ARC/ ALC review
Publication date is May 06 2025

Rating: 4,25 ⭐️

“The Thrashers” by Julie Soto is an YA mystery thriller. I was very happy to receive an ARC from St. Martin's Press and an ALC from Macmillan Audio (via Netgalley). Opinions from this review are completely my own.

I liked a lot Julie’s romance books and I am glad that she writes other genres well too.

The story starts with the tragic suicide of a 17 year old girl, Emily Mills, on prom night.
I was not expecting this but it was a good way of getting my attention.

The protagonist of the story is Jodi Dilon. She is part of a group of popular students called The Thrashers. Unlike the other 4 members (Zack Thrasher, Julian Hollister, Lucy Reed and Paige Montgomery), she is not rich or privileged. That is why she has insecurities and is afraid that she will one day be cast out of the group (or “thrashed”).
Emily wanted to be part of the group and ended up being a bit obsessed with Jodi. The police suspect the Thrashers bullied her, after finding her diary.

The audiobook is narrated by Eva Kaminsky and Jesse Vilinsky. They both did a good job with the characters and listening helped me immerse in the story.

I liked that the protagonist is an unreliable narrator and that there was a paranormal side to the story. We see the other characters only from Jodi’s perspective and that is part of the mystery.
The ending was surprising and left an opening for a sequel (I would read that).

Overall I enjoyed the book, only the start was a bit slow.

The Thrashers was a pretty decent book, for the most part. I felt engaged the whole time I was listening to the audiobook, and never felt like it dragged. The characters were an interesting mix, although I did have a hard time remembering which girl was which, especially when there were lots of rivals, sisters, stepmothers, and other female family members introduced.

I think mystery readers should know that this book has a supernatural element, since some folks (myself included) don't like the supernatural mixing things up when there's a mystery to be solved. It didn't ruin the book for me, but I likely wouldn't have chosen this book had I known there was so much of the supernatural involved.

CW: Alcoholism, suicide, family violence

Many thanks to NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to review this ALC.

I know this is going to be hit or miss for adults since it is YA but I loved it! I fear that there will Be fans of Julie Soto that read this because of their love of her work when they typically don’t enjoy YA fiction and this end up not liking it.
Putting those folks aside.. this was a very well written and constructed YA paranormal thriller.

What I enjoy about YA besides the escapism and not feeling my age is that the young characters can make mistakes and interesting decisions and we don’t think twice because they are kids whose brains aren’t fully formed.

This book was fast paced and entertaining where I was able to get lost in the story where next thing I know it’s 1am and I still hadn’t gone to sleep. I actually can’t even put a finger on what I liked so much about it.

From the thriller standpoint it was clear how things were going to unravel with no big surprises but to me, it didn’t matter. The characters were incredibly flawed and selfish but you could see some common anxieties that plague teenagers sitting beneath the surface enabling young readers to be able to connect to them.

I was thankful to receive both an eARC as well as the audioALC which enabled me to do an immersive read which made the experience even better. One thing for I’ll point out is because the eARC is an uncorrected proof whereas the audio is a final version there can be some minor differences. Many times you don’t notice as they are typos but in this case there was a single word removed from the final version. That word (a name) stood out to me in a positive way (not the name being positive but the action taken) as I applaud the author and/or the editing team for having the foresight to make the change due to the current climate surrounding the name. While this won’t make sense to most, I still wanted to make note of it.

The narrator, Eva Kaminsky and Jesse Vilinsky did a great job with the narration. It was recorded a touch slow but not too bad and it was easily fixed by changing the playback rate. Full disclosure, most of the time I couldn’t tell when the voice actors were trading off! It was a seamless collaboration yams all the voices were handled well.

I am thankful to have gotten the ARC and ALC for free from Wednesday Books and Macmillan Audio through NetGalley to read which gave me the opportunity to voluntarily leave a review.

This title comes out May 6, 2025 and I can’t wait to get my own physical copy.

My rating system since GoodReads doesn’t have partial stars

⭐️ Hated it
⭐️⭐️ Had a lot of trouble, prose issues, really not my cup of tea (potentially DNF’d or thought about it)
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Meh, it was an ok read but nothing special
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Really enjoyed it! Would recommend to others
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Outstanding! Will circle back and read again

10 stars.

This was such a good thriller! It gave me Jawbreaker vibes and I ate it up! I was intrigued the whole way through and that epilogue was fantastic! The narration was very enjoyable as well.

This was my first of Julie’s books but I will be reading more from her!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ Absolutely Unputdownable!

This book deserves all the hype it’s getting! I’m fairly picky with YA thrillers, and wow, was I not disappointed with this one! From the very first page, The Thrashers had me completely hooked. The exclusive friend group, the dark secrets, the eerie sense of something just being off—it all builds into a masterfully woven mystery.

