Member Reviews
Read if you like:
๐ฟ Popcorn Thrillers
โณ Past and Present Timelines
๐ฏโโ๏ธ Multiple POV
๐ช Assassination Attempts
๐ง Who dunnit
This one has a lot going on! It has multiple pov, past and present, bag guys, good guys, flashbacks to childhood trauma, clues, and so much more.
I have to say the twins were probably the most entertaining characters and enjoyed how absolutely out of their minds they were.
The ending was lackluster and truly felt out of place and I feel like the entire last chapter could have been scrapped and would have been a better ending to the story.
There wasnโt a huge omg twist moment in this one as previous Finlay books, but it was a quick and entertaining read nonetheless. Thank you to the publisher for my ARC copy in exchange for my honest review!
What do a stay at home mom, a rock star, and a reality TV producer have in common? Someone is trying to kill them. They also became friends 25 years ago when all three were in a group home. They haven't kept in touch since then, all three going their separate ways to live completely separate lives. That all changed once they realized they were in danger.
There are three main POVs in this book, Jenna, Nico, and Donnie. While I liked all the characters, Jenna was my favorite. I love when authors make the FMC badass. Throughout the book we got glimpses of the past. I thought that was great. We were able to see why and how we got to the present day.
The book had many turns and took us all over. I was surprised by most of the things. I called part of the ending though. Overall, I thought it was a good book and will keep reading more from this author! I listened to the book as I read it. I thought the narration was fantastic! They kept me engaged.
Thank you NetGalley, Macmillan Audio and for St. Martin's Press my gifted copies
โจWhat to expectโจ
โข25-year secret
โขNefarious group home
โขMultiple POV
โขAction packed
โจThoughts โจ
This one sucked me in right away and I didnโt want to put it down. I was immediately intrigued by the plot & the characters. I also loved how incredibly action packed it was. For a thriller/mystery this one is very fast paced, though sometimes it got repetitive. The last bit had me on the edge of my seat, I wasnโt sure what was going to happen. I also did not expect those twists at the end. I really enjoyed this one and it truly had my on the edge of my seat right up until the very end.
The beginning of this book threw me off a bit; there are multiple points of view presented, and it took me awhile to understand how everything was connected. I kept reading because I loved the author's last book (The Night Shift). Once I was fully immersed in the story, however, I flew threw it!
The book was highly entertaining. The plot is a bit of a mess, and the characters felt pretty stereotypical, but you'll enjoy it if you're looking for a fast-paced thriller with twist after twist after twist.
I actually think this book would be fantastic as a movie or television miniseries!
Having enjoyed the author's previous books, this definitely felt a let down due to the standards they had set already. But actually it was a decent suspense plot but the fast pace and continuous intrigue were slightly missing which I expected are the author's trademarks. The three members of Savior house now need to revisit all the trauma and struggle they experienced as children to face the new adversity. It starts off interestingly and small chapters keep engaged. It also has decent twists throughout!
Alex Finlays latest book felt like an early draft of something rather than a continuation and/or improvement of his work. His previous book, The Night Shift, was the type of book you canโt put down and you simply MUST know the ending. It was engaging and felt like a merge of fiction and true crime.
This book was much less engaging, the multiple viewpoints seemed to slow the pace and linger rather than make you eager for more. It feels like there is too much going on. Multiple narrators and multiple timelines for each character too. And while they are generally progressing together, it doesnโt feel synchronized. The lack of cohesion is ultimately what led me to not finish this book.
What Have We Done is a very intricately put together novel. There are many individuals involved and you have to pay close attention to whatโs going on with each person so you donโt miss something. Which is why Iโm happy that I chose to listen to the audio version of this book. All of the narrators kept my attention and were great with their part of the story.
Overall this story sucked me in and I listened to the audio in less than a day. I was drawn into the lives of these people that I couldnโt stop listening until the story was over and I knew how the book ended. Like I said above, the narrators did a great job with this book and I highly recommend it!
I love Alex Finlay! I gave both Every Last Fear and The Night Shift a 5 star rating. Naturally I was pumped to get my hands on a copy of What Have We Done. The story starts off interesting enough, but as I kept reading I lost interest fast. In my opinion this did not feel like an Alex Finlay book. His books are usually suspenseful and thrilling, and this wasnโt either of those.
While Iโm disappointed with this one, he is an author Iโll never stop reading.
This book didn't feel very unique to me. I've seen this plot countless times in movies and it just didn't appeal to me the way the author probably intended.
I will admit that I was entertained, and I appreciated the short chapters.
The final twist just did not work for me. I needed a little more background before the twist was thrown at me. By the time I finished this book, I felt like I ultimately wasted my time.
Overall, this book wasn't horrible, but it wasn't great, either. This was the first Alex Finlay book I've read, but I won't give up on him just yet.
Many thanks to Netgalley, Minotaur Books, and Alex Finlay for an e-ARC of What Have We Done in exchange for my honest review.
