I'll be honest, I hadn’t even heard of Julie Soto before (where have I been??) because I usually stick to thrillers, but WOW. I was super shocked to find out "The Thrashers" is her debut YA thriller because it was so sharp and so twisty.

Told from the POV of Jodi, this book dives headfirst into betrayal, revenge, and the kind of juicy high school drama that gives *Mean Girls* energy—but make it darker and way more dangerous. The friendships are messy (in the best way), secrets are everywhere, and just when you think you've figured it out? BAM—a twist.

Now let’s talk audiobook. Narrated by Eva Kaminsky and Jesse Vilinsky, this duo nails it. Their voices brought Jodi and the rest of the cast to life—switching tone, inflection, and pace effortlessly. It felt like I was right there, caught in the middle of all the lies and tension. The narration pulled me in from the first minute and didn’t let go. I could literally see the characters through their voices.

If you love twisty, teen drama with a side of secrets and betrayal, this one is for you. Super bingeable. Super entertaining. 4 stars from me!
Think: "Mean Girls" meets a thriller with serious bite.

🎧 Audiobook +📗 E-book: The Thrashers

✍🏾 Author: Julie Soto- an auto-buy author for me

📃Page Count: 352

📅Publication date: 5/6/25 | Read: 5/3/25

🏃🏾‍➡️Run Time: 10:15

🌎 Setting: Sacramento, CA- New Helvetia High School

👆🏾POV: 3rd person single- Jodi

Genre: YA, Mystery, Thriller, Romance

Tropes: friend group/friendships, the wealthy vs. everyone else, family drama, coming of age, in love w/ BFF, small town, virgin heroine

⚠️TW: suicide, bullying, underage drinking and drug use, statutory r*pe

🗣️Narrator: Eva Kaminsky and Jesses Vilinsky voice all the characters with standouts from Jodie, Julian, and Zack. The reading style brought the text to life, and the author and narrators worked together perfectly. The pacing and flow allowed me to get lost in the story. The narrators paused and announced new chapters and there was a table of contents which helped me follow along.

Summary: Jodi feels like a social pariah, yet she hangs out with the most popular kids in school-The Thrashers. When an odd sophomore Emily attempted to join their friend group, she's ridiculed. When she dies, an investigation is launched because Emily kept a journal chronicling her attempt to belong as weird texts and flickering lights plague the Thrashers.

👩🏾 Heroine: Jodi Dillion-17, in love w/ Zack, friends since 2nd grade

🎭 Side Characters:

*Emily Mills-wanted to be a Thrasher, was scorned by them, and ended her life. Emily's mother-Maureen, father-Robert, and little sister-Hannah

*Hank Dillion-Jodi's father, her mother Josephine is deceased.

*Rosa Rodriguez-Jodi's maternal aunt

*Gregory Thrasher-Zack's father-a lawyer

*Detective Harding-investigating Emily's death

*The Thrashers: Zackary "Zack" Thrasher, Paige Montgomery, Julian Hollister, Lucy Reed, and Jodi

🤔 My Thoughts: This was a great rollercoaster ride of whodunit. Jodi led us on her journey being in the "in crowd," but feeling like she doesn't belong. She had a moral compass and made sure she kept Emily safe knowing she would do anything for Zack's attention-like everyone else. Even though Julian had issues, I rooted him. I hope there's a follow-up.


*Spice: 1/5 🌶️ kissing only, sex mentioned all off page
*Emotion: 4/5 🥲
*Rating: 4/5 ⭐

🙏🏾Thanks to NetGalley, St. Martin's Press | Wednesday Books, Macmillan Audio, and Julie Soto for this ARC & ALC! I voluntarily give my honest review, and all opinions are my own.

5 ⭐ 0.5 🌶️ 5 🎧

This was my first Julie Soto experience, but it absolutely won't be my last. This story was phenomenal from start to finish, I truly couldn't get enough. It felt like a mash of up Mean Girls and13 Reasons Why with even more secrets, lies and a possible haunting to boot.

There's a bit of a romantic subplot (no actual spice, but there is talk of past events and some kissing) that I really enjoyed. I was rooting hard for Julian and really enjoyed his growth throughout the book. Personally, I wanted to kick Zack in the shins from the start.

