I have so many mixed feelings about this book. It was well written but the storyline was dark and twisted and made me uncomfortable. There are no likable characters, in fact, they are all rather perturbed and scary.

Very interesting read! I never tire of high-school-girls-are-dark-and-evil narratives, and this doesn't disappoint. This gives boarding school/ivy vibes, as well as mean-girl and toxic-friendship vibes - all of which I enjoy! Would recommend this to anyone.

I am not sure how to review this debut novel. On one hand, I read through it very quickly and wanted to know where it all was going. On the other hand, once finished, I was left feeling unsatisfied. I have a strong appreciation for a chaotic, unreliable MC. The problem for me lies in the level of suspension of disbelief being asked of us readers. So many scenarios where mistakes were repeated, and characters without depth in my opinion. I think this author has great potential! This particular story just missed the mark for me.

An easy read that kept me engaged with thoughtful characters and storyline - I’ll keep an eye for this author, no doubt!
Thanks Netgalley and the publisher for the ARC opportunity!

Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for the Kindle ARC. The Things We do to Our Friends is a debut novel by Heather Darwent. The story is very intense thriller - one that actually kept me guessing, although I did suspect something was very off about the young people. Clare is off to university in Scotland after leaving France. She has little contact with her family - just her grandmother, who is forgiving in a way that most grandmothers are. Clare is an outsider, not from the wealthy families of the other students. She's awkward in a way that prevents people from seeking her out. She becomes friends with an unlikely group - Tabitha and her very rich friends - and they manage to take her under their wings. The plot takes a dark turn as Clare's past is revealed slowly and the reader finds that her friendship with Tabitha is not all that it seems. It's rare to find a psychological thriller that keeps me in suspense, as a lot of them are formulaic. Heather Darwent's debut is definitely worth reading.

I received a copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.

***

This one was a little hard for me to get into. It took four or five chapters before I had a feel for this writer's style.

The pacing was slow, very slow. You're almost halfway through before anything really significant happens, and it's still not much. The pace never really picks up. I kept waiting for that. I will say it keeps you guessing as to where everything is going, which is always nice.

The characters were weird and mostly unlikeable, which I think was the point, but even halfway through I still didn't much feel like we knew who any of them were. There were pops and glimpses and allusions, but not a ton of concrete details to hold onto. I'm not sure the group knew one another too well, either. They were knit together for inexplicable reasons.

I do find Clare interesting. I just wanted to know her better. Is she a sociopath? Is she a manifestation of her past trauma? Does she need to so desperately fit in that she'll do anything? I'm still not sure I know the answer.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC of this book. All opinions are my own.

I have a lot of mixed thoughts on this. I typically suspense/thrillers and while I was intrigued by this, I also finished feeling confused, as though the book wasn't fully wrapped up? It felt disjointed. The swapping between (what we come to know as) the past and present day was so unsettling. It was random the first time it happened and it took me a minute to realize that the book. up until that point, was a retelling of an old story. They majority of the time I just wanted to know what Clare had done in her past that was so bad. I loved the idea of what Tabitha wanted to do, and the idea that she was going to help women who were being scorned, but maybe this just wasn't what I thought it would be.

The story definitely has an audience and I don't want to discourage anyone who is interested in it. I just don't think this style of thriller was right for me. But, I hope the people who want to read it do!

There’s just something about an unhinged female main character that brings me comfort. When she’s the perfect amount of u reliable and unlikeable as well? Perfection. Things We Do to Our Friends is a binge-worthy gothic tale full of intriguing characters and exciting plot twists. I love the themes of friendship and how complicated female friendship in particular can be. A stunning debut from Heather Darwent!

The Thing We Do to Our Friends is a great debut novel. Twisty, dark, almost gothic feeling. Clare is looking for a fresh start at university. She’s trying hard to fit in and finally she does—with The Shiver, her affectionate pet name for an interesting cadre led by Tabitha.

The writing was good and I loved the way the story was fed to me (pun intended). It was slowly built up, so there was this delicious tension, and the timeline bounced around a little.

If you liked Gone Girl or other suspense/thriller books, The Things We Do To Our Friends is for you.

The Things We Do to Our Friends gets 4/5 stars from me. Thank you to NetGalley, the publisher, and the author for the opportunity to read and review this book. All thoughts and opinions are my own.

