It was the best of times... it was the worst of times...

With witty, engaging dialogue, laugh-out-loud scenes interspersed with tender moments of grief and friendship, this felt like a true homage to the chaos of your twenties. Each emotion Maggie, Harley and Róise feel resonated with me - you will laugh, you will cry and you will feel everything inbetween. In the vein of Normal People by Sally Rooney and The Girls by Emma Cline, Thirst Trap is at times a confronting trip, sharply funny and a pleasure to read.

Thank you to Netgalley and Pan Macmillan for providing me with an eARC in exchange for an honest review :)

An honest, messy, warm depiction of twenty/thirty something female friendships. Overall a v good read, I liked the varying perspectives and the characters were well developed and very different in their own rights. 3.5 stars rounded up to 4. Thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for the advance reader copy.

3.5*
Overall I did enjoy reading 'Thirst Trap' and liked finding out about each of the characters lives within the friend group and how they each navigate different events that happened. I liked the writing style and found it easy to read even with some of the chapters being quite long. However, at the beginning I did find it hard to remember which details belonged to which character and found it confusing when the chapters changed perspective. I also didn't think there was much progression in the story or the character development and at times I felt it was a little repetitive. I would still recommend this book and will definitely read more from Gráinne O'Hare in the future!

What’s better than reading about a woman going through it in her late-twenties? Three women going through it in their late-twenties.

Thirst Trap follows three friends living together in Belfast picking up around the first anniversary of their friend Lydia’s sudden passing, still grieving, still living in the same rented house with Lydia’s pet turtle, and still processing their fallout with her prior to the accident. Trust me when I say I GASPED at the reveal of why they weren’t on speaking terms at the time.

Despite offering a really honest depiction of grief and the messy sides of womanhood and friendships at this stage in life, this riot of a book also had me laughing from the very first line, relating to these women stumbling into their next decade. I feel like it really captured that delusion of thinking your life will suddenly change with your next birthday, especially one as momentous as thirty, just to find you still don’t feel quite grown-up enough.

I feel like if you’ve ever lived with a group of friends you’ll seriously relate to these characters — I saved SO many quotes just to share with mine and say ‘this reminds me of you!’

Thank you so much to NetGalley and to Picador for the ARC

I must admit I was drawn in purely by the cover at first (it’s genius) but I absolutely loved this story about a group of friends, their lives rocked by the shocking accidental death of their friend Lydia. It’s a wonderful read, funny just as often as it is painful, and a powerful and true depiction of friendship.

God I absolutely loved this.

Maggie, Harley and Roise are three best friends living together in Dublin, all reeling from the death of their best friend Lydia a year earlier.

Maggie is gay and can’t stop sleeping with Cate, a girl who doesn’t seem to want anything more than sex. Roise doesn’t know what to do herself after a breakup. And Harley works in a hotel and is the party girl of the group.

All 4 girls are so well realised I felt like I knew them. They all feel so real, so messy and emotional and their friendship is exactly what it’s like to live with girls in hour earlier 20s.

I mourned this being over. It’s sad and beautiful and real and messy. It’s perfect.

5 stars.

Three Uni friends entering their 30s live together and try to get their lives together. Late nights, parties, drinks, drugs, casual love affairs, boring jobs, money troubles, infidelity, childhood trauma and the death of their fourth friend a year earlier.

Told form different perspectives, each friend has a perspective of her own, sees events and relationships differently, has her own reasons, justifications, shortcomings and misunderstandings.

On the surface their lives seem like all fun and games but they are actually filled with real emotion, insecurites, problems, uncertainties, trauma and grief. This is a novel about coming of age, becoming adults, accepting the real world and all that it brings. Not wanting to all of them change, have been changing, they just have to accept that they have become different. Not only they change as people, adults, their friendships change and become more serious, more real.

Their house fell apart the same as their ideas about life, their dellusions and dreams, the same as the lies they have been telling themselves, how they have been fooling themselves into believing that things were fine. The actual, litteral decay, crumble of their house made them realise the decay in their own lives.

