Thank you to NetGalley, Julie Soto and St Martin’s Press for the free ebook in exchange for an honest review.

This wasn’t exactly what I expected, but it is my first read from this author. There was a good amount of twists and turns peppered throughout. Even though this is a thriller/mystery novel, I did find it giving me some feels. I think everyone has felt on the edge of their friend group and it’s not a happy feeling. The paranormal aspect was unexpected and so fun.

This was a solid thriller, but I wasn't as connected with the story or characters as I wanted to be. I didn't love the YA drama and felt it overtook the thrilling aspects of the story, but it was still enjoyable overall.

Read if you like:
🔹YA Thrillers
🔹Paranormal elements
🔹Morally grey, untrustworthy characters
🔹Dramatic high school friendships
⚠️TW: suicide, bullying & alcoholism

OMG! Julie Soto is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors. I absolutely love when authors kill it in multiple genres and she is definitely one of them!!

The Thrashers are probably my new obsession. I loved this book so much. This book has everything I wanted in a YA thriller- a popular clique I couldn’t help but love, the creepy new girl who wants to be in SO BADLY, paranormal elements that make you question everything, family drama, suspense, and a crazy ending that left me wanting more (please Julie!!!) She did such an amazing job of mixing suspense with all the teenage drama! But can we please at least get a novella about Jodie & Julian???

This book gave me major “13 Reasons Why” vibes but also a little bit of “Carrie” (which I absolutely loved), while keeping it unique. Highly, highly recommend if you’re looking for an amazing YA thriller that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

🎧The narration for this was absolutely brilliant. The narrators did such an amazing job bringing the characters, story and suspense to life.

I don't read a lot of YA or paranormal books, but this one worked for me! It gave me some Final Destination vibes too because there were a couple freak accidents.
It took me awhile to get into this one just because of life, not the book, but once I was hooked I could not put it down! I loved Jodi's character, the clique drama, the investigation and journal entries, all of it. The epilogue was 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
Thank you NetGalley for the ARC!

This kept me on my toes. I'm not sure I completely expected any of it to happen the way it did.

That ending though. 🤯

High school can be traumatic and sometimes deadly. After the death of Emily, who tried to infiltrate a friend group by gas-lighting and manipulating its members, an investigation into her death begins. As more evidence is found, one friend may have to turn on the others for the truth to come out. Great depiction of teenagers and how they relate to one another and their parents.

This book made me very glad that my high school years were tame! This was a fun read. It was my first book by Julie Soto but i will definitely be checking out more of her work.

Julie Soto can do no wrong. I absolutely loved her YA debut, a fun mystery, thriller that kept you entertained and on the edge of your seat! An elite friend group, a journal, and a death. The set up was perfection!

The Thrashers. AKA the popular group everyone wants to be in and the group no one lets get close . Everyone wants to be Zack Thrashers friend, even after it cost someone their life… or so the rumors say.
The group includes Julian, Lucy, and Paige. But the one closest to him is Jodi. Jodi doesn’t “fit” the group. She always feels out of place but she was Zack’s childhood bestie so she gets to stick around. Then enter Emily Mills. Emily wants to be a Thrasher desperately, she would do anything. But then Emily passes away from what is ruled a suicide but then the rumor mill starts up. Some kids say it’s just tragic, but some are blaming the Thrashers… but who is telling the truth? And will the truth come out? When Jodi starts receiving strange messages she’s not sure who’s sending them, who to trust, but they’re telling her things she doesn’t want to believe are true. Will she take the words of a stranger and betray her friends? Or does she ignore them?
This book kept me on my toes, I was obsessed! I loved the suspense of it all an those last few pages. WOW!!

Julie just can do no wrong. YA just hits different. Pacing was perfect.fun thriller mystery read. Back to my roots as a reader with this one.

4.5 ⭐️ rounded up

The YA thrillers lately are on fire 🔥

This was my first Julie Soto book and I know she’s known and loved for her romances but The Thrashers was a good time.

Elite friend group, The Thrashers, are entering their senior year of high school during an ongoing investigation into their classmates’ death. The Thrashers are rich teens that love being the center of attention which has always left Jodi Dillon feeling a little in the outskirts but the Zack Thrasher has been her best friend since they were young and she’d do anything to keep their friendship.

As Emily’s journal is discovered in the investigation and the circumstances around her death begin to unfold The Thrashers start getting some unwanted attention and their loyalty to one another is put to the test.

This was a fast paced non stop thriller that kept me hooked with all of the teenage drama that unfolded. I had such mixed emotions with most of the characters but I couldn’t look away and was dying to know what was around each corner. There was some paranormal elements to the story that I wasn’t expecting and don’t typically enjoy but it tied into the story really well. That epilogue though… I need more to this story immediately!