My Sincere thanks to Author, Alex Finlay, The Publisher, Minotaur Books, and NetGalley for the privilege of reading an advanced copy of What Have We Done.
This is another highly anticipated, riveting, capturing, action-packed, heart-throbbing Alex Finlay novel!
Four best friends from a group home haven't been in touch in 25 years. The stay-at-home mom, the has-been rockstar with an addiction problem, a powerful district judge, and the reality TV producer all share a secret. Three have survived recent assassination attempts of them.
What Have We Done is told from the alternating points of view of the three surviving members of Savior House. Itโs mostly in the present but with occasional memories to relate moments from the past. The alternation of narrators does a nice job of slowly revealing little morsels about what happened, the charactersโ various secrets, and the occasional red herring.
Now, these three have to come together, dodging the people who are out to assassinate them. If they donโt make it, the secret that they have been keeping for 25 years could come to the surface.
With rich characters and a lightning-fast plot, the mystery is compelling, and I didnโt see who was responsible until the very end. All the hype around this novel is well deserved!
Alex Finlay has become one of my new favorite thriller writers. What Have We Done is his new thriller.
"Twenty-five years ago, Jenna, Donnie and Nico were residents of Savior House, a group home for teens. The home was closed after several girls and the home's adult manager disappeared.
Now someone is trying to kill them and they must revisit their childhood trauma to find the one who wants them dead."
On the surface this seems like it may be a typical thriller trope. Something happened years ago - now someone wants revenge. It is that but Finlay puts these wonderful characters and fast-paced writing to pull you in - an assassin, a rock star and a TV producer. And the psychopathic killers are way out there - especially one of the weapons.
There are some twists along the way and a a couple of big ones near the end that you'll probably not guess
A wild story from Finlay. I think you'll want to add this one to your beach list this year.
Thank you NetGalley, St. Martin's Press, Minotaur Books and Alex Finlay for this arc in exchange for my honest review.
I thoroughly enjoyed this book! I loved Alex Finlay's last book "The Night Shift" so I was VERY excited when I was approved for What Have We Done. I thought this was very well done and while it did take me a minute to get a handle on who everyone was, I loved all the different characters and POV's. It immediately pulled me in and I had a hard time putting this one down.
Without spoilers, my only "issue" was I felt a little confused as to why this person did what they did, and I would've liked a little more flashback chapters from each character. While it would've made the book longer I think it would've helped me to understand why this person did the things they did... and I didn't love the final chapter with Jenna and how it was wrapped up so quickly, but it doesn't change my overall opinion of this book.
Super fast paced and very entertaining! Would make a great movie IMO :)
Solid 4 stars for me!
๐๐ฟ๐ฒ๐๐ถ๐ฒ๐ ๐๐ถ๐บ๐ฒ๐
WHAT HAVE WE DONE
๐ค๐๐ฒ๐ป๐ฟ๐ฒ: thriller
๐ ๐ ๐ฟ๐ฎ๐๐ถ๐ป๐ด: 2.5 โญ๏ธ ๐ซ
๐ 368 pages
๐๐ฒ๐๐ฐ๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฝ๐๐ถ๐๐ฒ ๐ฒ๐บ๐ผ๐ท๐ถ๐: ๐ซ๐ธ๐ณ๏ธโ๏ธ๐ฅ๐๐ฏโโ๏ธ
๐ฅณ ๐ฃ๐๐ฏ ๐ฑ๐ฎ๐๐ฒ: 3/7/2023
๐จ๐ป๐ฝ๐ผ๐ฝ๐๐น๐ฎ๐ฟ ๐ผ๐ฝ๐ถ๐ป๐ถ๐ผ๐ป ๐ฏ๐ฒ๐น๐ผ๐ โฌ๏ธ
Thank you @minotaurbooks & @stmartinspress for the #gifted digital ARC in exchange for an honest review!
Can you read a book and not really know what you were reading about the whole timeโโ I found this to be quite jumbled and there were a lot of characters introduced up front. While it was intriguing, it was utterly confusing. I was truly questioning my sanity bc I was not comprehending what was going on ๐
๐ค
It was attention grabbing initially, & definitely action packed, however, the situations were extremely unrealistic and there was no distinction between when the past/present memories started. I felt absolutely no connection to any of the characters and found myself not really caring what happened to them ๐ฌ . This also took me waaay too long to finish and itโs bc I found myself not excited to pick it up ๐.
