick with me for a while!

I truly would read anything Julie Soto writes….i just didn’t except to love a thriller from her so much. This had Pretty Little Liars vibes and was incredibly written.

Thanks so much for this early copy, Netgalley!