Penguin The Things We Do To Our Friends.

by Heather Darwent

'Satisfyingly dark, cleverly plotted and pleasingly Donna Tarttish' Emma Flint, Little Deaths
'Seamlessly blends Gone Girl and Promising Young Woman. Smart, sophisticated, seductive' S J Watson, Before I Go To Sleep
'A deeply compelling story of friendships turned rotten' Rosemary Hennigan, The Truth Will Out

*Sunday Times Bestseller*
*Top Ten eBook bestseller*
*One of Cosmopolitan's Best Books for 2023*
*One of Apple's Best of the Month*
*One of FT's Best New Debut Fiction*
*Heat Book of the Week*

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Clare arrives at the University of Edinburgh with a secret. This is her chance for a blank slate: to find the right people and reinvent herself.

And then she meets Tabitha.

Tabitha is charismatic, beautiful and intimidatingly wealthy. Soon Clare is sucked into her enigmatic circle of friends and their dizzying world of champagne on rooftops and summers in France.

Her new life has begun.

Then Tabitha reveals the little project they're working on, a project they need Clare's help with. It's reckless, possibly perilous and might finally allow Clare to become who she was meant to be...

But how much is an extraordinary life worth if others have to pay?

An intoxicating feminist page-turner with shades of The Secret History and Promising Young Woman, this novel will take you on a journey from Edinburgh's dazzling spires to the dripping staircases and dark alleyways of its underbelly.

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'Startlingly lovely, like a fine, dark silk shivering on your skin' Julia Heaberlin, We Are All the Same in the Dark

'Perfect for fans of dark academia stories like The Secret History and If We Were Villains' Cosmopolitan

'Darwent has a great career as a thriller writer ahead of her' Sunday Times

'Dark academia and twisted friendships in gothic Edinburgh - what more could you want?' Cailean Steed, Home

'Creepy yet compulsive, this impressive novel will stay with you long after reading' Heat

'Dark and compulsive, this will have you turning the pages late into the night' Sarah Bonner, Her Perfect Twin

'Themes of obsession, revenge and desire collide in a twisty, dark and delicious feminist thriller' Big Issue

'An intriguing and complex heroine' Phoebe Wynne, Madam

'Darwent keeps the reader guessing. Any time the balance of power appears to settle, the plot takes another twist' Scotland on Sunday

'Such an immersive, surprising, impressive debut' Niamh Hargan, Twelve Days In May

'Power, privilege and the most toxic of friendships. All set against the stunning backdrop of Edinburgh' Carys Jones, The List

Genres: Dark Academia, Thriller, Fiction, Mystery, Mystery Thriller, Contemporary, Adult

384 pages, Paperback

First published January 10, 2023

Reviews

[Nilufer Ozmekik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Dark, intense, complex, absolutely surprising, deliciously twisty debut!
And take a look at this breathtaking, fantastic cover which deserves extra five stars!

The is the story of a young woman who desires to recreate herself for living a peaceful life.
She was an outsider, changing her identity to become someone for adapting in a new life style: her new name is Clare!

She left to Paris to Edinburg/ Scotland, working on her accent, finding a cocktail mixer job at the bar, befriending the owner, taking her lectures at school, laying low, hating her roommates, building a new life.
Everything seems quite uneventful at first! Till she meets with enigmatic Tabitha and being allured by her friend circle.

Here’s the other members of the group: Ava: originally Russian with complicated past, Imogen; protective of Tabitha, a little suspicious about Clare and her joining to their friend circle and flirting, adrenaline junkie, mysterious Samuel!

Only thing Clare wanted was having real friends and starting fresh for more hopeful future. But her new friends came with a heavy cost! Tabitha has a unique project for her to sharpen her past skills!

Clare realizes she’s trapped because her new friends might know more about her real identity and they are adamant to use it for their benefits!
She has to accept their offer and work with them in expanse losing everything she’s worked for!

Overall: the book’s first chapter in Paris is absolutely dark, intriguing and disturbing start!
First third was so slow burn and I had hard time to get into the story! The eccentric friend circle members are dislikable and Clare was truly struggling. You may sense something is really wrong with her.

Thankfully when we realize what the project was about thing get more heated. Pace picked up and story turned into another dark and disturbing road.

Epilogue revealed everything as beginning and the end collided perfectly!
It was a fresh, unique, unconventional debut! I mostly enjoyed!

Many thanks to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group/ Ballantine for sharing this amazing digital reviewer copy with me in exchange my honest thoughts.

