Clare is new to Edinburgh and eager to fit in with new people at university. When Tabitha and her friends open their arms out to Clare, it’s all almost too good to be true. And once Clare realizes what Tabitha has planned, not only is it dangerous for her future, but Clare is also in danger of having her past leak out into the new life she’s tried so hard to create for herself. I wasn’t so sure about this book, and the start of it did move a little slower than some of the others, but after about the first 15-20%, I was fully hooked. Since there are a few “spoiler” situations in the book, I’ll stop and just say that I very much enjoyed it and will be very happy to read more by this author in the future. Another keeper for sure!

Special Note: Thank you to the publisher and to NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is an excellent debut and kept me entertained for hours while reading! It's dark, thrilling, and hard to put down!

This is a psychological thriller about a young woman looking to reinvent herself. Clare wanted to start fresh and have real friends, however ended up in the midst of toxic friendships/relationships. This novel reminded me a bit of "Mean Girls." The novel is dark with interesting characters, the most interesting in my opinion is Clare with story being from her POV. This novel did have well developed characters. I would be interested in reading more from this author.

I unabashedly loved this book. It's dark and quite intense at times, the characters are mostly unlikeable, and there's a whole element of unraveling throughout the book that I enjoyed immensely. Like things are just falling apart left and right and the MC, Clare, is getting progressively more unhinged as her past comes to light (I know that sounds like every recent thriller but I read a lot of them and didn't find it to be the same at all!).

Clare is trying to run from her past and start over at a university in dreary Edinburgh, Scotland. During a shift at her new job at a dive bar, she waits on the beautiful Tabitha and mysterious Ava. Clare is immediately drawn into Tabitha's life and finds herself wishing she could become a part of Tabitha's group. When Tabitha brings up a new business proposal, Clare is roped in and finds herself falling deeper into Tabitha's world and closer to her secrets.

I was definitely surprised at the ending. Heather Darwent does an amazing job at creating unhinged and mysterious characters. I felt myself pulled into Tabitha's world and could envision everything Heather Darwent had described. However, I'm only giving this book three stars. This is mainly due to the jumping around of the book. I'm sure it is meant to give a dramatic, confusing effect, but I found it just plain confusing. I also felt as though the beginning was drawn out and could've been shortened a little. There were a few times when I checked to see how far into the book I was and was disappointed because I wasn't that far. It felt like I should have been farther into it with all that I had read.

Thank you NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

This was a creepy, gothic, edge of your seat read. I really enjoyed reading this. Very suspenseful, kept you wondering what was going to happen next. Would love to read more by this author.
Thanks NetGalley and Random House for this ARC!

I really disliked this book. To start with, it didn't reas as a thriller. The story felt like it dragged on and was quite honestly, boring to me. I was hoping to enjoy this one, but it didn't work out.

First off, what a gorgeous cover! That’s what initially drew me to the book. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I started reading it. It took me a bit to get into the story and understand what was happening. Clare is interesting and the company she keeps are quite interesting to say the least. I found this dark, intriguing, intense, frustrating, and full of unlikeable yet slightly delightful characters. You will want to give this a read if you are looking for something different. Many thanks for this ARC that was provided to me via Kindle, from Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine, Bantam and NetGalley.

3.5 rounded
Impressive debut. Grabbed me early and held my interest throughout.
Thanks to Netgalley for the opportunity to read this book

Disappointing. Weird characters, boring, drawn out. I felt like this could have been a good book but the writing just wasn’t there

A really, really good book about the bounds of friendship. I loved the writing style, and honestly want a physical copy just because the cover art is so dang beautiful.

The Things We Do to Our Friends was one of my most anticipated books this year and it 100% lived up to my expectations. It’s a really fun book, it has everything you’d want in a thriller.

*3.5 stars, rounded up to 4*

I received an ARC of this book from NetGalley and the publisher in exchange for an honest review. The Things We Do to Our Friends is a dark academic thriller that got better as it went along. I would describe this book as a cross between The Secret History and Bunny, without the supernatural elements of the latter. Although it doesn't quite execute its premise as successfully as those novels, I still enjoyed this read.

If you are the kind of person who needs likeable or relatable characters to get through a book, this book isn't for you, as these characters are roundly insufferable. This typically doesn't bother me, but I do wish the characters were fleshed out a little more because I didn't find any of them overly compelling, even in their evil. Our heroine, Clare, is a narrator to whom things happen because of the actions of more colorful side characters, although the plot reveals more about Clare and her backstory throughout and she becomes the most interesting character by the end. That being said, I would have loved to see the side characters of TTWDTOF expanded upon more throughout the narrative because by the end, they feel pretty thinly drawn and a lot of questions about their motivations remain. That might have been intentional on the part of the author, but it did leave me feeling a little unsatisfied with the conclusion to their stories. While the characters left something to be desired, the plot points are interesting and drive the book well if you're able to get past distaste for the central characters. It took me a little while to get through the first 2/3 of the book, but I raced through the final third. The action builds in an exciting way and I found myself getting sucked into it - I stayed up all night to finish it once I got into a groove of reading. There are moments of The Things We Do to Our Friends I found genuinely disturbing, and I appreciated the elements of gothic horror woven throughout to contribute to the unsettling vibes of this book.

