i expected more depth and insight from this book given it was about a group of psychology students researching lying. More about the ethics of research, instead got more of a typical story of a group of people, who are being killed, with various secrets and wrong people being accused. A bit melodramatic but an ok read. 3.5

I wanted to like this so so bad. 😭 however, I should have been tipped off when it was compared to Sager, my arch nemesis. Lol!!

This wasn't working for me and I found it rather boring and slow. And to get to the end was tedious.

As always, I'm so thankful to Sourcebooks!

I really enjoyed reading This is How We End Things by R.J. Jacobs, a crime-thriller set in a Psychology Department of a US university and most of the story's characters are either researchers or participants in a study into the effects of stress and deception. During the university break, one of the researchers is found dead in the supervisor's office and a few days later, the supervisor is also found dead. As a snow storm shuts the town down, the town's detective and the campus cop interview all of the suspects (knowing they are all experts in deception/lying) and eventually chase down the killer in a dramatic end scene.

The story is well-paced, the characters are credible and likeable, the setting is most-intriguing and adds an interesting dimension to the detective's investigation and witness interviews. The ending caught me by surprise. I wholly recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a crime thriller, interesting characters and well-crafted character relationships/interplay.

I liked Jacobs’ previous book back in November (more so than other readers, ti seems) and grabbed this one from Netgalley solely based on that. Lately, I’ve been very selective about thrillers, looking for the more original rare ones in the pile of clichéd formulas. And this one, to be honest, kind of veered toward that pile.
Is it particularly differed from Always The First To Die? Well, not stylistically so much, no. The main difference appears to be that ATFTD takes place on a movie set and features actors, director, etc. and this one is set in a small college town amid psychology researchers.
Are movie sets, especially scary movie sets, inherently more exciting than academia and University campuses? Yes, one might make an argument that they are. But I’ve read plenty of great academia fiction, so…
I suppose, for me personally, yes, because I love movies so much. I suppose for me the setting was what elevated ATFTD above average. And here, in this novel, there just wasn’t enough to provide that boost.
MInd you, it’s on the good side of average. Jacobs is a pretty good writer and understands how thrillers work, dishing out measured amounts of information throughout to maintain the suspense and all that, but in the end of the day it wasn’t quite enough for me and didn’t seem like enough to distinguish this book among the many, many, maaaany ones just like it.
And yes, I figured out who the killer is (a particularly dumb killer in this instance) and I appreciated that the author didn’t make it too easy to guess, but aside from that…middle of the road all the way, especially since I didn’t particularly like, found interesting, or care about any of the characters.
Entertaining enough to pass the time, but nothing special. Thanks Netgalley.

An intriguing psychological thriller dealing with the art of lying and manipulation, featuring a group dynamic of characters that are cleverly insightful.

A psychological thriller about psychological shenanigans, this is a great read with an intelligent central plot and plenty of mystery

Will give you something to think about that's for sure, especially how much trust we should put in those around us.

Entertaining and a page turner. Overall a terrific read.

This is How We End Things is a psychology thriller about liars lying about their research on lying. How very meta. It acts as a sort of locked room mystery--while the multiple narrator/suspects are on a college campus it is clear that one of the 5 research students is a killer. The story kept me guessing with its multiple viewpoints and twists and turns, but I struggled to hold my interest. I recommend for those who enjoy college tales, dark academia, or who have a particular interest in psychology.

Thank you to the author, R.J. Jacobs, Sourcebooks, and Netgalley for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

This is How We End Things is perfect for readers who enjoy dark academia and psychological thrillers. Told through multiple narrators, the reader becomes a part of the hunt for a killer on a college campus. Each of the characters is expertly drawn and their relationships are fully developed; however, I would really like to see even more depth and backstory earlier in the novel. The setting of the Department of Psychology is very interesting, but the casual reference to the Stanford Prison Experiment and the "liars" experiment details feel somewhat insufficient for a psychological thriller. I admit that I was unsure of the killer until late in the novel, but I was pleased with the complexity of the final chapters.