[Catherine (alternativelytitledbooks) - tired of sickness! · Rating 3 out of 5]

**Many thanks to NetGalley, Random House-Ballantine, and Heather Darwent for an ARC of this book! Now available as of 1.10!**

“If you choose bad companions, no one will believe that you are anything but bad yourself.” ― Aesop

Most students head to university to come into their own as adults, to find new meaning in their lives, to broaden their horizons, and to leave their childhoods behind...but none with such laser-focused intent as Clare. Heading to dark and brooding Edinburgh to attend the aptly named University of Edinburgh, she is a on a mission: to leave her secrets behind and integrate herself into student life posthaste...and of course, finding herself amidst a group of the wealthy and popular wouldn't hurt either. She finds her targets in Ava, Samuel, Imogen, and ringleader Tabitha, when the group captivates her at a bar one night.

When they gravitate towards Clare in return and invite her to join their "shiver of sharks" (this is how Clare refers to them in her mind, anyway) she can't believe her luck. After a few weeks as part of the 'cool kids club', however, she gets invited to participate in a scheme with Tabitha at the helm and her fellow sharks all too willing to acquiesce. Though their games seem harmless to start, Clare soon learns that their status comes with a price and their devious plans have only just begun. Will Clare become hooked on the adrenaline and excitement this new life brings and succumb to the 'bad deeds'? And is a certain member of their little group privy to information from Clare's past...the same information she's been so desperate to hide? Will Clare stop at nothing to keep her past IN the past?

I was so hopeful going into this book that it would give me the dark academia thrills I've been missing in the past months, probably ever since I finished the fabulous For Your Own Good. However, this debut read as though the author put ALL her energy into trying to create atmosphere and scenes rather than focusing on creating an actual PLOT. I'm all for bizarre, when it's appropriate. But when I have to question HOW and WHY this plot would even work over and over again...that to me says that the author didn't really think it through in any practical sense of the term.

First off, Clare is so DESPERATE to keep her secret past safe...and yet she is simultaneously desperate to throw herself in the middle of a new friend group she knows almost nothing about, EVEN THOUGH her spidey sense is tingling from the get-go. Forgive me but...this doesn't make sense. There are arbitrary throwaway characters, like Clare's boyfriend, who sort of flit in and out of the narrative but could easily not exist. The whole group of these 'sharks' is frankly unlikable and really not that interesting. They all are sort of boring, stuck-up children which I guess was sort of the point...but didn't make them any more fun to read.

And though this book is supposedly a dark academia read...SCHOOL IS HARDLY MENTIONED. This drove me crazy. All of these students are in college together, yet they are rarely ever there, and other than some discussion of the art they are studying...that's about all you're going to get to remind you they think about anything other than power and their schemes.
With the type of lifestyle these friends are leading, this honestly could have been a bunch of twenty-something roommates sharing an apartment and it wouldn't have made a difference. Not sure why this bothered me so much, but in some respects I think it just made all the events taking place even more unrealistic.

There are also spots of clunky and odd word choices: "I heard him stretch my name like he was chewing the vowels up, like they all did---Clareeeeee." (Yes, there are that many 'e's.) For most of the book, it felt like the author caught very caught up writing scenes and sentences rather than a plot that took me from A to B. Sure, we finally get the 'big reveals' towards the end, but they are just a bit out there.

There is also a very disgusting scene involving someone climbing inside a pig carcass.🤢 I'd really rather not think about it again, but you've been warned. Again, some of this weirdness would have played better if it was presented in a more believable or cohesive way, but I was so checked out by Part 3 (I think, the book was split up sort of arbitrarily) that it honestly didn't matter. To cap everything off, there's one of THOSE epilogues...🙄

Though this is a debut novel and there's certainly a possibility I would enjoy another book from Darwent down the line, this book reminded me of a Sum 41 album title. But rather than "All Killer, No Filler" I'd probably call this one "All Filler, No Thriller."

2.5 stars, rounded up to 3

[Sujoya - theoverbookedbibliophile · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5⭐

The Things We Do to Our Friends by Heather Darwent tells the story of our protagonist Clare from when she was a newly enrolled student in the University of Edinburgh History of Art degree embarking on a new life away from Hull where she lived with her grandmother. Viewing her move to Edinburgh as an opportunity to become a new person she promptly moves into a new flat with two other students, finds a job working in a bar befriending her boss, Finn and strikes an unlikely friendship with the charismatic Tabitha and Tabitha’s group of friends (a group of people Clare privately compares with a shiver of sharks, “The Shiver” for short) whom she is drawn to, curious about and eager to fit in with.