A glum, bittersweet, refreshing novel that shows a different side of friendship, youth and becoming an adult.

This novel explores the lives and friendships of four twenty year old friends. When one friend tragically dies the remaining three find their lives and friendships are changed forever.

The novel is told from each girl’s perspective which allows the reader to get a real insight into each character. Exploring the life changing life stages from their twenties to thirties along with their struggles with grief, unresolved fall outs and changing friendships.

A lot of readers will relate to the story line, especially if they shared a house and friends while at university. Although my own life experiences were very different from the main characters I did enjoy reading the book which I feel the younger reader especially would find relatable. The writing style of the novel was excellent especially for a debut novel.

Even though I do feel like this will be an extra special one for those who were brought up in Ireland, Thirst Trap is a perfect look into what womanhood is like in our twenties for so many of us. Felt like a perfect read for the year I’m turning thirty years old, as one of the main characters, Róise, does at the beginning of the book. She is entering her thirties, along with her best friends Maggie and Harley, with all the wild party girl days that clouded their twenties still ever-present. At the same time it does feel as though those days are coming to an end, quite literally, as the house they share is crumbling around them.
They are collectively grieving the fourth member of the close-knit friendship group, Lydia, who tragically died in a car accident. It seems as though they cope by mixing drugs, alcohol, and having a string of messy love-affairs between them. None more so than Maggie’s sapphic love/lust for a woman named Cate, who seems confused about her sexuality and feelings for Maggie.

This was honestly unputdownable, a book that fully brought my speed-reading ability out. It just felt honest and raw, as though you were really peering into the lives of this Irish group of friends. I also feel as though I’ve learnt to pronounce some more Irish name now, lol!
I’m honestly tempted to pick up a physical copy when it is published.

Thank you to Netgalley/ the publisher for the ARC !! 🫶

5 Stars 🇮🇪✨🖤

I really enjoyed this book. 3 friends, Maggie, Harley and Roise are coming up to 30. They met at university and are still sharing a house in Belfast. They are also mourning the death of their friend Lydia a year ago. Her room in the house remains untouched. This is a great story about friendship and growing up. I liked the characters and it made me laugh out loud in places.
Thanks to NetGalley for a preview copy.
Copied to Goodreads.

Thirst Trap by Grainne O'Hare

Maggie, Harley and Roise have been sharing a house in Belfast since they left university and are grieving the loss of their friend Lydia whose room remains unoccupied since her death. As they approach their thirties there is a sense that something needs to change in their messy, often chaotic lives.

Fabulous! Funny and poignant, and a masterclass in characterisation - Maggie, Harley and Roise each have their own specific identities and they're very different, yet their friendship and conversations are totally realistic. I thought the book was really engaging and enjoyed spending time with these young women. Very highly recommended.

Thank you to NetGalley and the publisher for an ARC of this book.

'Thirst Trap' revolves around the messy and confusing post-university lives of three housemates Róise, Harley and Maggie. Still reeling from the grief of losing their fourth friend, Lydia, their relationships become simultaneously strained yet stronger (and more chaotic) than ever,

Navigating complex relationships, party scenes, rotting rented houses, the beauty of girlhood and female friendships, 'Thirst Trap' feels like mandatory reading for those of us who have recently graduated and are feeling somewhat intimidated at the prospect of entering true adulthood. Not much is certain other than the love that is shared between these girls.

The dialogue between these friends is so authentic and laugh-out-loud funny. You will recognise pieces of your friends in their interactions, for better or for worse, and you will love every minute you spend encapsulated in their world.

This felt like a grittier version of Alderton's 'Everything I Know About Love'. I was shocked to discover that this novel is O'Hare's fictional debut, because her writing is just THAT good. I am so excited to recommend this to my own circle of friends who I see reflected in this dynamic cast. An effortless five-star rating.

Thank you to Picador for the ARC!

