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. 🥂

The Thrashers captured me in a very unexpected way. I went into this totally blind and I'm glad I did because this story completely enveloped me and kept me seated. The Thrashers was an interesting look at how clicks in high school can effect a teenagers mental health as well as how a crush can cloud your judgement of a person so much that you can't accept what and who they are.

I'm so glad I picked this up and I hope that everyone else does too because it is not one to miss.

This was a wild ride. I wasn’t expecting to be sucked into the story but I was. Great YA thriller with some paranormal elements. I did feel bad on how it ended especially with the epilogue.

I received an arc from netgalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review.

I have a lot of thoughts about this book, but I don't know where to start. I was really looking forward to this one, but right off the bat, I had some problems with it.

Don't get me wrong, the book isn't necessarily bad. The writing itself is really well done, and I can see why people like Julie Soto as an author. But if I'm being honest here, the book is just a lot of... tropes? Cliches? Overdone plots? that are all thrown together.

We have our main character, Jodi, and she's not as skinny/pretty/rich as all her skinny/pretty/rich friends. She's the outcast of her group, and one of the other boys is mean to her for it. Then we have the dead girl, Emily, who is "haunting" them after her death, someone is sending anonymous text messages to the group of friends, the try-hard detective isn't trying hard enough, and all of this feels like a conglomeration of every single YA high school murder mystery since Pretty Little Liars first got popular. See the problem? And for the most part, I liked Jodi as a main character, but then there were other times I just... did not, and I had to roll my eyes at her inner monologue and move on.

The ending was also okay. You're still left with more questions than answers. And again, I didn't hate any of it, but I didn't love it either. So overall, I guess this book just wasn't for me.

The Trashers delivers a juicy, twist-filled ride through the glittering, cutthroat world of New Helvetia High’s elite friend group. Julie Soto takes all the tension of a prep-school thriller and mixes it with a ghost story that lingers like a chill at the back of your neck.

Jodi Dillon is an easy character to root for—awkward, loyal, and in way over her head. As the only outsider in the Thrashers, her discomfort feels authentic, especially as the mystery around Emily’s death begins to unravel. Zack, Lucy, Julian, and Paige are a mix of fascinating and terrifying—sharp-tongued and magnetic, the kind of people you want to impress but never fully trust. Watching Jodi navigate loyalty, guilt, and self-preservation makes for an intense and emotionally satisfying experience.

The pacing is sharp, with short chapters and cliffhangers that practically beg you to keep reading. Emily’s journal entries add just the right amount of psychological unease, and the ghostly elements—whether real or imagined—give the story its bite. Soto captures the volatility of teen friendships and the cruelty that can hide beneath charisma and privilege.

If anything held this back from a full five stars, it was the occasional predictability of the twists and a few character beats that felt slightly underexplored. Still, the atmosphere, voice, and suspense more than make up for it.

Final verdict: The Trashers is messy, moody, and addictive—a perfect pick for fans of One of Us Is Lying and A Good Girl’s Guide to Murder, with a paranormal edge that keeps things deliciously eerie.

I devoured this YA thriller! It gave off Veronica Mars, Gossip Girl, and Final Destination vibes that kept me on the edge of my seat. Julie Soto does a great job developing her characters and weaving a compelling mystery. I'll read anything that she writes, but I truly hope that she decides to write more thrillers, I'd love to see more of the Thrashers world!.

The Thrashers are a group of elite friends in a California high school, put under a microscope following the tragic suicide of Emily, a student that persistently tried to be one of them. Emily's journal entries are used for the police investigation and each member of The Thrashers is facing media attention and scrutiny. The friend group starts to see what secrets each other have been hiding and find that Emily may be getting revenge from the grave...

This YA debut from Julie Soto was a wild ride! It is filled with drugs, parties, alcohol, teen drama, and paranormal events. As someone who loved Pretty Little Liars growing up, this book scratches that itch!! The author really showcases the effects of bullying and trying to fit in with the cool crowd. I think Julie should continue to write thrillers- I'd love to read another one!

Thank you NetGalley, Wednesday Books, and the author for an advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

Not my preferred genre, but I decided to give it a try since it was offered as a "read now" and it's always good to try new things! Well done for YA mystery.

Oh wow am I ever happy that the internet was barely a thing when I was in high school. Yes, I just aged myself. I think I got an email address in grade 9? It was painful to check because dial up was a thing and nobody could keep themselves from picking up the phone for 20 minutes.

This was such a well written book about what it feels like to be in school with people who you're not really sure are your true friends but you are desperate to stay connected with them. I think that even as adults we sometimes face these same fears. "Are my mom friends going out for mimosas without me cause I said something stupid at the playground?" I don't think we ever really grow out of our insecurities, they just shift in our lives as we age.

Jodi is a really refreshing character in the sense that she realises the mistakes that were made and attempts to fix them. She is your typical high school girl, she does dumb things and doesn't even notice the pain she leaves in her wake, but once she's had it brought to her attention she really does try to do the right thing.

I loved the hints of a ghost story. Is Emily really trying to reach The Thrashers from beyond the grave? Or was their guilt for being shitty people getting to them?

Oh Julian.... I need more. That's all. He's every boy I ever loved. A little bit mean and completely out of my league.

