Clare has a secret, a secret that’s so overwhelming she feels the need to completely reinvent herself once she moves to Edinburgh for college, though she has no idea where to begin. Her flatmates are pleasant, but a bit boring, and Clare is too nervous to approach any of her fellow students for fear of being rejected. Finding a job in a local bar leads her to Tabitha and her circle of friends, whom she meets when they come in for a drink. Clare is in awe of Tabitha’s seeming confidence and exuberance and is flattered when the group (secretly referred to by Clare and her boss Finn as The Shiver, as in a shiver of sharks) embraces her and offers companionship and a distraction from the daily grind of school and work.

Tabitha, who is not as wealthy as she projects, soon has a fascinating business proposal for The Shiver, providing a way for wives to see if their husbands will cheat on them by setting the men up in compromising situations. Clare is groomed for the primary spot, and she reluctantly agrees, once she realizes that someone in the group knows her secret. As things progress from strange to downright dangerous, Clare knows she needs to get out before someone is seriously hurt.

The storyline is chaotic, the characters are flawed, the setting is cold and gray, and somehow it all works together. Clare is scary, though she projects as insecure and uncertain, while Tabitha is a manipulator who is driven to maintain the lifestyle in which she was raised, with seemingly unlimited funds. Imogen, Ava, and Samuel are also caught up in the whirlpool of Tabitha’s drama, and had been for years, kept close by the secrets they share. I would call The Things We Do to Our Friends as an excellent example of the ultimate in toxic friendship and is a book I enjoyed reading.

An interesting and overall entertaining read, The Things We Do to Our Friends, is a dark academia novel following Clare as joins a new clique of friends in college. While I really did enjoy the writing and prose, this is definitely a slow burn suspense. There were some graphic and strange scenes, and while the characters had depth and intrigue, the plot was just okay. I enjoyed reading the book, but it is not super memorable. This book would be perfect for fans of the dark academia genre, or who like character-driven stories.

Very disappointed in this as I had high expectations! The story was taking forever to unfold and I found myself confused or to be reading the same info over and over. DNF'd at 30%. The cover is so gorgeous though!

I unfortunately could not finish this book. There wasn't anything wrong with it per se, I just couldn't get into it. The premise was interesting and it drew me in, but the characters fell flat for me. I am very much a character girlie and this just did not do it for me. I think it's definitely worth giving a shot though! Just wasn't for me.
Thank you so much to PRH for sending this to me.

Keep your enemies close, and your friends, well—
keep an even closer eye on them...


The damage we do—or at least, that we can do—to each other, is horribly immense in its scope and variety.

We’ve become inured to it, frankly, because we see it EVERYWHERE. Trolls going off on someone or something, online. Hate speech. Political upheavals.

But we also see it closer to home. Family members, intentionally hurting or neglecting those they should hold precious. Lovers, seemingly forgetting all of the reasons they came together, in the first place.

And close friends, taking perverse delight in using and wounding those whose darkest secrets they carry and were sworn to protect.

Heather Darwent gives us a look at all of these in her compelling psychological suspense debut, The Things We Do to Our Friends.

Often people choose universities where they’ll feel right at home… either because the school is, literally, close to their home, or because many friends go there.

But a smaller group (including me) choose the opposite... a place where no one knows them. Where they can finally become who they really are... or at least, who they want most to be.

Clare falls into that latter camp. She selects a tabula rasa for her studies… the University of Edinburgh (a far cry from Paris), where no one knows a single thing about her.

It’s hard, setting out on your own, but it’s the only way to make a new beginning, to craft a new “you”…which is something Clare very much wants to do.

She finds a room with two other girls (nice enough, but not the sort she wants for friends). She gets a part-time job in a dive bar (and also into a “situationship” with the pleasantly-ordinary barkeep, because, well... needs must). She signs up for a typically-motley group of freshman classes.

And on the very first day of art history class, Clare spots THEM.

The girls she wants to become.

They’re so obviously the embodiment of her goal... a trio of young women radiating confidence, smelling of wealth and posh living, and exuding the assured power that only the most-privileged girls can.

The hierarchy is easy for Clare to parse: beautiful, reed-thin blonde Tabitha is The One... the undeniable leader anyone would follow (straight into an inferno or off a gangplank into the midnight depths of the ocean, most likely).

The other two, in sharp contrast, are the support staff. Imogen, the plainer and pragmatical one, who gets things done; and Ava, the exotically-foreign-born picture of elegance, dripping with money and an ineffable “otherness”.

Gradually, Clare manages to find an “in”. The three girls—along with Tabitha’s handsome, lad-about-town childhood friend, Samuel—begin to include Clare in their lives... inviting her over for dinners and fun nights in (or out).

