Julie Soto is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors and "The Thrashers" is just another wonderful addition to the books I love from her.

"The Thrashers" follows a group of popular high school students as they become a target in an investigation after a girl tragically dies. The investigation causes a shake up in the group, causing each member to reveal secrets and understand that not everything may be as it seems. When stranger things start happening they have to ask - is it the ghost of Emily or is someone targeting them?

I read this in just a few days and frankly could not put it down, the characters are fleshed out and interesting, as the reader your opinion is always changing and Soto has us questioning things until the very last page. I wanted so much more yet in a way that felt satisfying. This story is the perfect blend of "One of Us is Lying", "Black Water" by Joyce Carol Oates with a splash of "The Haunting of Hill House" by Shirley Jackson.

All in all, a great read and I wouldn't be mad if this story had a sequel :)

Pub Date May 06 2025 | thank you to St. Martin's Press & Wednesday Books for the gifted copy.

Don't panic but this might be my new favorite book.

When Emily Mills dies she leaves behind a diary incriminating the most popular kids at school. Except Jodi, who's best friends with the most popular kids. Jodi has known her friends for most of her life. She knows they wouldn't do anything wrong like Emily suggests, but as more "evidence" surfaces she's compelled to investigate.

This book is UNPUTDOWNABLE. I stayed up way too late into the night reading because I just could not stop. It was the PERFECT COMBO of so many things. Thriller, mystery, found family, SECRETS, plus a romance that made me swoon.

Each other the characters felt unique and I'd love to learn more about them. I felt like I was a part of the Thrashers and 100% understood Jodi's conflicted loyalty to her friends. My jaw DROPPED multiple times. The twists were so good. I was properly freaked out. I loved the little hints of supernatural (or were they!?). I had NO IDEA what was going to happen in the end. (Did I trust Emily?! Is Zack a good guy?!)

AND THE END!?!?! I'm still processing it.

The only thing I didn't love about this book was that I read it as an ARC so I couldn't buy it and force all my friends and family to read immediately. (But don't worry, I've pre-ordered many copies.)

This is a story about guilt by association.

Things I liked about this book: the ghost story vibes, the enemies to maybe something vibes, the dual timeline that fed you small pieces of context along the ride. Plus, it was set in Sacramento! Nothing is ever set here so that was v fun.

Things I didn’t love *as much-*: the group nickname felt very heavy handed, they weren’t a band or any kind of group that would’ve required a title and it was thrown in consistently… also the bullying and lack of insight into how bad they should have felt about their behavior didn’t leave me feeling like there was a ton of growth.

3.5 rounded to 4

Thank you so much @netgalley & @wednesdaybooks for the eArc!

I love Julie Soto and her YA thriller The Thrashers was just so addicting! The Thrashers are an elite group of friends at New Helvetia High, but when Emily Mills dies on prom night, suspicion on what pushed her gets zeroed in on the group—that is everyone in the group but Jodi. And as strange occurrences keep happening, Jodi is determined to save her friends. It’s a paranormal YA thriller that kept me up til 2 AM to see what happened. There were so many “okay, one more chapter” moments til I knew I wasn’t going to sleep til I had the answers. While in the third person, Jodi is the center of this book, and she just deserves all the hugs. She constantly feels on the fringe of her friend group and the secrets just keep coming that shake her beliefs. The paranormal elements were eerie and not too heavy handed. The emotional aspect and the teenage angst was so well conveyed. It’s fast paced and addicting and just psychologically so interesting with so many twists. And omg that epilogue! It is haunting. I was hooked the whole way and if you’re looking for a YA thriller, pick this one up now!

Thank you @netgalley & @wednesdaybooks for this ARC. The Thrashers comes out 5/6!

Whoa I am not ok after this one. I went in blind as I knew if Julie Soto writes it, I’m going to read it and this was so unexpected. From the very beginning I was drawn into the world of The Thrashers and their elite friend group and the mystery surrounding Emily’s death. Throw in some supernatural elements and there was no turning back. I devoured this and wanted to keep reading every chance I had. This friend group and its secrets had me not knowing who to trust or what to believe. Thank you to @netgalley and the publisher for the advanced copy to read and review. This releases in May and I cannot wait until more people are talking about this. This was a heavy topic laden book so it was very intense and so extremely well done. 5⭐️

This book is so good, I’m not even sure I have the words to describe it. Like, it was giving me an ulcer AND I never wanted it to end. There’s a feeling of I Know What You Did Last Summer but for the digital age - but also not at all because there’s a supernatural flair. Or is there? Do yourself a favor and read this book completely spoiler-free. It’ll blow your mind. (And may I have a sequel, please?). Thanks to Wednesday Books for the ARC.

