What a twisted tale! Clare is off to college to change her life! She has had a troubled past and is looking forward to reinventing herself. She meets a tight group of friends and slowly is pulled in to the group. Tabitha, the self appointed leader of the group is mesmerizing Clare would do anything to bask in her glow. The group embarks on some really crazy money making schemes, honey trapping men. Things get out of hand and Clare is left traumatized and wrestling with the need to leave the group. Moody and atmospheric, Edinburg is the perfect setting for this story. Well written, but it did drag on some. Short chapters helped to keep it moving and keep me engaged. A great debut novel!

I wanted so much to love this one. So many things were right up my alley. University setting, disturbing/obsessive friendship, secrets, twists....... Possibly if it was a little shorter. I felt this was slow, although the writing was very good, I found myself putting it down fairly often. I also had so many questions about Clare that I don't think were answered and I just had to wonder. I did end up enjoying this, but it took awhile. I would give this author another try.

Thank you to #NetGalley, Heather Darwent and Random House-Ballentine for this ARC. All opinions are my own.

I give this book credit for one of the strangest and most intriguing opening scenes I have ever read. However, the rest of the book fell a bit flat for me. I have read this trope a few times: girl obsessed with it girl, school, going too far.

This novel is a dark and moody story that centers around the narrator, Clare. Clare is lonely when she starts school in Edinburgh and soon finds herself infatuated with a group of friends she meets. She is particularly fond or more like intoxicated with Tabitha who calls all the shots for the group. She so badly wants to fit in that she'll do most anything. As the friends start allowing Clare into their circle and she is spending more time at their beautiful flat, Tabitha mentions she has a "project" for them all to make money and they need Clare's help. As the story moves forward, we also find out a lot more about Clare as well. I won't give anything away here, but there are plenty of twists and turns. The Things We Do to Our Friends is definitely not a fast moving story. It's a slower moving and descriptive read, so if you are looking for a quick thriller, this is not that. It is however very well plotted, beautifully written and while you kind of hate the characters, you also want to keep reading to find out what happens next. It was a great balance for me and I'm excited for others to read it!

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for an early copy. This is my unbiased review.

Pub Date: January 10, 2023
Pages: 336

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

This novel has diabolical characters and a storyline full of unexpected twists. The ending was completely shocking.

🌷 Debut Novel

🌼 A Pig Skin Suit

🏵️ Strong Female Representation

🌻 Juicy Backstories

🌸 Nefarious Business Plans

🌺 Character Development To Die For

🌷 Reminiscent Of "Jawbreaker"

🌼 Revenge, Blackmail, And A Different Type Of Justice

🏵️ Page Turner

🌻 More Twists Than Twister

I loved this book so much! The setting, the characters, the entire concept, all of it! I can't say much more, as every single morsel of this book hemorrhages secrets!

This book was sent to me electronically by Netgalley for review. I could not get into this book because it went on and on…although the characters do come alive on the pages, it took forever to get to the end…the main character is a mystery…what did she do? What will she do? This author is talented in characterization…just needs to write with fewer words…

I liked this, but I have mixed feelings about it. I think the premise was exciting and obviously well-thought-out as were the characters. The setting was significantly fleshed out and Darwent did an excellent job of bringing in that gothic horror feel that I crave from books like this. I think the book was far too long. Everything was dragged out to a point where the last TWENTY chapters were a trudge. I also wish Darwent hadn't shied away from gruesome, gory details - every part of the book that I showed up for, things like murder, mystery, and a little gore, was too vague. We were left to fill in the blanks far too often. Especially with the ending, I felt unsatisfied, and honestly just wished that she'd made it shorter.

The Things We Do To Our Friends is a slow burning, page turning, suspense filled novel that is unputdownable. It’s like a car that won’t start, but once it gets going, you can’t stop it. It takes on a life of its own and you are not about to be left behind. This book is scandalous, dark at times and oh so twisty.

Clare needs to reinvent herself and moves to Edinburgh to start a new life. She meets a group of friends and just knows that she’ll fit right in with them. What she doesn’t know is that she’ll have a lot more reinventing than she anticipated. She has secrets, they have secrets, and you’ll be caught up in their web, unable to find your way out until the very end.

This book is absolutely a five-star read and y’all need to read it. Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing for the ARC. This is my honest review.

A story of heading off to college and trying to fit in with the 'popular' crowd, and the things that can go wrong. The book had promise and was well written, but unfortunately I found it so tedious and such a slog to get through that I kept having to put it down. For the longest time I couldn't tell what the book was supposed to be about. Since we know nothing of Clare's background or the things she's done, it's really difficult to root for her or really even care. The story picks up a little about 1/3 of the way through, but then tailed off again, then picked up about 3/4 of the way through. Not my type of book, but perhaps others will be a fan.

Everyone who goes away to begin college or university can relate to the feelings of wanting to fit in and "find your tribe." Clare is no different. She heads to Edinburgh to begin her studies not knowing anyone in the city. Clare's background is also rather murky with something having happened in her past that caused her parents to disown her. She has two roommates, but she doesn't really feel any close connection with either of them. In one of her classes, she becomes intrigued by a striking girl, Tabitha, and is soon thrilled to be befriended by her and her group of friends. Ava and Imogen live in Tabitha's house, and her old friend Samuel is also around frequently. They all seem rather wealthy and Clare can't imagine at first why they want her to join their circle. When Tabitha invites her to France with the rest of the group, Clare is excited but also wary -- especially when she's told there is a "project" the group wants to propose to her.

