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savvyrosereads's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Out March 7, 2023 [Thank you to the publisher for providing me with an ARC as part of a giveaway win!]
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Jenna, Donnie, and Nico are all adults leading very different lives—but they remain tied together thanks to their actions in an abusive group home when they were teenagers…and those choices may now be back to haunt them.
Finlay’s previous novel The Night Shift was a top thriller for me in 2022, so I was really looking forward to this one, and unfortunately I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I’d hoped or expected. I’ll start off with the good: this was super fast-paced and had a ton of action, with short chapters that made it easy to keep flying through. Finlay is an engaging writer and that remained true here—the characters were fairly interesting and the prose was crisp and easy to read. Overall, while I wasn’t enthralled, it was a relatively fun read, especially towards the end.
On the other hand, I found the plot to ultimately be pretty lacking—it was hard to follow in the first half, and once it clicked into place it ended up feeling very predictable. There were also some plot holes that I won’t get into due to spoilers, but I found it hard to suspend my disbelief enough to get past them.
All of this said, I’m also not much of a spy/action thriller fan, and that is how I’d primarily characterize this novel. If you’re a fan of those vibes, there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy this a LOT more than I did!
Recommended if you like: spy thrillers; action movies; sins-of-the-past trope (no idea if this is a thing but it’s what I call it)
CW: Blood/violence/death/torture/murder; mentions of pedophilia/trafficking; addiction (including drugs, alcohol, and gambling); grief/loss of loved one
Rating: 3.5/5 stars
Jenna, Donnie, and Nico are all adults leading very different lives—but they remain tied together thanks to their actions in an abusive group home when they were teenagers…and those choices may now be back to haunt them.
Finlay’s previous novel The Night Shift was a top thriller for me in 2022, so I was really looking forward to this one, and unfortunately I just didn’t enjoy it as much as I’d hoped or expected. I’ll start off with the good: this was super fast-paced and had a ton of action, with short chapters that made it easy to keep flying through. Finlay is an engaging writer and that remained true here—the characters were fairly interesting and the prose was crisp and easy to read. Overall, while I wasn’t enthralled, it was a relatively fun read, especially towards the end.
On the other hand, I found the plot to ultimately be pretty lacking—it was hard to follow in the first half, and once it clicked into place it ended up feeling very predictable. There were also some plot holes that I won’t get into due to spoilers, but I found it hard to suspend my disbelief enough to get past them.
All of this said, I’m also not much of a spy/action thriller fan, and that is how I’d primarily characterize this novel. If you’re a fan of those vibes, there’s a good chance you’ll enjoy this a LOT more than I did!
Recommended if you like: spy thrillers; action movies; sins-of-the-past trope (no idea if this is a thing but it’s what I call it)
CW: Blood/violence/death/torture/murder; mentions of pedophilia/trafficking; addiction (including drugs, alcohol, and gambling); grief/loss of loved one
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Blood, Death, Drug abuse, Murder, Gun violence, Addiction, Torture, and Alcoholism
Moderate: Grief and Trafficking
amobrien's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This is a fast-paced multi-POV thriller and while it is certainly entertaining, I found the characters to be a little hard to believe. They all seemed to have interesting individual lives and I feel like they had so much potential, but they were written one-dimensionally. My favorite perspective to read from was Jenna as we were able to see a bit more from her than the other characters, next was Donnie and last was Nico. If you love a good action story with some mystery, you might really enjoy this, but I prefer more character development in my stories so I found this to be lacking at times.
Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.
Thank you Netgalley for providing a digital ARC.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Gun violence, and Addiction
Moderate: Bullying, Child death, Adult/minor relationship, and Sexual violence
kaylasbookgram's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
What Have We Done follows Jenna, Nico, and Donnie as they try to figure out who is trying to kill them and why. They are all linked by meeting at a group home at teens and one big mistake that was made 25 years ago. Will their secret come to light or will they be able to keep the past in the past.
This was my first book by Alex Finlay and I enjoyed it. The beginning was a bit confusing to me but once you got through the 3 POVs a few times things began to line up and make sense. This is a great who dun it mystery thriller.
This was my first book by Alex Finlay and I enjoyed it. The beginning was a bit confusing to me but once you got through the 3 POVs a few times things began to line up and make sense. This is a great who dun it mystery thriller.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Bullying, Grief, Torture, Mental illness, Sexual assault, Alcohol, Alcoholism, Toxic relationship, Drug abuse, Sexual violence, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Murder, Physical abuse, Addiction, Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Stalking, and Violence
maureenmccombs's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Not what I was expecting this book to be but still quite good. I could see this being the first in a series- one I would definitely read. Recommend.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Bullying, Death of parent, Kidnapping, Murder, Violence, Alcohol, Addiction, Death, Gun violence, Abandonment, Animal cruelty, and Alcoholism
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