The epilogue was everything I was hoping for with that twist. Getting your unhinged suspicions confirmed at the very last second is always a treat.

The audio was great. I really enjoyed Eva Kaminsky and Jesse Vilinsky and thought they did a wonderful job with the narration.

Thank you to Macmillan audio for the advanced listen!

oh my gosh that ending.. wow wow put the cherry on top

I have to say one of my favorite young adult books I've read this year so far. I wasn't expecting it to take a paranormal role at one point and typically not the biggest fan of that, but this one EXCEEDED my expectations. If you read one young adult thriller this year, I recommend it's this one!!

Mainly told in one POV following Jodi who is navigating her friendships who are accused of pushing another girl to her end but then you come to realize there's more to the story. The group of friends are referred to the "thrashers" for a reason as they ostracize anyone not apart of the group

Good YA thriller, just wasn't a good fit for my taste.

There's a friend group of high schoolers that become known as The Thrashers because if someone outside the group makes their way in, they will eventually get kicked out in a public way, thus "getting thrashed"

There are a few potentially trigging topics, so make sure to check if certain topics are a no-go for you.

The book opens from the POV of a girl, Emily, that unalived herself on prom night, and she blames the Thrashers.

The book is mostly told from the POV of Jodi, who seems like the nicest of the Thrashers and who was closest to Emily, trying to figure out why the Thrashers are being blamed for her death.

The Thrashers is told from our main character's, Jodi, point of view about a close knit friend group and their dynamics as they navigate high school, social hierarchy and the recent death of Emily, a girl that was desperately trying to become a part of their group. There is an ongoing police investigation that points to this group of friends somehow being at fault for the young girls death, even though Emily's death is ruled at suicide.

From the very first chapter I was caught completely off gaurd by the character introduction and the way this book opened up- I had my fingers crossed that the info dump and opening scene was necessary to set up the rest of the book. It starts off like it's going to be a police investigation of this group of 5 friends, and if they are to be held accountable for this young girls death, and the unraveling of their treatment of her and how she was pushed over the edge to unalive herself.
The writing is a bit clumsy... I noticed it from page one but told myself that didn't mean I couldn't enjoy the read.

At 30% in, I was desperately trying to find the plot here, and everything just felt chaotic and messy. The characters had no depth. They were flat and honestly just unlikeable. There were freak accidents going on, and I couldn't understand why, and I thought, okay, maybe this is something akin to Final Destination, which, to be clear, I would have been here for.

Then at 50% we take another turn and I thought, "Oh, it a ghost story!" which completely caught me off gaurd, but I was happy to at least know what was going on. At this point, I feel like the book got significantly better, mostly because I was happy there was FINALLY some direction. But it wasn't a ghost story? and again, I was thrown off.

There was so much potential seeing as I am a sucker for teenage angst, a girl coming from an abusive household, anything paranormal, an obsessive girl, and a good high school mystery - this book should have ticked a lot of boxes for me. It honestly felt like the author was trying to shove all these different themes and plot directions into one, 352 page book and it just made it seems very tangled and disorderly and I still have no idea what I just read.

4🌟 cliquey friend group, ghosts, and pretty little liars vibes. seeing the manipulation and lies unfold throughout the book was insane my jaw was actually dropped throughout multiple points in the book. i love Julie Soto’s romance and have been so excited for her YA thriller debut, the audiobook was incredible i was completely hooked and finished this in a day! thank you Macmillan audio and NetGalley for the alc!

This book gripped me by page one! Yes it is labeled YA/Teen, but as an almost 40 yo, I found the dialogue mature and engaging.

The narrator had great tone and inflection! The story kept me guessing. I was able to guess a few of the plot points, but there was a lot of other good surprises to the story.

I found the main character Jodie relatable. I probably would have handled her situations the same way.

Great read! No cliff hanger, but left open to another book if the author felt inclined to go on with the story.

Jodi Dillon is part of an elite friend group called the Thrashers, that she doesn't exactly fit into. How3ver, Zach Thrasher has been her best friend since 2nd grade, so Jodi is in. However, Emily Mills also wanted in and refuses to be ignored. When Emily commits suicide, the Thrashers get blamed and the whispers and investigations begin. But when strange occurrences start happening and cannot be easily explained, it seems Emily isn't done with them yet.