The book moved at a glacial pace while Clare was taken into the circle of friends. Chapter after chapter of her wondering what every glance or phrase meant or didn't mean. It was very tedious. Things picked up about 1/3 of the way through the book when the group's interest in Clare was finally revealed. It took way too long for anything to be explained, and the events played out in such a drawn-out fashion that there was no tension. It's one of those books where you really don't like anyone, so there's no real investment in how any of them end up.

I thought this book had a ton of potential and an interesting premise, but very poor execution. It seemed to wander off in random directions at times and the plot was very clunky. Threads were started and then abandoned, which is super frustrating as a reader. I finished it but I question why, as the big twist was real meh.
I would not recommend this to others.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine for the ARC!

DNF. Unfortunately, this was a book I started multiple times but could just not get into. I appreciate having the opportunity to read this book, it was just not a good fit for me as a reader. Thank you to the publisher and NetGalley for my gifted review copy.

Disclaimer: I received a gifted copy of this book via Netgalley and I am leaving my review voluntarily.
Girl 𝙒𝙃𝘼𝙏
What did I just read??
This is definitely an unreliable narrator story through and through, and the author drops some bread crumbs, but not so many that it's obvious from the get-go. It isn't just her friends that are crazy -- she is not who she seems to be.

How far would you go to fit in? Socially awkward Clare has a troubled past and is looking to make a fresh start on her own. She's starting university in Edinburgh and is instantly drawn to a group of highbrow fellow classmates that she encounters at a bar she works at to make ends meet.

What ensues in a psychological slowburn, rife with diabolical characters and deep wounds that will linger long after the book is finished.

This novel is a tale of young college students and friends that embark on a complicated and risky business endeavor that sinks into danger and toxicity. It was a bit dark, but definitely kept my attention all the way through. I enjoyed this book, and would read another by this author.

This is a really good debut novel. Clare, estranged from her parents, begins college in Edinburgh. She soon meets and joins a group of friends, who, aside from Clare, have known each other for several years. It is a slow and dark burn, but the writing is so good! I’m looking forward to reading more from Heather Darwent. Recommended!


Highly recommend this one! This was my first book to read by this author but definitely won't be my last. The characters will stay with you long after you finish the book and you will find yourself wishing the story would never end.

I’m not sure yet if I liked this book, but one thing I can say about it for sure is that it’s memorable. It might give you nightmares, but either way, it’s planted itself in your psyche.

The plot is about a group of college friends, but it’s also deeply disturbing in an Ottessa Moshfegh/Emma Cline’s “The Girls” way. To be honest, though, because it starts out showing off exactly how fucking weird it can get, and then sort of hints at weird things to come, the ending itself didn’t quite live up to how gross it seemed like it would be. Like the end was definitely unexpected but I’m undecided on whether it was a fun shocking twist or something that felt kind of cheap/unearned/intentionally misleading.

I deeply related to some parts about wanting to fit in, feeling drawn into a group of friends, etc, but also all of the characters are so unlikeable and the plot is so fucking weird, that in the end I didn’t really know how to feel about the fact that some of it resonated with me? Idk read this book if you like feeling weirded out and confused, which I sometimes do.

Review of Uncorrected eBook file

It is September 2005 and she has a plan. She leaves Paris for Edinburgh, planning to study at the university. Always the outsider, she is desperate to fit in, to reinvent herself . . . she’s even changed her name, hoping to leave the past buried and forgotten.

She has little; a job is a necessity. Clare finds one as a cocktail mixer at the local bar where she befriends the owner, Finn. Although she does not like her roommates, Ashley and Georgia, she keeps a low profile and works at building her new life.

Then, driven by wanting to have real friends, Clare meets Tabitha in her art history class and recognizes her destiny to be friends with the enigmatic young woman and her circle of friends, Ava, Imogen, and Samuel. It’s the life she’d always imagined she would have one day.

But Tabitha has plans for a special project, one that will throw her right back into what she’s so desperate to escape.

Will Clare’s friendship destroy her chance to reinvent herself?

=========

Told from Clare’s point of view, this tale of toxic friendship is both dark and twisty, offering readers a host of unlikeable characters. Although Clare seeks to become someone new [and, presumably, better than she was in the past], both mean-spiritedness and entitlement take top honors here. Readers might well see Clare, with her childhood background, as an empathetic character, but her choices and her actions only serve to negate that view.

A sinister vibe underlies the telling of this tale, making the reader feel apprehensive throughout the narrative. The obsessiveness apparent throughout the story underlies the self-centeredness of the characters. The depravity is chilling; there’s a sort of a je ne sais quoi in the narrative that defies explanation.

Slowly revealed secrets keep the complex plot twisting and turning; the revelations in this creepy tale are apt to leave readers wondering why Clare cannot see Tabitha for who she truly is . . . her need to belong overrides her ability to see what is right in front of her?

Readers are likely to wish for more information regarding Clare’s childhood as well as her marriage [and her husband] . . . plot points that are apt to leave readers wondering. Nevertheless, readers who enjoy the dark academia genre might want to check out this story of dark schemes and toxic relationships that leads to an unexpected denouement.

Recommended.

I received a free copy of this eBook from Random House Publishing Group – Ballantine, Bantam and NetGalley
#TheThingsWeDotoOurFriends #NetGalley