This book was dark and disturbing, full of complex characters and toxic relationships.

I love the choice to set this in Scotland, and in particular Edinburgh. It felt cold and distant, but in a way magical.

I struggled with Clare as a protagonist - she is trying to reinvent herself and so spends a lot of time watching and not reacting, therefore comes across as naive and malleable though we know this isn't the case. The other characters are very complex, if not particularly endearing. Even the "normal" friendships you can't support, as you see them from Clare's perspective as boring and 2D.

The friendships throughout are toxic, but so intriguing you can't bring yourself to look away. The result is the book feels chaotic and intrusive, but addictively so. There was no character development as such, but you find layers upon layers of secrets and the lengths people are willing to go to.

Some scenes are... gross. Also, not being from the right class in society (lol) I learnt more than I wanted to know about foie gras.

It was a combination of mystery and dark academia, but largely focused on people, relationships and the effect they can have.

Weirdly for this type of book, I loved the ending. It was both satisfying and well-fitting.

A fascinating debut!

3/5

I wish this book had been darker. I wish it had delved into every aspect deeper. This book just felt quite surface-level and forgettable. I didn't find any real connection with the characters and I felt that they were more like walking personality types than real people.

There wasn't the complexities and nuance that often come with the morally grey characters of dark academia. Reading this was like reading a story you feel no real emotional connection with, instead you're sat there nodding along absentmindedly.

I wanted twisted moralities and allure and corruption and obsession and brittle relationships soon to be fractured, but this book sadly didn't deliver. It's an easy read and I wouldn't say I was ever truly bored, I just knew as I was reading that once I'd finished I would never think about this book again. Nothing was fleshed out, nothing felt real or important, nothing made me love it.

The characters are usually the main driving force in dark academia books and others like this, and thus need to be blinding and fascinating and intricate. However the characters in this story were assigned a few personality traits and that was it, we never got to dive in deeper and examine these characters and their beliefs or their moralities in full. Nothing was elaborated on. I never felt the grand pull of these characters and so I never believed in the whirlwind romance of this friendship group. I didn't particularly like any of the main characters and often found them slightly irritating.

I know this has been quite a negative review, but I do want to make it clear that we all have our own very subjective opinions (especially when it comes to characters) so don't let me completely dissuade you. This simply wasn't the book for me and honestly I'd rather spend my time rereading other (in my opinion) better dark academia books instead.
However I wouldn't say there's anything truly bad about this book, it just didn't grip me or excite me like I'd hoped. It all felt very mediocre and, as I mentioned before, forgettable. I doubt I'll remember anything about this book in a year, it simply didn't impact me. Of course, we all have varying opinions on what constitutes a 'good' or a 'bad' book, too, but in my opinion a good book needs to affect me in some way, it needs to touch me or enchant me. This wasn't the one.

Thank you Netgalley and Penguin General UK for providing me with an e-arc in exchange for an honest review.

I'm afraid I didn't enjoy this book, even though the description appealed to me. Claire arrives at Edinburgh University hoping to make a fresh start as something bad has clearly happened in her past. She finds herself drawn in to a group of wealthy young people who live a champagne lifestyle completely different to her own. Then one day Tabitha reveals her 'plan' for Claire, and Claire can's say no because they know what she did!! Unfortunately, I didn't warm to any of the characters and I found the plot to be way too far fetched. Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

There is a lot to like this book, as the many glowing reviews demonstrate, but it didn't quite hit the mark for me. It's dark, evocative, intense, unusual, and has a well-executed twist ending that I enjoyed. However, personally I didn't understand or believe in any of the characters, which made me feel disconnected from the novel as whole.

This had be gripped from the beginning. I could not put it down. It was an extremely disturbing story about the imbalance of female toxic friendships at its most unpleasant and sinister level. Throughout obsessions, control and class ebbed and flowed.
Throughout there were backstop revelations of the main characters which could be shocking..
An amazing debut and exciting read.

The Things We Do To Our Friends slinks slowly towards you and pulls you in a rabbit hole of darkness, toxicity and deception.

In the middle of this web, we find our central protagonist: Clare. She was a deeply intriguing character for me, with so many layers to uncover. Her narrative voice was deeply trusting, but also far removed at the same time. There’s always a sense of something uncovered in her observations of the world. She’s shrewd and deeply affected by something that is slowly revealed over the course of the book.

