Scan barcode
A review by realisticreader98
The Things We Do to Our Friends by Heather Darwent
4.0
✨this was more like a 3.5/5 for me, but there were more things that i liked about than things that were just okay for me so i am rounding up to a 4!
✨this book is for the dark academia girlies, the psychological thriller girlies, etc. i don't want to compare this book to others too much, but i am sure if you enjoyed the secret history or if we were villains or in my dreams i hold a knife, then you will find something to enjoy in this book.
✨what initially drew me to this book was synopsis and the sense that this book was going to be about the most messed up, obsessive, toxic friendships one can have. and this book delivered! toxic friendships are hard to create with originality (in my opinion) because they tend to be based in jealousy and insecurity, and that plot can only go so far most of the time. i think the things we do to our friends had a great mix of insecurity in our protagonist Clare, who always desperately needed friends but tended to be a bit selective in her choices, and how once she was able to find Tabitha the need quickly turned into a bit of an obsession.
✨without spoilers, some things that i felt like this book lacked were mainly in the way that the chapters were formatted that affected the way that i read the book. there are chapters that are inserted from the present, as our main story takes place in the past, that threw me off and also spoiled the ending for me a bit. i think i would have rather not known what was going to happen in the end until i got to the end. i also wish that those chapters into the future were labeled as such because at times it was just jarring.
✨again, with no spoilers, i am also not a huge fan of the ending of this book. i think the idea surrounding the ending it one of my favorites in the dark academia/psych thriller sphere but the execution fell a bit flat. some bits felt underdeveloped, some felt disjointed, but there were pieces of the puzzle that were wrapped in a tiny bow that i did like.
✨i think the fact that i do have so much to say about it is an indicator for the fact that it made me think and feel something, which is why this is more of 3.5 than a solid 3. I liked the book, I'm interested to read more from this author, and I would definitely recommend this to any dark academia stan because this was really a great new spin on some of the more conventional story plots in those types of books.
✨thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group / Ballantine for allowing me to read this eARC to review in exchange for my honest opinion.
✨this book is for the dark academia girlies, the psychological thriller girlies, etc. i don't want to compare this book to others too much, but i am sure if you enjoyed the secret history or if we were villains or in my dreams i hold a knife, then you will find something to enjoy in this book.
✨what initially drew me to this book was synopsis and the sense that this book was going to be about the most messed up, obsessive, toxic friendships one can have. and this book delivered! toxic friendships are hard to create with originality (in my opinion) because they tend to be based in jealousy and insecurity, and that plot can only go so far most of the time. i think the things we do to our friends had a great mix of insecurity in our protagonist Clare, who always desperately needed friends but tended to be a bit selective in her choices, and how once she was able to find Tabitha the need quickly turned into a bit of an obsession.
✨without spoilers, some things that i felt like this book lacked were mainly in the way that the chapters were formatted that affected the way that i read the book. there are chapters that are inserted from the present, as our main story takes place in the past, that threw me off and also spoiled the ending for me a bit. i think i would have rather not known what was going to happen in the end until i got to the end. i also wish that those chapters into the future were labeled as such because at times it was just jarring.
✨again, with no spoilers, i am also not a huge fan of the ending of this book. i think the idea surrounding the ending it one of my favorites in the dark academia/psych thriller sphere but the execution fell a bit flat. some bits felt underdeveloped, some felt disjointed, but there were pieces of the puzzle that were wrapped in a tiny bow that i did like.
✨i think the fact that i do have so much to say about it is an indicator for the fact that it made me think and feel something, which is why this is more of 3.5 than a solid 3. I liked the book, I'm interested to read more from this author, and I would definitely recommend this to any dark academia stan because this was really a great new spin on some of the more conventional story plots in those types of books.
✨thank you to NetGalley and Random House Publishing Group / Ballantine for allowing me to read this eARC to review in exchange for my honest opinion.