While I enjoyed the reading experience and I was kept riveted the entire time, I can’t help feeling that the ending was slightly lacking. Would have liked to see some real consequences for those entitled rich kids.

☠️ T O X I C T U E S D A Y review ☠️ featuring “When We Were Killers” by C.F. Barrington!

MY RATING: 🖤🖤🖤.5/5

Finn Nethercott is attending the prestigious St. Andrew’s University in Scotland. Arriving alone and living in a single dorm room pushes Finn to meet people … which doesn’t take long. Finn finds himself totally drawn into a group of 4 friends that are obsessed with the ancient history of Scotland.

Hope, Laurie, Magnus and Madri introduce Finn to a world of late night rituals, secret meetings and a search for an ancient hallucinogen. But it doesn’t take long for Finn to catch on to the sinister and toxic dynamics of this group and the rivalry between them … and him.

If you are a fan of dark academia, atmospheric thrillers and deep rooted history and folklore, then this one is for you! Full of twists and turns, out of body/mind experiences and untrustworthy characters, this book will put you through the wringer!

Thank you kindly to @cfbarrington_notwriting @headofzeus @netgalley for my #gifted advanced digital copy in exchange for my honest review! This book releases on May 27, 2025!

a dark, atmospheric read with a strong sense of place and simmering tension throughout. It blends toxic friendships, obsession, and folklore into a moody, slow-burn thriller that lingers after the final page.

This is a dark academia thriller based in St Andrews, Scotland.
The setting works really well for the academia and secret society plot lines. The toxic friendships in this are well written and the entire story leaves you thinking carefully about how things could go wrong when you get into all the wrong things.
I found the berserker history plot a really interesting topic for their reasons for doing what they did.

Omg I loved this book had me gripped from the first page. If you loved a secret history, dark academia and story's of legends and whimsy this is for you. The characters are so well written and brought to life so vividly you can feel everyword. The story line flowed really well leaving you guessing where it might end up. A story of friendship, relationships and just how far we will go to fit in or run from our own trauma. Thanks netgalley and the publishers for allowing me to read an early arc of this book

I thought this booked sounded amazing when I read the description and I am pleased to say it lived up to my expectations. I have never read a book quite like it that blends almost a contemporary style with magical/mystical elements at times. The story had good pace, drive and I loved the whole idea of being sucked into this world because you have lost something in yourself. The setting was really interesting and the history, particularly the Scottish was great to read. The characters all stood out on their own, for good reasons and I felt each of them were understandable and relatable in a lot of ways. Overall it was a great read and I would recommend it.

Fascinating book about the Berserkers where the main character doesn't know what he lays in store for. Loved the writing and the pacing of the book. Definitely recommend. 4/5 stars

Thanks to NetGalley and Aria & Aries for an ARC of When We Were Killers in exchange for an honest review.

Rating: 3/5

I encountered some challenges while trying to engage with this book. It seemed to progress at a pace that was slower than I had anticipated, which made it difficult for me to immerse myself fully in the narrative. However, if you appreciate intricate storytelling and a deeper exploration of themes revolving around faith, this book might be right up your alley. The complexity of the narrative could resonate with readers who enjoy a thoughtful and reflective reading experience.

set under the watching eye of st andrews, this book is a mystery waiting to be solved, horrors waiting to occur and a trip that desperately needs to end.

we follow a handful of strong and intriguing characters, belonging to the clan of dàl riata. this clan pays homage to many an ancient tradition, often following the pagan calendar and holidays and paying respects to the norse, celts and vikings belonging to the scotland of old. our groups founder magnus has a particular obsession with untangling the mysteries of the viking berserkers and the question stands - what made them so indestructible and will there be a prestige to figuring out their secrets?

the line 'life lingered in her' particularly struck me in its powerful us as both an opener and a closer in the book, though sparking intrigue at the start its truly haunting by the end. the pre-technology setting of the 90's added to the morbidity, forcing our characters to sit with their grief and guilt. despite this darkness we still have a unique found family with our cast, including more wholesome points in which our author pays homage to actual st andrews traditions.

coming out in may, this is a great thriller academia to pick up and enter the darker months with.

Since i loved “If we were villains” I couldn’t not read this! Even though the author’s writing didn’t really worked for me , the story , the characters and the atmosphere kept me glued to the pages!

When they sait this was saltburn meets TSH, they weren't lying!!! My goodness, I would not want to be in class with these people, but I loved it.

As a dark academia fan, when reading the summary for this book it was completely up my alley. A brooding university in Scotland, history scholars, faerie lore. I really couldn’t ask for more. That said, I did have a bit of mixed feelings once I got stuck into the book.

The setting for the book is absolutely stunning. The author does a fantastic job of making you feel like you are right there in those long, dark corridors and hallways on campus. It was an interesting backdrop to the story that also played a major part in the plot as it added into the historical aspects of the story, I.e. the students’ major. This proved to be one of the most interesting parts of the book to me. Being able to learning about the differing Scottish cultures through the eyes of our main protagonist Finn, we really got a deep dive into the passions behind the studies. This helped keep the book interesting even through the more slow parts of the plot.

