“She looked up at him and saw him frowning. She had the distinct impression that Zack Thrasher hadn’t gotten what he wanted for once in his life. She smiled.”

Jodi Dillon never expected to be a member of the “in crowd” at New Helvetia High School, but her position among the teen elite was cemented by her connection with Zack Thrasher, New Helvetia’s golden boy. The once seemingly perfect lives of Jodi, Zack, Lucy, Paige, and Julian, collectively known as the “Thrashers” by their peers, are upended by the death of fellow high school student Emily Mills on prom night. Emily, who longed to be included in this exclusive group, left a trail of clues that point the blame for her death at Jodi and her friends. As detectives circle the Thrashers and public scrutiny grows, Jodi becomes increasingly uncertain about where her loyalties should lie. To make matters worse, Jodi and her friends seem to be haunted by the ghost of Emily, who even beyond the grave is obsessed with being included in the lives of the Thrashers.

In her YA debut, Soto crafts a captivating mystery thriller whose final pages left me with my jaw on the floor. The beginning immediately drew me in, with the Thrashers dealing with the social and legal consequences of their connection to Emily Mills. While I remained engaged throughout the book, wanting to know just as much as the characters what happened on prom night, the book had so many moving parts that certain storylines and characters were neglected as the narrative progressed. Supernatural elements of the story also dropped in and out throughout the story, leading to confusion about the source of some problems that arise. I didn’t feel like the novel had real closure, which I’m hoping means Soto is considering a continuation of this story; otherwise, I was left unsatisfied with the way each character’s story concluded. I would have liked to see more depth added to the core characters in order to better understand their actions and motives. Zack, Paige, and Lucy were hard to connect to, despite Zack being the ringleader of the group and the center of the Emily Mills conflict. Despite the lack of connection with these characters, Jodi was a compelling protagonist. Her feelings about not belonging to her friend group were incredibly relatable, as were her more pragmatic concerns and moral dilemmas during the novel. The narrative Soto crafts, while at times disjointed or unrelatable, is intensely interesting and tackles complex subjects through the perspectives of a morally grey cast of characters.

Definitely my favorite of Julie Soto’s books!

If you know me you know that I’ve struggled with her romances (FMN particularly gives me rage), but even though I had a couple small complaints with this one, I really enjoyed the experience and the way it was plotted and those things weren’t enough to decrease my interest (and considering this has paranormal vibes without advertising that way, that’s actually saying a lot for me).

It’s pretty well plotted and the one of the reveals in particular at the end was SO interesting and not at all what I expected, so that was pretty fun. Several things I did guess, but I don’t think that’s so bad for a YA book.

I do think a couple of the plot points/twists near the end were a little loose and didn’t get quite tied up in a way that answered all my questions, which was a bit of a bummer. I also didn’t really fully understand the relationship development between two of the characters and how we went from one extreme to heading towards the other. It was kind of odd and I don’t think super well done, but in my opinion relationship development is one of the author’s weakest writing points. Fortunately it wasn’t a huge part of the story so I could mostly look past it.

Personally I think there was great setup for a sequel, and I’d actually be very interested to read it. Even more so if she kind of expounded on those few things I thought were left a little loose (besides the epilogue).

Overall some issues, but nothing that took away from my enjoyment in any truly significant capacity. I’d recommend it if you’re in the mood for a YA thriller that is somewhat predictable but still fun.

Also, couldn’t help but picture Zach from The Challenge as Zach in this book. I don’t know why but they have the same vibe.

Thanks to Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the advance copy! All opinions are my own.

If Julie Soto writes it, I will read it. I REPEAT! IF JULIE SOTO WRITES IT, I WILL READ IT. And ultimately love it too…

This book was no exception. Yeah, sure, I was totally skeptical at first because this is a YA mystery/thriller and it’s not what I’d typically read or even be interested in reading for that matter. But make no mistake, this book was goooooood. I was having so much anxiety while reading this because there was a ton of suspense, but I absolutely loved the whole paranormal aspect of this book.

BUT DON’T GET ME STARTED ON THAT ENDING!

Julie! BESTIE! Please tell me there’s going to be a second book? Because how dare you and the book like that AND NOT write a follow up???

I need to hear more about Julian. He was my favorite character, and you did him soooo dirty. Girl, he needs a redemption arc in the second book. BETTER YET, write the next book from his POV because his hair must be so big with all the secrets he’s keeping. I need to know what he knows and I need it NOW.

Suspenseful read, and the narration made it an enjoyable listen. What would you do if you felt like you never fit in, and then had information that could change the course of the lives of those around you? There's the perfect amount of suspense and mystery to keep you interested in the story.

Thanks to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the eARC and ALC!

Julie Soto the woman that you are. What can’t you do honestly?

When I heard Julie was writing a YA mystery, I screamed. I love a good YA mystery novel and I have adored her romance novels.

First I want to say Holy shit that epilogue.
My mouth dropped immediately.

Somewhere in the middle of the book the movie Shutter crossed my mind, and damn I’m good. 😌 ifykyk

The book is fast paced and I found myself not being able to put it down. If you were someone who liked Pretty Little Liars, you’ll love this one. Highly recommend it!

