I tried very hard several times to get into this book but I just could not. I don’t know if it was the subject matter, the setting, or the characters but something left me cold. I will be looking for other things by this author. Hopefully this was a one time experience.

Dark, despairing and disturbing. There are many secrets - and even when one is revealed, is it really? You are only shown what of any of these characters want you to see, and there is always more underneath. Toxic relationships at their destructive best abound and there is no end to the depth these people will go. This is one you read looking through the hands held over your eyes and feeling rather grimy for enjoying it!!

Thrilling read! I was able to connect with all of the characters and throughly enjoyed the story the author painted.

This book captures a group of mischievous friends tangled together in a complex plot. It is filled with unexpected twists and believable characters that makes the reader remember this book – whether they want to or not.

The narrator, Clare, reinvented herself when she moved from France to Edinburgh, Scotland to study art history. She got a job at a bar and was desperate to make friends. The manager, Finn, said to her: “Those girls, there’s something off about them. They’re … mean … like sharks.” This didn’t stop her from finding a way to hang out with Tabitha, Ava and Imogen. The girls along with their companion, Samuel, were well defined in every part of the story. Clare said, Tabitha was “trapped in a world of storytelling, in a universe where we were the center of it all.”

The story is dark and edgy with characters that made me so anxious, I went into a nervous eating binge while turning the pages. Ava was “part of some kind of mob family.” I wouldn’t want her on my friend’s list. In fact, none of the characters were appealing yet perfect for this reading experience. At times I was a little confused with the sequence of the pieces but it all came together at the end.

My thanks to Heather Darwent, Bantam and NetGalley for allowing me to read an advanced copy with the expected release date of January 10, 2023.

I thought The Things We Do to Our Friends was a decent read and would be interested in reading more books by Heather Derwent. Four stars.

If you’ve ever felt like an outsider desperate to belong, this is the one for you… But be careful of how far you’re willing to go and what your friends might ask you to do 🙈

MY REVIEW:
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️/5

👉 This was a long, slow burn, but when it picked up, it PICKED UP.
👉 It was dark and twisted, but not as thriller-y as I expected (which isn’t a bad thing!)
👉 The whole novel felt like a rumination on codependent and homoerotic relationships between women, but if something sinister was the foundation to those friendships 👀

This book sounded interesting but I soon lost interest as none of the characters had a single redeeming quality. The poor girl, Claire joins up with a haughty, entitled group of young women who do nothing but complain about their rich, boring lives. Overall, I felt this story could have been developed further and had more depth to it.

A very, very slow burn thriller with a satisfying ending, this will resonate with anyone who enjoys the "dark academia" genre.

Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read this book!

The writing was ok, but i didn't like anything else. It's more of a slow-burn "literary thriller" than a mystery. I wouldn't have minded that, but none of the characters were interesting to me. If you like The Secret History, you might like this.

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House and the author for the opportunity to read this ARC. I was unable to get into this book so did not finish. Perhaps I am not the audience for this kind of story.

Slow burn toxic friendship alert !
In Edinburgh, Scotland: Clare does her best to make friends and acclimate to college. She is awkward and trying to change herself but seems to be driving new people away. When she finally meets Tabitha and her circle friends she thinks she has hit gold! Very quickly Clare enters the very tight friendship circle and finds herself embroiled in a very questionable project. Because Tabitha claims that she needs Clare for a plan, the real question is, what will Clare do?

A slow burning, atmospheric story, The Things We Do to Our Friends will surprise you!
#RandomHouse #TheThingsWeDotoOurFriends #HeatherDarwent

Thanks to NetGalley, Random House and the author for the opportunity to read this ARC. I was unable to get into this book so did not finish. Perhaps I am not the audience for this kind of story.

We all choose friends we can relate to, either by way of shared interests, views on life, personalities, or a combination of the above. The characters in The Things We Do to Our Friends seemed drawn and bound to one another by their sheer awfulness as human beings. This book is a dark ride, set in Edinburgh, at college. There is a slow build to the plot, which takes a very long time to build, but redemption is found in the rather surprising ending. I disliked every character in this book, and found the book on the slow side, but overall I liked the plot and the writing. Oh, and the cover is top notch!

Many thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing me with the opportunity to read and review this book.

I can't say that I enjoyed this one. It took me a little bit to get through because it was a slow developing story. The characters didn't seem believable and it seemed to me like the story was being written without a clear storyline from the beginning.

While the story turned out to be interesting and had some twists and turns, for me, it wasn't developed well and felt like a stretch to get to the finish line.

By the end of the story, I felt that the conclusion was interesting but unearned.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for the ARC.
This was great! I finished it in like two nights. It was interesting, had suspense and was an easy read.

Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC of this book to review.

HOLY SMOKES! This is truly one of the best books I’ve read this year - and I’ve read quite a good few. The author captures obsession, all sides of it and all effects of it in a fascinating way.

I truly must tell you, there isn’t a single likable character in this book. I found myself hating almost everyone and I have never been happier with that. The characters are not meant to be liked. I don’t even think they are meant to be pitied. You see these characters through rose colored glasses that the main character gives you but you also see that they (the MC included) are just wholly terrible people.

I was not expecting the twists and turns that happened in this book and I am not disappointed at all at how deranged this ends.

Definitely a book to read once it publishes!

I freaking loved this book!! It was dark, and twisted, and messed up in the absolute best way!! A group of female friends hitting back at men in twisted ways? Yes, please!! I can’t wait to see what this author comes up with next! I’ll be waiting!!

For me to give a 5 star rating means I couldn't put the book down and couldn't wait to read each night. This story reminded me of The Secret History by Donna Tartt which I absolutely love. I couldn't tell whether the narrator was truthful, harmful, good, etc. Such a distinct voice kept me intrigued.

The Things We Do to Our Friends is a sort of thriller and mystery that is hard to put down, though I went back and forth on whether I actually liked the book. Many of the characters felt familiar, especially if you have read books in the dark academia theme: Clare is the main character, the socially awkward girl with a secret who is drawn to the beautiful and charismatic girl, Tabitha. Tabitha is self centered and slightly unhinged but for some reason the people in her orbit mistake this for being interesting. It’s a formula in a lot of thrillers with female leads in an academic setting (college or boarding school) and I felt others did it better (Ruth Ware’s The It Girl for instance)..

On the other hand I wanted to see where the story would lead and found myself reaching for the book constantly to find out what happened next. Maybe the book just didn’t quite click for me as I found the characters and their actions just too awful.

really enjoyed this one! unsettling, unhinged women committing crimes against men! i honestly was pretty confused about what was going on throughout this book but i enjoyed how it all wrapped up!