I understand that with books such as this, there is a necessity to the slow burn of it all. There needs to be a slow building of tension that leads into obsession and decent into madness. However, I will say at points the slow burn felt like molasses. There were multiple points throughout where I felt bogged down and a bit bored in the plot. Then once the plot really started to pick up it kind of felt like a bit of a fever dream with a major plot point being the hunt for these ancient hallucinogens. It led to far more questions and confusions than answers and intrigue. However, to give credit where it could be due, this could’ve been the entire objective for the author. Maybe the author wanted us to feel as disjointed and out of it as the characters were. Maybe to toy with the unreliable narrator troupe that is prevalent in dark academia novels.

I did enjoy the prose but that wasn’t enough to distract me from the depth that was lacking in the plot itself. The concept and set up for the book was quite interesting but I think it lacked a compelling enough execution. Finn, in my opinion, wasn’t a compelling enough main character and the ending fell just a bit flat for me. Even still, it was worth the read and a lovely book to add to my collection of dark academia reads.

Thank you to Head of Zeus, C.F Barrington and Netgalley for the ARC.

When We Were Killers by C.F. Barrington. What an incredible book. Already a huge fan of the author's Pantheon series, this standalone piece of dark academia cements him as one of my favourite authors at the moment

This was a fascinating story that absolutely kept me hooked. This story mixed rituals, folklore, friendship, jealousy and academia in an disturbing story of a group of students in Scotland.
I really enjoyed the writing and this was an easy read that really drew me in. It was a creepy and slightly menacing novel and I found it thought provoking. It shows how easily it is to get drawn into someone elses reality even when that reality is rather skewed.
Would definitely recommend.

This was a slow burn and took me along time to get into. It was confusing at times . Dark Academia is not really my thing. If it is for you, you may really like this one.

Dark academia at its finest, When We Were Killers is an intoxicating blend of history, folklore and obsession, set against the atmospheric backdrop of Scotland’s oldest university.

With its evocative prose and deeply immersive storytelling, this book is a must-read for fans of mystery, ancient legends and the blurred line between reality and myth.

Finn Nethercott arrives at St Andrews University as an outsider, quickly realising that privilege dictates who thrives in its salt-scented quadrangles. When he is drawn into an enigmatic circle of four history scholars obsessed with Scotland’s ancient past, he is swept up in their midnight rituals, wild adventures to forgotten castles and a perilous search for a long-lost hallucinogen.

But as Finn’s grip on reality begins to slip, he must ask himself—how far will they go in pursuit of knowledge, and at what cost?

One of the book’s most compelling aspects is its exploration of spirituality and cultural traditions. Through Finn’s journey, we experience a rich tapestry of influences, from Gaelic and Viking heritage to pagan and Christian beliefs. The author weaves these elements seamlessly into the plot, infusing the story with a sense of mystery and reverence for Scotland’s past.

The setting is utterly mesmerising. Mist-shrouded lochs, crumbling fortresses and the eerie, ancient corridors of St Andrews create a world where legends feel dangerously real. The characters are just as sharply drawn—witty, frustrating and complex, each harbouring their secrets. Their dynamics simmer with tension, making for a gripping and unpredictable read.

What begins as a tale of university friendships soon deepens into a dark exploration of obsession, power and the lure of the unknown. When We Were Killers is an atmospheric and haunting read that lingers long after the final page.

Read more at The Secret Book Review.

This book does start off slow but soon picked up you just need to stay with it. The suspense and psychological aspects mixed with the plot line had me hooked. Things were detailed well without going too over the top and becoming confusing. The twist within the book kept my attention and fit so well throughout the book. Would definitely like to read more books from C.F Barrington.

That was wild for sure! I was not expecting most of the crazy happenings in this book, for sure. It kept me interested from the start and the dread pouring down two thirds way through made it hard to stop. "When We Were Killers" was a dark but great read!

This is the tale of a deprived orphan who, in spite of his circumstances, manages to enrol at prestigious St. Andrew's University. Along with becoming friends with the other two students in his "program," he also becomes caught up in the murky underbelly of secret societies. When We Were Killers is the book for you if you're searching for a good Dark Academia story that discusses religious topics, the need to fit in, and the deadly results of taking your academic interests too far.

If you're a fan of unhinged dark academia you'll love this book—a quick-paced thriller about a secret society's gradual decent into madness set in 1990s Scotland. I appreciated that it was quick-paced and the plot felt clever—which seems rare in this genre to me. The lore and paganism felt well-research as well, but I'm definitely not an expert.

Reminded me a lot of Ashley Winstead's In My Dreams I Hold a Knife—like Saltburn and Secret History all in one.

Thank you to Netgalley, the publisher, and the author for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.