i finished this in basically one sitting & i cannot stop thinking about it!!!

addicting, intriguing, jaw-dropping, incredible!

it's been almost two weeks & i'm still struggling to find the words to describe how absolutely INCREDIBLE this book is !! i was on the edge of my seat the entire time. i could NOT stop reading. i was hooked. the thrashers had me in a chokehold!!!!

this one calls for bullet points! here's why i loved:
-extremely unique
-the mystery is genuinely so shocking and strings you along perfectly
-bingeable to the point that you won't do anything else but read this book
-the tension between jodi & a certain someone had me biting at the bars of my enclosure 🔥🔥🔥
-so many moments that had me stressedddd because i did not know what would happen next
-the ending!!! (i will riot if we don't get a sequel 😭)

conclusion: julie soto can do no wrong & puts crack in her books (i love her! i love her books!)

thank you Wednesday Books & Netgalley for the eARC! this is my honest review.

Put this on your TBR if you love:
- YA thrillers
- twists
- high school friendships
- supernatural elements

I thought this one started out kind of slow, but finished strong. I wasn't expecting the supernatural stuff, so that threw me off a bit. I loved the main character, Jodi. She was so relatable.

I definitely need some time to process because this book was INSANE (in the best way possible). Huge props to Julie for an amazing YA debut. This YA mystery/thriller is sure to keep you at the edge of your seat and the CHILLS I got at some scenes oh my goodness. It felt like I was in a movie as I was reading this. The dynamics, friendships and stakes of the book are so well crafted. And that EPILOGUE?? I really hope she decides to explore more of this world and universe in the future. Anyways, I will be thinking about this book for a very LONG time and I can’t wait for its official release and getting my final copy!!

Thank you for Wednesday Books for providing an ARC for me to read! 🖤

Excuse me, but is there any genre that Julie Soto can’t write because OH MY GOSH! This was the perfect example of this genre. I WAS HOOKED! Totally and completely from the very beginning. I will read anything she writes, no matter the subject or genre.

Get ready for a wild ride. In these pages there is mystery, social intrigue, an investigation, a total mind blowing twist, and SO much more. I LOVED how we piece together the timeline and details right alongside our main character. It was fantastically done. Honestly, I really haven't stopped thinking about this one since I finished it.

If you enjoyed Pretty Little Liars, then I think you would enjoy this because I totally got those vibes. A popular friend group. The mysterious suicide of an outsider, wanting to be included. Police investigation. The complex feelings of being a teenager. Julie Soto nailed it.

This is the first Julie Soto book I’ve read but I need more!! I absolutely loved the character development in this book and Soto’s writing style. I fell in love with this book and it gave me mean girl vibes in the best way possible!

Thank you Julie and St. Martins press...

This book was a wild ride. I could not put it down. Julie never disappoints. A group of young people must learn life lessons the hard way when playing adult games.

A thrill ride of plot twists

This was phenomenal. I was immediately intrigued, could not stop reading, and have thought about this book every day since I've finished. The dynamics created between each person in the book was so well done, the layered and toxic friendships were fascinating, and the desperation to figure out what was going on was palpable. There was never a dull moment in the book, I was always surprised as to what was going to happen next and I am haunted by that ending. I need every single person to read this so we can talk about it.

Thank you to the publisher and for the eARC - all opinions are my own!

2.75/5 stars
0/5 spice

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press, Wednesday Books for providing me with an eARC of The Thrashers by Julie Soto in exchange for an honest review.

I want to start off by saying I was SO excited and grateful when I got this eARC. Julie Soto has cemented herself as a favorite author and I love when authors genre-jump and try new things. I also enjoy a good YA Mystery/Thriller. So I was pumped. And I am so glad it seems as though others are loving this. Unfortunately, I did not love this book. I want to make it known that I absolutely respect that this book is YA and therefore I am not the intended audience. But YA also doesn’t mean that adults can’t enjoy the book. Especially with book like this, that are very much so upper YA. And my problems didn’t lie with the writing style or the youth of the characters (17-18 year olds). It, sadly, was with the story itself.

The Thrashers, as far as I know, doesn’t have any comp titles listed anywhere. I definitely think they need to say that it’s Pretty Little Liars-esque with a hint of a Paranormal atmosphere. And if anything, that would have made me want to read this book more.