Thank you to Wednesday Books [St Martin's Press] for making sure I got a copy of The Thrashers to review. It is now available wherever books are sold or borrowed

Thank you NetGalley and Wednesday Books for the ARC! Julie Soto can truly write anything. This high school thriller left me grateful I didn’t have anything like this experience to relate to from my HS years.

Very rarely do I find a perfected book - from Characters, plot, pacing...it was all *chef's kiss**. This is my first Julie Soto book, but will not be my last.

Lots of twist and turns. Kept the pages turning! Sometimes forgot this was YA enjoyed the writing! Shocking at times. Didn’t love the paranormal elements.

Thank you @wednesdaybooks & Julie Soto for my #gifted copy of this book in exchange for an honest review!

This was my first Julie Soto book, and I can honestly say—I get the hype! I was hooked from the very beginning. The Thrashers centers around an exclusive friend group that holds serious influence over their school. Everyone wants to be part of their world—but at what cost?

When Emily Mills, a girl who desperately wants to be a Thrasher winds up dead, who will take the blame for it? And will the Thrashers take a good hard look at how their actions affect others?

This book tackles heavy themes while still playing with classic teen stereotypes. There were plenty of twists and turns, and for a long time, I couldn’t predict how things would unfold. There were so many secrets kept - especially between the Thrashers - that you never quite knew who was at fault for everything that happened.

I especially liked Jodi (Zack Thrasher’s best friend) - she felt relatable. She was a good friend who was desperately trying to keep her place in her exclusive friend group. She never felt like she fit in, but she tried hard to.

The friendships in this book were toxic in so many ways, yet also incredibly compelling. They were complex and the loyalty they had for each other was intense. They were like a train wreck I couldn’t look away from. This book was giving pretty little liars vibes in a great way - but with significantly better writing.

Overall, this was a great YA thriller full of dark secrets, complicated friendships, and harsh twists and turns. I highly recommend it!

Wow. The way I could not put this down once I got into it! It was kind of giving me Pretty Little Liars meets Gossip Girl Meets Final Destination? And I was eating it upppp.
I love J so much, I don’t care. I will be impatiently waiting for book 2!

Happy thriller Thursday! Talk about a thriller with all of my favourite things… YA, has high school/campus settings, full of secrets, revenge, and tons of drama and gossip?? I think this was the perfect book written for me!

The Thrashers are a groups of students that are all friends. Zack Thrasher, the leader, Julian, Lucy and Paige are all rich kids that love attention. Then there is Jodi, who doesn’t really fit in with the group, but is included because she is Zack’s childhood best friend.

Then there is newcomer Emily Mills, who wants so badly to be apart of the group. When she suddenly dies and her journal surfaces, everyone is looking at The Thrashers to figure out what is going on.

I really enjoyed this one and the story it took me on, it was hard to put down and definitely kept the pages turning!

my rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️✨

🥳pub day: May 6th

this was an engaging, fascinating, hilarious (darkly), and shocking good time of a story!!!! I couldn’t put it down, I had to know what was going to happen next! and now that it’s over I STILL NEED TO KNOW WHAT HAPPENS NEXT!!! I don’t know how to review more than this without spoiling, just know I loved it and I need more!!!!

thank you for the arc!!!

The Thrashers was intriguing and thrilling and I loved it so much. I read a lot of thrillers and this is one of the best I’ve read in a while.

Jodi and her friend group are known as “The Thrashers” and everyone wants to join them. When someone gets rejected from hanging out with them, it’s even called getting “Thrashed”. So when Emily dies, they are all implicated in her death. It seems like she is haunting them, with the lights flickering and the accidents they keep being involved in. Jodi has to decide whether to protect herself and betray her friends, or find a way to clear their names.

Jodi struggling with knowing if her friends really want her around or not was extremely relatable. She doesn’t have the money they do, and she starts noticing they hang out without her. Emily had a weird fixation with her that is never really explained. I couldn’t put this book down and had to know what would happen. That ending makes me hopeful that there will be another book.

Julie Soto and I must have the same brain receptors or something because I swear I just eat up anything this woman puts on paper. The Thrashers was exciting, creepy, entertaining, suspenseful, etc etc. I’m not usually one for thrillers but let’s be honest Julie Soto is a favorite and with this being described with Veronica Mars (I hate you Rob Thomas!) vibes, I wasn’t going to skip it.

I enjoyed the characters so much. Even though Jodie is our main the other members of the gang are explored thoroughly. I didn’t think they were too overly adult but I haven’t been in high school for ages so don’t hold me to this. I did feel Jodie’s constant need to feel validated as an actual member of the group though. That felt real and I think pretty relatable to a lot of young people.

The suspense of it all was really creepy and I did get scared a few times but I’m such a wimp so I doubt anyone else will have problems with it lol. The familial abuses explored were also really emotional and painful to read about but I really liked that Jodie found another to share the pain with.

Speaking of that other person, that’s the only thing I didn’t enjoy. How is Julie going to leave our boy in there to rot?! Is there going to be a sequel?? That epilogue opens up so many possibilities but I need him to get some sort of happy ending!

Overall another stunner by Julie Soto, really can’t wait to see which avenue she explores next! Thank you so much to Wednesday Books for gifting me this eARC in exchange for an honest review!