As the story progresses we see Clare being drawn into The Shiver and groomed to participate in an ambitious venture that will push them in a direction that spells nothing but trouble. Clare, for her part, has a past that she intends to keep hidden but apparently, her new friend(s) are privy to some disturbing information which they do not fail to leverage in persuading her to join them in their project. Can Clare withstand the pressures exerted by her new “friends”? How far will Clare go to fit in? How far is too far before she breaks?

The story is narrated in the first person by Clare (a complicated and unreliable narrator) in the present day. As she shares her experiences with The Shivers during her University days with snippets from her present life, we are given a window into her psyche and it is not a pleasant picture. She is by no means as unassuming or clueless as she initially projects and we see the workings of a twisted mind as she navigates through toxic (to put it mildly!) friendships and manipulation. As she shares episodes from her past, it is evident that it is only a matter of time before she shows her true colors leading to an ending that is somewhat predictable and inevitable.

The prose is elegant and the author does an impressive job in developing the main characters (each unlikable in her/his own way) but the narrative is relatively slow-paced and somewhat disjointed, slightly repetitive and rather long-drawn. It took a while for me to engage with the characters and the story, losing interest a little after the halfway mark. I did not find the story as compelling as I had hoped. I usually enjoy character-driven stories but in this case, I did not find the character interesting enough despite her psychopathic tendencies and there really wasn’t much mystery or thrill to keep me hooked to the story. Dark and atmospheric, The Things We Do to Our Friends by Heather Darwent has a lot of promise but falls short in its execution.

Many thanks to Random House Publishing Group-Ballantine and NetGalley for the digital review copy. All opinions expressed in this review are my own.

[Liz · Rating 2 out of 5]

I’m not sure if I’m getting tired of psychological thrillers or I’m too old for university dramas. But either way, this one fell flat for me.
Clare is trying to find her way at university in Edinburgh when she falls in with a group of louche students. The cliche revolves around Tabitha, a beautiful, entitled girl. As Clare’s co-worker describes them , they’re “a shiver of sharks”. None of these characters engaged me. They all came across as damaged goods, in one way or another.
Clare is hiding a secret from her teen years. The story is told from her POV and it doesn't help that she comes across as almost simple and way too malleable. I kept waiting for her to actually ask some questions. Instead, it was like she sleepwalked through most of the story, despite supposedly having a violent temper.
It’s not a good sign when the word that comes to mind when describing the plot was boring. It dragged for quite a while without much happening. Then Tabitha comes up with “a project”. And what Tabitha wants, Tabitha gets. She’s a user. In other words, with friends like her…
I didn’t find that the twist at the end held together very well and there were also holes in the logic of the plot.
My thanks to Netgalley and Random House for an advance copy of this book.

[Ceecee · Rating 4 out of 5]

In September 2005 Clare arrives in Edinburgh to start an art course at the University. She is desperate to reinvent herself and equally desperate to fit in. Her lack of funds lead her to bar work where she meets Finn but more importantly a group who he nicknames “the shiver“ as he sees them as sharks. However to Clare, Tabitha seems golden, less so Imogen, Ava and Samuel but she’s longing to be an integral part of them and feels joy at being invited into the “illustrious Circle“. Their friendship is very clearly uneven, Tabitha is the centre, living in Georgian splendour in New Town while Clare lives in less salubrious surroundings in the Gothic glory of Old Town. Why have they selected Clare? She is definitely not one of them yet they seem intent on including her in their activities.

This book yanks you in with a most startling and shocking start, the truth of which becomes apparent as the book progresses. It’s chock full of atmosphere, it’s there in abundance in wonderful Edinburgh which we see through the seasonal changes and it’s used to add drama and further the intensity.

The atmosphere is at times chaotic, at others cloying and claustrophobic and most definitely intrusive like invading ivy or vines. The Shiver give a whole new meaning to toxic friendship which ranges from overly friendly to smothering to downright mean to forms of blackmail. The characterisation is very good although none are especially likeable perhaps with the exception of Samuel who is mostly benign. Some are certainly unhinged if not demonic and in Clare’s case her parents - sheesh - is it any wonder some of her actions are bizarre?

It’s full of twists, some events are strange, some are downright weird, some are creepy, dark and disturbing and others are just plain crazy.