This is not a book that plays around. It is deliciously dark, taking plenty of unexpected and nasty turns throughout. At its centre is the strangely glittering friendship group and their web of connections. It is an incredibly toxic enmeshment that you become entangled with. I like how it begins with a bang and then slowly burns through, building the suspense and character work to an impeccable point. You are itching to know everything, but Darwent ensures that you test your limits along with Clare. Eventually, everything dissolves into a brutal explosion of chaos that seems the hallmark of youth. It has those stylings of dark academia that I adore, from the exploration of gilded cages and privilege to that ominous setting of the otherworldly university buildings from another time and place.

Heather Darwent has such an exceptional writing style. It is bursting with description, gorging until ripe to burst, almost to the point of oversaturation and overstimulation. You feel as lost as Clare in this labyrinthine structure of enmeshed friendship circles and something much darker lurking beneath the surface. At the same time, it is also so fragmentary and able to move effortlessly in a place that seems beyond time. The boundaries of time and space blur into nothing as you become intoxicated by this seedy little story. It is perfect for these increasingly cold and damp nights, caught in that liminal time between light and darkness.

The Things We Do To Our Friends takes you into a tantalising trance, heady with smoke and secrets.

This is a book about friendship, building yourself from the beginning. Clare just started uni in Edinburgh and she finds herself drawn to Tabitha and her circle of friends. They have their plans to get rich and Clare must join in. Because they know her secret!
To be honest I'm not sure what I thought about this book - it was gripping but unbelievable. The ending was unexpected, which somehow rescued the book for me.

The Things We Do to Our Friends
by Heather Darwent

A debut novel that appeals on so many levels. When I hear "dark, intoxicating, compulsive tale of feminist revenge, toxic friendships and deadly secrets" you know I'm all in. Add to that the grey, drizzly, dank, gothic Oldtown Edinburgh setting and a comparison to The Secret History...you have me.

This novel delivers on all counts. It begins with a nightmarishly surreal scene. File that away! The first 40% reads like the "dark academia" genre that is catnip to me. Then comes the twist that made my evil inner ego smile from ear to ear. I will say that it didn't go down the paths my twisted brain anticipated, but it found some evil tracks of it's own.

Something happens to the writing style in the second half. To me it wasn't quite as accomplished as the first half. It took on a sort of fever dream quality. That suited the plot, but disappointed me a little, because this was a 5 star read until then.

Nevertheless, this is a brilliantly plotted piece of dark fiction, just on the right side of weird and unsettling for my taste. If like me you love to read about unlikeable characters and toxic friendships, if you're not afraid of a little ick, this is a fast paced, highly propulsive twist on the "people behaving badly" trope.

Publication date: 12th January 2023
Thanks to #penguingeneraluk #figtree #hamishhamilton #viking #penguinlife #penguinbusiness #netgalley for the ARC

Unnerving!
The Things we Do To Our Friends wasn't an easy read, but it was gripping. Set in Edinburgh and circling around Clare as she settles in to her new life as a student. She soon meets Tabitha and her group of elite friends and things take a turn to the darker.
Focusing on toxic friendships and the class divide, this was a beautifully crafted piece of writing that had me captivated.

The Things We Do to Our Friends is a mystery drama that follows Clare, a new student at The University of Edinburgh, and the group of strange and extravagant rich kids she meets there, mainly Tabitha who is at once immature and desperate for attention whilst also controlling every room she enters and brimming with charisma. The further Clare is drawn into their web, the more shady her own morals become.

It's a somewhat strange depiction, or reimagining, of Edinburgh - grey and unwelcoming, where ceilidhs are something lavish for the rich. It's worth mentioning none of the characters, save a background one, are Scottish and this alternate version of Edinburgh (and Scotland as a whole) is scene through a very English lens. Whilst this Edinburgh iwasn't so recognisable to me, what was were the rich English students. There's an interesting examination of class in the book - questioning women who want to hurt others because their upbringing has hurt them, versus those who do so because they see other people as disposable.

There are also some interesting points of view raised about how feminism is reinterpreted by women in positions of privilege. Tabitha sees herself as a pioneer of feminism whilst deeply harming other women.

Fans of books like Wahala or My Sister the Serial Killer might enjoy this trip into intoxicating friendships and the consequences of falling for other people's ideas.

With thanks to NetGalley for the eARC!

I really enjoyed this - having studied at Edinburgh myself, and being a fan of dark academia, this was right up my alley.

The story was sometimes a bit all over the place, and I didn’t find the ending to be that satisfying as it was quite hurried, but that didn’t stop me from devouring this in 24 hours. There was something about it that sucked me in. I think the writing was a little juvenile at times, but again, it didn’t put me off too much. Overall, a solid 3.75 stars from me.

