A darkly atmospheric read, 'The Things We Do To Our Friends' mixes a group of students at Edinburgh University and creates a toxic stew. Heather Darwent does a beautiful job of maintaining taut tension and a sense of unease throughout. It's an enthralling read and I look forward to whatever Darwent does next.

2.5 stars

i wanted to love this book, with the promise of a thrilling dark academia themed story. however i didn’t quite get the same feeling as other books i’ve enjoyed in either genre. the setting of edinburgh was dark and atmospheric, but the characters weren’t compelling and the plot wasn’t all that exciting to me. the first half of the book was a slog to get through. there wasn’t much interaction between characters either and it was definitely plot rather than character driven despite its slow pace. the last half was more exciting with a few interesting twists, but the ending felt anticlimactic and i ended the book not caring much about the story or characters at all. i’m sure lots of people will enjoy it but it wasn’t for me.

I enjoyed this complex tale of toxic friendships and revenge set in Scotland. I liked how the characters had autonomy and agency and weren't your usual cliched posh students. I definitely was kept guessing by the plot and intrigued but I felt the ending fizzled out somewhat.

Nevertheless an enjoyable read, thank you for the eARC.

"The things we do to our friends" is darkly refreshing. It tells the story of Clare, a young student that arrives in Edinburgh to start University, but most importantly to reinvent herself. With a fresh slate, she gets the chance to be whoever she wants to be and to make friends with whomever she chooses, and her choices are interesting ones.

I loved the pace of this book, goes backwards and forwards, is full of tension and also full of fun relaxed times. Heather Darwent's writing is great at pulling you in and keeping you engaged.

Characters are not lovable, that is never the point. The main perspective of this book is about being honest about events and feelings that most people fight hard to hide. About toxic friendships and love/hate relationships. About trying to run from your past just to find yourself in the exact same place as before.

I called it darkly refreshing because of its honesty. Clare is angry and full of rage, but she pretends that everything is fine (also to herself). And the way that anger escapes when it can no longer be contained... is not pretty, it never is. This book is a feminist story not because of male-hating. This book is a feminist story because society expects that women are always happy and agreeable, and human nature is neither, not even for women.

Content warning of abuse, rape, violence, torture and suicide. But please note that the focus of this story is not on these events, you will not read chapters and hundreds of pages on these topics in detail. The focus is on how different characters deal with horrible and tragic incidents.

Overall I would absolutely recommend this book, it is dark, honest and completely captivating.

Thank you NetGalley, Heather Darwent, and Penguin General UK for the ARC in exchange for my honest review. The Things We Do To Our Friends will be published in January 2023.

Astronomical. I had the highest of hopes for this book and it delivered on every count. Heather Darwent's writing is as strong as they come, picking out minor details that no ordinary person would notice. Yet every detail layers on top of one another to create the richest of settings, the darkest of characters, and the most fantastic of plots.

Thank you to NetGalley and Heather Darwent for a copy of "The Things We Do To Our Friends". I was initially drawn to the book due to it's cover and I liked the sound of it. I found the characters interesting and enjoyed finding out more about their development. I found the story development unfortunately a bit less engaging.

I found this slow going to begin with and it took me a while to gel with the characters, but once the plot got going I was glad I stuck with it. The pace speeds up and you learn more about the characters. So, in my opinion, I'd recommend sticking with it if you also find it slow to start.

Well I didn’t know what to expect with this book but I got totally lost in it and really enjoyed it. It has a bit of everything in it from mystery to psychotic madness really and quiet dark in places but so so good,

An intriguing yet fun thriller, although pacing was slow at some points, the build up was well worth it. Atmospheric in setting (my hometown!), it felt like a fitting homage to Edinburgh and dark academia.

Content Warnings: violence, death, child abuse (neglect), suicide (mentioned)

This was SUCH an intense read (in a good way!) This novel felt to me like a mix of Donna Tartt's The Secret History and Gillian Flynn's Gone Girl - a captivating thriller which feels like a car crash you can't take your eyes off.

Clare leaves her grandmother's home in Hull to attend the University of Edinburgh, where she falls in with a clique of wealthier students, led my the charismatic and commanding Tabitha. Tabitha's attention and the place Clare finds in this cohort are enticing and addictive, but it doesn't take long before Clare's new beginning in Edinburgh begins to take on sinister undertones.

I expected this to be more dark academia than it was - the university setting and The Secret History-esque clique of unhinged rich kids kinda do that to you, but I think that expectation set me up for wanting more in depth themes than this thriller really has to offer, so at first it felt a little shallow to me. However, as soon as I realised this novel was much more of a pure thriller (with just a hint of dark academia making this a good start-of-autumn read) I really enjoyed it. It's well paced and easy to read - reveals are satisfying and surprising. I'm notoriously picky about thrillers, but this one was really excellent. I could really feel the building unease as the story unfolded, and even in the slower moments, plot-wise, the twisted relationships between our main characters had me fascinated. Overall, it was just a really enjoyable reading experience.

Where I have to get picky is with the fact that this book is set in my country (it's REALLY hard not to get picky about that, I find). The novel totally plays into the reputation the University of Edinburgh has among Scots - full of spoilt rich English and American kids - which I found kinda funny. I know it's so petty, but Clare's scathing description of ceilidhs (which are AMAZING, by the way) lost her any sort of sympathy she might have gotten from me as a reader. Luckily, Clare is not a character you are supposed to like, so this didn't ruin the book for me. My only other gripe - Shetland was repeatedly called 'the Shetlands'? Is that a thing? I've literally never heard that before, it's just Shetland.

