The Thing We Do to Our Friends by Heather Darwent
Published: January 10, 2023
Bantam
Pages: 335
Genre: Suspense Thrillers
KKECReads Rating: ⭐️⭐️⭐️
I received a copy of this book for free, and I leave my review voluntarily.
Heather Darwent was raised in Yorkshire and moved to Scotland to study at the University of Edinburgh. The Things We Do to Our Friends is her debut novel.
When Clare meets Tabitha, a charismatic, beautiful, and intimidatingly rich girl from her art history class, she knows she’s destined to become friends with her and her exclusive circle: raffish Samuel, shrewd Ava, and pragmatic Imogen. Clare is immediately drawn into their libertine world of sophisticated dinner parties and summers in France. The new life she always envisioned for herself has seemingly begun.
Then Tabitha reveals a little project she’s been working on, one that she needs Clare’s help with. Even though it goes against everything Clare has tried to repent for. Even though their intimacy begins to darken into codependence. But as Clare starts to realize just what her friends are capable of, it’s already too late. Because they’ve taken the plunge. They’re so close to attaining everything they want. And there’s no going back.
“This is not that story.”
Clare is excited to be going away to university. She is ready for a fresh start. New friends. And distance. When she finds a group of friends, she thinks things will be better. She expects to be happy and secure until the secrets become a topic of conversation. Secrets that should have stayed in the dark.
This was a different book. It’s more on the literary side, with some thriller elements. But overall, it wasn’t exciting.
The character development was pretty decent. I was intrigued by all of the characters, individually and together. The dynamic was well-played, and the elements came together nicely.
It took me longer than usual to finish this book, and I kept waiting for the big twist to be revealed. There were some twists along the way, but this was not a typical thriller.