Is she “one of them”? No, no... not that, certainly... but she’s closer than anyone else is, which is a big deal.

As the semester wears on, though—and Clare is privy to more of Tabitha-and-company’s plans—she begins to realize that she isn’t the only one with a motive other than pure, altruistic friendship.

The girls (and Samuel) have hatched a Grand Plan--a deviously-dark scheme, which smacks of everything Clare has been trying desperately to run far from--and they insist that Clare is an integral part.

And they won’t take “no” for an answer.

So, she begrudgingly goes along with them... buoyed by Tabitha’s giddy exuberance, and calmed by the casual nonchalance of the other three.

Until she reaches her tipping point, that is... the moment of real clarity, when she sees only one possible way to move forward.

One where she’s no longer under Tabitha’s spell...


The Things We Do to Our Friends is the book that finally snapped me out of a two+ month-long reading abstinence (yes, really). So, is it good? Definitely.

Darwent’s prose is powerful (and often, lyrical). Clare is a complex young woman, and seeing things through her eyes—all that she thinks, with regard to other people, certainly, but also the things she doesn’t come right out and say or ponder--offers tantalizing glimpses into the past she’s doing her damnedest to leave far behind... but never revealing too much.

My only niggling complaint, if you will, is the speed at which the resolution (The Big Reveal) happens, once Darwent gets there. After the level of suspense maintained throughout the story, the ending fell a bit flat because it was somewhat abrupt. (Nonetheless, the ending completed the story, so in that sense, it was fine.)

The Things We Do to Our Friends is a darkly-twisty
(and twisted) look at the lengths we’ll go to for friendship... and the ones we won’t. Well worth the read. 
~GlamKitty

A twisty suspenseful story about friendship and what one would do to be part of the in crowd. Clare leaves France to start the University in Edinburgh, Scotland. She takes this chance to reinvent herself and start over leaving secrets of her past behind. She gets a job at a local bar to help make ends meet while at The University. It’s here she meets a group of friends including the ring leader Tabitha. This group comes from money, wealth and have everything Clare has always felt was out of reach for her. The book is mostly told from Clare’s point of view. This story is compelling and the characters all have a past. The toxic friendship with Clare and this group of friends. How far would one go for friendship and is it worth it? Great suspenseful read with some twists. Many thanks to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for the eARC. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

2.5 stars

Things We Do to Our Friends is a dark thriller that focuses on the lives of a group of college students who draw an unsuspecting newcomer into their fold, not knowing that she has deep secrets of her own. When Clare arrives in Edinburgh for college, she is alone and desperately seeking companionship. Soon, she meets a group of college kids she calls The Shiver, with the alluring and enigmatic Tabitha as their leader. As the group befriends her and brings her into their daily lives, she soon realizes that they have ulterior motives and a well-developed plan for her. They seem to know a little about her own sinister past, and they’re not afraid to use it for their own gain.

I enjoy thrillers with a dark academia vibe, and had high hopes for this book. Sadly, there was too little focus on the academia side. This centered more on the toxicity of the friendships and relationships of these college age kids, whose privilege and wealth lead them to forever alter other people’s lives. Clare herself is a complicated and unreliable narrator who I genuinely did not like. I struggled to like any of the main characters in this story or feel connected to them in any way.

For me, this fell a bit flat. The elements were there: the characters were complicated and vindictive, their relationships completely toxic, with Edinburgh being the perfect ominous setting. But the climax and twists felt subdued, weighed down by a narrative that seemed mediocre. The concept was great, but I failed to connect or feel any emotion throughout.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House - Ballantine, Bantam for this advanced copy, in exchange for my honest review. My opinions are my own.

I'm giving this book a 2.5.

We are following Clare in her first semester in college. She befriends a girl named Tabitha, and falls in with her group of friends. They are rich, privileged, and mysterious. All things Clare longs to be. To her they seem perfect, to others, they seem odd. When they are around, things just seem off. Then Clare discovers that they know about her incident in France, and plan to use it to their advantage for their "project".

This just didn't do it for me. Parts of the books seemed disjointed. There were parts where it jumped to the future with no warning. She just starts talking about her life now, which was confusing until you realized it, then goes right back into the story.

None of the characters were likable, which they weren't supposed to be, but it was a lot reading about a group of awful people, with no reprieve. I did like that Clare seemed unassuming to the group, until she flipped the script and showed her true, dark side.

This book was slow to get to the actual plot. It was mostly like reading about someones day to day activities for the first majority of the book. Even when we got to the main point, it seemed slow in parts.

If you like slower paced books with darker vibes or characters with very questionable morals, you might like this book!

