This one was an interesting read... it reminded me of a more sinister and twisted Mean Girls. Tabitha’s character made me think of a few girls in my life that were demanding and difficult and left me conflicted over whether I should even be friends with them, yet so irresistible. I think the author did a wonderful job with the characters and their descriptions, but “the incident” was unnecessarily dragged out. One could infer how the incident was ended, so I wasn’t shocked by the ending at all. The situation in the Highlands could have had a bit more shock value. It seemed like the circumstances and the job was swept away without enough closure for something built up so intensely.

I also thought the work wasn’t as treacherous or scandalous as the author portrayed it to be, but maybe I’m just desensitized or jaded after being subjected to misogyny for so long....

Enjoyable read overall, but this ones definitely for a specific audience.

I was intrigued by the premise of this book but it fell a bit flat for me. I thought it was a bit too slow and also the toxic friends trope (I don't know if I would call it a trope really) is just not for me. The setting of Edinburgh was probably my favorite part.

The Things We Do to Our Friends is a slow burn, dark academia. And when I saw slow burn I mean sloooooooow burn.

Clare works at a bar in Edinburgh as a freshman in college, we don't really know why but it seems like she's running from something. Soon she meets a Dark History adjacent group of friends who apparently have a huge plan. I'll leave it there!

This book wasn't for me - I couldn't get into the slow pacing and the characters just weren't doing it for me.

Compelling. I think this is the best description of this book.

It is dark, it is strange, it is sinister. I didn't like any of the characters - literally none of them. The mood was dark and creepy. YET - I could not stop reading it.

If you have ever watched a movie where it is filmed "artistically" where it is so dark you can't really tell what is going on - thats how this book was written.

So what is it about? “She's an outsider desperate to belong, but the cost of entry might be her darkest secret in this intoxicating debut of literary suspense following a clique of dangerously ambitious students at the University of Edinburgh.” (Publisher blurb)

It had a Cruel Intentions vibe.

I stuggle how to rate it. I didn't like the atmosphere, I didn't like the pacing, I didn't like the characters... but again, I could not stop reading it. I am back to the question of what makes a good book? And even if I didn't ENJOY this book, I wont easily and quickly forget it. So I am going to go with 4 stars.

A strange story of toxic friendships, the main thing I have to say about it is when I had to put it down, I didn’t care that much about picking it back up.

Clare has started at a university in Scotland determined to reinvent herself. Her roommates are nice enough but not particularly interesting to her. When she does meet a group of interesting people, the hijinks they get up to aren’t your usual college-partying-too-much-type antics but turn into something far more consequential and sinister. Clare seems to have a fairly good sense of these new friends in the way she describes their interactions and her not always understanding because she doesn’t have their history. These new friends aren’t particularly good people, but then, neither is Clare.

This was so suspenseful and dark….I kept waiting for something to happen and nothing ever did. I didn’t care about the characters - I didn’t care what happened to them - I was just constantly asking what the heck am I reading.

The writing was good in the way that It kept me held in suspense…but even when things did start happening, I didn’t care about them at that point.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine for the ARC!

“She's an outsider desperate to belong, but the cost of entry might be her darkest secret in this intoxicating debut of literary suspense following a clique of dangerously ambitious students at the University of Edinburgh.” (Publisher blurb)

What a beautiful debut novel from Heather Darwent! There’s just something about a dark academia-themed psychological thriller that pulls me in. This story is dark, complex, and intense - following Clare to college and trying to fit in with the popular crowd but finding out it comes with a cost. Themes of toxic friendships and boundaries are explored as well.

If I had to give a description of this book I would say Dark Academia meets Fatal Attraction & Cruel Intentions. A novel about the price of obsession and desire is being driven to madness. For those who disliked the The Secret History for lack of plot momentum, I think The Things We Do To Our Friends will satisfy those needs.