It's the typical dark academia set-up. Clare, a misfit undergraduate at Edinburgh uni, falls in with a group of cool, rich kids who are Up To Something. But Clare has secrets of her own and is not to be messed with. I will read any book of this ilk, so I knew I was on to a good thing from the opening chapters.

If you liked The Truants by Kate Weinberg, you'll love this. The Things We Do to Our Friends hit the mark for me way more than The Truants did, it's well-written and evocative, it's dark without trying too hard to shock, and the plot trots along without dragging. I only wish some of the writing were more immediately engaging - there's a big moment towards the end of the book which happens with very little build-up. It's written in a really detached, matter-of-fact way, and is over before you know it. I wanted to feel the danger! We know from the way it's written that Clare is okay and telling the story from some future period of calm, and even that her nemesis Tabitha is alive at this point, so the stakes really aren't as high as they could be.

All in all, a positive three stars - I liked it!

This was a dark and intense thriller. I love a story about friendship in a university setting, and this was one wild tale. What would you do to be in with the cool kids, to be accepted. Clare will pretty much do anything. Her first year at University in Edinburgh, away from home and fending for herself. She gets a job in a bar and makes friends with a group of rich and entitled kids, so different from herself. It leads to a whole new life and experiences she never dreamed of.

A fast and addictive read, full of very unlikable characters who make some very questionable decisions. This is one group of people that you don't want to be friends with.

Thanks to Penguin General UK for my advanced copy of this book to read. Published in January 12th

The Things We Do To Our Friends is a disturbing delight for fans of The Secret History and Mona Awad’s Bunny. Basically, if weird unhinged vibes is your thing, this book is for you!

Clare has recently started uni in Edinburgh, hiding a past she’d like to forget. Trying to keep her head down, she’s fascinated from afar by a group she calls The Shiver. When she’s invited into the fold, she’s anxious to prove herself worthy of being there – particularly around Tabitha, who seems to be the unquestioned leader. But Tabitha has plans for the group, and for Clare in particular, and she suddenly finds herself drawn down darker paths than she could’ve ever imagined…

It’s hard to talk about the plot without spoiling things, but this is a dreamy, gripping suspense novel that draws you in from the first breath and plunges you deep into the twisted tangles of conditional, transactional friendship.

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A very bizarre story leaving me not sure if I enjoyed it or if I could get into the story yet needing to know what happened....

Actual rating 3.5/5 stars.

Deliciously dark and atmospheric but also a little slower in plot pacing than I was anticipating. It had all the things I love - an isolated setting, insights to an elite world, and filled with untrustworthy and unlikable individuals. The prologue set this up to be a wild ride of the book and the second half definitely delivered, even if the former was a long set-up for it.

On the positive side, I thought this was a good, well written debut novel and bodes well for future books from this author. It was a slow burner, which isnt a bad thing, but then, for me, it fizzled out rather than having a climatic ending and I was never really convinced by the group's relationship or Tabitha's "feminist" agenda
Thank you to netgalley and Penguin Books for an advance copy of this book.

Thank you so much for sending me over an ARC for this gorgeous book which was one of my most anticipated for next year!

Clare arrives in Edinburgh for university with the intention of a clean break where no one knows of her dark secretive past. She gets herself a job and is off to a good start but she’s struggling to find her group of people. Then she meets Tabitha who is charismatic and intimidatingly rich as are her circle of friends and she feels like she’s finally got the life she wants with trips to France, dinner parties and many glasses of champagne. But when Tabitha tries to recruit her for a devious project she’s created, Clare can’t say no…. because they know what she done all those years ago.

I absolutely adored this book. The intense imagery of Edinburgh was breathtaking and having studied there myself I definitely felt the attraction of the city coming through the pages. The plot and the characters were complex but intoxicating and I just felt such an urge to binge this novel. I also appreciated how the author made you hate but also pity the characters at the same time, they were so problematic yet I could almost justify their actions. The short chapters made it all the more easier to become so engrossed in this novel.

A fun and fresh debut about toxic friendships and just how far we would go to get our way - and get revenge. Perfect for fans of gritty, twisted and unsettling dark academia but with a unique feminist twist. The plot is perhaps a little predictable and uneven at times, but Heather Darwent is clearly one to watch.

Well this book was a lot of fun! Clare is an awkward, working class girl starting her first year at the gothically beautiful Edinburgh university. She quickly becomes fascinated by the rich, beautiful Tabitha and her friends and insinuates herself into their world. But Clare is not who she seems to be…
This is another in a long line of ‘dark academia’ books aimed at those who loved The Secret History, but I would say this one of the better efforts. There are some predictable elements, but the writing is good and I enjoyed the ending. Interested to see what Heather Darwent writes next!