Day’s YA: THE THRASHERS

THE THRASHERS by Julie Soto
9781250377173
5/6/2025
Wednesday Books
Ages 12-18

E-galley available on Edelweiss and NetGalley

Meet the Thrashers. This elite friend group at New Helvetia High in Sacramento is known to all—with Zack Thrasher at the center, Paige, Lucy, Julian, and Jodi complete the five of them. But Jodi feels like she was never truly meant to be friends with them. As Zack’s childhood best friend, she’s automatically been drawn into the group, but she’s not as rich and beautiful and famed as the rest of them—and so she feels like an outcast. Everyone wants to be a Thrasher, but no one ever just becomes one. They can get close, but inevitably, they will always be “Thrashed”—the term that others have coined to mean getting discarded by the group. Emily Mills was one of those classmates who desperately wanted to be a Thrasher. But when Emily dies on prom night after being cast out by the group, whispers about the Thrashers begin circulating, and a police investigation begins. Did they bully her to her death? With Jodi being the only one seemingly in the clear during the investigation, she begins to wonder just how much she really knows about her friends. Can she trust that they’re telling her the truth, or are there things they’re hiding from her? And to make things even stranger, it doesn’t seem like Emily is done with them yet. As the group begins to receive strange text messages and have vivid nightmares, they have to wonder if it’s Emily, looking for revenge.

THE THRASHERS brought me right back to high school, when I would binge Pretty Little Liars for hours and read every teen clique book I could get my hands on. This was an incredibly well-rounded YA thriller. While it was plot driven, with a twisty story that kept me guessing, it was just as character-driven. Every single character was incredibly real to me—I could picture them and their reactions and behaviors, and I loved and hated them at the same time. They were perfectly morally gray, and with the ongoing investigation, every new turn left more questions on whether or not they were telling the truth or just hiding their own secrets. My theories and opinions of the characters were ever-changing, yet I felt so connected and attached to each person. The friend group as a whole had a perfectly messy dynamic, and Jodi was the best point of view to follow the story from. Her storyline was also extremely important, showcasing the common fear of feeling like an outsider with your friends, and trying to do everything possible to avoid being left behind. 

Layered with teen drama, hauntings, a drop of romance, and a creepy, uneasy feeling, this book has it all. And with flashbacks and pieces of Emily’s diary strung throughout, the way you discover new information always leaves you on the edge of your seat. To put it simply, this book utterly and completely consumed me. I could have read it in one sitting, had I not needed sleep. There was never a dull moment, as smaller plot lines were constantly in play to weave the entire mystery together. When I wasn’t reading it, I was telling anyone who would listen about it, and begging them to read it too. The writing was immersive and easy to follow, yet it was never predictable, and the ending was shocking. I am still thinking about this book, and I wish I could experience it again for the first time. Fans of Holly Jackson, ONE OF US IS LYING, and Pretty Little Liars need to read this.

Happy reading!
<3 Margo

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