Iโm bummed and really wanted more. This is my first book by Alex Finlay, but I do still plan to give his others a shot, as Iโve heard great things about THE NIGHT SHIFT. Loved chatting about this one with @emilybookedup
๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐ณ ๐๐ผ๐ ๐น๐ถ๐ธ๐ฒ๐ฑ: the movie Killers & Nikita
๐ฅ๐ฒ๐ฎ๐๐ผ๐ป๐ ๐ ๐ฒ๐ป๐ท๐ผ๐๐ฒ๐ฑ ๐ถ๐:
โฆ ๐คท๐ผโโ๏ธ
๐๐ฟ๐ถ๐ฒ๐ณ ๐ฝ๐น๐ผ๐ ๐๐๐บ๐บ๐ฎ๐ฟ๐: The story follows 3 โfriendsโ who grew up together at a group home for parentless teens, Savior House. Fast forward 20 years to present day and you meet Jenna, Nico, and Donnie. Jenna is a former hit woman trying to move on and live a normal life with her husband and 2 stepdaughters, Nico is a screenwriter for a popular tv show, and Donnie, is a washed up has been of a musician. When one of their fellow friends from Savior House winds up murdered, and the 3 of them each have someone after them, they begin to realize it is likely connectedโฆ
I loved all of this authors previous books and couldn't wait to get my hands on this one.
I really enjoyed it! It was a different vibe from the others but the suspense was there and I kept flipping the pages until I got the the end.
While this isn't my favorite of the authors work, I still enjoyed it and would recommend the read!!
Another great book by Alex Finlay. Not my favourite, but so exciting! It was action-packed, and I was so happy to get to review this arc!
Movies/books I think are similar
- PLL: Original Sin
- IT
- I Know What You Did Last Summer
- Orphan X
- Nikita
What Have We Done has 3 different POVs - basically, the one-line plot - 25 years ago, some kids did something bad, and now there's an assassin hunting them down to kill them.
Given the PLL: Original Sin vibes it gives, this could genuinely be a movie - the action, the thrills, the chases, the violence, the corruption. This book has it. So - this book has a lot going on and won't be for everyone. You may find it hard to keep things straight, but I really enjoyed it.
Basically, there was this group home that they lived in as children (a really not great group home), called Savior House.
- Jenna, who's now a mom/wife with two step-kids
- Nico, a reality TV producer (with a gambling...problem)
- Donnie, an alcoholic rockstar, who's...past his prime
- Benny, he gets uh-murdered, and he's a judge
The rest start getting targeted by someone who wants them dead...
I was so excited for this book especially after loving this authorโs first two. However, I did not feel the same way about this one. I was bored and struggled to get through it. After picking it up and putting it down multiple times, I decided to dnf this one.
Thank you netgalley and the publisher for this arc in exchange for my honest review.
A big thank you to St. Martinโs Press, Minotaur Books and Netgalley for the ARC! This book will be published on March 7th, 2023.
I thoroughly enjoyed getting the opportunity to read and review Alex Finlayโs new book - as I have heard amazing things about another one of his books, The Night Shift, - which I just snagged on kindle with no-rush credits.
What Have We Done is a very fast paced thriller - which is something I enjoy, so I devoured this book in just a few days! I enjoyed the way in which the book was structured - chapters separated out characters - and it kept me guessing as to what each personโs role was & how the characters were connected to one another. The flashbacks between past and present did keep me intrigued and wondering about what the actual heck happened! ๐คฃ
I also was able to rotate between the ebook/eARC and the audiobook formats - which I also enjoyed, especially with the voice changes between characters & the clarity of the narrators as well. With these elements it made the book easy to follow and remember important details.
As a social worker, who is familiar with various group home settings - that aspect of the book was something that hit me in the feels pretty quickly. Especially the different situations that landed each of the children in that residential setting.
What Have We Done is a captivating thriller that started with a bang, and didn't slow down.
I enjoyed this as much as his previous book!
A stay-at-home mom/assassin, a judge, a financial wiz, a reality TV producer and a washed-up alcoholic rock star all have one thing in common. They spent some of their formative years at Savior Home, a group home for kids where unsavory things took place and secrets were buried.
They havenโt seen each other in twenty-five years, but attempts on their lives force a reunion they never expected. They can only guess that someone is trying to ensure that decades-old secrets are never revealed. Despite best efforts, some secrets refuse to remain hidden.
Once again, Finlay gives us a gripping, riveting, electric read that kept me on the edge of my seat from the first page to the last. Full of twists, turns and shocking surprises, it was all I could do to hang on for the ride. The only thing certain in this compelling story is just when you think youโve figured it out, another surprise pops up to keep you guessing. Suspense, mystery and thriller fans wonโt want to miss this phenomenal read.
I really enjoyed this fast paced, captivating mystery/thriller that started with a bang.
Five unwanted children did something brutual years ago to protect themselves and now it has come back to haunt them. Who and why is someone trying to kill them all now?
Overall, while I did not dislike Alex Finlay's What Have We Done, I wasnโt quite overwhelmed by it. But I am eager to read more from Alex Finlay in the future.
Many thanks to St. Martinโs Press and NetGalley for the digital review copy of What Have They Done. All opinions expressed in this review are my own. This book is due to be released on March 7, 2023.