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.

This novel is dark, twisty, and kept me reading long past my bedtime! Yes, you are dropped into the proverbial deep end from the start, but I found the story interesting enough to keep going — I needed to know what was going to happen next. The intrigue of secret societies has gripped me since I was a teen, and this book did not disappoint!

A fish out of water meets dark academia in 90s Scotland, as Finn falls in with a strange group of friends hyper fixated on the infamous Berserkers, and hell bent on finding the substance that made them 'berserk’. A group of college kids trying every hallucinogen known to man — what could possibly go wrong? The answer to that includes dark deeds and an inevitable spiral that is almost too much. Almost.

Many thanks to NetGalley for the ARC!

the eerie and creepy feeling in the underbelly of this book keeps you guessing and uncomfortable for all the right moments. also not caring for the characters and their behavior makes it both hard and easy to want to know what happens to them all in the end!
i felt all the moments of youth here. how you become swept up in things easier. or feel the need to be because you want friendship or to fit in. and also this happens when you feel uncertainty. which can happen alot in those younger schooling days.
ive got to admit it gave me more unsettled feeling in part because of the unsettled feelings i get from those younger years.
it made for an intriguing read. and the atmosphere# and descriptions were on point in helping keep the character and plot a real picture in my mind.

you're dumped into the story rather unceremoniously, and the story is definitely interesting but also holds some definite similarities. the overall story arc is rather repetitive, thouugh. 3 stars. tysm for the arc.

Thank you to NetGalley for the free advanced reading copy. I leave this review voluntarily.

This is a story of a poor orphaned boy who gets to St. Andrew’s University despite his circumstances. He makes friends with the 2 other students in his “program” but he also becomes enmeshed in the dark undercurrents of secret societies.

The reader never knows what will happen next and how they will resolve the conflict. While some of the story is a bit unbelievable, it did not distract me from the storytelling so I suspended my disbelief and embraced the tale.

The story begins and ends with the main character, Finn Nethercott, thinking about “life lingered in her” and his role in what happened at St.Andrews.

As you can tell, I highly recommend.

This was an intense and twisty story with dirt under its nails. It is a mind-boggling Dark Academia tale of obsession that thrives in its complex characterisation and clever plotting.

This book is dark academia it it's core!
This book is so fast past and was so wild!
I did find myself having to reread sections at time to make sure I actually read what I did.
Dark academia is not usually what I am drawn too, but I did have fun with this!

Thank you to NetGalley for the ARC

⭐️⭐️⭐️.5
The first thing that caught my attention about this book was the name! As a huge fan of If we were villains, this one kinda gave that vibe, specially after realizing that it was a dark academia too so, of course I had to request and it was good, not great, but good.

This is the typical DA storyline where a neutral/outsider person gets sucked up into a group of toxic frenemies and watch how slowly everything spiral out of his control into obssesion and often murder and as such it gave exactly what I was looking for.

The plot was a wild ride if a bit slow start and I loved getting to know the setting, the group dinamics, and the descent to darkness was both horrifying and fun to read. History and mythology are frequent themes of study and being this book set in Scotland it did not disappoint in that regard, you can tell the author did a lot of research.

However, the entire story felt for me a fever dream! The characters were high on mushrooms all the time and that affected my experience of understanding what was going on. I cannot fully explain it but I was so lost sometimes that I had to read one scene over and over. Also, I felt that for story about characters, their development felt lacking in detriment of the shock of the story.

So, I do kinda recommend but to people that like me, are constantly looking for new traditional dark academia books to read.

Thank you to the publisher and Netgalley for the opportunity to access the advanced reader copy of When We Were Killers!