"Thirst Trap" offers a vibrant and candid exploration of friendships, the complexities of adulthood, and the beautifully chaotic journey of growing up. With raw honesty and vivid storytelling, it delves deep into the nuances of relationships, capturing the laughter, heartaches, and revelations that come with navigating life's many twists and turns. It felt
As I reflect on the first time I watched that very famous show, of HBO. This book encapsulates the complex feelings that come with aging, feelings that often include grief and a deep sense of loss. It portrays this whole new chapter of life that many of us are reluctant to embrace, capturing the essence of these emotions perfectly. Solid good book

This was a really nice book that follows the lives of 3 women in an almost Sex In The City style as they attempt to navigate their lives after the tragic death of their friend Lydia. It seems that each of them turning 30, as well as the death of their friend, has kickstarted some sort of journey of self-discovery for each of them.

A tender but also hilarious exploration of toxic behaviours, society's expectations of women, and the utterly complicated subject of love - romantic love, but more importantly the intense platonic love we feel for our dearest friends, no matter what we do to each other.

Thank you for the chance to read this as an ARC. I give this 3.5 stars.

There was a lot of positives with this book that I absolutely loved. The prose is snappy and sharp with moments that made me laugh out laugh. I liked the irreverent and chaotic nature of the friends and the relationships they had with each other.
Where the book didn't work as well for me was in the plot. I became disengaged about halfway through. The storyline felt slightly aimless at times.
Overall, a solid read.

From the very first sentence, Thirst Trap had me hooked. Grainne O’Hare sets the tone immediately, drawing readers into a world that is sharp, hilarious, and painfully relatable. This novel is an easy read in the best way—fast-paced, engaging, and filled with witty, authentic dialogue.

At its core, Thirst Trap is a modern and unfiltered reflection on friendships, adulthood, and the messiness of growing up. O’Hare masterfully captures the complexities of female relationships, weaving together a cast of flawed, complicated, and utterly real characters. Their struggles, missteps, and triumphs feel genuine, making the story both laugh-out-loud funny and deeply moving.

This was an effortless five-star read for me, I loved every page of it. I’ll definitely be looking out for more from Grainne O’Hare in the future.

Huge thanks to NetGalley and Picador for the ARC!

I’ve seen a few people compare this to Sally Rooney and whilst I agree to some extent, this was SO much better and much less PG!! Following normal lives of a group of 30 year old chaotic, MESSY friends, this had some great characters and was actually quite emotional at times. Enjoyed it a lot.

Thanks to the publisher and NetGalley for the ARC!

Maggie, Harley and Róise are in their late 20's live together in a shabby shared house in Belfast. There was a fourth housemate Lydia, who died while they had all fallen out with her, making it harder for them to grieve and move on.
The book moves backwards and forwards from the present day, to their history together, and all that happened leading up to Lydia's death.
They have a life of drugs, drinking, sex and parties, and some of it sounds like so much fun, but the book also captures all the messiness of living like this. Their friendship, support and love for each other means that they don't have to suffer alone.
I loved the four girls - Lydia is still very much a part of the book - and Liam and Adam. The writing is great, and the dialogue is so sharp, filthy and funny. I couldn't put it down.
Really lovely. Highly recommended.

This was a well-written book, but it made me feel lethargic and a bit sad. I cannot imagine living the life these women live and it made reading it a bit of a slog. It took me a while to get into the rhythm of it and then when I did I felt like the end sort of made the whole book pointless?
I don't want to talk badly about it, as I say, it's well written, and I like the multiple points of view, but I'm quite glad I'm done with it. Maybe I'm not the target audience, or in the right frame of mind for this specific book at this specific time?
Thank you for the ARC :)

Thirst Trap follows three friends in Belfast as they turn thirty in the aftermath of their friend's death. Maggie, Harley, and Róise live together in a house filled with grief, alcohol, and unresolved tension. The book weaves through their messy, complicated lives, capturing the stunted growth of people struggling to accept adulthood. While the plot isn’t action-packed, the focus on friendship, grief, and the challenges of navigating life post-20s makes it a raw and relatable read. It’s a bittersweet, funny exploration of the messy process of growing up—realistic, imperfect, and maybe a little too familiar at times.