College roommates continue playing a game called circus that was started in there college days only this time money is at stake although book was well written and in the end came together I just didn't like any of the main characters and it didn't hold my interest .

I could not get into this book, unfortunately. I’m normally the target audience for a great friendship mellow drama with twists and turns but this one wasn’t for me. Thank you for the chance to try this out and I wish this author many successes going forward!

Friends Like These is about a group of friends who played an old school assassin like game in college and decided it was a great idea to honor their friend that died during the middle of the game every year with the same game.

Sounds childish. It is. But it’s also kind of fun. I love games. I like winning. And add a million dollars to this year’s prize and you better believe I’m throwing punches.

It’s starts when Harvard friends play the game as part of a college ritual. But in one of their years, Claudine, falls to her death during the middle of the game. Was it intentional? Or was it an accident?

Now 20 years later, the friends continue the tradition even though it has caused a few bumps and bruises along the way. Strained relationships, literal broken bones, and some questionable activities that can derail their future career goals. A few are ready to call the game quits until they reveal a nearly 1 million dollar prize for the final year.

Who do you root for? Sara the narrator and is a struggling photographer who’s married to a struggling restaurant owner, who could use the money to help get them both on the right track to their dreams. Bee is running for a high political position, but is running out of campaign money. Wesley is a trust fund baby. Hard to root for her, but daddy keeps her money tight and it’s held up and she’s donated more money to a struggling clinic than she actually has access too. Allie is the wholesome mom trying to get three kids through college and was just laid off. And Dina is the hopeful adjunct professor.

Things get heated when Sara starts seeing Claudine, a dead woman, around town, Bee and Wesley get threatening messages, and Dina also gets targets. Oh and the whole someone gets pushed in front of a train fiasco.

Are friendships worth a million dollars or worth shooting them in the back?

Thanks @NetGalley and @Atria Books for the Advanced Digital Copy.

Four ladies who were college roomates have a yearly game they call Circus. They went from 5 to 4 and as they have been out of college for awhile and are getting tired of the game it is suggested that they stop playing. After an interesting reveal they agree to play one last time. As weird things start happening the game becomes scary and they word to making to the end of the time line.

I did like the premise but it got a little convoluted and I find myself not really caring who won the game.

First, I want to say that this book to me (and I mean this as a personal opinion) felt more like a dramatic fiction book than a thriller/mystery. To be clear, I took so long to read this book because of the long chapters, unlikeable characters (not even one character appealed to me), and lack of thrilling moments. This book fell flat for me. However, this is just my opinion and you might enjoy this book much more than I did. Also read content warnings!

Thank you to NetGalley, Simon & Schuster, and most importantly Alissa Lee for this Arc in exchange for my honest review. Every thought and opinion shared is my own. This book is expected to be published on November 4th, 2025.

With Friends Like These was a great novel that kept me on toes the whole time I was reading it. I loved reading a story about college roommates that had different twists and turns.

The game aspect intrigued me, but even more so when they were asked to stop playing...who would want them to stop? Their roommate who they thought was dead from college? Or someone else they haven't thought of?

I was surprised by the turns this book took and I quite enjoyed the ending!

With Friends Like These delivers a compelling premise: an elite group of Harvard alumni bound by secrets, loss, and a decades-long game that takes a dangerous turn. The novel blends past and present through the lens of Sara, who begins to question everything when their tradition—the Circus—suddenly carries real-life consequences.

The concept of a secret elimination-style game was intriguing and had strong potential for suspense. I appreciated the nostalgic yet unsettling look at how friendships evolve and how old trauma can resurface in unexpected ways. However, the characters often felt distant, and I struggled to connect with their motivations. The twists were solid, though a few were predictable, and the pacing occasionally lost momentum.

This debut has an engaging setup and touches on themes of loyalty, ambition, and grief. Fans of dark academia and thrillers involving tight-knit friend groups and long-buried secrets will likely enjoy this one. I would definitely keep an eye out for future work from this author.

When Harvard seniors start playing a game, it leads to deadly consequences. Twenty years later, still playing the game without one of their roommates who dies, one girl doesn't want to play anymore. However she learns there is a prize for the winner, and she plays, but she realizes they are not playing by the rules. This was a fun read and well-paced. I enjoyed the overall game idea, but I wish there were a few more twists because I like being kept on my toes, and I figured this one out pretty early on.

1.5 🌟

I dread giving negative reviews, especially for ARC,s but this book was very hard to get through. The premise is good and I was hopeful things would pick up once the game started, but alas, that's where it got even more frustrating. There were a lot of useless and drawn out scenes that I found myself skimming through. I'm not even really sure what the point was tbh. It was very all over the place and seemed to focus on the wrong things. I didn't really connect with any of the characters so it was hard to really care what was happening, especially towards the end. It's listed as a thriller/mystery, but certainly didn't feel like that. It would be a fun novella maybe if a lot of the unnecessary scenes were cut out and it just focused on the game, but it definitely doesn't work as is.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the ARC.