Wish I had listened to the full thing on audiobook. HOLY SHIT that ending. This was really fun and had major PLL book vibes aka my comfort zone

Well, I haven’t stopped thinking about this book. There are certain things about it that rubbed me the wrong way. A lot of the female characters felt distant to me and very surface level for a teenager. Teens are often misrepresented and I felt the author did not spend much time with a teen before writing a YA book.
I did not feel the element of suicide and mental health was addressed appropriately for a book that is marketed towards teenagers. If suicide is brought into a book, I would expect there to be more mental health resources available to its audience and in content warnings.

Julie Soto’s The Thrashers is a pulse-pounding YA thriller with eerie paranormal overtones that will leave you breathless until the very last page. From its explosive opening—Emily, a high school student, tragically taking her own life on prom night—the story rockets forward with unrelenting suspense.

The story follows Jodi, who is part of a tight-knit friend group ominously nicknamed "the Thrashers." Suspicions swirl around her and her friends, when whispers emerge suggesting they were involved in Emily's final moments. Despite their firm denials, Emily’s personal diary casts a damning shadow, with entries hinting at harassment led by the Thrashers. The tension tightens when freak accidents begin to target the group—injuries, near-death experiences—leading Jodi to wonder if Emily’s ghost is exacting revenge from beyond the grave.

You begin to wonder if Emily is really haunting them? The story evolves into a compelling examination of guilt, trauma, and the secrets we bury to protect ourselves—or destroy others.

The story will keep you flipping pages late into the night.

From romance to thriller!!!! I’m amazed and honestly I absolutely love this book especially since I’ve read more ya thrillers than adult thrillers.

Thank you for this book. I have heard amazing things, but I am currently no longer interested in reading it at this time. Should I read it in the future, I will update my review.

Wow wow wow. Julie Soto what have you done to me? I could not put this book down, I kept turning page after page needing to know what happens next and wanting more!
The thriller atmosphere Julie weaves into The Thrashers is tense and eerie, it had me in a chokehold the whole time! I'll probably be thinking about it for months, it was SO good.
The friend group dynamics between the Thrashers were written really well and I found myself torn between liking the characters and my trust issues screaming at me that I should not trust anyone. I loved how none of them were inherently ‘good’ or ‘bad’ which kept it very engaging and had me guessing how everyone fit into the story. I enjoyed how Julie Soto explores high school/friend group hierarchies and the pressure of fitting in.
I REALLY liked the paranormal elements and how you never knew whether something was actually paranormal or just a coincidence. Besides making the characters paranoid, it made even me paranoid and I was questioning everything.
And the epilogue??? WHAT??? I'm seriously unwell. @Julie Soto save me from this agony and give us a sequel I'm begging on my knees.
～Thank you to St. Martin's Press and NetGalley for the arc!

Thank you to the author, publisher (St. Martin's Press) and NetGalley for allowing me to review this ARC with honesty.

So to start - I've never read anything by this author but the synopsis sounded appealing. This was nicely paced thriller that follows a group of teenagers as go through life after a tragedy that's changed everything. Unfortunately, there are those that won't let them move on.

I found this very well written along with the pacing (like I mentioned before) that allowed to read this one in one sitting.

I'm not a huge reader of YA Thrillers and with that, this one kept my attention. I will say that some of the storyline could have been tidied up a bit better as there were moments where I felt a little lost in terms of each twist. The one twist *which I will not say where as it may spoil* seemed a bit out of nowhere and with no real inkling that it was anywhere in the story. Overall, I did have fun reading this.

Julian, I would say, probably the most character development out of all of them. Jodi seemed okay. Oliver just confused me.

My Rating: 3.75 (rounded up)
(cross posted on GR)

The Thrashers by Julie Soto absolutely sucked me into the cutthroat world of high school cliques, delivering a gripping mystery that held me captive from the very first page. This novel is a sharp, atmospheric dive into loyalty, betrayal, and the dark side of desperate ambition.
From the get-go, Soto nails the allure and exclusivity of "The Thrashers," the untouchable elite at New Helvetia High. We see this world through the eyes of Jodi Dillon, who's an outsider by nature but finds herself inexplicably tied to the group through her childhood friendship with the infamous Zack Thrasher. Jodi's internal conflict immediately resonated with me; she's in the group, but she's not of them, and that subtle tension just permeates every interaction.
The story really kicks into gear with the tragic death of Emily Mills, a girl who desperately wanted to be a Thrasher. Soto masterfully ramps up the suspense as whispers turn into accusations, and Emily's journal starts to surface, revealing secrets that threaten to unravel the group's carefully constructed facade. The arrival of detectives adds another layer of pressure, forcing Jodi into an impossible bind: protect her friends, or protect herself? This moral dilemma is the absolute beating heart of the story, and I found myself constantly questioning what I would do in her shoes.
What truly elevates The Thrashers for me is the escalating sense of dread. The "eerie messages and strange occurrences" aren't just filler; they genuinely make you feel like Emily's presence lingers, adding a chilling, almost supernatural edge to the mystery. Soto maintains a tight grip on the pacing, slowly revealing clues and peeling back layers of deceit, keeping me guessing until the very end.
While the core group of Thrashers could sometimes lean a little heavily into their "rich, sophisticated, and attention-loving" stereotypes, Jodi's nuanced perspective and the unraveling mystery more than make up for it. The novel doesn't just ask "whodunit," but also delves into the psychological toll of keeping secrets and the destructive power of social hierarchies.
Overall, The Thrashers is a compelling and suspenseful read that brilliantly captures the intensity of high school drama with a dark, thrilling twist. It's a fantastic choice for anyone looking for a mystery that will keep them turning pages late into the night—it certainly did for me!