Apart from some occasional repetition it’s a well written novel with a quick pace and which is hard to put down.

It has a great cover too!

With thanks to NetGalley and especially to Penguin General U.K. for the much appreciated arc in return for an honest review.

[Southern Lady Reads · Rating 4 out of 5]

The beauty in this story is that what you think is happening in the beginning... is absolutely not what you get in the end. 'The Things We Do To Our Friends' is raw violence written with a poetic magnetism, and I loved every deliciously twisted potentially-psychopathic part of it.

A SHORT PREVIEW:
Reading through the lens of a fractured psyche is always incredibly compelling, and Heather Darwent's debut novel 'The Things We Do To Our Friends' was no different for me. Somewhere between stories like The Talented Mr. Ripley, Gossip Girl and The Roommate (with Leighton Meister), we're presented with the story of a college girl desperate to fit in. Clare finds herself alone and friendly desperate to reinvent herself after a questionable past. But cobblestone streets, fresh faces, and the lure of becoming whoever you want to be aren't enough for Clare. She wants to fit in.. and after meeting the 'right' group of seemingly unspoiled rich girls, she thinks she's found her home. Home, however, means something far scarier than it should.

WHAT I LOVED:
- The seduction of this story. So much about each section of this book is written to seduce the reader. Your senses are lulled because of how characters are portrayed.. and then all of a sudden.. you read that someone is slipping the thinnest piece of glass out of their pasta that had been intentionally placed there... its beautifully grotesque and almost bordering on horror. (That's one of my favorite ways to read about violence by the way. Nothing flashy, nothing loud. Just malice for the sheer malice of destruction and the symphony of impending collapse. It's poetic really.)
- The way the author wrote about struggles to fit in. I don't think there is a person between the ages of 8-25 out there who doesn't, on some level, feel that they're just not doing life quite right. Having it written out on paper - what it feels like to be friends but just a step away from all the others.. if you're that person, Darwent's writing is a balm to the soul.
- If you read psychological thrillers, you'll notice that a common literary device is seamless equivocation for misdeeds on the part of the deranged. Not all authors accomplish this with the same level of finesse? I think Darwent did an exceptional job settling us into the madness just short of accepting the motivations of the main characters! I think that's truly what I enjoyed the most -- just how close I found myself to rationalizing psychotic behavior?!

FAVORITE QUOTES:
- "When I was allowed out, I’d always go back downstairs and watch them edge around me like I was about to explode. A week later I would slip a piece of glass into my mother’s food. A long and slender shard, glistening in the sauce around her pasta. Not to hurt her, just so she had to fish it out.". - WHAT?! The burgeoning violence of a psychopathic child is so seamlessly written here!!! *chefs kiss*
- "I needed to find friends who were going to make me the best version of myself, and they already had that ease with each other that felt so natural. I slotted in." - Looking for a specific type of person to surround yourself with is a marker of immaturity that many of us can relate to - especially in those highschool/college years.

NOTES:
- If you like any kind of obsession story - this is a great read!!
- Character-driven
- Jumping Timeline
- Psychological thriller
- Partly a Coming-of-Age read
- Single POV / First person narration --- later leading into the unreliable psychopathic narration that I didn't realize I was reading at first. (Reminds me of the psychopathic narration in Liars Annonymous that I read earlier this year!)
- TWs: Abusive parents ( It's incredibly difficult to fit in with one's peers when the influences one was raised with weren't conventionally normal, pretty, etc. Fill in whatever adjectives you want, but this book will cause you to be highly introspective!!)

**I received this book as an advanced reader copy, but all reviews are my own. - SLR

[Debra - can't post any comments on site today grrr · Rating 2 out of 5]

An outsider with a dark secret wanting to fit in, finds a place to belong at the University of Edinburgh.

Clare is looking to start over, to reinvent herself. She wants to leave behind her disturbing past and pave a new path. She enters into a friendship with a wealthy circle of friends. But will this be the new beginning she wanted, or will there be a cost to pay for such a friendship? Will their games be fun? What price is there to be paid?

First off, the cover of this book is beautiful!

This book did not work for me. I struggled with it. This book is dark (which I don't mind) yet slow. The characters were not likeable, and their relationships were toxic. Even with unlikeable characters, I tend to find something that grabs me and sucks me in. I just could not connect with this book. I do appreciate how the author showed an unlikeable character finding other unlikeable characters. Like attracts like as they say.

