Disgusting, gripping, revealing, and shocking, Darwent’s twisted tale of friendship will leave you hungry for more and desperately pleading for it to stop.

This masterpiece of social horror is available January 10 from Ballantine Books. Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for my free copy. These opinions are my own.

No one is who they seem to be in this twisty book about a group of friends who meet up in college and form their own insular group. While I overall enjoyed it, the story felt a bit forced. The twists didn't seem natural and the characters didn't feel authentic. And while perhaps the characters were meant to be a bit on edge, having them all be that way was a little too much for me. Add to that the odd pacing of the book and the result was a read I couldn't get completely engaged with. I liked the premise and overall plot but wish maybe more time had been taken with parts to flesh out the story and characters so that they felt more natural.

This book is a tough one for me to review. Honestly, I wish I liked it more than I did. I really, really liked the idea of this book. It felt like a million other thrillers at the start of it all: a shy girl goes to a "fancy" school, and then gets swept up with popular girls. But this book took a few unexpected turns that really surprised you. That said, the execution was way too rough and muddled, and it honestly failed to stick the landing for me. The problem is the POV, honestly. It wanted to take us down one lane and have us see the main character through a specific lighting, and then shock as you read it. But then it just made the entire book confusing and convoluted, and made the main character too weird to feel real.
The things this book did well was the few shock value moments. A few of them worked incredibly well. But the author tried for at least 3 too many. A few of the shocks felt too silly to be worth your reaction in context with the overall novel. Then a few were trying to do something, but in the end made you feel like "well of course this happened, why didn't you use this as an opportunity to flesh out the character more." It almost made me feel like the author wanted to have certain characters see certain things that were wrong for what was really happening, but then expected the readers to take their statements and points of view as fact. And they just weren't really hitting for me.
Overall, this is a thriller with a few better twists than most. I was expecting more gothic horror and was disappointed when that didn't happen

This book follows Clare as she settles into college and trying to make friends with a popular group she has become enamored by, while hiding some secrets from her past.

I was drawn to this book because of the gorgeous cover. I wanted to love the book, but unfortunately I just could not connect to any of the characters. I found Clare to be unreliable and overall unlikable which is tough when she is the main character. The story was a bit of a slow burn and I wish the pacing was a little better. Overall I thought it was a good debut and I would pick up another book from this author, but this story did not captivate me the way I wanted it to.

Thank you NetGalley for an arc of this book in exchange for my honest review.

To be perfectly honest, I am not sure what I can write that won't give some part of this away. The twists were twisty, the reveals surprising, and all of the characters were unsympathetic. I really enjoyed it!

This is probably going to be considered a literary masterpiece and it would be well-deserved, but it just wasn’t my cup of tea. The book was slow and difficult to get into for me. I frequently fell asleep halfway into a chapter, which were fairly short, but just didn’t hold my attention.

Clare moves to a new town to attend university, determined to create the life she dreams of, which centers around finding the “right” friends. With her eye on Tabitha, Clare ingratiates herself into the group until she’s in so deep it’s impossible to get out unscathed.

I do think that a lot of reading on the reader’s part has to do with mood and emotional/mental state, so maybe I would have liked this book more at another time in my life. I can definitely relate to the feelings of wanting to fit in and trying so hard to make yourself “fit” with the crowd you think you should belong to, and Clare’s moments of knowing she was being too much but unable to stop herself. The plot was a little crazy but intriguing, and I loved the lens that it put friendships under – really digging into the convoluted bonds of loyalty.

This book is just as much about friendship as it is about self-worth. So often, we allow our self-worth to be dictated by the people in our lives, especially our friends. These girls were all clearly a bit unhinged. which begs the question: what is the cost of friendship, and how far would you go to keep it?

The Things We Do to Our Friends is the definition of a psychological thriller. It was a wild ride from start to finish. Main character Clare is a bit of an unreliable narrator. It took me a long while to figure her out. The prologue is utterly insane and I wasn't sure until about midway through the book, how exactly it ties in. Hints are dropped throughout which definitely kept me reading on the edge of my seat but I can say that I was honestly surprised how the story ended. Actually, I was surprised at what the story ended up being about. Excellent debut from Heather Derwent.

I was immediately drawn in by the cover but I slogged through this one. I would read some and then forget about it for days before picking this book up again. It has a catchy first chapter but slows down after that. Tabitha is the definition of a "user" - I'm not sure how her clique didn't realize this immediately. I definitely would have noped out right after meeting her. Clare's past was the most interesting part for me and I wished there was more about her shady upbringing. If you're in the market for a dark and sinister psychological suspense than this might be for you!

This was a tough book - disturbing in a lot of ways with very unlikeable characters. I struggled to connect with any of them and didn't understand their motivations. The story was all over the place - I wish it would have gone more in depth on any one of the characters. Clare was the most developed character but I was still left with questions about her. Thanks to NetGalley for the digital ARC.

The Things We Do to Our Friends is a story of toxic friendship and trying to start over. While I thought this book had such potential, I was really let down by the way this was done.

We follow from the point of view of Clare who is trying to start over at university. We are hinted at something in her past but she is trying to move past this. I really wished that there was more time spent at the university - I had expected this to have more of a dark academia feel to it.

It was rather hard to get invested in these characters as I felt removed from what was happening since Clare is telling us what happened to her in the past. She seemed so passive in the things happening around her and it was hard for me to understand that with what we come to know about her. I found it really hard to want to continue reading as little was happening.

There was an interesting shift in the part 3 that I wished would have been throughout the novel.

Really wished I would have loved this one, but it had some interesting ideas and characters.

Thank you to netgalley and the publisher for the arc.

