Julie Soto can do no wrongs. I honestly believe she could write anything and I would devour it. Another 5 star read!!!

Thank you NetGalley and St Martins Press for this arc in exchange for an honest review!

4.25 stars

An addictive story with a questionable ending.

I had some small issues here and there with this book, but this was still real hard to put down. And this ended up being a little more supernatural than I was thinking it would be. I was thinking more of a something along the lines of A Good Girl's Guide to Murder. Is still had that feel but with a little extra added in.

There's a little bit of romance thrown in, and I was devouring that, though I feel like there were some holes there and some explanations I would have liked to have. Still a really intriguing plot line that I was eating up.

But I was a little underwhelmed with the conclusion of everything. I was waiting for a fairly big event or reveal but it wasn't anything that I wasn't already thinking or something I wasn't surprised by.

Now the epilogue is COMPLETEY DIFFERENT. And I'm unsure if Julie is giving us the potential for a sequel or if it's just a crazy ending to mess with your head. Either way, was definitely a wtf moment.

YA thrillers are the only YA subgenre I truly enjoy, so I was excited for this one, especially since Julie Soto is an auto-buy author for me. Fun fact: my book bestie helped me ask Julie at Steamylitcon last year if The Thrashers was Veronica Mars fanfic—and after hearing her answer, I couldn’t help but look for V-Mars parallels while reading. I spotted a few, but honestly, it gave more One of Us is Lying meets CW’s Nancy Drew vibes.

That said, I’m a little torn on how to rate this. I did enjoy it, but it felt a bit anticlimactic in the end. The way the secrets and relationships were revealed felt very reminiscent of Karen McManus’s work. The paranormal element and the budding frenemies-to-maybe-more romance were the main things that kept me reading. I almost feel like this needs a sequel—there’s a lot more that could be explored, especially that final twist in the epilogue. I need more on that exorcism lore!

All in all, while The Thrashers didn’t totally hit the mark for me, I still love Julie’s writing and am really looking forward to Rose in Chains.

This is a YA thriller, and I couldn't put it down, and I was shocked by the ending. Incredible!

The Advanced Review Copy (ARC) was provided by the publisher via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

Title: The Thrashers
Author: Julie Soto         
Genre: YA, mystery/thriller  
Rating: 4 out of 5

Either you're in or you're out.

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.

Zack wasn’t my favorite, but I actually enjoyed all the other characters. Even surly Julian grew on me pretty quickly. The seemingly supernatural bits of this were more or less believable—or were they mere coincidence—and there were some interesting dynamics at play in the friend group. Man, the people at this high school were the worst. Four out of five of the Thrashers seemed to learn from their experiences—but I’m not sure Zack did, which was too bad. This was a solid YA read that I really enjoyed.

Julie Soto is from California. The Thrashers is her newest novel.

(Galley courtesy of St. Martin’s Press in exchange for an honest review.)

(Blog link live 5/13).

The Thrashers is not like Julie Soto’s other two traditionally published works, and that’s not a bad thing at all. YA, paranormal mystery, The Thrashers follow Zack Thrashers and his group of friends, Jodie, Paige, Lucy, and Julian. Zack is the golden boy everyone wants to be friends with. Known for bringing new people into the group for days, weeks, and then dropping them, leaving them to feel “Thrashed”. New girl Emily left dire consequences. As the group begins receiving strange text messages, and even stranger paranormal activity around each of them, the questions begin to focus on just what did happen on Prom night, and the events leading up to it? There are no real likable characters. Everyone in flawed in their own way, and the book leads you through a cycle of events to determine if any one of them is redeemable. This is a dark book I’ve seen compared to Pretty Little Liars or Thirteen Reasons Why, and I agree with that assessment. I could see The Thrashers making a great tv show on a WB/ Freeform/ABC Family tv station. Julie Soto proves she could write anything and I’d read it and stay on the edge of my seat through every page.

This book was SO good in my opinion.  As of late, most of the young adult mysteries that I have read have been disappointing me, and I just wanted something fun and exciting.  The Thrashers totally fit that bill.  I really enjoyed the premise of the book, with Jodi feeling on the outskirts of her friends and also dealing with the repercussions of Emily taking her own life.  