*Special thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for this digital audio e-arc.*

The Thrashers by Julie Soto was a fun young adult thriller. Jodi is the one on this group of friends who isn’t a rich kid and feels like at any moment she can be tossed away or Thrashers.

When a girl at school dies all the attention is on this group who Emily so desperately wanted to be a part of.

This cast of characters was a good mix of personalities and the what actually happened element was good.

I think this would be a good thriller for those who do not think they would be into thrillers.
Thank you Net Galley, Julie Soto and Macmillan Audio for the audio Arc in exchange for my honest review.

This was not for me. I found it cliche. The story was trying too hard. The characters were mediocre.

Julie Soto has expanded her works with this phenomenal thriller! I don’t know what has led to all these authors trying new genres, but I am a fan!!!! This was my first Julie Soto book, and if her romances are this good, I am about to be a lifelong fan. I binged this audiobook in one day! It is so well produced and written!

Alright, back to the point. Emily is gone, and all fingers point to the Thrashers. The Thrashers are the popular group at school who take people in only to destroy them. When their latest conquest turns up dead, everyone turns to the Thrashers.

Thank you Net Galley for a free copy of the audiobook in exchange for an honest review! I rated this one 4.5 stars!

Trigger Warnings: Bullying, Self-Harm, and Grief

What an incredible thrill ride. Five best friends, a dead girl, a story ripped from today's society. Soto manages to engage tge reader while shining a light on some of the issues high school students face. Teen angst oozes in the dialogue. Morally dark characters that you don't want to root for but you do! An incredible story with twists sprinkled throughout. A very enjoyable upper YA thriller.

Thank you to St Martin's Press / Wednesday Books / Macmillan Publishers for the ALC.

Thank you Netgalley & Macmillan Audio for an ALC of The Thrashers by Julie Soto. Once in a while I absolutely love a YA book, and this was the perfect one to binge.

The book followers the elite friend group, The Thrashers, at their local high school. Emily Mills desperately wants to be in the group, but finds herself “thrashed” and when she dies, her journal surfaces. There were a few points in time in which I wasn’t sure where the story was going - There’s definitely a paranormal aspect to it. I enjoyed the audiobook, and felt satisfied at the ending.

This was too YA for me, which isn't a bad thing as its meant for teens. I don't think it's quite engaging enough for adult readers.

4.5⭐️ wow wow WOW

julie is showing the people that she can do it all, hitting multiple genres! this YA thriller was everything, filled with twists and turns, juicy drama, and many paranormal “coincidences”👀

this book had me on the edge of my seat! constantly trying to put pieces together, figure out who’s telling the truth, and wondering why these kids were always in a hospital😭😭they needed to just sit still cause it was too much!

i really hope julie gives us more books like this one because this was phenomenal! but more specifically, i hope she has another book for us in this world because something about that ending felt a littleee too open ended for my liking, there HAS to be more

WOW!! Obsessive character that tries SO hard to fit in with the “in crowd”, she is so obsessive that she commits suicide… but does she really? The group of friends… are they really the ones who did this? Are they behind it?! The obsessiveness and the lies… so amazing.

The twists? The turns? The facts? The storyline?! It was AMAZING.

Blessed to have been able to do this ARC read for @Julie Soto and @MacmillanAudio

I kept wanting to know what was happening and how we got to where we were in the prologue. Every chapter kept me enthralled because the secrets that kept unraveling as we went on had me shook. I definitely recommend this to anyone that likes a typical YA Thriller/Mystery.

When I saw a YA thriller by Julie Soto, who has written some of my favorite adult contemporary romance novels-- I was thrilled!-- Pun intended ;) . I honestly am never good at predicting the ending of books but I definitely did not understand where this book was going until the last arc. The really liked our narrators and hearing from the different perspectives of 5 friends in high school as they navigate the tumultuous time following the suicide of a friend. Speaking of that, be aware there are multiple possible triggers in this book, so read with caution if that is a concern for you. Even though this is a YA novel, I felt like the story and there characters were relatable and authentic. Very good!

This was a fast moving YA thriller. I really enjoyed it and found it hard to put down. I just HAD to know what was happening next. I liked all the drama and all the lies. Hoping for a sequel!! I listened and read this one and the narrator did a great job. I enjoyed all the different voices and felt like I was right there at the table with the characters.