I am somewhat reminded of The Secret History, only a condensed version. This is a fast-paced, quick read and I highly recommend it!

The psychology department should be a safe place, but what if it's not? This is How We End Things follows a group of PHD students who are conducting experiments on deception. One day, a testing session goes very wrong and the next day someone is dead. This book was full of twists and turns and it took me a long time to figure out who the killer was. I really enjoyed the various points of view, and the connections between the characters was fun to read about during character development. For me, the book built fairly slowly, but the last third or so accelerated quickly and I couldn't wait to finish it.

I had a really hard time getting into this one for some reason. As a psych major graduate I was super excited about the premise of this one. And maybe my personal experience just conflicted with my reading experience. Other than the fact that it takes place in a school, it didn’t really accomplish the dark academia vibes I was expecting. My biggest issue was the complete lack of connection I felt to the characters. The plot was enough to keep the story chugging along, but I just didn’t care enough. And it fell into the category of books that do the stupid info dumping at the end that I can’t stand. Overall, it was just an okay, debut, locked-room mystery. It had some good twists but in a lot of ways fell really flat. The potential wasn’t quite reached. The procedural parts didn’t mesh well with the flow of the story. And I was hoping for a little more exploration into the psychological thriller aspects.

"This is How We End Things," by RJ Jacobs is a psychological thriller set in the Psychology Department of a prestigious North Carolina College. 6 Psychology graduate students, each harboring inner secrets and resentments are involved in research on lying, Despite working closely together, tensions are high in the research team and one of them is found murdered. The only suspects - the 5 other members involved in the research. One of them is lying.

Unfortunately I found this book slow and flat, with unlikeable characters. I just could not get into a groove and by the middle of the book was hoping it would just end.

Nevertheless, thank you so much Netgalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC.

This is How We End Things
By RJ Jacobs
Pub Date Sept. 12, 2023
Thanks to the author, publisher and NetGalley for the ARC of this book in exchange for my honest opinion.
I love psychological thrillers so that’s why I requested this book.
For me it was mostly a miss not a hit, but I may be in the minority here.
I would have liked to have more details about psychology studies used to inform us about lying techniques, the book seemed shallow to me.
3 stars

In a North Carolina college, five grad students are working with a psych professor on an experiment about the psychology of lying. During one of the sessions a test subject gets violent, but the group thinks it’s handled. Later, one of them is found dead at the office. Since it’s a locked academic building, it has to be someone from their own group - who has been lying to them all, and why?

I really liked this one - it combined a pretty college campus with a disturbing mystery, a local detective trying to solve it, a once-in-a-decade snow storm, and a race to close the case before anyone else ends up dead.

The beginning of this book moved so slowly I almost DNF’d it a couple times, but I’m hoping since this was an ARC that maybe they can do some editing and have the beginning of this book match the great pacing in the second half. I like when books with a lot of characters start out with the action to hook the reader and then take the time to introduce people and themes. It felt like there was so much explanation up front about who the students were and what the experiment was about, when the book only got interesting at the first murder. Overall I really enjoyed it once the pacing picked up!

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for allowing me to read this!

I first wanted to read this book due to the description saying it was similar to if we were villains and I was hooked throughout this book!

The premise of the book is six grad students are helping a study on the psychology of lying. A lawyer is then brought on to help with the legal basis of the study and gives the 6 original creepy vibes. One night one of the six was murdered while the others were there. They have all been studying the psychology of lying and could possibly get away with the murder.

Fantastic book!! And keeps you hooked!! Highly recommend!!