I managed to get over my petty gripes as a Scot reading a book set in Scotland by a non-Scottish author though, I swear. This was a great debut novel, I really did enjoy it - definitely a rec for the thriller girlies!

Thank you to NetGalley, Heather Darwent, and Bantam for the ARC of this novel.

I will update the review with a link to our blog closer to publication date.
I'd like to thank the publisher Viking and Netgalley for providing me with an advance reader copy in exchange for an honest review

Toxicity, Obsession, Secrets,,,
A dark, disturbing, enthralling and utterly compelling tale of toxicity, obsession, secrets, friendship and feminism. When Clare arrives in Edinburgh she is determined to completely reinvent herself. Her stint in Unsiversity is her chance and she soon becomes drawn into a glamorous and deliciously alluring group of people headed by the intimidating Tabitha. Clare’s reinvention begins. With a beautifully drawn, often menacing and somewhat Gothic, backdrop and a perfectly crafted cast of characters this is an immersive read from start to finish.

This is such an impressive and assured debut. Beautifully written, with an atmospheric evocation of the dark corners and rarefied homes of Edinburgh, Derwent’s story is a dark treat. The characters are wonderfully complex, and there are echoes of The Secret History in the gradually increasingly stakes and tension. The ending will stay with me for a long time!

This book reminded me so much of Bunny by Mona Awad, it almost filled the hole in my heart that it left.

It’s dark, intriguing and so morally gray it had me clawing at my hair when reading some of the abstracts… I sped through this because of how short the chapters were and the unreliable narrator really forced me to keep reading the whole time.

All the characters have detailed back stories that get revealed slowly as you go along, and as the story progresses, so does our own main character. We get a glimpse of her past too, and boy does it shock you. I loved how psychological this book got, how flawed every character was, some parts really made my skin crawl.

I also adored the dark academia setting, bleak Edinburgh, mixed with scenes from Paris added to the striking imagery that really matched the core of the book, and reflected our characters too.

This book talks about toxic relationships, manipulation, morality and growth. I recommend it to anyone who loves unhinged characters, and it’s definitely a perfect pick to enter Autumn with!

Thank you to NetGalley and Penguin for sending me a copy of the book in exchange for an honest review!

Clare arrives at the University of Edinburgh with a secret. This is her chance for a blank slate - to finally become who she was meant to be.

And then she meets Tabitha.

Tabitha is charismatic, beautiful and intimidatingly rich. 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.

A gripping thriller that starts on simmer and builds to a boil. Dazzlingly clever, twisting and constantly surprising. An unputdownable rollercoaster of a read.

Wow! This was such a captivating read. It’s dark, with complex emotions and female and group relationships. I really liked the Scottish setting as well for such a young oriented novel! I’ll definitely look out for Darwent’s following novels.

The Things We Do To Our Friends tells the story of Clare, a fresher at Edinburgh University who quickly falls under the spell of the charismatic Tabitha and her group of friends. However, while Tabitha may have ulterior motives in befriending her, Clare is also keeping secrets...

Centring around a group of wealthy and privileged university students getting up to no good, this has inevitably been compared to The Secret History by the publishers (although, if I had £1 for every book I've seen compared to Tartt's masterpiece, I'd be a rich woman). Ultimately, I found it an unsatisfying read: the intrigue not particularly intriguing and the rich kid antics preventing any of the characters from seeming like fully formed people.

2.5 stars rounded up to 3.

A debut with fascinating themes and a fantastic setting, this should have been right up my street. Unfortunately, I found the writing and characterisation lacking, very poor in parts, and never felt there was any real explanation of who the protagonist was, nor what she and her friends cared about, thought, felt... There were definitely a lot of interesting ideas in the book so I'll keep an eye out for the author's future work, in the hope that the writing will be more refined.

This book is dark and compelling in all the best ways. Set mainly in Edinburgh, and surrounding the complex and sinister relationship between a group of university friends, and where that leads them, it is dark academia at its best. It reminded me of Clique, a BBC drama that I loved - in that it doesn’t shy away from exploring difficult themes and the dysfunctionality of friendships based on an inequality of power. The protagonist ‘Claire’ is both beautifully drawn and intriguing and the novel took plenty of turns I didn’t expect. Highly recommended

DNF @57%

Don't be fooled by the pretty cover, it's not worth it!
There’s no point in trying harder. It feels like I spend hours reading only to see I’m 2% farther. It took me 5 days to get at +50%
Thank you NetGalley and Penguin General UK for the digital ARC but I’m just drained and want to move forward now PLEASE.

If I had to describe this book with a sentence it would be: too slow, didn’t care.

My expectations from reading the synopsis were never met.
This was not a thriller nor it had suspense of any kind. Everything moved along too slowly, so many descriptions, infinite internal dialogue, zero connection between the characters and a plot line that never made any sense. Every character felt one dimensional and insufferable.
Even when for the main part, what the whole "secret evil group" was set to do is revealed the pace doesn’t pick up.
The whole book reads as if you’re reading the diary of what a weird college girl with paranoia and psychosis did every single day and I’m not putting up with it anymore, I’m done.