There are some dark themes on page in this one so check your warnings.

Thank you so much to St Martin’s Press and Wednesday books for this eARC in exchange for my honest review.

⭐️⭐️⭐️ 4/5 stars

[ thank you to the publisher and netgalley for the eARC! ]

This was Julie’s debut young adult novel and I was here for it! It’s no surprise around here that I love a good YA thriller/mystery!!

This is high school drama at its best. “The Thrashers” is a nickname for a group of friends — Zach, Julian, Lucy, Paige, and Jodi. They are the popular kids at school; everyone wants to be them and everyone wants to join their friend group.

I was hooked! I was intrigued by the mystery, the characters, and even the supernatural elements. It was messy at times and had me second guessing what I thought I knew. Looking at you, epilogue!! 👀 Does that mean we are getting a sequel?!

Julie Soto, you've done it again! I will read everything you write, from Dramione to trade pub YA thrillers, because I know it's going to be great. And, I mean, you do enemies to lovers so so well. Julian does give a bit of Draco, right?

And THE ENDING! What a delightful experience this was to read. I will delight in reading whatever you decide is next.

Full review to come on Goodreads and Amazon. Thank you to the publisher, author, and NetGalley for a review copy.

Ok this was absolutely amazing. I was invested from the start, I couldn’t put it down!! The characters were intriguing, the story was mysterious and I loved every second of this. Bravo to Julie Soto, is there anything she can’t write?

I couldn’t put this book down??? What did Julie put in here???

The ending?????????? HELLO????

Thank you so much to NetGalley, Julie Soto & Wednesday Books for the early copy.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an e-ARC of the Thrashers. Julie Soto did not disappoint and this had an added layer of interest for me as a Sacramento native. Many million dollar neighborhoods here are separated from some of the most economically disadvantaged by a road or a fence with people sharing grocery stores, schools, libraries, and activities. As someone who grew up in a lot of these environments and locations (although many years earlier) I feel like this was the perfect setting to highlight the extreme juxtaposition of class differences, which Julie did expertly in her book.
I thought the story itself was engaging and the tension and thrills fit the high school slasher vibe to a T. I loved that she explored how class deeply affected the characters’ relationships with each other and how bullying, treating people as beneath you and indifference are closer than they seem and can be excruciating to experience as an insecure teenager. I struggled a little with the tone of the book in dealing with some deeply triggering and traumatic topics and I definitely recommend the content warnings. I would have also liked to see more character growth instead of just extremely privileged kids worrying about the consequences of their actions and playing victims. I did find the main character very relatable though, if flawed and immature, and I was happy with the way she grew in the book and the way the plot was wrapped up. Ultimately, though I would appreciate a sequel where a few specific people suffer more. I love that Julie wrote this book, something completely different from what she has become known for. It shows how universal her writing skills are and the interesting perspective and relatability in the voice of all of her books.

Holy fun read. The Thrashers def gave me more than I expected. Red herrings everywhere as well as a dash of paranormal goodies too.

So much more than your typical revenge/bully YA thriller this one has teeth. I will read Soto again. So well done! Thanks for the early copy.

Such a fun read!! I wasn't sure how I would feel about a YA thriller after only reading Soto's contemporary romance but I was happy to see The Thrashers live up the level I've come to expect from Soto, who has quickly become an auto-buy author for me.

Engaging and compelling, I had no idea where this book was going to go next. Highly recommend.

I’m obsessed? And I say that as someone who is not generally a thriller girlie. I think I have been maybe missing out on YA thrillers. This was so much more enthralling than any of the adult thrillers I've ever read. I think YA really lends itself to thrillers since the emotions and situations get to be a little crazier and believable because teens are messy and crazy and terrible and lovely without some of the thought processes that stop adults from doing things.

My favorite part of this book was truly not knowing who to trust at any point and Julie Soto flipping it on me like five different times. And to be honest EVERYONE was a little morally grey!!!! And I think I LOVED that because it meant I couldn't fully condone or dismiss anyone's actions or feel like I could trust a character and that felt more real to me than other books that are staunchly bag guy hurting good guy. I think it made the MC look more closely at herself and her friendships and will make readers do the same.

I also loved that there was a magical realism/spooky element, and the end of the book made me want MORE!!!

Also, the romance.... Julie. How do you always make me root for these bad bad guys and then the ending of this????!!?!?!? It hurt. I want Julie to go back to her roots and write her own fanfic and give us a college story for these folks.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC! I would recommend to anyone! I would have finished this in lowkey one sitting if I hadn't gotten violently ill lol.