I think I was frustrated that the summary and genre categorizations don’t include any mention of this book having paranormal themes. And I love paranormal themes, but when you think you’re reading a contemporary and there are a bunch of paranormal things happening that simply don’t make sense, and you can’t figure out how they’ll spin them as human-caused, it just frustrates you. <spoiler>And then to finish the book and realize that it was truly paranormal was simply annoying.</spoiler> I think maybe I just missed the “point” of riding the line between “is it truly paranormal or is someone messing with them?” and it was probably very intentional, but I was so incredibly annoyed with it.

This is also very much so a character study on teenagers. Privileged teens, teens struggling with their home life, teens that are exclusive and bully others, etc. And they definitely were not likeable. I did not like a single character we encounter in this book. I felt for a lot of them and their situations, sure. But they were certainly not likeable.

I guess I was hoping more for a Mystery vibe than a Thriller vibe and that’s on me for having incorrect expectations. But I found almost everyone insufferable, didn’t enjoy the various plotlines, and was annoyed with the whole “is this paranormal?” question throughout.

The reason I still gave it 2.75 out of 5 stars is because it was overall well-written, and still very engaging. It was a very easy, quick read. I was thoroughly sucked in, despite being frustrated. I still love Julie Soto and will of course devour her other new genre-jump to Romantasy with Rose in Chains, but I may be wary of any other YA novels she may write in the future.

wow, i don’t know what expectations i had for this book, but i was very pleased by the end of it! i had such a good time with this, it was unputdownable by the 20% mark and all the twists and turns kept me on the edge of my seat. julie captured the essence of what a YA thriller should be and nailed it in one book. so glad it didn’t end on a cliffhanger, though i could see this getting extended and more books set in this universe.

Julie Soto continues to NEVER MISS for me!!! I love seeing her not only blow up as an author, but also branching out into other genres/demographics too. This was a solid YA debut from her in my opinion, filled with tension, [plennnnttty of] drama, intrigue, and a well-developed ensemble cast of morally-grey characters for us to all love, hate, and ultimately root for. I mean it when I say I flew right through this book and, while I obviously prefer her New Adult/General Fiction works more (I "blame" my age? haha), this was definitely still a fun ride! Highly recommend checking this one out when it releases in May of 2025!

This was a very addicting read, lots of questions that are slowly answered over the course of the story. This is a YA thriller, but there's a touch of paranormal/ghosts involved. I feel like the ending was very unresolved, and I don't get the sense of justice I was expecting. I'm happy with where things ended for Jodi, though I don't think she got enough blame for her part in it all.

Thank you NetGalley and publisher for this book!!

What a good book!! This one had me hooked from page one! I could t put it down. I loved the writing style of this book. I lived the characters and they had great chemistry.

I finished this a few days ago and I haven't stopped thinking about it, I'M OBSESSED!!
OH my god we need more!!! That ending was insane and I will RIOT if we don't get a sequel!! But I'm getting ahead of myself.

I absolutely devoured The Thrashers, this is Julie's best book yet and I've read and loved everything by her so far!
This book was giving so many different things and yet I can't say that it was like one thing or another fully but if you love movies and TV shows like Pretty little liars, Gossip Girl, Final Destination and Heathers then you should check this out.

JS perfectly captured the essence of being a teenager and the different social classes.
There was so much drama, angst and secrets I couldn't read fast enough.

I loved Jodi so much, I wasn't expecting I'll relate to her as much as I did, but she was beautifully layered and surprised me a lot. Each of the MCs had a distinct voice and the mysteries surrounding them made me wanna unravel the plot until everything is revealed.
And I just want to say that I suspected Julian!!! and who he was into!!! 30 pages in. That whole mean and nasty attitude was contradictory to some of his actions and definitely raised questions very early on if you know where to look. But that ending I totally wasn't expecting!!! I'm still reeling!! I was hoping and expecting a nice, happy fluffy epilogue with Jolian and instead we got that?!??????!!!! I'M STILL SCREAMING!!! I need to know they are gonna be okay, I beg, we need more!!

I really don't want to give away too much since this is an excellent thriller that will have you guessing till the very end so just read the book and thank me later.

Eternal gratitude to Wednesday Books, St Martin's Press and Netgalley for the arc

Julie Soto, queen of all genres, does not miss. Everything about this was exciting - the characters, the mystery, the supernatural aspects, the romance. The Thrashers are the popular kids in high school that everyone loves to hate, and they become entangled in an investigation into the death of one of their classmates. I loved how it wasn’t super clear throughout the story whether the spooky occurrences were actually supernatural or not, but I’ll leave that for you to find out.

My favorite part was definitely the romance even if it was barely there. I need another book with more of it or I might riot. This is definitely the kind of book that you won’t want to put down until you know how it ends, and the epilogue will leave you in shock all over again.

Thank you to St. Martin’s Press and NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for an honest review!