I was drawn to the concept, but found the writing style to not fit my reading style at all. For a book billed as a thriller, it was short on suspense and action. The writing was very descriptor-heavy and felt overdone, like she was trying to write the way Harvard students would be expected to talk - but it just came across as clunky for me. This one wasn't a good fit.

I thought this was a good overall thriller but felt slow in some areas. It didn't capture my attention as well as other thrillers, however I still enjoyed the plot and reading this book.

Sadly, this was a miss for me. I was expecting thriller and got more of a drama, and a slow moving one at that. The characters are all super unlikeable and that added a layer of not caring about what was going on.

A group of friends who were roommates together at Harvard had played "Circus" (basically sounds like Assassin) while going to school but continued it as adults as a way to stay connected and remember another friend who fell out of a window and died during the game. Being that this was a novella, I think the author didn't really have the time/space to get in a little deeper in terms of building suspense and back story. I'm guessing I'm probably around the age of the characters and had a hard time picturing myself playing the same game. This made it a little hard to believe and connect with, though I did enjoy seeing how it all came together in the end. I'm not sure it's one I'll remember for a long time, but it was a fun, quick read. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4

I received an ARC of this novel from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

A group of college friends reconvene every year to play a dangerous game and to remember a friend they lost.

This was a quick thriller read. I didn’t get too invested in any of the characters, sadly, which made me finish the book quickly without any feelings involved. Hearing about a group of adult women who are supposedly so close yet know next to nothing about each other sounded so false to me, as someone similar in age to the main characters. There were a lot of side stories going on and not all were wrapped up. If you want a fast read, this is it, but don’t expect it to go deep.

I really loved the concept With Friends Like These, but it didn't fully deliver. I think I went in expecting something a bit more twisted that what we got.

This book started off strong with a very interesting premise, but the more I read, the more I realized that rating this book would be a bit tricky.

Yes, it was entertaining and yes, I saw it through to the end. The pace was decent so it managed to keep my attention and it had enough action that I was eager to see what would happen next. However, I found the plot a bit jumpy, I found that I didn't really care much about any of the characters. I feel that my reason for that is that they continuously made stupid decisions. They were basically playing an adult game of tag with fake kills in order to obtain a large sum of money at the end of it. I was expecting a thriller and it was definitely more of a suspense. I will also say that the end and some parts leading up to it were quite predictable.

So to sum up...this book was entertaining enough and certainly had potential. But it just didn't quite deliver in the way that I wanted it to. But if you're ok with suspending belief a little bit and you like dark academia, then this might be a good choice for you.

With Friends Like These
Alissa Lee
Publish Date: November 4

This was such a good book! Immediately the writing pulled me in and I ended up abandoning other current reads to finish this in a day!

The premise is friends who went to Harvard together are playing a game for 20 years, and it hasn’t aged well. On the 20th reunion they agree it will be their last. The winner receives almost a million dollars.

If it gets out to the public what they’re doing, careers and life’s work are on the line. As the game begins, nefarious things start happening pointing at someone committing some sabotage .

The main character, Sara was engaging. She had a good pacing of personal development through the game played with her friends. This book also does a great job of highlighting the complexities of adult friendships for women.

Thank you NetGalley, Atria Books and Alissa Lee!

This thriller follows five former Harvard roommates who reunite for their sinister annual tradition—“the Circus,” a deadly elimination game originally started in memory of their lost sixth friend. The premise is undeniably gripping: old friends, old secrets, and a game that’s supposed to be harmless—until someone breaks the rules .

What I liked
• The setup is strong and compelling—friends harboring secrets, a ritual tied to shared trauma, and the tension of whether this year could go too far .
• Lee’s writing style is readable and engaging; the pacing keeps things moving, especially early on .

What didn’t quite work
• The middle section drags; the build-up promised more payoff than the twists eventually delivered .
• Characters feel more irritating than sympathetic at times, which makes it harder to stay emotionally invested .
• While there are moments of suspense, the climax fell flat—some reveals lacked impact and left me wanting more punch.

Final verdict
A solid concept with potential, but With Friends Like These doesn’t quite reach the heights it teases. If you’re in the mood for a character-driven thriller with a touch of psychological tension—but don’t need your mind blown—this might just do.

Please note that this ARC was provided by the publisher via Netgalley in exchange for an honest review.

I’m having a hard time articulating why, but this book tell a bit flat for me. It felt like there were a lot of moving pieces (the Circus, the “ghost” of Claudine, and 5 women’s lives/path after Harvard. Perhaps it was too many plot lines or perhaps it was just simply that I didn’t really find any of the characters very likeable.

It certainly wasn’t a bad book, but it was not my favorite.