The mood of the book is dark and to me felt sinister from the beginning. We are following Clare who is trying to start fresh at university in Edinburgh leaving behind a mysterious event that caused her to start over in the first place. She has no one really, her parents aren’t in her life and her grandmother feels aloof and distant. She’s interested in friendship and is attracted to a group of friends that are also somewhat mysterious. Of the group, she seems to be less vain, less polished, a misfit, but she fits right in which may cost everyone dearly. It’s a dark and creepy book.

An interesting, intense take on the dark academia genre, Heather Darwent’s The Things We Do to our Friends is a fantastic debut. Dive into Edinburgh with Clare, a first-year student with a mysterious past, and a band of equally compelling, shifty classmates. You’ll read this one in just a few sittings, as you open on one of the most gripping introductions I’ve read in a while. It’s chaotic, it’s frightening, and it’s a whirlwind of emotions as you acclimate to university life with Clare. Would recommend.

While this book was well written it was very hard for me to get into. I felt like I was forcing myself to finish it for most of my time reading it until maybe the last quarter when I was finally invested. There are a ton of great reviews so maybe it is just not the book for me!

This book was mixed for me. The ingredients were there, toxic relationships, damaged people acting out. The main characters motivations, her desperation for friendship with superior people, her need to change herself into what they wanted and her anger and willingness to blame others were at time baffling. As well as the lack of real consequences to her for her actions. So it left me thinking. It was a slow read

I really wanted to love this, but I had the hardest time getting through it. The story was really slow moving and just didn’t really hold my attention. I can see why people will enjoy this at the end of the day, but it fell a bit flat overall for me. I didn’t feel like anything happened for a good majority of the book, and the reveal of Clare’s past felt kind of anticlimactic. This was a middle of the road book for me - didn’t knock my socks off but also wasn’t bad. Just didn’t meet my expectations.

Dark, decadent and disturbing in the best possible way. Fans of The Secret History will want to get to know Claire a little better. Thank you to the author, publisher and NetGalley for this stunning debut novel

3.75

i have really mixed feelings. on one hand, the writing was brilliant, the characters were toxic just the way i like them, and the vibes were solid (very secret history). but the plot… was all over the place.

their “business” never made much sense. the highs and lows of the relationships switched up a little too quickly. and while i liked the narrator in concept, some of her motivations just didn’t click. i understand that she was basically just a ball of rage but sometimes she acted like she felt absolutely nothing, and it seemed contrary? idk!

The Things We Do to Our Friends by Heather Darwent is one impressive debut.

This debut is a compelling thriller with plenty of surprises, keeping you guessing all the way through to the shocking end. I loved it.
The dialogue is true and the each character is brought to life.
Absolutely gripping from page one… full of twists, turns, shocks, chills, thrills and much more!
Well written, original, it definitely kept me up late flipping the pages!

"I received a complimentary copy of this book. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own."

Random House, Ballantine & Bantam
Thank You for your generosity and gifting me a copy of this eARC!

I found this one pretty indistinguishable from other "dark academia" type books. I'd recommend it to a patron looking for a campus mystery but it was nothing remarkable.

The Things We Do to Our Friends is an amazing, but dark psychological thriller. Clare goes away to college to escape her past and meets a tight-knit group of friends that slowly let her become part of their friend group. As they become closer, Clare will do almost anything to remain part of their circle. it's a truly suspenseful and well-written debut novel, and I truly look forward to reading more from Heather Darwent in the future. Thanks to NetGalley and Ballantine for the ARC.

I've read enough dark academia novels that they've all started to run together. This is a welcome departure from tired tropes and predictable storylines. When Clare gets to Edinburgh for uni, she's set on distancing herself from the "episode" that caused her scandalized family and friends to pull away from her. She's determined to fall in with a crowd that will draw a different kind of attention her way. When she meets Tabitha and Imogen and works to edge her way into their circle, she has absolutely no idea how much it will cost, or how hard she'll have to work to keep history from repeating itself.

Such a gorgeous cover! This was super slow moving and confusing for me. Unfortunately not my taste but seemingly very well written, Thank you Penguin Random House and Kathleen Quinlan for this pre approval.