I'll read anything written in an academic setting, so The Things We Do to Our Friends was right up my alley. This book treads a lot of the pathways taken by stand-outs in this genre such as The Secret History, Bunny, and If We Were Villains, but doesn't execute them quite as successfully. However, if you're a fan of dark academic thrillers, I'd definitely check this book out. Thank you again to NetGalley and the publisher for providing an ARC!

3.5 stars--somewhere between liked and really liked.

Toxic college friendships--why am I such a sucker for this trope? Also books set in colleges? I don't know, but this was a real page-turner. This is a plot-centered book rather than a character-centered one; I think readers looking for a deep character analysis will be disappointed. But the story--dark and shocking--is gripping.

The ending felt slightly anticlimatic to me after the plot's buildup, but that's a minor complaint. I really loved the Edinburgh setting; the descriptions of the city added a layer of depth to the story.

I received this review copy from the publisher on NetGalley. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review; I appreciate it!

The Things We Do To Our Friends is told from the perspective of Clare, a girl who is desperate to fit it. From the jump there is a something "off" about Clare. You can't put your finger on what's different about Clare but there is definitely an air of foreboding to her. You don't find out why she is the way she is until you're far into the book and that's what make its SO. FREAKING. GOOD. You are invested and then BAM!

Despite Clare's desperation in wanting to make friends, she's incredibly picking about what type of friends she is willing to accept. After Clare moves to Edinburgh to attend college, she meets a group of people, and one character in particular gives off an incredibly bizarre subservient "need to please at all costs" vibes.

As the book goes on we watch the level of depravity that each character is willing to accept as “OK/normal” and it keeps you completely hooked since you want to see what happens next and who is willing to do what. This book was so so good and I LOVE the cover design. It reminded me of Horrid by Katrina Leno. Gorgeous! 4.5 out of 5 stars! Absolutely recommend to anyone who loves a book with a lot of complexity and plot twists.

Thrillers are pretty much the only things I can focus on these days with social media frying my attention span.
I loved this dark twisty thriller! I haven't read the secret history but I enjoyed this! Loved the setting.


We got Clare who is trying to reinvent herself. I tried to like her so much but I don't think she's supposed to be likeable.

I loved every twist/reveal and could not put this down!

Everything about this book was absolutely stunning. It has all the capstones of dark academia — lush settings, intellect, love and desire that borders on obsession — but with a modern, feminist twist that the genre needs. From page one I was captivated by the narrative voice and even when I didn’t trust the narrator I was completely enthralled by seeing the world through her eyes. The author perfectly captured the feel of Edinburgh and did such justice to the city, bringing out its beauty and eeriness in a way I’ve never seen done on the page before. Even when I anticipated a twist — of which there were many — the story always surprised me with how it was executed and just how elaborate and intricate the thrills of this book were.

This book had all the elements that would usually add up to a five star story for me. European setting, clique-y group of eccentrics, alluded to sinister back story...but alas, halfway through, it was clear that they just wouldn't mesh.

The Shiver was too unlikable, Clare too flat, and the motivation for the grand plan too lacking. A story like this thrives on making the in group compelling and enviable, so you can understand how someone could be swayed. But The Shiver seemed like a collection of miserable people doing unfun activities. Additionally, Clare's history was just a tad too vague...was she actually a psychopath or were here parents just total weirdos who should never have had a kid?

And lastly, the grand plan seemed very short sighted. Word would likely get around if there is only one person acting as 'bait', especially if the goal is to trap men of a certain social and financial standing. I would have loved for the grand plan to be a bit more realistic.

Clare is a university student in Edinburgh who becomes friends with an eclectic group of three classmates. While she didn't grow up with much and had to work hard to get where she is, these three are privileged and immersed in a world Clare always believed was out of her reach. The ringleader is Tabitha, wealthy and beautiful, whom everyone seems to be dazzled with, even though she comes across as obnoxious and terrible. Samuel is an old friend of Tabitha's, wealthy and bland. Ava dresses like a dominatrix for some reason and is a bit more relatable than Tabitha. Imogen is forever scowling and inexplicably hostile towards Clare.
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Tabitha comes up with a moneymaking scheme that she says won't work without Clare's assistance. Everyone in the group has been working on it and now they need Clare to help put it in action. It seems unethical to her and reminds her of an event in her past that she has always kept a secret from her friends. But of course, she goes along with it, as she doesn't want them to shun her from their group. They soon get in over their heads and Clare regrets ever agreeing to participate. But will they be in more danger continuing their scheme or trying to leave it all behind them?

I would have enjoyed the story more if I liked the characters. I just get tired of these exalted mean girl type characters that are so admired by everyone even though they are terrible people. And the flipside is that the characters that cling to these girls are weak followers who never stand up for, or think for, themselves. But it makes for good drama, I suppose, which is why we see these types of characters so often. Hopefully, it won't be an issue with this author's next book, because I like how she tells a story and I'm interested in seeing more of her work.

Dark, intriguing, intense, frustrating, full of unlikeable characters and yet delightful.
I voluntarily read and reviewed an advance copy of this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.