Others are enjoying this book, so please read their reviews and decide for yourself.



Thank you to Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam and NetGalley who provided me with a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review. All the thoughts and opinions are my own.

Read more of my reviews at www.openbookposts.com

[Liz Barnsley · Rating 5 out of 5]

An excellent psychological thriller from Heather Darwent, a tale of toxic friendship and boundaries, one of accepting your true self and a certain fate in life and full of characters you'll love - because they are beautifully mad.

The Things We Do To Our Friends is a tense, atmospheric read fuelled by underlying tension and an inability to imagine what might happen next- it is cleverly involving and not easily forgettable.

Overall a truly excellent and enthralling read.

[Theresa Alan · Rating 3 out of 5]

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.

NetGalley provided an advance reader copy of this book, which RELEASES JANUARY 10, 2023.

[Jesse On Youtube · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book secretes promise - toxic relationships, a Scottish setting, unbearable secrets, murderous young women - and yet we hated it so much lmao.

did someone else write the last half of the book? asking for a friend.
we are the friend.

Reading Vlog:

https://youtu.be/gRKwr_P7I4A

[AsToldByKenya · Rating 4 out of 5]

this book is MY bunny. like maybe yall just didn't get it idk. I REALLY liked it.

[Nicole · Rating 1 out of 5]

Claire is excited to start a new chapter of her life at a University in Scotland. She’s a bit of a fish out of water and doesn’t really relate to anyone until she spots the elliets of the school. Tabitha is the queen bee and used to things going her way. The include Claire on their nefarious activities.

I thought this book dragged a lot in places and it was boring. I didn’t like the characters, their actions were bizarre.

The Things We Do to Our Friends is available January 10,2023.

Thank you netgalley and randomhouse for this arc in exchange for my honest review.

[Léa · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Things We Do To Our Friends is a dark, compelling and intense tale of toxic female friendships, becoming a young adult and venturing into the unknown world of womanhood. Perfect for dark academia fans who adore complex character studies with the backdrop of Edinburgh, studying and a brief summer in the South of France - this is one you will not forget!

[Lesley Pitre · Rating 3 out of 5]

First off, what a gorgeous cover! That’s what initially drew me to the book. I wasn’t quite sure what to expect when I started reading it. It took me a bit to get into the story and understand what was happening. Clare is interesting and the company she keeps are quite interesting to say the least. I found this dark, intriguing, intense, frustrating, and full of unlikeable yet slightly delightful characters. You will want to give this a read if you are looking for something different. Many thanks for this ARC that was provided to me via Kindle, from Random House Publishing Group- Ballantine, Bantam and NetGalley.

[Erin Clemence · Rating 4 out of 5]

Special thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for a free, electronic ARC of this novel received in exchange for an honest review.

Expected publication date: January 10, 2023

Clare is an outcast, hoping that a fresh start at a university in Edinburgh will give her what she craves- friendship, and a sense of belonging. When she meets Tabitha, charming, beautiful and exceptionally rich, Clare is surprised that Tabitha seems so willing to welcome Clare into her clique. But Tabitha’s friendship comes at a cost. Tabitha knows things about Clare’s past that no one knows, and Clare must cater to Tabitha’s seemingly careless whims or else her entire future and everything she’s tried so hard to forget will be thrust into the spotlight.

Heather Darwent’s debut novel, “The Things We Do for our Friends”, is a powerful look at toxic female friendships, the desire to belong, and, above all, revenge. Creative and masterfully written, Darwent’s novel is unique and addictive, bringing the dark side of friendships into the light.

Right away, it is evident that Clare has secrets. Although right at the beginning, Darwent gives us a snippet as to Clare’s past, it is just enough to keep the reader invested. Throughout the remainder of the novel, Darwent slips us breadcrumbs, slowly feeding us tidbits of Clare’s disastrous childhood, her cold and unloving parents, all leading up to the “event” in France which Clare works throughout the novel to keep quiet. It is an epic cat and mouse game between Darwent and her readers, all concluding with a gripping and shocking finale.

Clare is not exactly likable, but she’s definitely relatable. Awkward, eccentric and considered “odd” by mostly everyone around her, it is obvious why she is so susceptible to Tabitha’s spell. Each and every one of Tabitha’s “shiver” (as in, a shiver of sharks, which is how Clare refers to Tabitha and her group of friends) are vapid and deplorable, yet they still manage to create sympathy, and to generate a genuine concern for their outcomes. Each chapter is relatively short, told completely from Clare’s side of things, with easy to follow flow and a unique writing style. Add to that my favourite setting (Scotland), and Darwent’s debut novel is one not to be missed!

