The Things We Do to Our Friends is the debut mystery/thriller by Heather Darwent. In this book, we follow our main character Clare, who is desperately trying to reinvent herself in a new city. Clare becomes intrigued by a group of friends led by Tabitha, a beautiful, talented rich girl from one of her classes. As Clare becomes a member of this group, secrets begin to be revealed and not everyone is how they seem.

This book read like Mean Girls but if it had the vibes of Cruel Intentions with a dash of dark academia. I really loved how slowly the plot unfolded. I would definitely classify this as more of a quiet thriller because even though some crazy stuff does happen, it’s not really the main focus on the story. This story is very much about the characters and how they work together and how toxic obsession can be.

I will say I was much more invested in the first half of the book while we were really learning about the characters. The second half isn’t bad by any means but I think the first half was much stronger. For a debut novel, this was super impressive. I feel like everything in the story made sense, especially because it took its time making sure the reader knew the characters pretty well.

I would recommend this to anyone who likes thrillers and mysteries that take their time and don’t need a million twists to still be enjoyable. I will definitely be keeping an eye on this author in the future because the potential is there.

Thank you so much to NetGalley and the publisher for the opportunity to read and review this book ahead of its release. All thoughts and opinions are my own.