Thanks for the ARC! The Thrashers is a sharp, fast-paced thriller with a glam-meets-gritty vibe that pulls you in quick. The layers of secrets, power plays, and blurred loyalties kept the tension high, and Jodi’s internal conflict was compelling throughout. Some twists felt familiar, but the ride was so addictive I didn’t mind. A juicy, page-turning debut that delivers drama, danger, and just the right dose of teen chaos.

The Thrashers is a fun and twisty YA thriller about a group of 5 friends in high school that are very wealthy, apart from one. Out of the 4 very wealthy friends, Jodi is the 5th and she feels like she’s an outsider when it comes to her friend group. The 5 friends are widely referred to as “The Thrashers” because one of them is named Zack Thrasher.

This book was really fast paced and I found myself wanting to keep flipping through the pages to find out what happened with the sudden death of their classmate, as well as why. I found that our main character, Jodi, was really likable and relatively relatable. I find these kinds of characters really make me root for them and I become really invested in not only their outcome, but the outcome of the story and plot as a whole.

I would really recommend this for fans of Holly Jackson!

Thank you Wednesday Books and St. Martins Press for my copy of this!

Title: The Thrashers
Author: Julie Soto
Length: 352
Format: ebook arc
Pub Date: May 06 2025
Genre: Mystery & Thrillers | Teens & YA
Rating Out of 5: ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
Summary:
Welcome to the Thrashers—New Helvetia High’s most elite friend group.
Jodi Dillon doesn’t fit in with rich, glamorous Julian, Lucy, Paige, and Zack Thrasher—her childhood best friend. But when wannabe Thrasher, Emily Mills, dies, dark secrets start to surface. As Emily’s journal is found and detectives close in, Jodi must choose: protect the group or save herself. Because Emily might be gone, but she’s not finished.

Thoughts:
This book had me hooked from the very beginning! It gave me One of Us is Lying vibes, but with more goosebumps! It was just the right amount of suspense/creepy mixed with a good bit of high school drama that didn’t actually get on my nerves. I would recommend this to anyone! It’s a good little spooky read!

Special thanks to St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books and Netgalley for the arc in exchange for my honest review!

I had such a good time reading this. I didn’t know who to like or who to trust or not trust. Everyone was suspicious. This book gave me big 13 Reasons Why vibes but like the book version not the tv show version.

If that was your vibe, then you’ll love this fast paced YA thriller. I could not put it down!

Reading is all good and fun but please check content warnings for this book. While it’s a good read and I enjoyed my time reading it, there are HEAVY topics in the book!

This was a super edge of your seat YA thriller perfect for fans of Karen McManus. The Thrashers follows a close knit group of friends who are all upset about one of their group member's suicide that spring. They all start to get odd messages and once the layers start to peel back maybe they weren't all as nice as they seemed? Overall I enjoyed this read but I have some issues with the characters. Julien was just plain mean. A bully. Angry and rude. I don't really understand Jodie letting him in while he still is emotionally unavailable and NOT sorry for his actions towards her or Emily. I think any kind of character redemption could have happened in the epilogue. Thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin's Press for this eARC!

The Thrashers is Julie Soto proving she's an absolute menace who can dominate any genre she touches by delivering a YA thriller that had me clutching my Kindle at 2 AM with my mind absolutely blown. This book captures all the addictive toxicity of Pretty Little Liars but cranks the psychological terror up to eleven. Following Jodi as she navigates the deadly consequences of elite high school politics and a very pissed-off dead girl, I found myself ensnared in a web of secrets so twisted I couldn't even untangle what I thought would happen next. I don't even know how to describe this without spoiling anything, but if you want a YA thriller with some paranormal and a hint of morally grey romance, you need this.

I devoured The Thrashers in two days, which is like a record for me now. It was fast paced. Thrilling. Unputdownable. (is that even a word?)

After the suicide of one of their classmates, The Thrashers (a group of five friends) become the focus of a police investigation and the media's attention, as everyone begins to wonder how much they are to blame for her death.

This book begs the question: What's the line between bullying and setting boundaries with someone who keeps inserting themselves into your life like a stalker?
What I loved the most:
🫟 The intricacies of a highschool friend group
🫟 The subtle romance (I'm going to need a follow up story about Jodi and he who shall not be named)
🫟The gothic/ghost story elements that I ate up like I hadn’t read a creepy story in years

Highly recommend this one, friends. 🥂