What in the world did I just read? We Were Never Friends is messy, implausible, and filled with unlikeable characters I couldn’t root for. The premise—an engagement party/sorority reunion in Palm Springs where old secrets resurface—had potential, but the execution was frustrating.

Beth, our main narrator, is portrayed as the “poor but brilliant” scholarship student who shrinks herself to fit in with the group. Roxy is cartoonishly awful. Jamie is spineless. Amelia is a walking plot hole. And Sunny, the dead friend at the center of it all, is more idea than person.

Plot holes abound, and the “big reveal” is flat. The early death scene—complete with a corpse left on a piano while everyone has dinner—was absurd. With so many characters confined to one location, the mystery felt predictable from the outset.

If you enjoy over-the-top sorority drama with a #BamaRushTok vibe, this might entertain you. But as a thriller lover, I wanted actual suspense—and this fell short.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

The premise of the book draws you in, for sure. Sorority sisters? Okay, tell me more. Ohhhh, they have secrets? It's gonna be good!

The story was creepy and kept the questions going. There were multiple viewpoints, which normally I don't like, but for this type of story it gave you just a little bit more about the mystery. I enjoyed that part.

There was a section towards the end that FREAKED ME OUT, in a good way! It was eerie and felt like a thriller, which is what I really wanted.

The story. Good. The characters, though I would have liked a little bit more depth, were likable. You love to hate Amelia and Roxy. They were portraying the television version of a sorority girl to a T. The setting, I really enjoyed and definitely fit the scene. The descriptions were great and painted good picture in your mind (well done, Kaira).

Here's where it lost me, the story was good, but the ending did not do it justice. There wasn't enough build up to the reveal, which would have been incredible had the eeriness gone on just a little longer. It felt like a storyteller ran out of time and so just threw the reveal out there just so you didn't leave without knowing the end. It was a disappointment.

If the author had gone on to build a little more when it was really getting creepy, this would have landed so different.

It was a quick read and I did enjoy Roxy and Amelia and just how awful they were. That was a win!

Thank you so much to Poisoned Pen Press and Kaira Rouda for the advanced copy!

We Were Never Friends by Kaira Rouda is a sharp and twisty tale of secrets, rivalries, and old wounds resurfacing during a reunion weekend. The tension builds with every page, making it an addictive and entertaining read. I enjoyed this captivating novel and rated it five stars.

Thank you NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for sending this book for review consideration. All opinions are my own.

This was my first book by this author and initially I enjoyed the beginning of the story. I like books that have a change of perspectives between characters.

However, my biggest issue with this book was the dialogue between characters. Unfortunately, it felt a little awkward, disjointed and forced at times. I also felt that as the story progressed, the character POVs became the same and repeated each other.

Overall, this wasn’t the book for me, however I have seen other people really enjoy this, so I would still recommend that people give this book a chance.

Thank you to NetGalley, the publishers and author for an advanced copy of We Were Never Friends by Kaira Rouda.
This was my time time reading anything by this author. I enjoyed her writing style. It was a quick fun read. Some parts were predictable but I still wasn't sure how it would end.
All of the character were unlikeable (with the exception of the bride to be) and had little to no growth, but I'm assuming that was the point.
The book could do with some editing, there were some errors with timeline and consistency.
I would have liked to read an epilogue, I'm curious about what happened with the engaged couple.
All in all I will definitely read more books by this author.
3.25⭐️

Thank you Netgalley for this pre-release copy of We Were Never Friends. It was a fast paced, easy read that had plenty of suspense and twists and turns.

The book is based around a weekend celebration for the engagement of a young couple who happen to be the children of two sorority sisters from college. The engagement celebration weekend acts as a mini reunion for a small group from the sorority (and their partners) who have not been in one room together for years. There is plenty of drama, old wounds are uncovered, and old rivalries flare up again as the weekend unfolds. Throw in a mysterious event from the past which affected all of them, and you have the recipe for a good thriller.

I found myself hooked by this book and read it in one evening. There were a few elements that felt a bit far fetched, but overall I thought it was an entertaining page turner.

Thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for the advanced reader copy

Four sorority sisters (Beth, Amelia, Roxy, and Jamie), most of whom haven't seen each other in almost twenty-five years, come together in the desert of Palm Springs, to celebrate the engagement of Beth's daughter to Roxy's son. The outing feels like a true college reunion, as Roxy and Jamie's husbands also went to the same college, as did Amelia's date that she brings. Long simmering tensions are bound to spring to the surface with everyone staying in such close quarters--and with the house where the party is being held looking like a Palm Springs motel the group stayed at that had a tragic ending.

The set-up of this novel felt fun and like there would be lots of conflict and interpersonal character stuff to dig into. But I found the writing to be too bald, in terms of each character saying everything they are thinking. There was almost no subtext and for a book that's supposed to be about the secrets each of these characters is bringing to the moment, there was very little left unsaid, which knocked all the air out of the suspense that should've been built throughout.

This is going to be made into a movie/series adaptation right?!
This is exactly what i picture it would be like to go on a reality tv show with your college sorority sisters that you hate in private but love in public. The drama is top notch, you can’t read this without an XL popcorn with extra butter. You know, to go with the extra backstabbing pettiness. I have to read more by Kaira!

