The Thrashers out now from Wednesday Books; 352 pages
Content Warning: Suicide, alcoholism, parental abuse, bullying, death of a parent, statutory rape
About the Author: “Originally from Sacramento, Julie spent many years bouncing between New York and California before eventually settling in coastal Fort Bragg, CA. A theatre and fandom nerd, Julie can tell you the name of any Buffy episode if you pick a number 1-7, and another 1-22.
With her Bichon-Poodle brother, Charlie, she spends her days writing Rom-Coms, Adult Fantasies, and YA Thrillers, and at night, she falls asleep to Pride and Prejudice 2005 in the background.
As a playwright, Julie’s musical Generation Me won the 2017 New York Musical Festival’s Best Musical award, as well as Best Book for Julie’s work on the script” (Bio from author’s website).
Find Julie Soto on the following platforms:
Jodi Dillon never expected to be a member of the “in crowd” at New Helvetia High School, but her position among the teen elite was cemented by her connection with Zack Thrasher, New Helvetia’s golden boy. The once seemingly perfect lives of Jodi, Zack, Lucy, Paige, and Julian, collectively known as the “Thrashers” by their peers, are upended by the death of fellow high school student Emily Mills on prom night. Emily, who longed to be included in this exclusive group, left a trail of clues that point the blame for her death at Jodi and her friends. As detectives circle the Thrashers and public scrutiny grows, Jodi becomes increasingly uncertain about where her loyalties should lie. To make matters worse, Jodi and her friends seem to be haunted by the ghost of Emily, who even beyond the grave is obsessed with being included in the lives of the Thrashers.
In her YA debut, Soto crafts a captivating mystery thriller whose final pages left me with my jaw on the floor. The beginning immediately drew me in, with the Thrashers dealing with the social and legal consequences of their connection to Emily Mills. While I remained engaged throughout the book, wanting to know just as much as the characters what happened on prom night, the book had so many moving parts that certain storylines and characters were neglected as the narrative progressed. Supernatural elements of the story also dropped in and out throughout the story, leading to confusion about the source of some problems that arise. I didn’t feel like the novel had real closure, which I’m hoping means Soto is considering a continuation of this story; otherwise, I was left unsatisfied with the way each character’s story concluded. I would have liked to see more depth added to the core characters in order to better understand their actions and motives. Zack, Paige, and Lucy were hard to connect to, despite Zack being the ringleader of the group and the center of the Emily Mills conflict. Despite the lack of connection with these characters, Jodi was a compelling protagonist. Her feelings about not belonging to her friend group were incredibly relatable, as were her more pragmatic concerns and moral dilemmas during the novel. The narrative Soto crafts, while at times disjointed or unrelatable, is intensely interesting and tackles complex subjects through the perspectives of a morally grey cast of characters.
Pine Reads Review would like to thank NetGalley and Wednesday Books for sending us an ARC in exchange for an honest review. Any quotes are taken from an advanced copy and may be subject to change before final publication.
Sam Parker, Pine Reads Review Social Media Manager