Jodi Dillon is the perfect protagonist—relatable yet tangled up in a world she’s not sure she belongs in. The Thrashers are equal parts fascinating and terrifying, and as the tension escalates, the twists just keep coming. And Emily’s presence? Chilling. The epilogue? Jaw-dropping. You do have to suspend some belief but I didn’t see it coming!

If you love high-stakes drama, dark academia vibes, and a thriller that actually thrills, this is the book to read. Believe the hype—you won’t regret it!

Thank you, NetGalley & Macmillan Audio, for the ALC in exchange for my honest review.

I absolutely loved this story! I was enthralled from the first chapter and really wish it didn’t end. The narrator was fantastic and did a great job at portraying the storyline perfectly, keeping you on your toes. Thank you for the opportunity to review!

Julie Soto's debut YA thriller is phenomenal! I love Soto's romances so much. I was not sure how she would translate to a young adult audience, and one seeking a thrilling story, at that! I could not stop listening to this audibook. The narrator was so engaging. I cannot wait to recommend it to my teen (and even adult) readers.

Is there anything that Julie Soto can't do?! I loved this. I'm not normally a Thriller girlie, but kept hearing great things about this. I loved it. Absolutely loved it.

The narrators did a phenomenal job! This was my introduction to both of them and I LOVED it!

The story was amazing, and I think the audio made me love ot even more

Wow! Julie Soto! This was such an amazing thriller debut. I am sure it can be nerve wracking switching genres but YOU DID IT! This was so well done and really kept my interest. I loved how the journal entries were included. I think there were so many relatable parts to young readers and the realities of bullying. The characters were so well done. I would recommend this to others. I did a mix of audio and reading and enjoyed both. Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

It all started with Emily's suicide. As investigators begin looking into the cause of her suicide, fingers start pointing to a group of friends, commonly known as "the Thrashers", Jodi, Zach, Julian, Lucy, and Paige. Will this investigation tear this friend group apart or will they rise above the wreckage?

Overall, 4.5 stars, going to round up to 5 on this one. I knew going in that this book was not a typical Julie Soto novel and what a wonderful surprise it was. So many twists and turns, everything was unexpected and kept me guessing until the very end. The character development was incredible, and this book covered so many great themes, friendships, mental health, a sense of belonging, loyalty, insecurity, trust, and many others. I loved diving into the inner workings of the friendship through Jodi's POV with a little bit of help from beyond the grave.

This book is a must read! I finished this book in one sitting and literally couldn't put it down.

Format: audiobook/ebook

Thank you SO much NetGalley, St.Martin's Press, and Macmillan Audio for the advance ebook and audiobook!!!

I couldn't stop listening to this story. It kept me engaged and wondering which way it was going to twist and turn. It also offered the interesting point of we all preceive how we fit into a friend group a little differently. The romance was also quite satisifying in how it played out. Would highly recommend reading!

Julie Soto is a cute writer every time I read it. It definitely is something new. If you haven’t read this book you definitely should. It’s well worth the read.

Well Julie, you got me.

The Thrashers is a story about a popular group of friends who end up in the center of an investigation about the death of a classmate. People say that the Thrashers thrash people; use them up and drop them. Is this what drove Emily to take her own life? What actually happened? Where is all this evidence from? Why does it seem like the universe is after this group of friends?

The Thrashers is Julie Soto's entry into the YA thriller space, and, man, did she do the dang thing. I had to take several breaks in the first quarter because it was making me feel anxious! Exactly what you want a thriller to accomplish. You never really know what's going on, like the characters. I can not say enough good things about this book. That ending? Oh my gosh. I got goosebumps reading it and again while thinking about it now.

I loved the print version so much that I wasn't sure if the audio would do any extra for me, but it is seriously so good. I usually like dual or duet, but the narrator of this did such a great job at making all the characters distinctive and also keeping the tension going. I was able to speed it up, without issue, as well!

Thanks to Macmillan Audio and NetGalley for an ALC of this audiobook for an honest review.

3.5/5 stars rounded up

Thank you Macmillan Audio for the advanced listening copy!

This one started and ended with a bang, but lost me a tiny bit in the middle! Things felt convoluted and it was hard to keep track of all the different things going on during that portion. However, I'm super glad I stuck with it because the ending was really unexpected! The entire book was fast-paced, and kept me hooked. There were some surprising twists, but nothing extremely mind-blowing. Our FMC, Jodie, was annoying at times, but I genuinely liked her and rooted for her the entire time. This was definitely and entertaining story and was great on audio! I'd call this a solid YA thriller with a few creepy elements, and would read more by this author in the future!

Having already read an ARC of this book I already knew that I loved that I would love the story, but I was excited to see how the narrators would bring a new dimension to this story.

And they did a great job! I am mostly an audio girly myself, and I really loved the life and complexity that the narrators Eva Kaminsky & Jesse Vilinsky brought to the characters.

I already have both my audible and e-copy of this story pre-ordered!

Again I am begging Julie to please let there be a 2nd book!