Big thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Ugh, I love dark academia and was really wanting to love this book..but this was not it for me. The book does take place at a University, but only in one building pretty much. It focuses on a small group of grad students that do not live on campus. The students just conduct research studies on campus. Therefore, minimal dark academia vibes for me. I did not connect with any of the characters. I found it pretty boring. Nothing really happens until the very end (which I figured out ahead of time). This was truly disappointing for me because I actually loved the intro. The book begins with a creepy interview with an anonymous psych patient. I wish there was more of that sprinkled through out. I give this book 2 stars. Based on reviews coming in so far, I seem to be in the minority though.

Simultaneously too confusing, yet somehow not complex enough. The lack of depth and development led to a lack of caring about the outcome. If there had been more time for everything to build up then unfold - if reworked as more of a slow burn - this would’ve been a hit instead of a miss.

This book was slow going at parts and it was hard to keep characters straight. Good story line just thought it dragged at parts.

Slow start, to the point that I almost didn't keep going with it. I wanted to see more character development at the beginning to get me invested in our main players.

As an educator, I love to read all things that fictionalize academia. This is How We End Things is the story of a professor who is studying the science behind lying and deception. What could go wrong with this scenario in the psychology department, on a mostly empty campus in the middle of winter during a snowstorm?
This who-dun-it tale was unexpectedly exciting, and edge of your seat! Each student has lies and secrets to hide, and just as I thought I had them figured out, boy, was I wrong!
Thriller and psychology fans will really enjoy this read! 5 stars!!!

Dark academia? Count me in!

At a university in North Carolina, a small group of graduate students is working with Professor Joe Lyons on a research project about the propensity to lie. The conditions of the study sometimes go a little far in provoking a reaction from the subjects, and has in fact just sparked a violent response from one of the participants. The graduate students are all very different from each other in background, circumstances and personality, so some of them do not get along with each other very well. All of them have histories that they have not shared with each other. The arrival of a new team member, with a prickly personality and a directive to provide legal counsel and keep the group on an ethical track, sets everyone's nerves on edge. Shockingly, one of the graduate students is violently murdered in Joe's office after-hours. The local detective, Alana Larson, teams up with Officer Patrick King to solve the murder.

I found this novel a little slow to start, but once it began to pick up the pace I had trouble putting it down. I quite enjoyed the small college town setting and the enclosed little world of university academia, along with the exploration of the students' characters. The partnership of Larson and King was especially enjoyable. I had difficulty wrapping my head around the experiment/study and how it was supposed to examine lying and deceptive behaviour, not that it was critical to the plot, but it bothered me that it didn't make sense to me. The reader is able to anticipate the identity of the murderer, but it takes some time to get to the bottom of the mystery of why. I think I would have preferred a different character to be the murderer. I can't explain why without spoilers, but I think I would have been more satisfied with a different murderer. Ultimately, the novel checks some of the boxes but not all. It is a very solid debut mystery novel however, so thanks to Sourcebooks Landmark for the copy to read.

"Joe Lyons led an exclusive group of graduate students with one mission: expand the field of psychology with cutting edge research." Set in a North Carolina University, 5 graduate students (Robert, Elizabeth, Britt, Chris and Scarlet) work closely together for Joe on a research study designed to study deception. On this day, a 6th student, Veronica, was coming to join their team. The others were not especially keen on the idea, even less so once they heard she was not a research student, but had just gotten her JD Degree. specializing in managing liability. Why would they need a lawyer? Being that Joe was the pinnacle of Psychology research. and anyone one his team would have a golden ticket, they kept their thoughts to themselves.

To be on the leading edge meant hard work, and a willingness to take risks and push boundaries. The study itself is a bit morally ambiguous, so they keep things within their small group to keep any unwanted inquiries at bay. But they are all hiding more than their risky testing program, each of them have secrets of their own they they keep hidden. But they won't be able to do that much longer, not since one of them has been murdered. When a killer studies lying for a living, how will the police in this sleepy, now snowbound, town see through the deception?

R.J. Jacobs has written a compelling psychological thriller. Fans of dark side of human nature and psychology will love This is How We End Things.

My thanks to NetGalley and Sourcebooks for the ARC of this novel.