Jodi's particular perspective of someone being on the outskirts of a friend group is something that is really relatable to me.  I have been there, and so I am definitely predisposed to relate to that kind of character and empathise with them.  There were other aspects of Jodi's story that I didn't relate to as much, but on the whole she was an incredible empathetic character.  She was very well-developed, and I found her motivations and actions understandable.

The execution of the story was fantastic.  I thought that it would be mostly written in Jodi's perspective, but we also got some snippets from Emily.  The novel opens and closes in her perspective, which added a very unique flavour to the story.  We also got excerpts from the journal that was the basis of the case against Jodi's friends.  It really helped to bring Emily to life as a character.

I ended up listening to an audio ARC of the story, and I found myself wanting to do nothing but listen to it.  I wanted to know what was going to happen next, and what would happen to the characters.  They each had great depths to them.  What I didn't expect at all were the supernatural elements that were included.  I don't want to say too much here, but they were definitely a fun twist.

On the whole, I found this to be a super compelling, super interesting mystery.  I highly recommend it.

Ahhhh! Such a sucker for YA Thrillers &&& this was fantastic! Such a great genre debut! I found The Thrashers to twisty & super fun. While it did cover some heavy topics I think it was done well, I really enjoyed the twists, that final one really got me! & I was surprised how much I enjoyed the super natural aspect! The audio was also fantastic! The narrator did a wonder job & really enjoyed the way she did the “party” scenes!

As someone who doesn't read thrillers often, I didn't expect to finish this in one day. This book had me hooked from the first page. I stayed up until midnight reading it, and then tossed and turned until around 2AM thinking about it.

If you are looking for a thriller that will have you on the edge of your seat and flipping pages as quickly as you can - this is for you. I never knew what would happen next, but it all flowed seamlessly! This is my current favorite Julie Soto book, and as an avid contemporary romance reader, I think that says a lot.

Love love Julie Soto! And this dark academia meets Heathers is exactly what I needed. If you enjoy those vibes, you will surely like this book!

<i><b>“That’s what the Thrashers did. Get too close, and you’ll get Thrashed.”</b></i>


At New Helvetia High, there’s a group of five friends known as the Thrashers. Emily always wanted to be just like them but she then gets rejected from the circle. During Prom, Emily tragically passes away by taking her own life.

Soon after, the Thrashers are front and centre of it all and being investigated by causing tragic passing of Emily by bullying her.

As the investigation unfolds, Jodi must figure out what’s the truth but what happens when unsettling things start to happen to her and her friends? Is it Emily try to communicate to them or is it karma that’s coming for them?


⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

I had been in such a big book slump that I hadn’t been able to pick up a book and be able to get lost in the world of the book.

The Thrashers definitely made me enjoy reading again!

I was hooked from the very beginning, questioning what would happen next and if Emily was truly communicating from the unknown. I was so shocked with all the twist and turns to discovering the truth. What I never expected was what was going to happen at the end…
I know this probably would be a standalone but I would’ve loved a sequel to figure out what could possibly happen with that little bitty cliffhanger.

<b>Thank you to Julie Soto and NetGalley for the chance to read and review this e-arc in exchange for an honest review! All thoughts and opinions remain my own.</b>

I adore Julie Soto’s books so when I received an ARC of her YA debut, The Thrashers, on NetGalley it moved to the top of my TBR pile.

When high schooler Emily Mills dies by suicide a group of popular kids, know in their school as “The Thrashers” are investigated as the main cause. Zack, Paige, Lucy, Julian and Jodi may not have liked Emily, the girl who wanted nothing more than to fit in with their group, but did they “Thrash” / bully her enough to cause her to take her own life? Her journal definitely makes it appear they did.

The Thrashers gave me definite 13 Reasons Why meets Gossip Girl vibes. (Maybe it was just Julian totally reminded me of Chuck Bass). It was a quick read that kept my turning the pages late into the night.

So this books was a great read and I would recommend to my young students looking for a great read it was a page turner

Okay I just have to say that I wasn't a huge fan of Julie Soto's romances... I don't know what it was for me. I wasn't a fan. But the land of the thrillers is 100% where she belongs and thrives!!

4.75 stars

Ok, this book was so bingeable! Julie Soto has described The Thrashers as her babies, but she may have to fight me on that—because I think they’re my babies! I honestly love them all so, so much, and they’re such real and relatable characters.

This one brought me right back to high school, and all the feels were so relatable! That prom scene especially hit me hard and brought back flashbacks of my own senior prom and the drama of the entire day!

