Reviews with content warning for Toxic friendship - The Things We Do to Our Friends

I personally found the plot very far fetched, even predictable in its impact. The actual drama is glossed over and the focus is mainly the protagonists feelings and thoughts after the current and past events happen/ed. Though they are completely lacking in reflection or improvement in the end. It takes away from the actual climax of the book, which I found to be lacking. The characters are relatable as people you might meet in your life, but are generally unlikeable and and mostly very copy-paste. Nothing sets them apart much in character. There is little to no character development or reflection despite the focus on the protagonists inner world and we don't see consequence to any of their actions, they seem to just continue and they have little emotion to what transpired and what they have caused, which was made "plausible" by their previous agonizing, mostly self-inflicted though. The revelation and ending is unsatisfying and it actually irked me that the protagonist just continued on living a wealthy boring life.

Content Warnings

aliyachaudhry's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

ingerlouise's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Such an incredibly dark and twisted tale, so perfectly crafted that you don’t want to look away for an instant even though the characters and their actions are downright despicable. A horrific story told horrifyingly well.

Content Warnings

zxphyrean's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

It starts off quite slow-paced but gathers speed as the book goes on. None of the characters are likeable, in fact they're detestable but the kind where you just have to keep reading to find out how it's going to end.

Content Warnings

iemilia's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.0

There were parts of this book I enjoyed and it was a nice fast paced read, however I expected so much more. The characters were bland and lacked depth - I didn’t really understand why Clare was so obsessed with Tabitha.
It had an interesting premise and I was going into it thinking it would potentially by a 5 star read but unfortunately it didn’t wow me and all in all fell a bit flat

Content Warnings

aileron's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

Content Warnings

vanillanightmare's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

A well-plotted story set in dark and labyrinthine Edinburgh. With tension from the outset, it is wickedly gruesome and unhinged, with obsession, codependency, and toxic female friendships. The ending felt a little rushed in places and there were a few characters I’d have loved to learn more about but it all came together! An incredible debut.

Content Warnings

More...