A complex and interesting story - the characterizations were detailed and thorough, the reader knows just what all the characters are like, except for the protagonist, Clare.
What an unreliable narrator! I wasn't surprised at what she turned out to be, but I didn't like how disjointed the past and present events were. I couldn't figure out for the longest time why Clare's parents wanted nothing to do with her - and who the old guy was from the prologue & what the significance of force feeding him was.
Clare seemed like a lonely college freshman, away from home, in a new environment. Tabitha and Imogen groomed her to be part of their clique. It seemed natural that Clare would form an attachment to them, she wanted to belong and be admired, but her new friends encouraged that side of her which should have been left alone...

The Things We Do to Our Friends starts out with a little cliffhanger and then falls straight off the cliff to no where. Over 20% into the book and the story has gone no where. The characters are unlikeable and the story just wasn't holding my attention. I kept looking to see how much more books I had left. The excerpt of the book must have been all of the good stuff because I was really looking forward to reading this book.

Something about this book just isn’t sitting well for me. I wanted to really like it. I’m not sure if it’s because it read a little bit chaotic and all over the place, or what the reason is. Just not a fan of the storyline.

I really really wanted to love this book. The cover, description, and prologue all screamed that this would be a book for me. Unfortunately, it was not. I didn't enjoy the characters, the story was full of unnecessary descriptive paragraphs, and it didn't feel like a thriller to me. I think if I hadn't read the blurb, I may have enjoyed it more, but overall it fell flat for me. I prefer thrillers to twist, turn, and have plot twists. This seemed to be more of a literary fiction about friends who have dark tendencies.

Thank you to NetGalley and Random House for an ARC in exchange for an honest review.

I love dark academia and would have loved to give more stars but the first third of the book was a very, very slow burn. It did pick up and devlop much better later on but it was a struggle getting to that point

First off thank you so much to NetGalley allowing me a copy to read! What drew me to this book was the cover it’s beautiful but also doesn’t necessarily fit this book. The cover looks like some chick lot or a movie you’d see on Lifetime. It’s rated as dark, moody and fast paced, I’m going to say no to all of that. Personally to me this isn’t dark. Are the characters mildly demented yes but no this isn’t a “dark - thrill”. If I want a thrilling read I would pick a mystery thriller book. Also so much of the book is repetitive we GET IT Clare is obsessed with Tabitha love the hell along - 75 chapters of the same nonsense is BOREEEEEE. The whole book was just such a chore to get through and the ending was a major yawn nothing about it was hold your sit it’s a slow burn that’s just that a slow burn about stupid catty girls who love drama.

This was an interesting thriller, although, at times, I felt like it had a lot of filler. The dynamic of the friends needed to be explained, and I understood that. Yet, things like Clare's romance felt...like unneeded noise. I missed out on the moments I wanted more details on, as well, as the entire "honeypot" schemes being minimized to only a few. However, despite these critiques, I could not put this book down. The characters were interesting, their behaviors unique and fully fleshed out. The concept was also really interesting. There were some execution things I would have changed, but all and all, entertaining read.

AS CAWPILE:
Characters: 8 | Atmosphere: 6 | Writing: 5 | Plot: 7 | Intrigue: 7 | Logic: 8 | Enjoyment: 8
Total: 7.00 / 4

This is the first book I ready by Heather Darwent so I didn't know what to expect. I accept it because I totally judge books by their cover, and this one has a gorgeous cover! This book is a little dark, twisty, you want to find out what she did in France, you cannot stop reading....

Thanks NetGalley, Heather Darwent, and Penguin Random House for this ARC.

I'm sorry to say I could not finish this book. At 13% nothing has happened to keep me interested. The prologue had promise, and then nothing. It's like the prologue was used as a trick. "Here is something interesting but you have to read a lot about nothing until there is more action." Good premise and cover, writing wasn't bad either, just boring.

This is a short review- I couldn’t get into this book, I struggle when I find all characters unlikeable. The setting of the book in Edinburgh was beautifully described but otherwise this book wasn’t for me. Thanks NetGalley for this eARC

You do not want to be friends with these people. Especially Clare.

But it's delicious to read about them.

Delicious may not be the word I want to use, since the story opens with a forced feeding. It will whet your appetite for what's to come.

After the grim opening, I thought Clare was a little dull, a lonely college freshman looking for friends. About 1/3 of the way through the book, those friendships become dark and dangerous. The friendships are not boring, nor are they safe.

A lively but brutal opening, then the pace slows, then the mysteries and darkness speeds up to a point where I stayed up late to finish reading The Things We Do to Our Friends are not things you want your friends to do to you. Reading about these monstrous friends is much more enjoyable than being one of their friends.

Thank you to Bantam Books and Netgalley for allowing me to read and review The Things We Do to Our Friends.