I don’t want to reveal too much of the plot in my review because I went into this one totally blind based on people saying they were loving it, and I had so much fun with my reading experience doing that! But this one was twisty, with elements of the paranormal, witchiness, romance, and drama—all the things I love in a book! And I instantly fell so hard for Julian. Like—a dark, broody man named Julian? Absolutely. Sign me up every damn time.

The end of this one annoyed me at first because I thought it was going to leave a lot of things unanswered… but then we got an absolutely jaw-dropping epilogue that completely reversed my feelings and had me totally obsessed with this whole book—and wanting to go back and reread it instantly!

Huge thank you to Wednesday Books for my advanced copy of this book!

Easily one of my favorite books so far of 2025. Julie Soto needs to write more thrillers! I insist. I was hooked from the beginning and any time that I was forced to stop reading (work really can be annoying sometimes) it felt like torture. This book has Pretty Little Liars and Riverdale vibes, without the plot points that made you question what you were watching (by the end they could have announced that I was "A" and I wouldn't have been surprised lol). I am obsessed and will not be shutting up about it anytime soon!

What a wild ride. I have loved all of Julie Soto’s romance books and was intrigued to get this version of her writing - YA - and MAN did she deliver. From the minute I steered this story I was hooked. The friend group, The Thrashers, were tight knit and not like your typical rich kid friend group. Each member of the group has their own issues at home, all of which gave them different ways to connect with each other. This was such a realistic portrayal of the trials and tribulations of high school - with the added fun of ghostly happenings that added a creepy undertone to already heavy topics to include SA, murder, suicide, and alcoholism.

The writing, as I’ve come to expect with Soto, was magnificently done. I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, Soto puts some kind of drug into her words because every book of hers I’ve picked up, I haven’t been able to put down, they’re truly addicting.

Definitely read the trigger warnings before getting started.

⭐️ 5/5

THIS BOOK!! Oh my goodness! It had me in a chokehold and then doubled down with that epilogue! I sincerely hope it DOESN’T get a sequel because that ending was just utter perfection! I AM STILL SCREEEAMING! Dammit Julie Soto! 😍 Why is every book a total banger!?

I don’t know what else to say because I am flabbergasted and just plain in awe! What a story! 10/10! Perfect. I loved how the storytelling was interspersed with readings from Emily’s journal. With everything that was revealed as the mystery unfolded, I was at the edge of my seat. Just so so good! Highly recommend!

Thank you again to MacMillan Audio for the ALC and Wednesday Books for the ARC!

This is our April Booked with Babes Book Club pick and I am so excited to chat about this one because OH MY GOD!

Bingeworthy YA mystery thriller ghost story with some deep musings on bullying and the desire to belong. The characters were "morally gray", and by that I mean they all had bully tendencies that were difficult to read. I genuinely wanted them all to suffer more than they did; their lack of empathy made it difficult to empathize with them. In that same vein, I kind of hoped for more death? Is that wrong of me? Everyone had near death experiences and everyone survived. I feel cheated.

Some readers may dislike the supernatural vibe that developed, but that's the only reason I enjoyed the ending. Jodi and Julian were the most interesting and multilayered of The Trashers clique (fitting that they were the ones with a romantic subplot), but I still don't think they were good people, Julian in particular.

Though that paint kiss scene was 10/10.

4.5 ⭐️

Well I will not be sleeping for a while… I’m not really a thriller reader, but I’ll devour anything Julie Soto writes, anxiety and creepy dreams be damned!
I was on the edge of my seat from start to finish, truly never knowing what was going to happen next. The entire story left me feeling deeply unsettled and anxious, but what I really loved about it was Julie’s ability to intertwine the relatable complexities and insecurities of adolescence and the power dynamics that can impact friendships with the mystery and paranormal aspects of the story so that they felt equally “main plot.”

-.5 ⭐️ simply bc I think this is a standalone but I still have so many questions left unanswered. I feel like if there isn’t going to be a second book, then The Thrashers really needed more information and moments of focus on the obsessive behavior, stalking, manipulation, unacceptable boundary ignorance, etc. that clearly drove a lot of the events and how that also influenced the emotions and choices of the characters. Without it, it made the ending feel unsatisfying and quite frustrating while some dealt with consequences, others didn’t, and others seemed to be almost canonized post mortem.