[River · Rating 3 out of 5]

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 a pretty 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.

[Jonann loves book talk❤♥️❤ · Rating 4 out of 5]

Do you enjoy reading dark academia? What is the last book.you read that stepped outside of the box?

The Things We Do to Our Friends
by Heather Darwent
Pub Date 10 Jan 2023
Random House Publishing Group - Ballantine, Bantam
General Fiction (Adult) | Mystery & Thrillers

Readers who enjoy character exploration and thrills will love this book. The writing is dense and rich. The unusual dark academia features toxic friendships, blackmail, sordid hunting parties and mold-infested French estates. I enjoyed the author's writing style with plenty of moody twists and turns. The Things We Do to Our Friends is for those with a penchant for the unusual.

I would like to thank @Random House #Partners, and #StoriesandSuspects A Bantam Mystery Box, for giving me this intriguing book. I appreciate your kindness.

#ThingsWe Do To Our Friends #bookmail #bookishcommunity #bookstagramcommunity #blogtour #readingcommunity #Books #bookfriends #booksbooksbooks #booksta #bookstagram #newtobookstagram #bookreview #bookreviews #instabookstagram #bookish #bookishielife #Audible #newtobookstagram #newtoinsta #newtoinstagra #Bookishcom #trending #bestsellingbooks #b

[Jen · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a bit of a departure from the books I primarily read but I am a sucker for a dark academic focused mystery that involve a clique of friends keeping secrets. The story focuses on Clare, who comes to college in Scotland after escaping a secret of her own, and becomes enamored with the gorgeous Tabitha and her group of friends. When Tabitha comes up with an odd “project”, Clare goes along with it in an effort to fit in, but of course things get complicated from there.

The book was written beautifully with language that felt very literary but not hard to understand (if that makes sense). I was engaged in the story even though the author did make me work for it a bit sometimes. As others have said, the characters weren’t really likable, but that was ok because they weren’t meant to be. Clare was the moat unlikable of them all, in my opinion, and I do wish I had gotten a bit more to understand what made her the way she was, even before the incident she escaped. The book flowed well and the ending felt satisfying to me.

Overall, a unique and interesting read that was a nice break from the more commercialized psychological thrillers that I usually pick up. Thanks to Netgalley for providing me a copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

[Giulia · Rating 2 out of 5]

This was a very difficult read for me. I kept waiting for the real meat of the story to come out. Clare is a university student in Scotland studying Art and some find her "weird" but still she is able to fool people and make friends. We find out early in the book that she has a very dark secret in her past. Unfortunately, wading through this tale frequently left me disgusted and I could not get over all the psychopathic characters in the book. They were all quite "weird", except for Clare's bartender boyfriend Finn.. But, I digress, I feel the author had an interesting plot but the writing just dragged on and on. I kept reading because I felt that maybe there could be some redeeming quality somewhere.. but all that I was handed was likely the worst "epilogue" ever. I am sorry for the scathing review but I wish I had known to expect a slow read before I started this one as the other reviews are extremely praise worthy and I feel this book is very overhyped.

Thank you to Net Galley and the publisher for a chance to read and review. .

[Barbara Behring · Rating 3 out of 5]

This story started with a bang and I was totally invested, then it slowed down and dragged until the last quarter of the book. I liked the writing but it was just too slow for my taste.

[alisha · Rating 2 out of 5]

the secret history but make it bad

2.5/5 stars

thanks to netgalley for the arc!!
if you liked the secret history, if we were villains, or bunny, you MIGHT like this?? maybe???
but this book has none of the compelling characters or interesting plot that those three other books have
i was bored. sorry lol. i kept checking how far i was in the e book and every time i thought i was 50 or 75% done i would look to see 30%, 40%, 45% like move the story along please!! it’s a dark academia thriller!!
didn’t care for any of the characters - i know that’s the point - but i didn’t care even for their ‘evil’ actions so what’s the point
the book felt like it was trying too hard to capture the vibe of those dark academia books and ended up w none of the solid plot or messaging
and the epilogue was bad - should’ve been included somewhere in the middle of the book, did nothing except say blatantly ‘hey!! i’m cRazY and a psychopath lol!!’
ALSO THE COVER IS DOOKIE - i thought it was womens lit fic the first time i saw it?? why is the better homes and gardens version of elizabeth holmes on there

[Christina McDonald]

A story of heading off to college and trying to fit in with the 'popular' crowd, and the things that can go wrong.