Thank you to Random House Publishing and NetGalley for an eARC in exchange for an honest review

I devoured this book! I’ve read so many thrillers in recent years that it’s hard sometimes to pick up one which surprises me but this one was so unique and the plot was so different to anything I’ve read before that I was totally gripped. It’s a story about a twisted group of friends - Clare, Ava, Tabitha, Imogen and Samuel. Each of them bad in their own way, each just as toxic as the mould that Clare imagines creeping up the walls of her mind. I had no idea how this unsettling tale would end - I just couldn’t put it down.

There were other things I loved about this novel - the settings (Edinburgh and Perigueux in France). I also loved how descriptive the author was when describing both of these places and how she described the characters and their interactions with each other.

For fans of Julia Heaberlin, Megan Miranda and the like … a must read!

Thanks to the author, the publishers and Netgalley for my advanced reader copy in exchange for an honest review. ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

“The sudden sense of the maze of vaults below where screams echo. The dead are near in the city when night falls. They press against you but I think it’s the living who come for you.”

“It made me want to reach out and touch her and often I did because all of us felt our way around each other with touch. Where one of us ended and the other began - the boundaries were barely there anymore.”

Thank you to Heather, Bantam, and Netgalley for an advance copy of The Things We Do to Our Friends.

I unfortunately put this one to the side at 56%. The pace was much too slow for my liking. That coupled with the characters just being wildly unlikable had me at a point that I was picking up every other book on my January TBR except for this one. There are times where these slow burn mysteries are right up my alley, and I really thought this one would be a winner. I love dark academia, toxic friendships, and Edinburgh, but this just didn't keep my interest to see it through to the end.

Unfortunately, the book didn’t work for me as well as the cover did. The narrative started out well, but it felt like it meandered- and I didn’t feel compelled by any of what was happening for the characters.


Thank you so much @netgalley & @bantampub & Ballentine for the eArc! & thank you so much @prhaudio for the audio copy.

3.5 stars.
Starting off this book I felt like it was going to be one of my new favorites. The prologue is one of my favorites I've ever read. Throughout, the characters remained interesting and the writing was solid. The atmosphere/vibe of the book was also great. But this felt like the author had several scenes/ideas that she wanted to include, and included those, but didn't really know how to thread them together. All of the scenes were good but ended up feeling really disjointed.

This was an interesting and definitely unique tale of five young adults with aspirations beyond the typical college student. Clare is desperate to reinvent herself and will do just about anything to be part of Tabitha’s group. You’ll definitely want to finish this story and find out just how far these friends are willing to take things!

In the mood for something dark? Then pick up The Things We Do To Our Friends by Heather Darwent. Just pause and look at that cover, isn’t it beautiful?

This novel takes place in Scotland, it’s quite atmospheric and chilling. There isn’t much mentioned about school though it takes place at a university. I love these types of books that contain secrets and hidden pasts threatening to be discovered.

Take a look:

Edinburgh, Scotland: a moody city of labyrinthine alleyways, oppressive fog, and buried history; the ultimate destination for someone with something to hide. Perfect for Clare, then, who arrives utterly alone and yearning to reinvent herself. And what better place to conceal the secrets of her past than at the university in the heart of the fabled, cobblestoned Old Town?

When Clare meets Tabitha, a charismatic, beautiful, and intimidatingly rich girl from her art history class, she knows she’s destined to become friends with her and her exclusive circle: raffish Samuel, shrewd Ava, and pragmatic Imogen. Clare is immediately drawn into their libertine world of sophisticated dinner parties and summers in France. The new life she always envisioned for herself has seemingly begun.

Then Tabitha reveals a little project she’s been working on, one that she needs Clare’s help with. Even though it goes against everything Clare has tried to repent for. Even though their intimacy begins to darken into codependence. But as Clare starts to realize just what her friends are capable of, it’s already too late.

This is out now!

✨Book Review✨
The Things We Do To Our Friends by Heather Darwent
3/5 ⭐️⭐️⭐️

First, I would like to thank @netgalley for my copy of this read for an honest review!

I was pulled in to this book because of the cover, I mean isn’t it beautiful! 🥰

But book itself was okay. Just a bit weird for me. The beginning definitely pulled me in, but the rest was just a slow burn and it took me a bit to want to finish unfortunately.

I was expecting more of a thrill so to speak. But all the characters were unusual and unlikeable making it hard to connect. So when I was over it was just an okay sort of feeling.

I was so excited for a dark academia read, it just fell a bit flat for me in that sense.

I understand we all have different interpretations and opinions, so I wouldn’t write this author off in the future. I’d be interested to see what is next for her.

I would recommend this to those who like a read when all the characters are dysfunctional.