I am a fan of college-based thrillers and the cover is great so I was really excited for this. Unfortunately, it missed the mark. Not an enjoyable reading experience for me, but I did absolutely love the prologue and epilogue. I didn’t really find any of the characters to be particularly believable. Thankfully Darwent had an enough twists to keep me intrigued along the way. Curious to see what she writes next because I love darker stories.

Thanks to NetGalley and Penguin Random House for allowing me to enjoy this arc in exchange for an honest review.

This was so challenging for me and I did not have an enjoyable reading experience which sucks because the cover is gorgeous and the synopsis sounded so appealing.

This was touted as dark academia and that is just not the case. They were hardly ever at school and the events that unfolded had little to nothing to do with the academic setting.

Nearly halfway into the book, I realized that I still did not feel connected to any of the characters and since the plot was moving so slowly, there was nothing holding my interest. All of the characters were either so dull/unimportant that I didn’t care about them at all OR they were entirely unlikable to the point I didn’t care to know them better or what might happen to them.

I think the youths might say this has a dark academia vibe to it. I chose this to review as it was heavily requested at #NetGalley and it sounded similar to books by Karen McManus that I have enjoyed. Fans of books about good looking wealthy young adults behaving badly in beautiful locations should enjoy.

Short synopsis: When Clare meets Tabitha at her new school in Edinburgh she’s desperate to do whatever it takes to make friends with her and her group.

My thoughts: It’s probably just me, but the college thrillers have been a bit of a miss for me as of late.

The beginning of the book sucked me right in, wondering who this man was being tortured and why he was being tortured. I enjoyed seeing the friendships form, but was disappointed in the measures Clare took to become friends with these toxic girls.

With the friends I have, I’d never have to stoop to the levels that Clare did to be friends with these girls. You shouldn’t have to change who you are to be friends.

Read if you love:
- Psychological thrillers
- Dark Academia
- Uncomfortable situations
- Friends

I think that this is a marvelous debut by author Heather Darwent. Clare has enrolled in University in Edinborough Sotland and although she tries to fly under the radar, she falls in with a group of fellow students who have chosen her to join their exclusive clique. As we learn what the leader, Tabitha, is up to, it becomes clear to Clare that her secret past may not be so secret.
This story took a number of twists, and kept me off balance (in a good way) with the infrequent and brief flashbacks to her backstory. The reader is left to fill in the blanks frequently, and I found that refreshing, while I can see that others may find it frustrating. We know enough to know the characters' motivations, I'll leave it at that.
If there was a weak point, the exposition at the end was a little forced, but that didn't take away from my enjoyment reading this book.
Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing for an advance copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Things We Do to Our Friends is a physiological thriller set around a group of fringe college friends in Edinburgh, Scotland. At the outset Clare is new to the group and has recently reinvented herself after an unknown trauma during her teens. She chooses and has been chosen by a small group from the university. A group that seems much more focused on a something else, rather than their studies.

I really wanted to like this novel but it just never got going enough to hold my interest. Clare’s past with *the episode* was always too vague and never enough of a carrot to keep me wondering how it played into the plot.

Way too much of the story was telling and not showing. It constantly told how the characters felt rather than actually creating the feeling. Once the plot go to the sinister twists the action was only a few paragraphs after chapters and chapters of set up.

Maybe the intent was a “slow burn” but the most I got was barely a simmer.

This book. Wow. A twisty web of deception that will keep you guessing until the very end.

Clare has arrived in Edinburgh, Scotland ready to tackle university. As she tries to fit in with her roommates, she sets out to find a job to expand her circle. From a distance she begins to admire a group of students who seem to have it all. Well dressed, well liked, with plenty of money to boot, this is just the group Clare longs to be a part of.

Through work and uni, Clare becomes friends with one member, Tabitha. She invites Clare into their inner fold where things start to take a darker turn. At first the group seems normal. Dinners at their shared flat, vacations on school holidays, with plenty of alcohol shared between them. Things take a dark turn when Tabitha shares her pet project; something that has the power to bring in a lot of money and destroy a lot of lives.

As time unfolds, Clare has to decide if she's truly all in or if she's ready to escape. When she does try and make the leap what secrets are uncovered will make you gasp! A dark thriller filled with examples of what money and power can do will certainly keep you on your toes.

I LOVED the plot, but, felt the beginning was a bit too long. There's a lot of set up before we really get into the good stuff, keeping my rating at a 4, versus a 5.

Really wanted to like this book but never had that wow moment nor could ever find a way to relate with the main character.

Slow-paced most of the time, narrated in first person by Claire, but a lot of thoughts all over the place, felt a little messy at times. I didn't feel I got to really know Claire or any of the characters for that matter.

Also, the book is listed as a mystery/thriller read but it did not feel quite like that. I kept reading it in hopes for it to pick up and get better but unfortunately, this was not for me.

Thank you Random House and Netgalley for the free advanced copy in exchange for an honest review.

The Things We Do to Our Friends is the debut novel from Heather Darwent.

I struggled to find anything relatable in this book. The story is familiar - a girl leaves her family for school to escape some incident in her past - she falls in with a group of mean girls - someone is hurt or killed. The book is full of unlikable characters making terrible decisions. No redeeming qualities anywhere. And the cover has almost become a trope itself. The best part is the setting of Edinburgh, Scotland.

If you like stories full of jacked-up people you might like reading this one.

I think the only reason this book didn't really work for me was it skewed more toward horror than I had realized it would. Clare as a narrator was interesting, but never really connected with me as the reader. There were a few moments I enjoyed and overall I flew through this book (very suspenseful) but I wouldn't rush to recommend this to anyone trying to avoid dark topics and dark energy. If that's your vibe then you might really enjoy though!