[Paperback Mo · Rating 3 out of 5]

Throughout her whole life, Clare has never quite found her ‘tribe’.
She decides to reinvent herself and bumps into Tabitha – the complete opposite of Clare: magnetic, flashy, and seriously loaded.
Clare finds herself drawn into Tabitha’s crew, and it’s everything she ever dreamed of. Until it isn’t. Because these friends aren’t what they appear to be.
And they’ve had their sights set on Clare all along..

This explored intricate human connections, revealing both the beauty and ugliness in friendships. I enjoyed the story’s dark undertone.

However there was a lot of 'nothingness' to the story. Empty words to fill the pages. Or that's what it felt like to me anyway. I got bored real quick.

After I finished this book I forgot that I'd even read it.

2.5 stars

[Shereadbookblog · Rating 3 out of 5]

Clare has had a difficult childhood and is harboring a deep secret, but now she is set to reinvent herself as she starts college in Edinburgh. Working in a local pub, she becomes fascinated with some other students she meets there who, in her view, seem to have it all. Desperate to be accepted, she clings to them, even going along with an unsavory “project” they propose. To what extents will she go to be part of the group?

This debut novel is dark, touching upon obsession, toxic dependency, the effects of poor parenting, and what I would view as mental illness. The language is evocative, especially when describing scenes such as Edinburg in January. It is well plotted, but I just didn’t take to any of the unlikable characters or their stories. I read the book quickly just to get through it. By the end, I felt like, “so what?

[Karly · Rating 2 out of 5]

My Rating: 2⭐️⭐️ started alright but almost bored me to sleep!!

Goodreads Synopsis: 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.

Edinburgh, Scotland: a moody city of labyrinthine alleyways, oppressive fog, and buried history; the ultimate destination for someone with something to hide. Perfect for Clare, then, who arrives utterly alone and yearning to reinvent herself. And what better place to conceal the dark secrets in her past than at the university in the heart of the fabled, cobblestoned Old Town?

When Clare meets Tabitha, a charismatic, beautiful, and intimidatingly rich girl from her art history class, she knows she's destined to be friends with her and her exclusive circle: raffish Samuel; shrewd Ava; and pragmatic Imogen. Clare is immediately drawn into their libertine world of sophisticated dinner parties and summers in France. The new life she always envisioned for herself has seemingly begun.

And then Tabitha reveals a little project she's been working on, one that she needs Clare's help with. Even though it goes against everything Clare has tried to repent for. Even though their intimacy begins to darken into codependence. But as Clare starts to realize just what her friends are capable of, it's already too late. Because they've taken the plunge. They're so close to attaining the things they want. And there's no going back.

What is the cost of an extraordinary life if others have to pay? Reimagining the classic themes of obsession and striving with an original and sinister edge, The Things We Do to Our Friends is a seductive thriller about the toxic battle between those who have, and those who covet--between the desire to truly belong, and the danger of being truly known.

So to be clear I almost rated this two stars and wrote… boring!!! And left it at that… but I figured I would get questions 🤣

I also want to put it out there I don’t mind being confused… I don’t mind an unreliable narrator and a story that doesn’t come together right at the start. I don’t need my hand held by any stretch… I don’t need all action all the time or thrills and spills and murder galore… BUT… with the synopsis promising the way it does I expect the story to pan out into something a little more interesting than it does.

This clearly, is my own opinion I know others liked this and I am really glad that you/them had a better experience of it than I did… I found this to be incredibly PRETENTIOUS so over the top with flowery unnecessary language so much so that I felt like punching every single character straight in the mouth and asking them to say it in 5 words or less… or shut the F up!!

I did like the beginning where it kind of builds a tension… I love that in drama/mystery whatever books where you have this sense of dread… that was quickly replaced, for me, by a sense of boredom and irritation at Clare, Tabitha and all the other weirdo losers in this novel. Rich kids with nothing better to do than ruin lives and Clare…a weirdo that doesn’t really find her stride in the whole book. There are som really odd events that happen for shock factor but for me they were confusing… like, I get why they happened…but I don’t understand why the author those THAT way to take it… I dunno I just think it was lacklustre and dare I say it… BORING. I fell asleep a number of times reading this and to be honest I couldn’t wait to be done with it… I hoped like hope that someone was going to die… well… colour me disappointed, it didn’t turn out how I hoped because even the SHOCKING TWIST was neither shocking nor a twist… it was just dumb.