This book has so many things I love:
-Dark academia
-Unreliable characters
-An outsider
-Flashbacks

All of these work together to create a deeply twisted story. Some parts are a little slower than I like, but then everything totally flips on its head each time with something wild (uh... pig carcass, anyone?! My jaw was on the floor the whole time...) Toxic friendships aplenty, this book will definitely have you second guessing and overthinking a lot of your own life. It is filled with complex characters that you will root for and against equally. And I also think this stunning cover needs to be talked about and share more!

This is like 3.5/3.75 stars for me. It started out really promising and there were times it was dark and twisted and certain chapters ended with this little blip on the edge that made you want to get to the next chapter, but at other times it just felt like it dragged and some parts could’ve been left out.⁣
⁣
I went back and forth listening and reading and did really enjoy the narrator. She brought the characters to life which made it more enjoyable. I also find this cover just gorgeous.⁣
⁣
This group of friends, some call the shiver, which is what they call a group of sharks . The group of friends all fit their part in the friend group and are all equally dark or disturbed in their own way and manipulate people how they choose. Clare really wants to be friends with them and will mold herself to blend in to become one of them and will do anything to keep them as friends. Except being their friend isn’t always what she signed up for.⁣
⁣
Would you do ANYTHING to become or stay someone’s friend?

The Things We Do To Our Friends by Heather Darwent is a psychological thriller involving some very toxic friendships that our main character Clare is trying to navigate.

Clare comes to Edinburgh to attend school, but her main focus soon becomes a group she calls, “The Shiver” that consists of three of her female classmates and one male. She desperately wants to be a part of their group and is particularly infatuated with the group’s self appointed leader, Tabitha. Soon Clare finds herself wrapped up in The Shiver’s increasingly risky schemes. Of course, Clare has some secrets if her own as well. (One that is foie gras adjacent...)

It’s a really detailed character study. Like really detailed. The writing is very descriptive and lush, but somewhere in the middle it just starts to drag a bit for me. From the jump, I felt like we were being beat over the head a bit with Clare’s true nature. Like all the signs are there in painstaking detail is you know even a little about psychology. By the time the epilogue rolled around, I felt like it wasn’t much of a surprise. Plus there were some chapters thrown in from Clare’s future life with her husband and kids that didn’t really mesh with the rest of the story.

All in all, it was a gorgeously written book that just didn’t come together for me at least in its execution.

Book Summary:

Clare is an outsider – to put it lightly. Like many people, all she wants in life is to find a way to belong. Rather than searching for people who will accept her for who she is, she's willing to change and sacrifice anything to fit in with a particular crowd.

Even if that means throwing her darkest secret into the light, naturally, everything is about to go horribly wrong for Clare. What healthy group would demand such a price for the luxury of spending time with them?

My Review:

Okay, I'll confess: half the reason I picked up The Things We Do to Our Friends is that I fell utterly in love with the cover. I mean, look at it! How could I not? But seriously, the description sounded compelling. We've all known a few toxic people/friends in our lives, and I thought this would play off that vibe quite nicely.

There were certainly times when I wanted to scream and shake Clare by the shoulders. Seriously, woman. The warning signs were everywhere! Maybe that fact is what kept me from enjoying The Things We Do to Our Friends as much as I would have liked, but what can you do about that?

Overall, I would say that The Things We Do to Our Friends is a decent read. It'll keep you happily invested on a rainy day – speaking from experience here.

Highlights:
Mystery/Thriller
Lots of Twists!
Amazing Cover

Trigger Warnings:
Dark Secrets

There was a lot I loved about this book - a dark and twisted plot, mysterious and quirky characters, an academia setting (sort of), and a sense of foreboding.

Overall, I really enjoyed it. But it took me a bit to get there. Some of the novel felt a little drawn out and often I felt like the author was telling me things more than showing them. For example, Tabitha was this charismatic, beautiful girl that everyone was instantly drawn to, however, I never actually felt drawn to her. Tabitha wasn't built enough as an individual to help me connect to her, rather, I just heard from Clare how wonderful Tabitha was.

I always love a good sense of foreboding and this novel definitely built the suspense. There were allusions to Clare's seedy past that were well placed and that storyline really held my interest.

The storyline with Perfect Pieces and the crew's business was also really fascinating and I could have used more of that. It was dark and unique and I was very intrigued.

Like Tabitha, not all of the characters were very well developed. I really never felt a connection to Clare and we never really got to know her, although some of that may have been intentional on the part of the author. The other individuals in Tabitha's crew were similarly one dimensional and all really only seemed to exist to support Tabitha.

This was a good read and an impressive debut. I'll definitely pick up another book by this author!

Thank you to Bantam and NetGalley for the copy.