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ — Dark, gripping, and emotionally intense
We Were Never Friends is a chilling exploration of friendship, secrets, and the consequences of past actions. The suspense kept me hooked throughout, and the emotional depth added a powerful layer to the story. Some plot twists were a bit predictable, but the strong character development and tense atmosphere more than made up for it. A compelling read for fans of psychological thrillers with emotional weight.

The games people play - greedy, self-centered, narcissistic people that is! Could call them frenemies, but were they ever friends at all, we're they even capable of it? A group character study woven with mysteries new and old and some desperate obsessions - an addictive page turner.

I’ve rated this book 2 stars.

It’s an average read for me, I was a bit confused at times with the amount of sisters and their other half’s, boring throughout until the last few chapters. Not for me.

⭐️⭐️✨ (3.75 stars)
We Were Never Friends by Kaira Rouda is a twisty, drama-filled read that blends mystery with small-town secrets. The story moves quickly, with short, sharp chapters that kept me curious about where things were headed. Rouda’s characters are messy, flawed, and sometimes downright unlikable—but that’s part of the appeal.

While I enjoyed the tension and the multiple perspectives, some plot points felt a bit over the top, and certain twists were easy to guess. Still, the pacing and the gossipy, high-drama vibe made it an entertaining read. If you enjoy domestic thrillers with plenty of cattiness and secrets, this one will scratch that itch.

What a quick read! I flew through this one in less than two days. While I was fully entertained the whole time, I have to admit that the plot and characters were pretty surface-level. I love a good sorority plot, but the story as a whole lacked depth, and I was left wanting a bit more. I think this book could have benefited from a then and now timeline, rather than a linear current timeline with brief mentions of the past. Do I recommend this one? Yes, but I wouldn't say it's a must-read.

We Were Never Friends is a suspenseful domestic thriller scheduled for release on February 3, 2026, from Poisoned Pen Press
The story unfolds at a reunion weekend in opulent Palm Springs, where former sorority sisters of Theta Gamma Mu—Roxy, Amelia, Jamie, Beth, and Sunny—convene at Roxy’s lavish estate to celebrate her son’s engagement to Beth’s daughter, but the setting eerily mirrors the hotel where a tragedy occurred 25 years earlier during spring break. As the weekend progresses, long-buried tensions erupt, and shocking secrets begin to fester like unseen bodies beneath the surface. The novel is touted as an "unputdownable, riveting train wreck full of dark humor and bad behavior"
What Worked:
The pacing was brisk—the narrative flew by in a flash.
It was undeniably packed with drama, full of twists, turns, and over-the-top energy that made it entertaining.

What Didn’t Work:
The fast pace felt like it sacrificed emotional resonance—the plot seemed rushed and didn’t land for me.
I found nearly every character extremely unlikable; they were so unlikeable that I couldn’t root for or care about any of them—even as villains.
The sensationalism and dramatic flair felt indulgent rather than compelling.
Summary Thought:
While the novel delivers quick thrills and dramatic twists, it left me emotionally cold. The characters' poisonous dynamics made it hard to invest, and the breakneck pace left less room for depth or realism.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for sharing the advanced reader copy of this upcoming mystery with me—I appreciate the opportunity to share my honest thoughts!

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This book had me hooked from the start. It was a fast and easy read. I felt like the end was a little anticlimatic, almost predictable and the characters lacked a bit of depth. I definitely think this book had a lot of potential but just feel short at the end.

Thank you to NetGalley and Poisoned Pen Press for this ARC.

What begins as a joyful reunion quickly unravels into something far more sinister. Friends come together to celebrate the engagement of Beth’s daughter, Celeste, and Roxy’s son, Brett—but beneath the surface lies a tangled web of deceit, jealousy, and long-buried secrets.

The group tiptoes around the shadow of a former friend’s mysterious death, a tragedy they’ve never fully confronted. But the past has a way of catching up. As old tensions resurface and truths come to light, what was once thought to be a tragic accident begins to look much more like something else entirely...

Review: I was hooked with this from start to end. My favourite books to read are always those who tell the story from the point of view of all characters and this delivered giving an insight to each character's personality and deepest thoughts. The characters were cleverly designed to be either unlikeable or quietly deceiving. I can't say I warmed to any of them but their roles were all very effective in delivering the main plot with some surprising twists at the end.

I will give this a 3.5 rating but round it up to 4 for the Goodreads score!

I kept picturing Nicole Kidman in this book, a rich, slim, tall and slender blonde trying to keep up appearances amidst the chaos.

Roxy and Amelia remind me of real housewives of something something. They kept the drama meter rising throughout.

All my stars are purely for the juicy drama this book keeps on giving. It is entertaining yes, logical ? Hell no!

A lot of things don't make sense and there are plenty of questions that baffle my mind. Nevertheless, this is absolutely gripping. I was glued to my Kindle, I only wish I had my popcorn with me.

Prepare to be entertained, there is chaos, drama, blackmail, gossip and felonies a plenty! You are in for a ride. Just don't look for logic and you are good to go!

The premise and the desert setting of We Were Never Friends are both 10/10. However, the execution felt a bit rocky. The exposition felt forced, with the characters coming off both one-dimensional and too similar. This ended up being a DNF for me.

I personally did not think anything could top Kaira's Jill is not happy. Boy, was I wrong! The book had White Lotus meets locked room mystery vibes and I loved every minute of it! The dynamics between the friend group was deliciously tense. An amazing read!

This book was fairly fast paced for me, I did enjoy this. Most of the characters were pretty unlikable lol but regardless this was a fun / drama filled story