I actually legitimately hated everyone… again not a deal breaker but I need to be into the story… I could not wait to end the novel and delete off my kindle forever… such a shame cause the cover is gorgeous… DO NOT JUDGE A BOOK BY THIS COVER… you will be left disappointed if you are anything like me.
Overall: I wouldn’t recommend this to my regular pals on here… If you loved this one that’s awesome… I am always happy to hear someone had a better experience than I did on a book I didn’t like… but for me this is a two. Not quite the one star hate that I thought it might go to… only some of the tension and building and writing at the beginning (the stuff that kept me till the end) held it up by a measly star.

[BookOfCinz · Rating 3 out of 5]

Dark, brooding and feels very Sally Rooney…

We meet Clare who is attending university in Edinburgh, Scotland. She is relocated and is looking for start fresh after a high school incident that almost ruined her. She plans to start fresh, stay under the radar but Clare did not bargain for being an outsider… that is until a group of friend started talking to her and inviting her out. There is Tabitha, the group lead, rich and can be very intimidating, Samuel is a recovering alcoholic but very connected, Imogen can be sulky but goes along with everything and Ava who is at Tabitha’s beck and call.

Clare loves being a part of something- enjoys having a group of friends, even though there seem to be underlined tension among everyone. Tabitha suggests a project for the group that forces Clare to consult her past… is this what it will take to keep the friendship going?

I am not going to lie, there is very beautiful prose in this book. The story felt engaging and as a reader I felt the urge to find out everything! I wish the book was a little shorter, it felt repetitive, long winded in certain parts and it lost my attention during some parts. If you love reading Salley Rooney, then I highly recommend this one. It is filled with college girl angst, friendship and wrapped in a mystery.

[Sheila · Rating 4 out of 5]

3.5 stars--somewhere between liked and really liked.

Toxic college friendships--why am I such a sucker for this trope? Also books set in colleges? I don't know, but this was a real page-turner. This is a plot-centered book rather than a character-centered one; I think readers looking for a deep character analysis will be disappointed. But the story--dark and shocking--is gripping.

The ending felt slightly anticlimatic to me after the plot's buildup, but that's a minor complaint. I really loved the Edinburgh setting; the descriptions of the city added a layer of depth to the story.

I received this review copy from the publisher on NetGalley. Thanks for the opportunity to read and review; I appreciate it!

[Kimberly · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel examines the relationships between and among a group of university students in Scotland. The plot is intriguing and the characters are richly formed. The dialogue is crisp and clear and aided by short, fast moving chapters. This look into relationships is intense and if it were made into a movie, it would be chilling. Fully recommended.

My thanks to the author. Heather Darwent, and the publisher, Penguin Random House, for my copy of this book. #Goodreads Giveaway

[BookishByTammi · Rating 4 out of 5]

-"Being with them made me feel like I was part of something. craved them when I wasn't there with them.
When I saw them look towards each other and share secret glances, I was desperate to be involved.
When I heard someone talking about them, I felt almost drunk on the sense of superiority that came with being who we were. We were so special."

I really enjoyed this story, flying through the first 60% in a day! The friend group was intriguing and I wanted to get to know each of them so much more. I personally love pretentious, rich, unlikeable characters and it did not disappoint.

The main character Clare is an unreliable, very unstable character and the things going through her head were shocking and amazing to read! The plot was great and the slow demise of ‘the shiver’ (what they called the group, stands for a group of sharks) made for a great read.

It was immersive and had me turning the pages, I would recommend this for lovers of unhinged, toxic obsessive friendships. Dark academia style.

The only reason it wasn’t a 5 star read for me is I wish the author chose to show us the unhinged side to Tabitha rather than us just hear it from Ava at the end. I wanted Tabitha to propose a really dark act to Clare in her singsong voice to see for myself how twisted she supposedly was.
Or…maybe she wasn’t the twisted one…maybe Ava and Clare are the unhinged pair

[Kobe · Rating 3 out of 5]

loved the concept and toxic characters, and there were definitely glimmers of a writing style that i really enjoyed, but the whole thing felt slightly? muted? i'm not sure how else to describe it; it was sort of like i was endlessly waiting for something more to happen. a shame, because i was SO invested at the start. 3 stars.